Start with a Marlin Papoose…

Add a… wait, what now?

You can’t be serious….

Oh Lord, I think he’s serious.

Yep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0B6xqbhxp4

One of the things I picked up at the NRAAM was one of KelTec’s CL43 flashlights.  The folks at the KelTec booth were nice enough to give me one for review.  This particular one was used as a demo by one of the guys working the booth.  When I received it, the batteries were pretty much already dead and needed replacing.

The CL43 is the larger of the two flashlights KelTec makes (the smaller being the CL-42).  Both are rated at 420 lumens, but the CL-43 holds 3 CR-123A batteries, while the CL-42 holds 2.  This obviously causes the CL-43 to have a longer run time (listed at 3 hours 35 minutes vs 2 hours 25 minutes).  Neither of these flashlights have adjustable brightness modes.  You can purchase a gun mount kit from KelTec that will work for both lights.

KelTec went with a rather unique design of having the third battery next to the other two and the power button on that extra lump facing the same direction as the lens.  This means that you end up holding the light like a pistol.  At first, I thought this might be a bit awkward, but it works well.  It makes for a compact package that is pretty comfortable in the hand.  The button is in a convenient place, more so than the traditional end cap button.  It also means that you can hold it comfortably even after the light has been on for a while and the actual lamp has heated up (standard with high powered LEDs).

KelTec claims that the design also allows you to hold the light and your pistol in the standard double handed pistol grip while operating both.  I tried this out briefly.  While it sort of works, I would think you’d need a lot of practice for it to be comfortable and effective.

Of course, this thing is ultimately supposed to do one thing, and it does it pretty well.  The 420 lumen lamp is sufficiently bright for most situations.  For those (like me) that are a little fuzzy on how bright that is, your average 40watt incandescent bulb is 450.  In a small room, it’s bright enough to substitute for the ceiling light if you shine it against the ceiling.

Unfortunately, not everything is wonderful with this flashlight.  First off, the switch for the flashlight appears to be mechanical.  This means that there can only be two modes: on and off.  For a $140 flashlight, I would really expect an electronic switch with multiple modes.

Oh… and then there’s the killer issue with me.  I carried this flashlight in my pocket for a couple of months when this happened:

That’s a penny firmly stuck in the lens of the flashlight.  Apparently the lens is exactly the same diameter.  I’ve tried to pry it out, but so far I’ve only succeeded in gouging the penny.  At this point, I’m thinking it’s either dig through the penny or replace the lamp, since the lamp appears to be a sealed unit (not uncommon).

So… unfortunately, I’d really like to recommend this light, but I just can’t.  As WizardPC stated when I showed him the issue “wow, a $140 flashlight defeated by a penny.”  $140 is also a bit much to drop on a pocket flashlight putting out 420 lumens, but not out of line for a weapons light.

So… week two, and here’s a newer picture:

By the way, that’s the one “traditional” kilt that I currently own.

Also, here’s another kilt themed song:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkECww7bwlU&w=560&h=315]

Hmmm…. I wonder if I could find a sombrero and some maracas…

On a more serious note, my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer last year.  Fortunately, it was caught early, and they were able to go in and get it all out.  Unfortunately, many guys don’t go in and get the tests when they should and aren’t as lucky.  That’s what this is all really about.  Making sure guys know to get tested, and research to find a cure.

If you can, please throw a couple bucks towards the cause here.  Please make sure to check off the box that says that this donation is part of a team, and choose “team oddball.”  Thanks.

September is prostate awareness month, and I’m once again participating in Kilted to Kick Cancer.  This year is a little different.  The guys that run it have actually got KtKC registered as its own non-profit and are accepting donations that way.  From what I understand, they will basically be turning around and handing the money to the same orgs that they’ve worked with in the past (who actually get most of their money to actual research), but this helps them keep track of things better.

I’m still recovering from Dragoncon, so I’ll keep this brief.  I promise I’ll have stories, etc later into the month.

So first, there’s this:

This is actually from my wedding last year.  Like I said, I’m still recovering from Dragoncon and I failed to pack my camera, so I don’t have any new pictures… yet.  By the way, the Utilikilt’s tux kilt was worth the price to avoid wearing pants on my wedding day.

I think I’ll also try to post a kilt-related song every week through out the month.  I guess I’ll start with a classic:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl96vNqNjlg&w=420&h=315]

So… If you’re interested in donating to this good cause, please click here and choose “team oddball” as the fundraising team.  It is a friendly competition, so I’d appreciate it.  Maybe if we raise enough money, I can get WizardPC to agree to let me publish a picture of him in a kilt.  He knows the one, and I already have a few copies of it.

Sean Sorrentino got me and a bunch of other bloggers in front of a microphone, and now we have Episode 1 of The Gun Blog Variety Cast!

We talk about tactical dogs, triggers, prepping, soft power, Facebook and the NSA, among other things!