Review Follow-Up - CZ-82 Holster from Michael's Custom Holsters

This time last year, I got my first custom made holster.  It was a basic high-rise pancake model from Michael, and it looked and felt wonderful:

Brand New Front

Brand New Back

I've been wearing this holster regularly for a year, and I have to say that it's held up surprisingly well.

One year on, front
This is the color of leather I prefer.

The opening is still stiff and snug

Belt loop

Belt loop

Back, one year on

Reverse of belt loop

As you can see, the leather is aging to a nice brown, and it should continue to darken as time goes on. On advice from Michael, I have used saddle soap and SnowSeal to clean and treat the leather.  The holster continues to be very stiff where it needs to be, but the belt loops have worn in to allow a gun belt to run through them without losing their grip.  Basically, it's easier to get the holster on, but once I have it set, it doesn't move until I move it.  

The holster grips the gun very well. If anything, it grips it better now than it did when it was brand new, as the leather has molded itself to the pistol.  The rough back has held up very well, but there is a very slight touch of wear where the belt runs against it.

As you can see, the construction of the holster is holding up extremely well  The stitching on the back has no sign of fraying or wearing out.  The layers of leather are all holding together very well, and like I said, it's become more comfortable and usable as time has gone on.

Normally when I do a review, I try to find a few things I like and a few things that could be improved, but in this case, I can't find anything amiss.  The comfort, looks, construction, and usability of this holster are all excellent.  I would definitely recommend Michael to anyone who wants to get a holster.

Review - Millennium Hotel, Saint Louis

Over the weekend, I stayed at the Millennium Hotel in Saint Louis.  This is a fairly modern hotel in downtown, close to the football and baseball stadiums, the convention center, and St. Louis's riverfront.  Here are my thoughts on the hotel and my stay there:

Pro's

• Location - It was a 15 minute walk from the convention center and football stadium, a few minutes away from Busch Stadium, and you have a magnificent view of the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River from the rear of the hotel.  The downtown district has a plethora of excellent restaurants and bars.  Parking for the hotel is convenient in either the front of the hotel or across the street in a garage.
• Staff - I found the staff to be friendly, efficient, and helpful.  The wait staff in the bar got a little behind on the two nights I went there for drinks and food, but they were trying to serve a large group of gunbloggers, NRA members, and baseball fans.  The shuttle driver we used when it was raining on Saturday was the nicest person I met in Saint Louis who wasn't specifically there for the convention.
• Cleanliness and Upkeep - The hotel was spotlessly clean, even in high traffic areas such as the lobby.  The hotel had a few blemishes in wall paper and drywall, and the stairwell in the north tower needed a good cleaning.
• Food - The food in the bar and the downstairs restaurant was excellent. I suggest trying the toasted ravioli.  I'm told that's a local St. Louis delicacy.
• Comfort - The rooms, and beds in particular, were very comfortable.  The lobby has several sets of chairs and couches for getting small groups together.  In the morning, a small Starbucks coffee booth is open, allowing you to read the newspaper and have your $2.00 cup of coffee while sitting in a comfy chair.

Con's

• Cost - Dennis from Dragon Leatherworks and I shared a room, and our price was a special rate for the NRA Annual Meeting.  I checked the plate on the door of our room, and the advertised price for a small room with two double beds was $279 per night.  For a nice hotel in the downtown district of a large city, I'd say that's about par for the course.  However, the hotel provided precisely nothing other than the room for that money.  Internet access, telephone, and breakfast were not included, and were quite pricey.  The wired network in the room cost $15 a day to use.  According to the guest services book, utilizing the phone in the room would have cost $1.20 for the first minute, with a charge for each additional minute afterwards.  Breakfast in the hotel was excellent, but cost $15.95 per person.  Maybe I'm spoiled, but I've paid much less for a hotel room and gotten complimentary Internet access and hot breakfast.  Parking at the hotel garage was also not complimentary.
• Size of the room - Like I said, the room was small.  There was a small desk for working, if you either paid for the Internet access or had a cellular modem, but that was about the extent of the excess space.  If I had been travelling with a family and needed a roll-out bed for a child, it would have been very tight.
• Hot Water - We stayed three nights, and I had a lukewarm shower two of three mornings.  At first, I thought it might be caused by my inability to work the all-in-one faucet in the shower, but the hot water was also absent in the sink.  Inquiries to the front desk were not fruitful.  I'd like to note here that I have not been in a hotel without adequate hot water since the last time I was in Eastern Europe.
• Pool/Jacuzzi - The hotel has a nicely furnished workout room, but both the indoor and outdoor pools were closed and covered by a tarp.  No whirlpool was evident, which would have been nice after walking the floor at the convention center all day.

 Overall, I'd say that the Millennium would be a good place to stay if you are coming into town for a one night stay, such as to see a baseball or football game, and just want a nice, safe, clean hotel to sleep in after leaving the stadium.  If you are a business traveller and will be in town for several days, you might get better value elsewhere.

Service Comparison - Online Ammunition Dealers

With the cost of ammunition going up and Girlie Bear learning to shoot, I'm going through a lot more .22.  I decided to stock up, and while I was at it I thought I'd compare service between the online ammunition dealers.

I bought the common denominator between all of my .22's in what they liked to eat: Remington 36 grain Golden Bullet .22 Long Rifle.  This is basically like comparing boxes of flour or any other commodity, so I was able to find several different vendors who offered them.  I bought it in the 525 round packs, as that seemed to be the largest box you can buy from most dealers without having to buy thousands of rounds at a time.

I compared my purchases on cost, ease of purchase, and time to ship to my home.  I used no special discounts on the purchase prices, and I paid for the lowest cost shipping available from each dealer.

Cost:

Vendor	Cost	Shipping/Handling	Fees	Total Cost	Cost Per Round
Cabelas	$19.99	$5.25		$25.24	$0.05
Ammunition to Go	$18.95	$11.64		$30.59	$0.06
Midway USA	$21.99	$9.95	$3.00	$34.94	$0.07
BassPro Shop	$20.49	$5.00		$25.49	$0.05
Sportsman's Guide	$21.49	$8.49	$0.99	$30.97	$0.06
Lucky Gunner	$20.00	$13.09		$33.09	$0.06

Cabelas and BassPro were the least expensive at 5 cents per round, with Midway USA being the most expensive at 7 cents.  All of the others had the average price per round of 6 cents.  Bass Pro and Cabelas would have come in a little cheaper if I had gone to one of their stores to pick up my purchase, but the nearest Bass Pro is more than $5 worth of gas away, and there won't be a Cabelas near here for a few more months.  It should be noted that most of these vendors offered a discount for buying several of these packs together, usually 10, so you could get a cheaper cost per round if you bought from one vendor in larger quantities.

Ease of Purchase:

Overall, all of these vendors had a pretty good shopping experience.  I bought from all of them as a 'guest' account, so none of my stored information with them was used.  Bass Pro Shop and MidWay USA probably had the best purchase sites based on the fewest number of clicks to get from the "Shopping Cart" page to the "Order Confirmed" page.  Sportsman's Guide took the longest to purchase from, had the largest number of pages to get through to complete the order, and I had to click through several "Don't you want to join our club and save money?" pages.  However, the difference wasn't significant and wasn't frustrating enough to make me quit.  Please keep in mind that this portion of the evaluation was totally subjective and based upon my impressions as I was making the purchases.  Your mileage may vary.

Time to Ship:

Vendor	Date Ordered	Date Arrived	Elapsed Days
Cabelas	03/21/12	03/26/12	5
Ammunition to Go	03/21/12	03/26/12	5
Midway USA	03/21/12	03/23/12	2
BassPro Shop	03/21/12	03/30/12	9
Sportsman's Guide	03/21/12	03/27/12	6
Lucky Gunner	03/24/12	03/28/12	4

In the amount of time it took to get from "Order Complete" to "Putting the box in the foot locker", Midway USA was by far the fastest at two days.  I got the shipment notice from Midway USA the same day I ordered, as has been my experience in all of the purchases I've done with them in the past.  Dead last by several days was Bass Pro, who took 9 days to get the bullets to me.  This was probably due to them being on back order, a situation Bass Pro was polite enough to tell me about half an hour after I had finalized the purchase on their website. The average time from order to front door was 5 days.

Miscellaneous Thoughts:

Like I said, Bass Pro put my order on back order without telling me about it during purchase.  I probably wouldn't have included them in my comparison if they had told me that they didn't have that product in stock at the time of purchase, but since they finalized the order and then told me, they got put in with the rest of the pack.  Their time from order to delivery was 9 days, almost twice the average time of 5 days.

Lucky Gunner had the exact opposite problem.  When I was making the rest of the purchases on the 21st, they didn't have this particular .22 LR in stock, so didn't list it.  A few days later, they had it in, so I bought from them.  They got the bullets to me in less than the average time, so I'd put them up as a win.

Conclusions:

Honestly, with the exception of the out-of-stock situation with Bass Pro, all of the vendors excelled in some way, either in price, ease of purchase, or speed of shipping.  Bass Pro and Cabela's were the least expensive, while Lucky Gunner and Midway USA were the most expensive.  However Bass Pro took the longest to get me my merchandise, while the more expensive options of Lucky Gunner and Midway USA got them to me the fastest.  Cabelas appears to be the sweet spot in this comparison for excellent cost per round and average speed of shipment.

So which one would I recommend?  Well, it depends.  If you need the rounds fast, I'd say go with Midway USA or Lucky Gunner.  If cost, not speed, is your priority, then I'd suggest Cabela's or Bass Pro.  However, the other vendors, while not outstanding when compared to any of these choices, still got my purchase to me in a reasonable amount of time and at a reasonable cost.  I would definitely recommend looking at all of these vendors if you are considering purchasing ammunition in the near future.  The major difference in cost between all of them was due to shipping costs, so what was less expensive to ship for me might be more for you and vice versa, especially if you are buying in bulk.  

Disclaimer:  I received nothing to do this review, and all materials and services discussed in it were paid for by me.

Product Review - Michael's Custom Holsters Pancake Holster for 1911

Back in December, I bought myself a Remington R1 1911.  I wanted a good holster for it, so I saved up some money and ordered one from Michael's Custom Holsters.

I really liked the pancake holster he made for my CZ-82, so I asked him to make one for this 5 inch 1911.  It arrived last week, and I've been wearing it pretty much every moment I'm not at work since.

The holster is made from very stiff cowhide, and conforms very well both to the gun and my hip.  There are no stitches showing on the outside of the holster, but you can see the very tough stitchwork that holds it together on the back. The 15 degree forward cant that Michael put into it makes for a very comfortable draw, and aids in keeping the gun from either riding too low to easily conceal or too high to keep it out of my ribs.  That being said, it is still a 5 inch 1911, so what made a good cover garment for the CZ doesn't always work as well with this gun in this holster.  But the way that the holster conforms to my hip made it easy to find things already in my closet that worked very well.

The belt loops are very stiff, but my experience with my other holster of the same model tells me that they will wear in rather quickly.  I am wearing one of the gun belts that Michael sells, and it mates very well with the holster.  

The gun stays in the holster very well.  I tested it out by doing squat thrusts, deep bends, and just carrying it around while working in the yard with the gun unloaded.  It never moved from the holster, but I was still able to do very easy draws.  The holster also didn't move on the belt at all.  It releases the gun very smoothly and with only a little bit of effort to pull it out.  

As you can see from the pictures, it conceals this full-sized 1911 very well. 

Now you see me.....

Now you don't 

Again, I chose to get the holster without any pattern or color added to the leather, but Michael can do pretty much anything you ask when it comes to decoration.  I just prefer the way that leather looks as it ages naturally.

A custom leather holster is going to cost more than what you would pay for a mass produced model, but not that much more.  For the additional cost, you get the outstanding customer service, choices in materials and styles, and quality that Michael brings to the game.  I look at the $190 I paid for the holster as money well spent, as I expect to be able to use the holster regularly for several years for both open and discreet carry.

Disclaimer - I received nothing in exchange for doing this review.  I paid for all materials used.  

Product Review - 5.11 Tactical Pants

Along with the polo shirt that 5.11 Tactical provided for review, they also included a pair of their their Tactical Pants.  These are cotton cargo pants that seem to be built for rough duty.  They are well-fitting, tough, and comfortable.  They are a bit of overkill for the guy who wants a pair of cargo pants to wear while heading down to Starbucks on Valentine's Day, but they make great pants for outdoor work, sports, and anything where you need something that will stand up to abuse and still look good.

The pants are made of a cotton material that is somewhere between denim and canvas in thickness and strength.  It's very comfortable and breathes very well, but is stiffer than the material in jeans or khakis.  It's also tough.  I wore these mens cargo pants while doing yard work, running around in concrete and steel buildings, moving wood and running the chain saw, and while doing construction work around the house, and all they did was get dirty.  In comparison, the name brand cargo pants I bought at Superdupermegamart at Christmas time have several holes ripped in them, and are very faded.

Speaking of getting dirty, I couldn't keep them dirty.  I got these things filthy with motor oil, chain oil, dirt, fake blood (semi-intentionally), real blood (unintentionally), and just about every other funky thing I could find.  The only thing that took more than one washing to come out was red clay soil, and that didn't stain permanently.  The only thing I noticed after 20+ cycles through the wash was that the edges of seams started to fade a bit.  The pants didn't wrinkle if folded or hung up promptly after being removed from the washer dryer, but did get wrinkly when left in the bottom of a gym bag for a few hours.  Then again, these aren't dress pants, so I didn't mind them wrinkling a bit.

Some minor fading along edges

The construction of the pants is designed for hard use.  All places where seams come together are reinforced with extra stitching and material.  The knees are doubled over, with an interior pocket for knee pads if those are necessary.   The closure for the pants is a snap, which seems to be pretty rugged.  I personally prefer the rivet type closure you find on jeans, but this snap does not seem to be as delicate and prone to breakage as you find with other snaps and sewn-on buttons.

Snap Closure.
 I was evil to this thing, but it never popped open
unexpectedly or broke

The pockets that have closures are secured with hook and loop material.  The patches of this material are put on with double and triple stitching, so they're not going to come off under rough usage.  However, like anything else using hook and loop, you're going to make an unmistakable noise when you open a pocket, which is less than optimal when trying to be quiet when hunting.

Left thigh cargo pockets

One thing that I found missing on these pants was a shallow hip pocket on either side for a wallet.  There are deep hip pockets that go down to mid thigh, and those are quite roomy and good for keeping tools, magazines, and other things you want handy but not sliding around.  I tried carrying my wallet in one of these pockets, but it wasn't comfortable having a wallet banging against my thigh while I was walking or pressed up against my leg when I'm driving or sitting.  I found that the wallet could easily go in one of the cargo pockets with no discomfort, though.  I'm just a creature of habit, and I always reach for my wallet on my hip.

Rear pockets

The other pocket issue I found was the width of the opening for the front pockets.  These are nice, deep pockets that beg to be used for pocket carry, but I found that the opening was very tight for my hands when retrieving keys or trying to practice a draw from a pocket holster.  Now, keep in mind that I have very large hands (No commercial glove maker makes gloves big enough for me), so someone with smaller hands might find them more usable.  One good part of these openings being so tight was that I never had a problem with the sundry small items I carried around in them falling out.  Once it was in the pocket, it stayed in the pocket.

One nice fixture for me was the pocket that sits on the front of the left thigh.  I found this very handy for carrying either the reloads for my carry gun or a pocket knife and flashlight.  Two single-stack magazines had a lot of room left in the pocket with them.  Two double stack magazines were held very snugly.

Additional thigh pocket on left side of pants

Single stack magazines left a lot of room

One other feature that I had to figure out was the strap of webbing across the right hip. I eventually had to ask 5.11 what it was for, and their answer made sense at once:  it's for carabiners.  These pants were originally designed for climbers, and this was a convenient place to put all of the carabiners and other things that clip on for that sport.  Lo and behold, it was perfect for clipping on a knife or keys with a carabiner.  It was loose enough that clipping things on was easy, but not so loose that things flopped around.

Der Strap

That "just right" model seems to work for the rest of the way that the pants fit.  They're snug where they need to be without being tight, and they're loose where they need to be without being floppy.  There was enough room underneath them for me to add a layer of thermal underwear when it was cold without looking like the Staypuft Marshmallow Man.  The pants moved very well as I stretched and worked with no binding.  I have it on good authority that they looked good on me.  However, these are definitely not pants for office wear.  These are work and play pants, either because you're kicking in doors, walking through the woods, or working around the house and yard.  I got no weird looks at the grocery store, but interestingly enough, got some quizzical looks at the gun store.

Overall, I'd rate these as a good value.  The one thing that I see missing from them is the aforementioned pocket for a wallet, and they definitely can't have double use as something you could wear to the office and then wear on the weekends.  They price out at $54.99, but I expect that they will last for years with proper care.

Disclaimer:  5.11 Tactical provided me with the materials for this review, but I received no other compensation for doing it.  I offered to return the pants when I was done with the evaluation.

Product Review - Woodchuck Hard Cider Winter

I decided to try something different tonight when I dropped by the liquor store.  I wasn't in the mood for wine, and I didn't want to break the budget by picking up a bottle of bourbon that I haven't tried yet.  Instead I visited the cold drink corner of the store, which allows you to mix and match bottles of beer and such to make your own custom six pack.

One of the things I picked up was a bottle of Woodchuck Hard Cider Winter edition.  I started drinking hard cider during a visit to merry olde England years ago, and it's a treat to get some.  Unfortunately it's not always available here in the States, and when it is, the selection can be a bit thin.

Woodchuck is one of the few brands of cider that I can find consistently here in Louisville.  I have tried and liked their amber, pear, and Granny Smith varieties.  According to their website, they also make a raspberry, a dark, and a 'crisp', which I haven't tried.

Should have gotten some for Groundhogs Day

The carbonation fizzed out within a couple of minutes

The winter cider is about the same color as the amber, but is sweeter.  It has a good apple taste, but it's not very sharp or long lasting in the mouth.  The bottle I sampled had quite a bit of carbonation in it, but that fizzed out within minutes.  There are hints of spices, and the slight aftertaste is vaguely reminiscent of an apple pie.  The flavor is not as strong as the amber or granny smith varieties, but is not as sweet as the pear.

The ingredients list includes sulfites to preserve the flavor, as do most fruit-based carbonated drinks such as hard cider.  Some may find that this makes the drinker more susceptible to a hangover the next morning, but I have only found that to be the case with Woodchuck if I drink a lot of it.  Since cider is sweeter than beer or wine, it can be very easy to drink it to excess if you like the flavor, and I do.  That is one of the reasons I only bought one bottle.

Overall, I'd rate this one as good.  Not excellent, not one of my favorites, but also not something I wouldn't recommend trying.

Product Review - 5.11 Professional Polo

The good folks over at 5.11 Tactical asked me to do a review of some of their apparel, and since I wear polo shorts most of the day, they let me do a review of one of their Professional Polo's.


The shirt itself is a standard, but well built, short sleeved polo shirt, but with a few extras thrown in:


First, instead of having a breast pocket or no pocket at all, there is a double pen pocket on the left sleeve.  It stood up to capped pens, metal mechanical pencils, and old fashioned wooden #2's with no stretching or ripping.  The pocket is bisected so that pens can be carried without becoming tilted to one side or another.  The pen pocket is deep enough that a pen can be entirely encased in it if necessary, but isn't so stiff at the opening that you can't get it out easily or have it clipped to the outside for quick access.  It is a bit more difficult to get at your pen when you're wearing a jacket, but it's not too bad.  You just look like a goober reaching up in the sleeve of your coat for a few moments.

Pen completely inside pocket

Another touch that 5.11 added was permanent stays in the collar to keep it from curling.  I put this shirt through 10 cycles in the washer and dryer, and the stays didn't deform at all.  The collar stays folded correctly and the corners do not curl at all.

Collar Stay after 10 cycles through the laundry

5.11 also advertises the shirt as not wrinkling, shrinking, or fading, and it meets that standard.  After 10 cycles of warm water and hot dryer, the shirt stayed completely wrinkle free after being hung on a hanger, and had only minor creases after being stuffed in the bottom of a gym bag for a few hours. These minor wrinkles came out after a few minutes of wear.  The shirt did not shrink at all, and I only noticed extremely minor fading at the top of the collar notch seam.  Please note that I went over the shirt with a fine toothed comb looking for defects after use, and the fading I saw had to be looked for.  Irish Woman did not notice it until I pointed it out, and I only noticed it after the first washing and it got no lighter or larger.  It may have been excess dye in the material coming out at a point in the fabric that is held tight by the stitching.

The shirt has generous cuts at the bottom of the side seams to make it more comfortable to reach for a wallet or a something carried at the belt line.
  

The material used isn't the softest cotton I've ever worn, but it is very comfortable and wears well.   It's also pretty rugged.  It's not the shirt I would wear to go out and cut wood with the chainsaw, but I have snagged it on car doors, had computer equipment rub against it with sharp edges, and worn it while doing work around the house with no wear and tear.  I didn't cut at it with a blade or a sharp rock, but that's not the kind of abuse it's designed to take.  


I tested how well it took getting dirty in a few ways.  It got splattered with tomato sauce, finger paint, greasy crud from the inside of an old computer, and motor oil.  I washed it after each of these messes in warm water with standard laundry detergent, and it all came out with no staining or oil marks.  That alone impressed me.


I wore the shirt to work, while out with the family, and around the house.  It wore well, didn't bind up when I was reaching for things or wrestling with Boo, and was very comfortable to wear.  This being winter, I wore it with an undershirt, and it was warm enough that I didn't need a sweater for quick trips to the car and such.  The material is light enough that I expect it will breathe well in warmer weather.


5.11 Tactical's Polo Shirts for Men are priced between $34.99 and $49.99, which may seem a bit high for a polo shirt.  However, the quality, comfort, and ruggedness of the shirt lead me to believe that it would last and be wearable in an office environment for much longer than the less expensive polo's I wear from department stores.  They come in a myriad of colors, so you don't have to go to work looking like Tactical Tony in coyote brown if you don't want to.


So my take away on this shirt is that it's a good value, it's comfortable, and it will last as long as you care to wear it.


Disclaimer - 5.11 Tactical provided me with the material I tested for this review.  I was given no other consideration for writing it, and I am offering to return the shirt now that the evaluation is over.  

Product Review - Maxpedition Mongo Versapack

Like most geeks out there, I carry a laptop and the sundry odds and ends it needs for work.  I used backpacks from Targus for several years, which were wonderful backpacks, but they were so large that I found myself throwing more and more crap into them as time went on.  Eventually, I was carrying as much junk to work as I used to take on ruck marches.

When my backpack wore out, I decided to go in another direction.  I wanted a laptop bag that was rugged, could carry enough stuff that I wouldn't have to stuff it every day in order to get to work, but wasn't so big that I could just keep chucking stuff into it.

I saw several people at the NRA Annual Meeting carrying small bags from Maxpedition, so I took a look at their line.  They have everything from the tactical man purse to rucksacks and everything in between.  My range carries a few things from them, so I was able to take a look at the quality of their work, and I was impressed.  I eventually settled on the Maxpedition Mongo Versipack.

Photo from Maxpedition website

The Mongo is big enough I can put a Dell laptop, power supply, a Logitech trackball mouse, a water bottle, a notebook, and my lunch without any crowding.  When I want to, I can fit in a Macbook, its power supply, a novel, and a few more things before having to wonder about how I'm going to close the main zippers and buckles.  Honestly, weight is the limiting factor.  The Mongo is a messenger bag, so the carrying strap is worn across your chest and shoulders.  Too much weight in the bag means discomfort in the shoulder.

Most of my EDC Crap

All the EDC crap in one convenient package,
with a bit of room for lunch, another computer, or whatever

It carries exactly as much as I need for a day, but not much more.  It definitely keeps me from putting ever increasing amounts of crap into my bag.

The bag is well made and rugged.  I have used it as a laptop bag, diaper bag, picnic basket, and odds and ends bag while hunting.  It carries just about everything I need or want, and shows no wear after several months of use.  Cleaning the fabric is pretty simple.  I just use a wet dishrag and some liquid soap, and any schmutz comes off with a little elbow grease.

The bag has pockets and pouches for everything, including a water bottle holder with a drain hole, several pockets for whatever you carry, and a cellphone/MP3 player carrier on the strap.  The phone carrier holds my iPhone very well when it is in a slim case, but my OtterBox rubberized case was too big for it.

The phone carrier holds very securely, and has some expansion for larger phones

Interior pocket.  Hook and loop material on both sides allows for addition of accessories

One of two key hooks.  This one is located on the strap, the other one is in the front pocket.
This is very convenient when going through airport security.

One quibble on this is that there is a LOT of hook and loop material on the bag.  When you're trying to be quiet in the woods while carrying it, you're going to make noise getting your water bottle out or opening up one of the pockets.  Also, hook and loop is a magnet for dirt and burrs when you're walking through the woods.  Most of the time I have spent cleaning the bag up has been spent picking something out of the loop material.

One upshot of the hook and loop is that you can put on hook and loop patches. I got a nametape from Military Names, and it is easily put on and taken off of the hook and loop panel on top of the bag.

Maxpedition has a lot of extra pouches and other doodads that you can buckle, velcro, or strap to its bags.  These include a hook and loop 'universal' holster and magazine carrier for off-body carry.  Again, weight is a limiting factor in a messenger bag.  The more stuff you carry and strap onto your bag, the more weight the strap across your deltoids is going to have to sit under.  The strap is padded, but there is a point where it would be too much.

Two things that might give someone pause in buying the Mongo are its appearance and price.  Maxpedition is unapologetically making 'tactical' bags, which means they look like something you could take on patrol.  Unless your office is behind Baghdad barriers, you're not going to blend in with the rest of the IT crowd.  Also, their color selections appear to be brown, green, or black, or some variation thereof.  I chose the more subdued of their greens, which they call 'foliage'.

Maxpedition's prices are a bit steep when compared to laptop bags from Targus or Swiss Army, but you definitely get what you pay for.  I've been using this bag every day for six months, and it has no sign of wear or stain.  Maxpedition lists the bag for $157.99, but Amazon has them for $112.  Either way, it's more than I had ever spent on an EDC bag, but I expect that it will last far longer than the less expensive bags that I considered.

Overall, the Mongo is a good value, as long as you plan on using it often and for a long time.  Its looks might not be for everyone, but it is a good bag for carrying those things you need for your day and nothing more.

Almost forgot:  Disclaimer - I was given no compensation for doing this review.  I purchased the equipment with my own money.

Product Review - LG Tone Wireless Headset

A couple of months ago, I destroyed my third set of Apple headphones for my iPhone.  I like the soft rubber sort of noise isolation kind rather than the cheaper ear buds, so that means I've spent about $200 on headphones.  Yeah, I'm an idiot.  The main thing that would happen was that I would either lose the soft earbuds, which Apple does not seem to sell replacements for and 3rd party replacements didn't fit quite right, or cut/break the wire when working on something.  BTW, if you ever want to hear good, honest to God American cussing, take a recording of my rant when I cut through the cord of $75 earphones with a hedge trimmer.

I decided to try a wireless headphone this time.  I needed them to be relatively light, stereo, and with good audio and range. 

A little research led me to the LG Tone HBS-700 BlueTooth headset, which gave me everything I need for less than another wired set from Apple. 

The Tone is different from any of the other BlueTooth headsets I tried out.  The set hangs across the back of the neck, with wired earphones that go up to the ears. This means they're a lot more comfortable to wear than the other stereo BlueTooth headsets I looked at, which tended to be the over the ear type with more of the weight of the set being put on the ears.  When not in use, the back of each earpiece clips magnetically to the front of the set. 

Audio quality is pretty good.  It's not as good as the high end Bose sets I looked at, but it costs 1/3 as much.  The sound quality is definitely better than most of the over the ear sets I looked at.  The noise isolation works as well as any other non-noise cancelling set that has the rubber inserts but not the noise cancelling electronics.

Controls are pretty intuitive.  One side has the on/off switch, volume control, and the button for answering the phone and initiating voice commands on your phone.  The other side has a stop/start button and the reverse/fast forward button. 

The set latched onto my iPhone and laptop pretty easily.  One quibble I have with the set is that once I mated it with my laptop after using it for a while with my phone, it didn't want to go back to working with the iPhone again.  I eventually had to shut down the laptop entirely, then go through several rounds of the link-up procedure to get it to work. 

Battery life on the set is pretty good.  It's advertised as having 10 hours of talk time with 15 days of idle time.  My experience is that I can listen to music and make phone calls for between 6 and 8 hours before the annoying "Charge me" beep starts to go off.  Recharging is done through a wall wart transformer that connects to a small port on the inside of the right wing of the set.  Recharging is advertised as taking 2.5 hours, which is pretty much my experience.  One downside on this is that while recharging, the headset turns itself off, so using it while recharging doesn't happen. 

LG lists the range on the Tone as being 33 feet, and while I've never done a measured straightline test, that sounds about right for unobstructed connection.  I can easily leave the phone on the table in the living room and go pretty much anywhere on the same floor and still have a good connection.  I did have some issues with range when I kept my phone in an OtterBox case, but when I changed to another case, the issue went away. 

The Tone seems to be pretty rugged.  I've used it while working outside and while exercising, and it holds up to dirt and sweat pretty well.  I haven't gotten them totally drenched in water, but they are advertised as being water resistant, not water proof.  The problem of the rubber earbuds falling off with the Apple headphones hasn't cropped up, probably because I'm not pulling them loose by tripping of a wire and ripping them out of my ears on a regular basis.

Overall, I'd say that the HBS-700 is a good value. It's comfortable, has good sound quality and range, pretty good battery life, and doesn't fall apart through normal use.

Disclaimer:  I received nothing for doing this review.  I purchased the product with my own money.

Movie Review - The Smurfs

OH GOD MAKE IT STOP!  THE PAIN!  THE BAD ACTING!  THE OVERPLAYED CLICHES!  GET THAT BLOODY LA-LA-LA SONG OUT OF MY HEAD!  KILL IT!  KILL IT WITH FIRE!

Movie Review - The Muppets

Dear Jim Henson,

As a lifelong fan of the Muppets, Sesame Street, and just about every other project you were involved in, I would like to extend a heartfelt apology to you and your legacy for spending $19.50 to buy Boo, Girlie Bear, and myself matinee tickets to see the gilded turd that has been foisted upon the world by whoever owns your trademark these days.

I plan to begin a personal quest to discover what remains of your carcass and return it to its final resting place.  I fear that there will not be much left, seeing as how it has been picked over to make this waste of digital celluloid, but I will do my best.

Sincerely,

Daddy J. Bear

---

Today was clear, bright, and cold.  If there was snow on the ground, I would have taken the children sledding.  Since I live in Kentucky, that magical region where it's too warm to get snow on a regular basis and too cold to walk around in jeans and a tee shirt, I found another activity for our little band:  we went to the movies.

Our choices that seemed at all appropriate for a 3 year old, a 13 year old, and a 40 year old boiled down to the new Chipmunks movie and "The Muppets".  Since I'd rather gouge out my eyes and immolate myself in the runoff pond from a goat ranch than watch another Chipmunks movie, I decided to go see the Muppets.

I love the Muppets. I grew up watching the Muppet Show and Sesame Street.  I have seen every Muppet movie that I can in the theaters and I own most of them on DVD.  My kids have also enjoyed Jim Henson's work from as early as I could get them to watch it.  So this seemed like a natural choice.

You know, maybe Alvin and the Chipmunks wouldn't have been that bad.

The plot of this 'movie' centers around two brothers, one a Muppet and one a human.  The human brother is in love with the school shop teacher, played by a cute redhead with a tolerable singing voice.  The human guy, well, he could hit some notes but hold few.  Yes, this is a musical, in the tradition of most of the other Muppet movies.  Difference is that in the other Muppet movies, the main characters were mostly Muppets, and they did the majority of the singing.  Here, it seemed to be a Muppet musical about humans singing.

Also, in other Muppet movies, the creators were trying to tell a story.  In the original Muppet Movie, it was about how the Muppets came together as a group.  Same goes with the rest of the movies, all the way down to Muppets in Space.  Yeah, that one was cheesy, but it was funny, and it was Muppets telling a story, not Muppets for the sake of Muppets.

Basically, this is a "let's get the band back together by a deadline" movie.  For those of you who've seen the Blues Brothers, it's kind of like that, but without the car chases, good music, Illinois Nazis, or jokes.

The movie spends most of its first two acts poking fun at Muppets cliches.  Some gags worked, some didn't.  The third act moves pretty well, but if you've seen the other movies and watched the Muppet Show a bit, you've seen most of it already.

The villain, because there has to be a villain, is a rich oil executive.  Yeah, rich white guys who want to exploit Gaia get to be the bad guys.  I could have accepted that as them doing another cliche, but the gangster rap number the villain did just didn't click with me.

About halfway through the movie, I quit trying to kickstart my interest in the movie and started observing the crowd in the theater.  Like I said, it's slim pickings for movies that are appropriate for young kids, so the small theater we were in was busy.  What I heard was kids talking and playing with toys, with adults occasionally bursting into laughter.  Once the popcorn, soda, and Skittles were gone, Boo gave the movie about 20 minutes before he started to get really bored.  Girlie Bear didn't even make it that long.  By the time I looked up, she was reading a book by the light of her cell phone. (We were in the back row of the theater, so I didn't mind so long as she was polite about it).

I think this one is going to go into the "Movies I will not admit exist" file, along with Highlander 2 and Starship Troopers.  If you want to see this movie, give it a year or so, at which point it will be played repeatedly on Disney Channel or one of the other cable channels that wants to appeal to young families.

Movie Review - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II has been sitting on our shelf for a couple of weeks.  Girlie Bear saw it in the theater, but Irish Woman and I had just watched Part I last weekend.  I read the book when it first came out, but Irish Woman was going in blind.  After we put Boo to bed last night, we gave it a watch.

If you are looking for a family movie, look elsewhere.  This movie has very little language, little blood, but it is quite violent, and the action scenes are probably too intense for young children.  If you've watched the rest of the series, you'll have noticed that each book and its accompanying movie has become darker and more intense, so this should come as no surprise.  I would not suggest this movie for children under 12, even if they have read the books.

That being said, I was impressed with this movie.  The acting, cinematography, and special effects were very good.  For those aspects, I'd say that Parts I and II of the Deathly Hallows will go down as the best of the series.  It is good to see that the talent that was glimpsed in the child actors during earlier movies has come to full flower as they have matured.

The pacing for Part II did not drag as much as it seemed to in Part I, but if you consider that Part I was setting the scene for Part II, then it can be excused for a large amount of plot exposition with some action while Part II was mostly action scenes with some plot advancement in the spaces between duels and daring do.

One quibble I have with the story, and this is a minor one, is that a lot of the  Dumbledore's back story was cut out.  In the book, this explained a lot of this pivotal character's motivations, but the writers and directors can be forgiven for leaving this out of what turned out to be a six-hour, two-movie adaptation of a long book.  I wouldn't be surprised if that part of the story was brought out in the inevitable director's cut or collector's edition or whatever they call the next attempt to shake the money tree.

Summing up, I'd recommend this movie, along with the entire series of books and movies, to anyone who is mature enough to understand the subject matter.  I think one of the smartest things that J.K. Rowling did was to make each chapter in her saga a little more mature, which kept her audience interested as they in turn matured.  As a parent, I will work with Boo to space out the books and movies so that he experiences them just as he becomes old enough to understand the story.

Product Review - Caldwell Emax Low Profile Hearing Protection

I absolutely hate in-the-ear hearing protection.  They're not comfortable to me, and I just can't use them if I want to speak to someone or hear what they're saying.  Yes, they're ubiquitous and cheap, but they're just not for me.

This past spring, I decided to take the plunge and get a pair of electronic earmuffs for shooting and high noise work.

Caldwell Emax Low Profile Earmuffs
Photo from Midway, USA website

I pretty much stumbled on electronic earmuffs by accident.   A friend of mine had an older pair and seemed to really like his.  I thought for $30 a pair, I could get these and try them out to see if a more expensive pair was worth the time.  I bought a pair of the EMax Low Profile Earmuffs and took them to the range.  After trying them, I've bought another pair for use when working with Girlie Bear or a new shooter at the range.  Their comfort and aid in hearing while wearing ear protection makes a huge difference over plain earmuffs or foam earplugs.

These electronic earmuffs feature a microphone on each ear, an adjustable headband, and a volume control that takes the sound from normal to very amplified depending on your needs and preferences.  One advantage I saw about these over some of the other models I've looked at is that access to the two AAA batteries is through a compartment on the outside of the earmuffs.  Other models required taking the cushion and internal electronics out in order to access the batteries.  The over-the-head band extends far enough that I could wear these comfortably over a hat and still place them securely over my ears.

There is a bit of hiss that is quite noticeable in a low-noise environment, but isn't distracting.  They cut off the microphones quite well when hearing a loud noise such as gunfire or a chainsaw motor, with little to no delay before going silent.  I have worn these doing yard work, at the Knob Creek machine gun shoot, to the range, and to the Lucky Gunner shoot with no ringing in my ears or other hearing issues afterwards.

I also wear these earmuffs when I'm out at Fort Knox doing volunteer work as a role player, and they have done an excellent job both in keeping my hearing safe from flash bang grenades and other nearby explosions and in staying on my head while I'm running and jumping around.  I cannot say the same about the Peltor earmuffs that are stocked at the range for role players.

One quibble with these is that since the padded cups are covered in plastic, you will sweat underneath them, necessitating taking a break occasionally to wipe them out.  However, the covering makes for an excellent seal between the cups and your skin.  Also, the vinyl covering has no cracking or deforming after several months of regular wear in both hot and cold conditions.

Overall, I'd say that these electronic earmuffs are a good value for someone who is a recreational shooter or needs good hearing protection while working around noise sources that cut in and out.  The sound quality from the microphones and speakers is good, and the ability to talk at a normal tone on the range and still hear is great.

Disclaimer - I received nothing for this review.  I paid for the product myself.

Product Review - New Menu MRE's

Since today was hunt day for Girlie Bear and me, I decided to have a treat for lunch and grabbed two MRE's out of the camping gear.  These are from the new menu, and I haven't tried them, so I thought I'd try them out.

Girlie Bear got Beef Stew and I got Beef Brisket.  Here are my impressions:

• Beef Stew - Dinty Moore quality.  'Nuf said.
• Beef Brisket - For those of you who remember C-Rats, it was almost identical in taste and texture to Beef in Sauce.  It did, however, come with a tear-open packet of pretty good barbecue sauce to mix in.  This, however, made the meal almost soupy enough to drink.  It also came with a 'biscuit' that when mixed in made it a bit easier to eat with the included spoon.
• Garlic Mashed Potatoes - The side dish for the Beef Stew meal.  These weren't too bad, actually, but garlic mashed potatoes in field rations?  Really?  These must have been what the packet of Butter Buds in the accessory pack was intended for. 
• Desserts - The Beef Stew came with a spiced pound cake, which Girlie Bear reported was quite yummy. The Beef Brisket came with what I call a "M&M Cookie", but is described on the package as a "Cookie with Pan Coated Chocolate Disks".  Both Girlie Bear and I gave this a thumbs up.
• Hot Drinks  - The Beef Brisket came with hot cocoa, and the Beef Stew came with vanilla cappuccino.  Apparently, the days of mixing your instant coffee, cocoa, sugar, and creamer to make a poor man's mocha are over.  These came in a new container, which is basically an hourglass shaped mylar envelope with a closer like a Zip-Loc bag on it.  The powder is in the envelope already, allowing the soldier to tear open the top, add water, re-close the envelope, shake to mix, then drink.  If hot water isn't available, cold water can be used, and the drink can be heated using the meal's heater packet.  Not sure how these taste or how easy it is to drink a hot liquid from a mylar envelope, but I'm going to give one of these a try tomorrow.
• Accessory Packet - The coffee, creamer, and sugar are no longer included, at least not in these meals.  To me, this would be a problem, as one of my favorite tricks when I absolutely had to stay awake through exhaustion was to either put the instant coffee between my cheek and gums like it was chewing tobacco or to place it a granule at a time under my eyelids.  Either way, the pain and caffeine being absorbed directly into the blood stream would keep me awake for at least a few hours.  For those not that psychotic or self-hating, the ability to make a quick cup of coffee after gathering the fixings from several MRE's was a lifesaver.   The Beef Brisket included a miniature bottle of Tobasco sauce, as was usual after the First Gulf War.  However, the Beef Stew instead had the Butter Buds flavoring for the potatoes instead.  Again, I see this as a problem.  The stew, while OK in flavor, definitely needed something added, especially if a soldier is going to be eating this item once every few days.

Overall, the two meals were pretty good, especially when compared with some of the other MRE's I've eaten (Shelf stable omelet, anyone?).  My main quibbles are with how practical I see the hot beverage container and the lack of instant coffee and Tobasco in the accessory pack.  That being said, I would much rather spend several months eating this fare over the meals I regularly got in the 1990's, even when the first menu changes came along in 1996 and 1997.

Disclaimer - I didn't get anything for this review.  I paid for the product with my own money.

Movie Review: The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Continuing my habit of watching movies a year after they're released, the other night we watched The Sorcerer's Apprentice.  This was a fun movie to watch, but not one that I plan on watching over and over.  Since it's a modern Disney movie, it's OK for Girlie Bear or Boo to watch with us without the adults being bored/irritated out of their skulls.  It has the normal story arc of "boy meets girl, girl thinks boy's a cute dork, boy impresses girl, girl thinks he might be more than a cute dork, girl gets kidnapped by ancient evil, boy saves girl, boy and girl go on to face an even more ancient and more evil entity together, cut to black".  How many times have we seen that one?

Basically, Nicolas Cage plays himself, which in this case happens to be a centuries old wizard who has made a hobby out of locking evil wizards into new layers of a matrioshka doll.  Jay Baruchel plays the same character he played so successfully in "How to Train Your Dragon", but this time he's a college nerd who also happens to be an unknown wizard who has all of the powers of Merlin.

Taking a cue from George Lucas and his fabled midiclorians explanation for why the Jedi Knights are so badass, Cage's character explains that wizards are just normal people who can use 100% of their brains, unlike the rest of us who only use 10%. This ability gives wizards the power to see matter and energy for what they really are and take advantage of that knowledge to manipulate it for good and evil.  Look for an annoying CGI character to show up in the inevitable sequel.

Speaking of CGI, the effects in this were pretty good, actually.  The Disney crew was able to put in the effects pretty seamlessly without them becoming the story.

So, overall, this movie was worth the bandwidth to stream it and the two bags of popcorn we made to enjoy it with.  I'd give it 3 stars out of five.  It's an enjoyable romp, but it's not going to change your life by watching it.