gear review

A relative newcomer to the body armor market, Predator Armor is based in Delta, Utah, where it makes and sells body armor plates, plate carriers, and other accessories. When I was asked if I might review some of the Predator product line, I thought to myself, “Body Armor? Me?” 

The Sparc Solar provides a very competent optic for a fair price. It’s tough to beat the Sparc Solar if you need to outfit a home defense, competitive, or hunting firearm with a red dot.

I had an opportunity to use the binoculars for a short time on a prairie dog shoot in Wyoming and came away impressed because the Fusion X binoculars pack a lot of functionality into an affordable package. The binoculars are backed by Bushnell’s transferable lifetime warranty, which translates into a defined life of 20 years for the binoculars and five years for the electronics.

Stabilized binoculars are pretty rare on the civilian market, but they have a huge following in military circles. The stabilized part comes from an internal gyroscopic stabilizer, a mechanical device that makes them self steading. It is a weird concept, for sure. But in practice, it is basically magic. It really does work and is a game-changer for binocular work.

Thermal optics have been gaining popularity amongst hunters and outdoor enthusiasts over the last decade. Advancements in thermal imaging technology have brought the costs down to a more affordable level.

Described as a “performance heritage” hunting boot, the Recurve features a traditional hunting boot design made with the latest high-tech materials. It has a full-grain leather and suede upper with Danner Dry 100% waterproof barrier, removable OrthoLite insoles, and Vibram mid/outsoles.

Over the years I have experienced a wild variety of waterfowl clothing.  Starting with those old cotton waffled long johns you can buy at the farm and home store.  Not sure those ever kept me warm or dry. 

The new Defender P15 is a versatile every day carry flashlight and the first weapon light offering from AceBeam. Featuring a precision CNC machined 7075 aluminum body and 1700 lumens of output, the P15 is solidly built with impressive output for its size. It features a newly designed accessory port for tape switches and a quick function button.

This article is the second of two on thermal optics. In part one I discussed night vision, how I decided to invest in thermal optics, and profiled the iRay MH25 thermal scanner. In this article, I cover the Bering Optics Super Hogster thermal riflescope.