Snakeoil! What tactical products are sold as something they are not?

Rick4673

Amateur
T-Rex arms sidecar. Won't actually make you Instagram famous, or a faster shot, oddly enough. In the end it's a cheaply made holster, one size fits all, that doesn't conceal well, ride well, or last.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

I like mine. I find it comfortable, concealable, and to fit the gun/light/mag combo well. I have not had it long enough to assess durability.
 

Rick4673

Amateur
What do you compare it to within your experience?

Raw Dog Tactical - This one is a Kydex/leather hybrid and is my least favorite. I found the cut/ride interfered with acquiring a grip, and the edge construction uncomfortable. Carried a slick G19 in this.

Vedder Light Tuck - I like these a lot, but alas, no lights. Slick G19

T-Rex Arms Raptor for WML - I like this one fine, but no provision for a mag. G19 w/APL, and my Roland, provided I put the APL on it.

Side-car: Almost as comfy as the Vedder, I like the way it spreads out the pressure, but mainly I find I get faster, more consistent reloads from this set up than other methods of carrying a reload, so that puts it over the top for me. Carrying a G19 w/XC-1 in this one.
 

DoKnowHarm

Newbie
XS big (or standard) dot sights for pistol.

They are expensive, no faster than notch and post sights and the Huge front sight damn near covers an entire chest of an adult at 25 yards.

I had them for a few months and never noticed any difference in speed or ease of
acquiring a sight picture. The general design principal of them is as an "express" style sight used on old big game rifles. The advantage of that design being they are excellent at close range. A few instructors such as Aaron Cowan do a demo in class where they show the distance that can be accurately shot with no sights at all (not condoning unsighted fire). So why would I have a set of sights that Excell in close range work when theoretically speaking I wouldn't need sights in that range (again I always use sights). It just makes no sense to me why a sight system would be designed for a range where any pistol sights would be fine but suck at further distance.


I have not tried then but apparently the big dot is great for shotgun's.
 
XS big (or standard) dot sights for pistol.

They are expensive, no faster than notch and post sights and the Huge front sight damn near covers an entire chest of an adult at 25 yards.

I had them for a few months and never noticed any difference in speed or ease of
acquiring a sight picture. The general design principal of them is as an "express" style sight used on old big game rifles. The advantage of that design being they are excellent at close range. A few instructors such as Aaron Cowan do a demo in class where they show the distance that can be accurately shot with no sights at all (not condoning unsighted fire). So why would I have a set of sights that Excell in close range work when theoretically speaking I wouldn't need sights in that range (again I always use sights). It just makes no sense to me why a sight system would be designed for a range where any pistol sights would be fine but suck at further distance.


I have not tried then but apparently the big dot is great for shotgun's.

Man, I agree with you. They work for some people; I'm not one of them.

With that being said, I was in an MDFI "You Suck It's Not The Gun" class a couple months back and there was a guy on the line next to me running a p320 with big dots. He managed to fill up a nickel-sized hole with them, and was ringing some shots out past 50 yards on 10" steel with them. Guess it's different strokes for different folks. I'm just not one of those folks.
 

DoKnowHarm

Newbie
Man, I agree with you. They work for some people; I'm not one of them.

With that being said, I was in an MDFI "You Suck It's Not The Gun" class a couple months back and there was a guy on the line next to me running a p320 with big dots. He managed to fill up a nickel-sized hole with them, and was ringing some shots out past 50 yards on 10" steel with them. Guess it's different strokes for different folks. I'm just not one of those folks.


Good fundimentals are always king. I would not be surprised if a good set of notch and post sights made it even easier for him. It would be awesome to see his B-8 scores with XS and with notch and post. I do find it funny that Trek always asks if somebody has XS sights when he teaches that class though. For obvious reasons it seems
 

Ryan St.Jean

Regular Member
The various unicorn jizz lubricants are an overpriced marketing gimmick. Sure they work just fine, so does motor oil from the gas station at a fraction of the price.
 

Gilevi

Amateur
The Safariland RLS light. Good initiative, but it falls apart in execution. If you want hand-held, get a hand-held. If you want a WML, get a WML. There are too many unnecessary movements in manipulating your pistol to get the light on, or to take it back off, before you reholster.
disagree here a bit. my department does not allow WML. so its a good tool that i can slide on if i feel im going need it
 

RallyMech

Amateur
The various unicorn jizz lubricants are an overpriced marketing gimmick. Sure they work just fine, so does motor oil from the gas station at a fraction of the price.

You may want to reconsider using engine oil due to the various additives involved. I do not want to inhale toxic chemicals every trigger press. Additionally, engine oil is designed for a mostly sealed system, free of contaminants, not for open air guns that may have sand/lint/fouling/etc. I'll stick with my expensive "unicorn jizz" that is less likely to cause cancer than automotive oils.

[PDF Warning] Slip2000 MSDS, see page 14 Fireclean MSDS
 
Lancer Magazines

*drops the mic*

I, too, would like to know more on why. I will admit that I'd like to see justification (material explanation) on why they are so much more expensive than other brands (and, I would call BS on the metal reinforcement parts angle), but I have never had a problem with mine.
 

Ryan St.Jean

Regular Member
You may want to reconsider using engine oil due to the various additives involved. I do not want to inhale toxic chemicals every trigger press. Additionally, engine oil is designed for a mostly sealed system, free of contaminants, not for open air guns that may have sand/lint/fouling/etc. I'll stick with my expensive "unicorn jizz" that is less likely to cause cancer than automotive oils.

[PDF Warning] Slip2000 MSDS, see page 14 Fireclean MSDS


1- Isn’t fireclean just repackaged, grossly overpriced vegetable oil?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th.../09/13/yes-its-true-fireclean-is-veg-oil/amp/

Incidentally that is the exact type of BS marketing gimmicks to rip people off I was talking about.

2- I confess not to be an expert on this but the amount of chemicals that come from fumes of gun lube and are inhaled seems pretty small. In the grand scheme of things I’m not worried about it.
 

Matt Landfair

Matt Six Actual
Staff member
Administrator
1- Isn’t fireclean just repackaged, grossly overpriced vegetable oil?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.th.../09/13/yes-its-true-fireclean-is-veg-oil/amp/

Incidentally that is the exact type of BS marketing gimmicks to rip people off I was talking about.

2- I confess not to be an expert on this but the amount of chemicals that come from fumes of gun lube and are inhaled seems pretty small. In the grand scheme of things I’m not worried about it.

No its not. This is why TFB is on the same level as TTAG and the National Enquirer.
"It is quite apparent that the results for FIREClean and Crisco are very similar."

If we use the same logic they used with the infrared spectroscopy, chimps and humans are the same because genetically they are similar.
 

Ryan St.Jean

Regular Member
No its not. This is why TFB is on the same level as TTAG and the National Enquirer.
"It is quite apparent that the results for FIREClean and Crisco are very similar."

If we use the same logic they used with the infrared spectroscopy, chimps and humans are the same because genetically they are similar.

Matt, If I am wrong I sincerely apologize. After your reply I looked a little more. This article seems (I’m not an expert or even sure what I would need to be an expert in) really scientific and it seems to have a similar claim as TFB.

http://www.vuurwapenblog.com/genera...ns/a-closer-look-at-fireclean-and-canola-oil/

Again, if I’m wrong I apologize and would be willing to look at evidence that shows something different.
 

krax

Regular Member
I, too, would like to know more on why. I will admit that I'd like to see justification (material explanation) on why they are so much more expensive than other brands (and, I would call BS on the metal reinforcement parts angle), but I have never had a problem with mine.
I don't know if I'd put them in the snake oil category, but they're no better than a Pmag or GI mag in good condition. I probably have ten of them that were purchased for less than the newest Pmags and I use them primarily for training.

While they all function reliably, I don't care at all for the extra effort it requires to seat a full one on a closed bolt. I could take or leave the translucent bodies or windows. I do like that they mimic standard mags in width, but since pretty much every mag pouch I use these days is a single, it's not a big deal for me.

Kyle and Ian did a video on AR magazines and I think they said it best that the metal feed lips, touted as the advantage of the Lancer mags, is actually their disadvantage. When mine exhibit issues with the feed lips, I'll toss them and buy more Pmags.
 

Chriscanbreach

Established
I’ll add Breachpen to this list.
It’s barely able to get through a standard padlock and chain and that’s all they tend to demonstrate on.
It’s an uncontrolled reaction and a huge fire hazard.
You’re taking on all of the risks of exothermic breaching without any of the benefits or control of a torch.
The targets it’s used on are easier and safer to breach with manual or ballistic techniques.

I don’t recommend it for operational use.
 

Chris Sizelove

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
^^^ Interesting, it's a product I've seen and wanted to get my hands on ( for my EDC bag if I'm being honest) but as of yet have not used nor trained with.

Is there product improvements you think could be done?
 
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