Frankly

More mainstream production knives but here's my mini-treatise. I've had the common experience of inexpensive knives, then trying a few Gerbers and Kershaws from the gun stores, then looking online and seeing all the cool stuff and saving up to buy a ZT cause Jesse Tischauser hawks them. I enjoyed flipping knives for effect like a Mall Ninji, it's sad but true. Never had to fight anyone but I imagined flipping a 5" blade and they'd run away (lol). And so on. I eventually figured out that sharpening was more important than the knife itself after working through Spyderco Sharpmakers, glass and sandpaper, Japanese stones, etc. and I finally bought a Tomak (wet sharpening wheel) and told myself that a couple $40 Ontario RATs and Kershaw Blurs were ideal everyday carry knives ~ tough, relatively inexpensive, practical. A couple years later I had some extra money and bought one good representative knife from the major fancy manufacturers to really try them out. From left to right: Emerson, Medford, Hinderer 4", Cris Reeves, ZT, Benchmade, Kershaw, Spyderco. I learned how to disassemble to clean and adjust flipping and centering, learned about pivots and formed some opinions on design. All these are quality, practical knives, none are bad (the Emerson opening system cut me a few times though). Some are too heavy for what they do but they look cool (Medford) while others are nice and light but feel frail (Benchmade). Some are lovely and well crafted ~ the ZTs have excellent workmanship ~ but have things like ball bearings that work great until they fail. Lots of knifes have steel or shapes that are hard to sharpen. Many blades are too thick to slice anything, which is what I need to do a lot more than skinning an Elephant. Really big folders feel like they're going to bend or they are 3/4" thick and 12 ounces (Medfords). I probably had another dozen similar quality knives in this period. Bought and sold, traded on BladeForum.com. In the end I kept the simple manual Chris Reeves Inkosi 3.5" knife in SV30 steel because it's very solid, simple, and easy to sharpen. I like that its a clean minimalist design. I also kept the small Spyderco Lil Native with the serrated blade for when I want a really light discrete knife. Bugout/camping/survival I have a 5" Winkler fixed blade Field knife that's a rock. I kept the old Ontarios and Kershaws for car emergencies and in the workshop, it's good to have a few beaters to practice sharpening with and to cut tape, give to friends in a pinch, etc. A $40 Ontario Rat 1 or 2 is still plenty of knife for most things. The nice thing is that if you buy on sale or used from reliable people, you can get most of your money out in resale later (unlike... guns) so you can have fun trying different things. But I haven't been tempted by anything short of a $3000 Shirogorov as a collectible rather than a user so I think I found my users. Chris Reeves and Spyderco got things 99% right twenty years ago and more everything else has been marketing BS since.

Cheapest laziest way to do it. $100 Amazon jogging stroller, tin snips, 4x4 ATV yokes. 30 minutes, cut away everything you don't need. Put the day's gear in your pack, done.

Roman Salutes to honor bravery and tradition.

Vortex Spitfire is a nice 1x prism, I'd like to try their 3x sometime.

Never liked cops until I shot with them. Of course cops who don’t shoot are TBD haha. Seriously it is the higher quality of the people in this sport that is attractive. Most are really good parents, veterans and citizens doing it better than I do. And it’s better to be around aspirational people who bring you up rather than the opposite.

Opps thought I put it in the rifle forum, apologies to mods if they see this.

So I've assembled ("built" is an exaggeration of the skill required) my first dozen ARs and as I've gotten more experience I've started to go for lighter weight but middle-tier guns. No Titanium or exotic, expensive parts, guns around $1500 not $3500, Aero Precision not boutiques, etc. And I started a spreadsheets of weights of components including a margin for springs and tiny bits. And so far, out of 3 builds done this way, each has been 6-11 ounces more than calculated. Even if I round everything up and account for errors I've never beat 5%. I get it, there are lots of variables in manufacturing and materials, rounding errors, things I may have missed. And my scale isn't calibrated either. Those all easily account for the discrepancy. Except if there were all these variables in play then at least some of the builds should also be coming in underweight once in a while, am I right? Just something to bear in mind. If you think you're shaving a few grams by spending $90 on Titanium pins or something like that it's easily overshadowed by reality and that marketing stretches. If I were really serious, like building racing bicycles, I'd need to have a scale next to the workbench and weigh each part. And I'm not even an engineer! Manufacturing must be Hell, imagine what this does to Aerospace and things where it really matters!

Makes sense, doh. But I’ve never rubbed, squeezed and sweated on anodized Aluminum before ~ how’s it hold up?

Right, today they did 8% off and I said close enough. Granted I don't buy ammo or complete guns from them but I'm spending at least $2K a year just on bits and will continue the rest of my life. But since I caught on I'm a lot more apt to shop around.

Or should it be nude Aluminum? Not sure Considering getting an Atlas with the Cheely grip in white/unfinished (I guess?) and wondering what they look like after you shoot with them for a year or so? What does all the sweat, oil and carbon do? Also do they wear and get smoother? I've been fine with the aggressive Phoenix Trinity grips on my Titan but if the Cheelys are more friendly that's fine, I just hate to think they're going to get slippery over time. Been fine with all black PVD but I do like the looks of the two tone guns so before committing it's good to do the homework. Thanks!

I like Brownells, they have most things in stock and seem like a good organization. But my frustration comes from whenever I need something, there are no promo codes for their frequent 10% sales. Then when I really need something and order it anyway - at regular price or with free shipping, big whoop - a few hours later they'll release another 10% promo. Frankly it's pixxing me off and I'm looking for a vendor who simply offers lower prices right from the get go. Maybe they don't get it that alienating thousands of customers who paid full price? Does anyone have a 10% Promo Code that doesn't expire an hour before you need it? Or is there someplace that simply prices things at the lowest price without the BS? I've been shopping at Primary Arms, SWFA, Midway, B King, etc. and a few things are better but not overall.

I’m aware of that. But for the rest of my time before I might have that occasion I have to carry it around and train with it. If I’m going to be in proximity to a gun for tens of thousands of hours it should be a nice one! By the logic of “losing something” then you should never buy a nice car or house, pick out the best dog or horse, or marry the prettiest first wife. Then again buying Atlases is a good way to lose that first wife!

Seriously considering an Atlas Nyx because they’re so nice... but for now I have a G19 for home and P365 for waist. Both plastic guns shoot fine.

Even when you can afford more $ it's hard to pick a scope. I had a Razor II (not the "e"), the bright dot is amazing and glass/build is excellent... but it's a heavy beast. And I grew to hate that zoom ring even with a throw lever. WTF were they thinking? Somebody find me a 16-18 ounce 1-6 SFP with the Razor's brightness, glass and build quality... with good customer service. I don't think it exists. Still, the $2K Razor IIe is down from 26 to 21.5oz and the new $3K Razor III 1-10 is the same 21.5oz. That's awesome but it's $3K. Refurbished Vortex: https://aaoptics.com/Refurbished-_c_93.html have had two great scopes from them.

A large percentage of the audience here are LEOs and that's not astrology.

Thanks, great job!

Depends on your body, where you carry and how your pants fit in my limited experience.

Had Midway, Shooters Connection and now use an Eberlestock R3 Ranger Up backpack. As I get older a backpack is a lot easier and more balanced to walk distances with, the Eberlestock is expensive but superb quality. I also like that it's a back opener with a plastic skid plate on the outside of the pack where you set it down on wet/dirty surfaces. Keeps everything clean and it has dividers like a camera case so everything is organized and well protected. It's also $300 but I got mine on sale. Midway is fine but stitching is spotty, had their 3-gun bag handles come apart with a normal load of 3 guns. But inexpensive and perfectly usable, especially if you repair it once in a while. Shooters Connection is a great bag but I think it's too large and encourage you to carry more than you need. Great value though, a lot of bag for the money and good people to buy from. Glenn Eberlesole doesn't suffer fools like me even though I'm a good customer

Don't show me that, now I want a Rhino!

Hard to say, is it possible to buy used or import a gun yourself? Are other brands made in other countries relatively less expensive? Most of us in the USA simply don't know the details. Is there anywhere you can try several different guns? But yes, of course a Glock 34 is an excellent first handgun and they are easy to maintain and make small upgrades to. So are a lot of other guns though. If a similar M&P or Walther, HK, FN, etc. can be had for a lot less there's no reason not to consider one.

Kusiak leather feels good on the hip, also have a sticky and an eBay single Kydex for whatever sometimes. I like the gun over my Glock 43 and shoot it better than my Glock 19. I wish I could be enthusiastic about Sig as a company, I hate giving them any money at all but at least in this case they did a good job if you buy one of the improved ones and not the first production run. If Glock or M&P ever make anything competitive and it gets good reviews I'll switch but for now it's the best CCW on the market in spite of Sig's disregard for quality control and ethics.

I never competed with a revolver but I wanted to try one after initially buying a tiny J-frame when I first got my pistol permit. That J-frame was impossible to shoot and I got rid of it within a week! A few years later I found a good deal on a lightly used 627 Performance Center, $850 or so. And I had a fun time getting it smithed for a really nice trigger, fiber optic front sight and Nill grip, it was as nice as they come. But moonclips are a PITA for recreational shooting. Better to use the Speedbeez type Speed Loaders and their clever loading block cases. They make plinking fun. Still I got bored with it. Stupid to sell it at such a loss but whatever, if you don't use it, sell it. Now I have a nice 5" 617 10-shot 22lr revolver. Fiber optics, trigger job, Nill grip. Love it because 10-shots is better than 8, it feels like a 686 and is cheap to run. It's the best beginner gun yet, kids and newbies can handle it with zero flinching. For plinking it's a great revolver. I can even put 22 shorts or those primer only loads in it and shoot in places I shouldn't. Not selling it! Speedloader is super easy and almost fun. Big fan of the Nill grips but expensive. Hogue makes some nearly as good.

These are the most brave and legit: iTunes and Android: Radio Derb The Z Blog Power Hour Directly: TheRightStuff.biz ~ look for any of the FTN episodes. Dailystormer.name Anything by American Renaissance and Nick Fluentes while they're still on YouTube. I actually find that the shorter YouTube segments that are more specific are better for shooting topics, otherwise it's usually some guy jawing for an hour to input a minute of knowledge. Used to follow a bunch but come'on, they're mostly dudes just socializing because they never did any prep or wrote an outline. Versus video where the better ones get right to the point. No offense to Joe Rogan or Jordan Peterson listeners but I don't know how you can stand their falsettos. They're downright embarrassing.

Congrats!

Sounds sweet but expensive! I guess I'm in the manual sneakernet budget then....