Let me give a try at this:
Headline: “Nashville” production team may need incentives to stay in Nashville
Actual story: The taxpayers of Tennessee paid 32% of the production costs of a show that is on a major broadcast network, and now the network is upset that the state may only pay 25% of the production costs for season 2.
Your tax dollars at work.
Earlier this week, I stopped by Wizard’s place to pick up the wedding gifts that were left at the reception. I mentioned to Wizard and his wife that one of my groomsmen bought me a BlendTec.
His wife cocked her head.
He started laughing in an evil way.
Yeah… Wizard and I were geeking out over a kitchen appliance.
And just in case you don’t know why:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOO1Z4u2Aq4&w=560&h=315]
*This is another one of those posts that I should probably state that this is purely my opinion and it doesn’t necessarily represent the opinion of WizardPC, who keeps letting me post here for some reason. My information comes solely from the sources that I have linked in this post. If you have not already done so, please follow and read them and come to your own conclusions.*
I’m sure most of you will remember me talking about Linoge’s experiences with the US Firearms’ ZiP Gun (now with response post!). Long story short, Linoge was able to reliably pull the trigger and operate the firing pin while the gun was out of battery. This caused a couple rounds to go off while not in battery (.22 ammo in notorious for not going into battery properly in a semi-auto). The President of the company apparently feels that 1. it’s impossible for a rimfire to detonate out of battery (evidence to the contrary), and 2. not having the trigger disconnected unless the gun is in battery is not a problem.
Well, shortly after that, the fine folks at guns.com reviewed the ZiP gun. While they failed to have the out of battery experience that Linoge had, they too noticed that their firearm had this “interesting design feature.” They also had a different malfunction. Their particular T&E item would, randomly, but repeatably, fire 2 rounds per trigger pull!
I have a theory that it may have not gone into burst mode, but rather the trigger actually got pulled twice. I have not handled this gun, but I could see this happening if the trigger reset is short. Given the… umm… interesting ergonomics of this weapon, plus the fact that it can be fired before it’s fully back into battery could mean that a looser trigger pull could essentially bump fire it. It’s a hair-brain theory, but I’m trying to give the manufacturer the benefit of the doubt.
I hadn’t really read or heard anything more about this quirky little gun until today, when I tripped over this forum post. Someone bought a ZiP gun, took it to the range, and discovered that his 10 round 10/22 mags were so tight a fit that he needed pliers to remove them (the 25 round mags didn’t work, but that’s to be expected). He reported multiple double shots, and at least one of them had the second round fire so dramatically out of battery that the case of the .22 did a rather good attempt on disintegrating.
So, it looks like he experienced *both* issues reported by the two previous reviews. I’d say that this is pretty damning evidence that these things should best left on the shelf.
Please don’t get me wrong. I admire this company for trying a rather radical new design. I would love to say that I’m trying to figure out a way to explain to the wife why I need to add it to my collection. Unfortunately, at this point, all signs point to this being a dangerous product. The most alarming thing is that the company that makes it can’t say that they are not unaware of the issues, and does not seem interested in fixing what is clearly a defective design.
I posted this on my facebook account, but thought I’d post it here as well. Of course, the chances that a non-gun person would read this is higher on my facebook account, but you guys might like it.
So, I’m guessing most of you have heard that someone has successfully managed to build a working firearm using nothing but 3D printed parts and a carpenter’s nail. Congress is freaking out over it. The designers have had it posted on the internet for a little while now. The BATFE has been asked about this several times and has posted a public letter stating that what these people are doing is legal as long as the person building the firearms is not selling them and is not a prohibited person (it is, in fact legal to build a firearm for personal use without background check, etc).
The original site (defcad.com) has since removed the the files due to a take down “request” from the Department of Defense Trade Controls. Notice that it’s not from the BATFE or another law enforcement agency that normally operates inside the United States. It’s the Department of Defense. The reasoning is that they are potentially distributing this information to foreign entities that may or may not be good guys.
Here’s why this should matter to non-gun people. The is the exact same law that the US government used in an attempt to suppress PGP and similar encryption programs in the 90’s. This is the government reminding us that it believes that it has not only the power, but the right to censor the internet if it thinks that the information might have military value.
Of course, the reality is the old saying “the internet sees censorship as damage and routes around it,” but this is very much a 1st amendment issue as well as a 2nd amendment issue. The internet has become very much integrated into our lives, and the idea that the constitution ends where our national borders end now being interpreted as the constitution ends where the internet begins.
I’ve noticed that a lot of folks have been excited and talking about getting their travel plans together for this weekend. I think this is great, but I need to tell you guys this…
I’m sorry, but I don’t think we ordered enough food for all of you for the wedding reception.
Everyone is talking about my wedding, right?
What’s that? The NRA is holding some little convention this weekend?
pfft. Whatever. Have fun.
I want lasagna
Tell computer I want it
The future is awesome
Just got back from a great concert with Naienko. I guess you might say it was a date.
She heard the following song at the concert for the first time, and has decided that it’s one of “our songs.”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alo16cEoBBA&w=420&h=315]
Yeah… we’re that kind of couple.
*yes, the concert was, in fact entitled “an Evening with Weird Al.”
Looking at the shelves where ammo used to live at various stores these past couple weeks, and I can’t help but think “I never knew so many companies made 7.62x54R.”
Seriously, was this a case of the ammo manufacturers clearing out their warehouses and just sending whatever they had to the gun shops?
I spotted an article in the Tennessean entitled Neighborhood meeting on youth violence remembers ‘ones we have already lost’ and thought it was going to be another of their anti-gun pieces. Surprisingly, other than using the phrase “gun violence” once, the piece makes no mention of anything other than the core issue: violence, and gang violence at that (“black-on-black youth murders”).
The solution that they’re pushing in the article is for “interventionist counselors” in the schools that specialize in gang mediation. If I recall correctly, LA has been trying the same thing for a number of years and found that approach to be the most successful at curbing gang violence (not eliminating, mind you).
It’s nice to see our local paper actually talk about trying to solve the actual problem instead of just removing a tool used.
So… I was afraid that Scruffy asking 5.11 to bring them back wasn’t another April Fools, and apparently it’s not. 5.11 is making tactical kilts again! Yes, they have raised the prices by $10, but they are donating $10 to charity (heeeeyyyyy… I see what you did there…).
As regular readers know, I’m a fan of kilts and ordered a couple of kilts from 5.11 the first time around. Sadly, they did not arrive in time for Kilted to Kick Cancer, and I don’t have any pictures with me in one. Of course, I do have a few shots of me wearing something from Utilikilts, and I thought I might share my thoughts on the 5.11 tactical kilt and compare them to Utilikilts.
Of course, you do need to remember that the price difference between the two makes it similar to comparing a Buick to a Bugatti. Sure, the Buick is a nice car, but…
And, for the most part, that’s the way I feel about these two items.
I have worn my two 5.11 kilts fairly often since I received them in September. They have held up well, although I will state that I haven’t exactly been rough on them. I also haven’t worn them to any cons simply due to them being fairly light weight and the weather just hasn’t permitted wearing them outside. The fabric is pretty thin, but has been double layered and is either double or triple stitched at the seems, and the creases have been stitched in, so there’s no fear of losing them. The cargo pockets have velcro closures. While they are removable, there is no way to close the pockets while not attached to the kilt. The snaps which are used to hold the pocket on as well as fasten the kilt are very secure. Almost to the point of being too difficult to un-snap.
I would say that the greatest fault of these kilts are the front slash pockets (unless you count the lack of rear pockets). The front pockets go on the outside of your leg like a pair of pants. To accommodate that, the angle of the actual pocket is straight down, which is a bit unnatural when you stick your hand into it. I prefer the way that my Utilikilts are set up where the front slash pockets run to the inside of your leg. First, this allows for obscene pocket space (I can pocket a full sized 1911 with ease). Second, anything in your front pockets will naturally pull your kilt down between your knees instead of the other way around. Remember that people should have to ask if you’re going regimental than being able to look and tell for themselves. Having mentioned this in passing to MrsWizardPC while I was delivering WizardPC’s kilt for my wedding, she confirmed that she had a few skirts like that. I believe this could simply be due to the designer normally designing pants and not thinking about it.
After all that, here’s a quick breakdown on my comparison of the two manufacturer’s kilts. I will use the Survival model of Utilikilt due to it being the most similar of models.
Utilikilts are made in the USA vs 5.11 made in Vietnam. Not sure how much that matters to you, but it does explain some of the cost difference.
The Survival kilt uses one layer of a significantly thicker fabric vs two layers of thinner fabric on the 5.11. There are ups and downs to both methods, but I prefer the single layer.
The Survival kilt uses significantly more fabric. This means a warmer kilt, and more pleats. This means it tends to hang better in my opinion (and conceals bits when sitting better). The 5.11 is damn near a pencil skirt for guys.
The Survival kilt uses button closures for it’s cargo pockets vs velcro for the 5.11. This is a personal opinion, but I like the snaps over velcro. I’ve had a few times where I either didn’t have anything in the pockets or very little and had issue where one patch of velcro would let go, but not the other. At which point I have to try to open the other without letting the first one close back up. Good news is that it’s high quality velcro that grabs fairly aggressively.
The removable pockets of the Survival can be closed when removed while the 5.11’s cannot. The Survival’s pockets also have belt loops on the back in case you want to strap them to a belt or something. Not sure the utility of that, but there you go.
The Survival’s slit pockets go to the inside of the leg vs the 5.11’s going on the outside.
The Survival has rear pockets vs. none for the 5.11.
5.11 has mount points for a sporran (I use 5.11’s 6.6 pouch) vs the Survival having a key chain clip. Both are useful, and having a sporran more than makes up for the lack of rear pockets.
The 5.11’s buttons are significantly stronger than the ones used by Utilikilts.
The Survival costs damn near 5 times what the 5.11 kilt does. Yep… you read that right. Remember my Buick vs Bugatti comparison?
Final say:
While not the best tactical/utility/modern kilt out there, the 5.11 is a great “starter kilt” for those out there that are curious about wearing one but balk at the price tag of something from Utilikilts, Alt.Kilt, or the others out there. At $70, I’d recommend them. Are the more expensive kilts out there that much better in my eyes? Sure, but not everyone can/are wanting/should drop that kind of change for one. Just like with firearms.
Oh, and I would like the record to show that I never thought that I would write a blog reviewing clothes.