Guns, flashlights and Bluetooth rechargeable hearing protection … oh my! This week’s edition of our Ballistic “Gear Grab” hits a number of important carry items you should look into.
We start by adding a little light into your life with SureFire’s cornea killer — a 1,200-lumen flashlight that comfortably fits in your pocket.
A number of other concealed carry-based items made the list, including Smith & Wesson’s M&P 380 Shield EZ pistol, the Viktos EDC Tech Fleece, Walker’s Silencer Bluetooth ear protection and the MagFix by Safety Solutions Academy.
Take a closer look at this week’s list, including MSRPs, below.
SureFire EDCL2-T Flashlight
SureFire ups its gremlin killing ability — “Bright light! Bright light!” — with an upgrade to one of its more popular EDC flashlights: The EB2 Backup.
The SureFire EDCL2-T brings an additional 700 lumens to the party for a total of 1,200 lumens.
What does that mean? Flashlight brightness is typically indicated in lumens, a measure of the total output of a light source. For instance, a Mini Maglite flashlight with fresh batteries puts out a meager 15 lumens. An LED vehicle low beam headlamp puts out somewhere around 50 to 100 lumens. The 100-watt light bulb in your gun room comes in around 1,750 lumens. In short, the EDCL2-T lets you take in more visual information and in a gunfight, that’s a good thing.
The 5.84 inch EDCL2-T comes with two standard 123A lithium batteries and the option of going green with rechargeables. With an overall bezel diameter of 1.125 inches and weighing only 4.1 ounces, it will fit comfortably into your pocket and won’t make you look like you are always excited to see her.
The tail cap lets you control the amount of light you need. Fully depress the switch for high output, slightly press for low and twist for constant on. It also equipped with a two-way clip for tip up or down carry.
MSRP: $179
For more information on the Surefire EDCL2-T, please visit SureFire.com.
Smith & Wesson M&P 380 Shield EZ
Introduced early in 2018, the S&W Shield 380 EZ is exactly that: “easy.”
Smith and Wesson engineers and designers must have been in the back of every basic handgun class taking notes. The result is a personal protection EDC handgun with an easy-to-rack slide; a magazine that includes a load assist button for quick and easy loading; and an easy-to-clean design.
The Shield-sized gun is chambered in .380 ACP, with 8+1 capacity; a Picatinny rail; white-dot front and adjustable white-dot rear sights; one-piece, single action trigger; loaded chamber indicator; tapered rear slide serrations; M2.0 enhanced grip texture; reversible magazine release; grip safety and the option of adding an ambidextrous, manual thumb safety.
MSRP: $399
For more information, please visit Smith-Wesson.com.
Viktos EDC Tech Fleece
Nothing says fall like a good fleece hoodie and the team at Viktos is not going to leave us gun guys out in the cold.
The EDC Tech Fleece is a poly/cotton fleece blend with spandex to providing both mobility and warmth, and an oversized cinchable hood. You can get all of that in a North Face, but Viktos throws in a little something extra. The front pocket allows sidearm access with interior zippered pockets and the side access zipper make it easy to grab that gun from appendix, all the way around to a six o’clock position.
Reinforced elbows, YKK zippers, and a Teflon DWR treated fabric for water resistance make this hoodie feel right at home on the range or walking down Main street.
MSRP: $150
For more information, please visit Viktos.com.
Walker’s Silencer – Bluetooth Rechargeable
Spend eight hours in a firearms class on a hot outdoor range wearing over the ear protection and all you want to hear is the instructor call for a break. In-ear, electronic hearing protection helps put your concentration on making those hits, where it belongs. Walker has been in the in-ear game for a while, but the Bluetooth Rechargeable is a welcome upgrade to the Silencer line.
As the name indicates, the earbuds are rechargeable and come with Bluetooth noise filtering; wind noise reduction, variable gunshot suppression; auto shut off; USB charging dock with lithium batteries.
The line includes three sizes of sizing fins and three sizes of foam tips. The buds also come with a free app that will control the program settings, monitor battery levels, adjust volume and change auto shut off time you’re your mobile device.
If you want to save a few bucks, you can pick up a pair of the standard Silencer’s for $229.95 MSRP. Personally I think not having to change the batteries and the phone app are worth the extra $60.
MSRP: $299.99
For more information, please visit WalkersGameEar.com.
Safety Solutions Academy MagFix
Unlike many of the firearms add-on you see nowadays, the MagFix is actually a solution to a problem.
The M&P Shield is one of the most popular handguns on the market and for good reason. But as the saying goes, “nothing is perfect.” That pesky magazine sleeve that slides up and down doesn’t allow the mag to drop free cleanly. Yeah, the MagFix fixes that.
I know your first inclination is just to remove the sleeve, but before you do, you should know that without the sleeve it’s possible to over-insert the magazine and take the gun completely out of action.
According to MagFix creator Paul Carlson, the MagFIX is carefully designed to do these three things:
- Locks the base pad firmly to the sleeve.
- Provides enhanced gripping steps on your oversized base pad to make sure you have a solid grip on the gun while shooting and an improved purchase should you need to deal with a malfunction.
- Improving the profile, allowing the eight-round magazine to drop clean for faster reloads.
The base pad is also available for the seven-round magazine.
MSRP: $24.95
For more information, please visit MagFix.co.
Note: Some of the products in this column have not been reviewed, we reserve the right to say they blow.
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