Friday, December 28, 2007

Meanwhile, Here at the North Pole...

...a darn nippy December. Right at zero this AM, with a 300 mph wind. I'm beginning to fear that some of these "snow" drifts are actually made up of blown boulders and trees.

THANKS for the fashion discussion (and the one on the DOWN RANGE Forums as well). As usual, you guys are well ahead of me...based on your comments, I think it's definitely time to declare "tactic-kool" dead. I like the idea od "dress how you dress" (cinsidering I have a closet full of jeans, Hawaiian shirts and cowboy — shooting and otherwise — stuff.

An interesting comment on carrying while I'm on the road...I do carry anyplace that has reciprocity with Colorado, and I've got an out-of-state Florida application here to fill out (yet another thing on the endless to-do list!). LOVE Arizona and their open carry law! HATE California and their byzantine, stupid, irrational gun laws. Obviously, if I have guns with me, I have ammo with me for the hotel room even if I can't carry. A Wilderness Tactical SafePacker is an absolute necessity for traveling gun writers!

I think I've mentioned before that the gun I carry on the road is not necessarily the gun I prefer to carry at home...a few years back Walt Rauch noted that airport/TSA security tended to go faster when he was carrying a Glock as opposed to something more exotic. The Glock is recognizable (rightly or wrongly) as an LEO gun, which may be why it slides through so easily. Also guns on the road get bounced around a lot, at least in my line of work. Not something I'd care to put my Wilson Master Grade 1911 through. Finally, I default to 9mm...sometimes I ship the guns to myself at the hotel and just carry-on luggage...I can always find 9mm easily and cheaply. Hence, a plain old boring Glock 19 and a cheap Glock plastic holster.

FWIW, I'm a huge fan of the Wilderness Tactical belt, and I'll probably keep that as part of the wardrobe. Of course, here in Colorado "rigging belts" are as common as dirt...get 'em at any number of outdoor shops...so it's not a "flash" issue.

Marshal and I are excited about adding a live Internet call-in show to DRTV. We've signed up for the service and are going to do a test run in the next couple of weeks. We're aiming at at least one live call-in Internet radio broadcast from the SHOT Show, so you can ask questions.

BTW, as one of my commenters noted, the firearms industry is small...our largest companies don't really qualify as "large" companies by the standards of Wall Street. I'm not sure whether huge levels of consolidation is a good thing or a bad thing. The strange and Balkanized nature of the firearms industry actually works well for we consumers...lots of relatively small companies producing an incredibly wide variety of hardware, essentially aiming at every niche. I'm not sure consolidation plays to that. I definitely wish I knew Cerberus' end-game!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I wish I "knew" Cerberus' head honcho... and was a good personal friend, relative, lover, or all of the above.

(Hey, if we're talking free (legal) boomsticks, I'm extremely flexible in my morals...)

Anonymous said...

You carry a Glock on the road? My (sometimes faulty) memory seems to recall a blog or SG where you stated that the grip angle of the Glock just didn't work for you? And now you admit to carrying one! Jeez, what is the world coming to? For a purely SD handgun the Glock 19 rates at the top of the heap as my personal choice.

Anonymous said...

mb--cerberus end game is very simple--to make as much money as they can--in cars, guns, or toilet seats--whatever--the product itself does not matter as long as they make money--lots of it--either by selling the product or by selling the company itself--whichever shall first occur!!--nice, warm, toasty miami beach is waiting for you when you get tired of freezing--dmd

Michael Bane said...

In truth, I am NOT a fan of Glock ergonomics...I actively dislike the grip angle. However, I will not-even-grudgingly admit that the things are probably indestructable...you can assemble them from leftover piece, drop 'em, stomp on 'em, etc., and they'll run all day.

After I get back from GUNSITE in mid-Feb with the Ruger SR9, I'll have a little better sense of that gun under stress. If it works out as well as I anticipate (and Ruger believes it will), I'll probably turn that into my "road gun," since the airport guys couldn't tell it from a Glock anyway...

mb

Anonymous said...

Cerberus

Well, according to Wkipedia (yeah, I know) Dan Quayle is one of its managers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerberus_Capital_Management

Anonymous said...

Michael,
Thanks for asking for and then for listening to our "fashion" advice. I think that you, above all others, try to represent our "community" with professionalism and dignity. So, I'd also like to add a "dress like they do" to the list. Case in point: On another "good" gun show, a writer of theirs was sent to tour a fine European gunmaker. The host (gun maker) was attired in a fine suit. The writer was attired in a mis-matched combination of "sport-clothes", finished-off with a pair of shoes that looked like over-sized sneakers. He looked unprofessional and he consequently represenative our community as such. I think that dressing as "they do" is a vital part of representing our community with dignity too.
Life Member

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