Dot on

Submitted by Eric Daniel

In the realm of combat shooting the standard rule of thumb is, “he who hits first wins.”  Consequentially, for the last couple of hundred years, the focus in firearms training has been sight alignment -- the faster you can align the front and rear sights on your target, the faster you can put lethal fire on your target.

Unfortunately, until recently, darkness presented a significant challenge to this theory.  If it’s too dark to see your sights, you can pretty well guarantee that you aren’t going to be able to align them very well and your accuracy is going to suffer.  While there are a number of ways to overcome this condition (illuminate the battlefield with flares, illuminate your sights with tritium or similar material, or illuminate your fire by using tracers) none has been universally effective.

Electro-optical “reflex” sights have changed all of that.  These sights are battery powered, non-magnified, single sight optics that not only allow the shooter to rapidly acquire a good sight picture and alignment in all conditions (day or night) but also provide the shooter with better situational awareness since they need not be totally focused on aligning their sights, but rather need only put the dot on the target, literally.

The first of these sights was the Aimpoint M2 which the Army designated the M68 CCO (close combat optic.)  It was driven by a watch-type battery and had a single on/off rheostat on the side to adjust reticle brightness.

While the sight did perform as advertised, I had issues with it.  First, the on/off knob was easy to accidentally bump, which could either cause your sight to turn off or go to max power, which not only reduced your battery life, but also produced a visible red glow out of the back of the sight.  Furthermore, the aiming dot was visible, at high power, through the front of the sight, which could reveal your location to an NVG equipped enemy (I am told this has been addressed though I can’t confirm it.)

The sight I liked, and what in addition to the ACOG seems to be the one being currently issued, is the EOTech model 550.  The 550 is a non-magnified EO sight which displays a 1MOA (minute of angle) dot in the center of a 65MOA circle.  Reticle brightness is regulated by up/down buttons on the back of the sight, and the newer versions are equipped with a NVG direct button that automatically dims the reticle for use with night vision devices.  The 550 is powered by a pair of standard AA batteries, has a reticle life of 1100 hours, and is waterproof to 1 ATM (33 feet.)

What I liked about the 550 over the M68 was the battery choice (AAs are much easier to get) the fact that there is no forward projection of the beam, even on max power, and that there was more positive control of the reticle brightness.  The 550 is also mil-std 1913 rail compatable and works well with weapon mounted NVGs such as the AN/PVS-10.

While I’m sure that there are certainly more modern CCOs out there with many more bells and whistles, the 550 does everything I need it to and it didn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Check out the EOTech 550 here

I have the power

Submitted by Eric Daniel

Ok, first off, this entry makes two assumptions:  1) you have access to some form of “residential” (110v-240v range) electrical power and 2) you have equipment that runs off of standard AA-AAA batteries (to the best of my knowledge there are no commercially available rechargeable A123 (a.k.a. “Surefire”) batteries.)  That being said, for those of you in the above two categories, this might be of interest.

Now days, just about every hand held device runs of batteries.  In the “old” days, most military equipment ran off of specific, purpose built mil-spec batteries.  NVGs for example, required one type, flashlights another, and commo gear yet a third.  Now, everything pretty much runs off of stacks of AAs.

This is where a recharging system comes in handy.  With the need for all those AA batteries, supply issues can come up, especially if you are in a less than well-established area of operations (again, if you haven’t got access to power you’re out of luck, but more often than not you’ll get power before you get a brick of batteries.)

Early recharging systems were pretty straightforward; you put the batteries in and when the light turns green, they’re charged.  Unfortunately, unless you monitor the charger, this can lead to overcharging, which is bad for rechargeable batteries.  In addition, rechargeable batteries also “bleed off” (self-discharge) at a higher rate than conventional, non-rechargeable batteries, so they have a much shorter "shelf life" than conventional batteries.

Fortunately, however, newer charging systems not only charge batteries faster, but monitor total charge and once they’re full, the charger goes into a trickle charge mode, which keeps the batteries ‘topped off” indefinitely.  This feature allows you to complete a mission, put your batteries on the charger, and not have to worry about their state when you load them for your next mission.

Get chargers and batteries here

A picture is worth a 1,000 After Action Reports…

Submitted by Eric Daniel

In the six months I was in SW Asia for Desert Shield and Desert Storm I fired off close to 40 rolls of 35mm film.  High speed, low speed, B&W and color.  Not only did I have to wait until I got back to Europe to develop the film (and at the time we had a SERIOUS problem with pictures coming up missing (i.e. the folks at the photo lab were stealing them) but when all was said and done, about 70% of the pictures were “crap” and not nearly as interesting as I thought they’d be when I took the picture in the first place. 

Such is the reality of print photography; you take a lot of pictures hoping to get one or two “keepers.”

Thanks to digital camera technology however, taking pictures got a whole lot easier.  When I deployed for OIF III in November of 04, I was given a Canon Power Shot A75.  It is a neat little camera.  It has a 3.2 mega pixel image capability (which is pretty tiny by current standards) automatic flash, 3x zoom capability, and is capable of making movies.

While it isn’t nearly as flexible as my Canon AE-1 SLR 35mm camera, it is significantly more durable, reliable, and combat friendly.  While on patrol the A75 gave me the capability of taking a quick picture of anything I thought militarily significant.  Someone give you the “evil eye” while on a patrol?  No problem.  Take their picture and store it for review later.  See a car or truck that you remember from somewhere?  No problem, take a picture and compare notes when you get back to base.  Furthermore, because the images are stored digitally, they’re easy to transfer between devices, and it’s no big deal if you end up deleting 99% of them.  Lastly, carrying additional memory cards, which are pretty tiny and don’t take up a lot of space, gives you the capability of taking a lot of pictures (or movies) if the situation requires.

While the A75 is dated and there are definitely more capable cameras out there, mine still works and it was free.

Buy a Canon digital camera here

In case you've forgotten...

Submitted by Eric Daniel

In the event you’ve been living out on Pluto for the last hundred years or similarly cut off from the civilized world, I just wanted to remind you that there’s an outfit out in the swamps of Louisiana called the McIlhenny Company that produces a red chili hot sauce called Tabasco.

While the McIlhenny company and Tabasco have been around for a couple hundred of years, literally, and their red hot sauce is duly famous, I wanted to make sure you all know that McIlhenny doesn’t just make “red” anymore.

In addition to the classic red chili sauce, McIlhenny makes a green jalapeño based sauce, a garlic flavored red sauce, a habanero sauce, and a smoked chipotle pepper sauce. Of the lot, my favorites are the habanero and the chipotle. The habanero isn’t so hot that it requires a waiver to eat, but still packs enough of a punch that you know it’s there plus it has a nice fruity taste (I’m not a big fan of heat for heat’s sake. I’d rather eat a milder hot sauce that had actual flavor, rather than a blistering concoction with no discernable taste.) The chipotle, on the other hand, is just so damn good that if I didn’t ration myself, I’d go through a bottle a week.

More over, as I mentioned with the Rooster juice, all of these Tabasco products do not require refrigeration, so they are safe to take into the field (or back to Pluto.)

Check out Tobasco sauces here

Rooster juice

Submitted by Eric Daniel

I was introduced to “Rooster Juice” (a.k.a. Sriracha hot chili sauce) back in 1992 when I would dine at my Platoon Sergeant’s house. His girlfriend was a flight attendant on Singapore Airlines and one hell of a good cook and every time she was in town she would lay out the best tasting, and hottest, Thai food I ever had (honest to God we would sit there eating saying “This is great, this is great, I’m gonna die I’m gonna die…”)

Anyway, one of the condiments that always went with her food was a bottle of Sriracha hot chili sauce. Essentially ground chili peppers with a few other ingredients to round out the palate, this sauce is absolutely devastating with rice or any other tomato based pasta dish. As an added bonus, it doesn’t require refrigeration on opening, so it’s ok for use in the field.

P.S. I started calling it rooster juice after trying to describe it to someone over the phone. I wasn’t exactly sure of the name so I just said, “look for the clear bottle with the red sauce, green cap and the rooster on the front.”

Get some "Rooster Juice" here

Food for thought

Submitted by Dan Weissman

As we all know military food isn't top of the line and when on deployment it only gets worse with age. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has seen "For Farm and Military Use Only" or "Rejected by Air Force" stamped on the side of a box. Fortunately I was given a solution for the average deployment military meal.

My best friend’s Father gave us 1000 packets of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning just before we left. It's salty with a slight kick and just like it says, It's "Great on Everything!"

Also, while packing up for deployment and cleaning out the ‘frig I stumbled upon a bottle of Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce that I didn't have the heart to throw away.

There seems to be a rule in the military that says what's mine is yours but I haven't found it in writing yet. With in a week of leaving the bottle was already gone and I had the entire division hooked. Since then everyone, including myself, has had family members send some in the mail. BBQ sauce not only adds flavor but also provides moisture to food that could normally be used as a sponge.

There’s nothing more glorious than 30 bottles of Jack Daniels BBQ sauce arriving in the mail. Fortunately we have yet to run out of Tony's. The seasoning packets may be small but they go a long way.

Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning
Jack Daniels' Original No. 7 BBQ Sauce

When you care enough to shoot the very best

Submitted by Eric Daniel

Again, this is a little bit outside the realm of Kit-Up, but a number of folk have referenced this in previous comments and I figured I’d throw this out not only to showcase the rifle, but also to put the spotlight on the CMP program and how you might secure a piece of history on the cheap.

The M1 Garand (United States Rifle, Caliber .30, M1) was the first semi-automatic rifle to see issued service with the US military. The rifle was gas operated, and fired the same Springfield .30-06 (7.62mm x 63mm) cartridge from an internal 8-round clip that the bolt action Springfield 1903 rifle it replaced did. Issued in 1936, the Garand was so successful in combat during the Second World War (the Garand was the only semi-automatic service rifle to see near universal service with any army during the war) that General George S. Patton declared it “the greatest implement of battle ever devised.”

Over 5.4 million Garands were produced and the rifle was not completely withdrawn from service until 1965.

This is where CMP comes in. The Civilian marksmanship Program is a program initiated by Congress in 1996 to instruct civilians in proper weapon handling, safety, and marksmanship. Through CMP qualified individuals are eligible to purchase M1 rifles and parts. Quality and availability are sporadic at times (CPM refurbishes existing surplus rifles, it does not manufacture or distribute new weapons) but the prices are unbeatable; a “Field Grade” M1 will run you $495 through CMP as opposed to over $1,000 from a commercial manufacturer.

CMP does have some eligibility requirements, however, so check out their website before you submit your order. Also, don’t hold your breath when you do submit an order. Given the nature of how CMP operates, it could take as long as 6 months to a year to get your order filled. CMP refurbished rifles as they become available, and sells the rifles after that. Since there is no dedicated production line, sales are a feast or famine kind of thing.

Order the M1 garand here

Gun Camera, part deux

Submitted by Simon

ED -- This camera was posted by Simon as an alternative to the SC-X210L I mentioned in my original piece. Since there wasn't much data posted with the comment, I did a little research and dug up the specs.

The ATC2K weighs half a pound, is waterproof to 3m, shock resistant, runs off of two AA batteries, and uses standard SD digital memory cards for data storage (You can carry multiple cards and replace them as they fill up.)

Get the ATC2K here