Moderno

Coye Knives today announces a new custom fixed blade based on the ever awesome Ridgeback called the ForeRunner™, and we’ve got your first look.

You should of course be familiar with the Ridgeback, but just in case you’re not, check out our review here. First and foremost, the Ridgeback has been officially retired. Boker will continue to offer the production version of the Ridgeback, but you will no longer see custom Ridgebacks from Coye Knives. That of course means that the custom Ridgebacks already in circulation just became even more special.

I can already hear fans of the Ridgeback groaning, but do not let your heart be troubled, because the ForeRunner™, which again is based on the Ridgeback, is everything you loved about the Ridgeback and more. The best way to see what has chang

As with most significant tragedies, certain details and images stick with you. A year ago, my hometown came under attack – a terrorist attack to be exact. On April 15, 2013, 264 people were injured, and three were killed during one of the largest yearly events in Massachusetts, the Boston Marathon. I remember the images vividly; smoke, blood, chaos, hysteria; all of this occurring in the heart of the city I called home.

Three days later, the FBI took over the bombing investigation, which led to a manhunt including thousands of local, state, and federal police officers. A shootout would follow, leaving one police officer dead, one of the suspects dead, and 16 police officers injured. The mayhem would end later in the evening of April 19th, after a private citizen found the remaining suspect in his backyard, and federal and local law enforcement moved in to apprehend him after a tense standoff.

For many in Boston, the scars from this incident are still fresh. As the 2014 Boston Marathon approaches, images abound of runners training for the big race, as well as pictures of police, training to be equipped for what they m

Hopefully you’ve been paying close attention to the Bundy Ranch situation, as the potential fallout could be far-reaching, especially if the situation escalates. If you haven’t been paying attention, it’s time to get caught up. The short version is that government officials retreated over the weekend, but that the fight is far from over. Enter Senator Harry Reid, who today said the following:

Well, it’s not over. We can’t have an American people that violate the law and then just walk away from it. So it’s not over.

Again, this should be on everyone’s radar. I haven’t been posting updates on the situation because I feel like there are better “breaking news” outlets, but I want to make sure that this issue doesn’t get forgotten because the government backed down over the weekend.

They will be back.

I’ve covered the Remington R51 problems several times before – my first impressions here, problems, and more problems - and since there’s no way I’m going to purchase the R51 to review at this point, I thought I’d pass along the Military Arms Channel review of the Remington R51.

Tim does a nice job giving the pistol a fair shake, and if you’re considering purchasing this pistol, make sure you watch this review first.

The post MAC Remington R51 Review appeared first on Monderno.

Tactical Tailor Urban Operator Pack

A while back I was in the market for a new EDC/laptop pack. I couldn’t stand using the typical Dell laptop case my company supplied so I began the search for a better solution. I work in a corporate environment as a graphic designer so my new pack could not be overtly tactical or covered in PALS webbing. Additionally, I had a few other personal requirements for the pack. It needed to be reasonably priced, rugged, comfortable, versatile, big enough for my large laptop, and a backpack (no slings or courier bags).

My search led me to Tactical Tailor and their

Our friends at Shellback Tactical are having a sale on the Kelty MAP 3500 (manufacturer link) pack that you guys might want to get in on.

Kelty MAP 3500, via Kelty

I own a Kelty MAP 3500, and it’s a really nice pack. I would classify the MAP 3500 as a bit bigger than a day pack at 38L (2300 cu. in.), sometimes called a “three day assault pack” by manufacturers (MAP stands for multi-day assault pack if I remember correctly).

I’ve never spent three days assaulting anything, so I can’t speak to that application, but what I can tell you is that if you pack the MAP 3500 carefully, most people can easily use this size of pack for an

Aaron Cowan from Sage Dynamics discusses close quarters hip/point fire shooting, specific targeting of critical areas of the body and the reasoning behind rethinking point of aim in close quarters.

The post Sage Dynamics on Close Quarters Shooting appeared first on Monderno.

By now you’ve probably seen the headlines that Eric Holder wants gun owners to wear gun tracking bracelets. Your first reaction might be to laugh off Mr. Holder’s statements as a pipe dream at best (and who could blame you?), but in my estimation, that might be a bit hasty.

On Friday, Holder told a House appropriations subcommittee that the DOJ is looking into technological innovations, or “smart” guns.

I think that one of the things that we learned when we were trying to get passed those common sense reforms last year, Vice President Biden and I had a meeting with a group of technology people and we talked about how guns can be made more safe.

By making them either through finger print identification, the gun talks to a bracelet or something that you might wear, how guns can be used only by the person who is lawfully in possession of the weapon.

It’s those kinds of things that I think we want to try to explore so that we can make sure that people have the ability to enjoy their Second Amendment rights, but at the same time decreasing the misuse of weapons that lead to the kinds

Memorial Day quickly approaches, and this year I will once again be joining team Task Force Fallen Warriors (TFFW) at the Dallas Carry The Load event.

Task Force Fallen Warriors 2013

Carry The Load is a non-profit organization that provides an interactive way for Americans to remember, honor and celebrate Memorial Day in dedication to those who sacrifice for us daily. Carry The Load holds events all over the country, including a National Relay that starts in West Point, NY on April 29 and ends in Dalla

Olamic Cutlery is knife company based in Mountain View, California that makes “custom-tech” fixed and folding knives. Its founder, Eugene Solomonik, started the company in 2010 with the goal of offering usable, custom, handmade knives at a fair price. The knives are made in a small shop in Russia where Olamic employs a team of four craftsmen. Together they have over 75 years of knifemaking experience and each specializes in one part of the creation process. Learn more about Olamic here.

Eugene recently sent us one of their awesome mid-tech Bravado folders to give away, so if you’re interested, read on.

The Bravado is a large thumb-opening folding knife. We wanted to use Bohler’s N690 steel and

Compliance Edge is a small custom knife shop located in San Jose, CA, where owner and knife maker Yoni Wunderman makes some pretty amazing knives 100% by hand. I found Compliance Edge on Instagram a while back and started following Yoni’s work, and I’m glad I did. Several Compliance Edge knife designs caught my eye, the Vendetta in particular, which is a small fixed blade knife meant for EDC or backup.

I contacted Compliance Edge with the idea of making a bit larger version of the Vendetta. Yoni agreed that a larger Vendetta sounded like an interesting project, and the Vendetta II shown here is the result.

Electronics have become, for better or worse, a way of life for most people. Between cell phones, tablets, laptops and other portable devices, our dependence on electronics has never been greater. With portable electronics comes batteries, and managing battery life between charges, a fact that you iPhone users know especially well.

So today we’re going to talk about keeping your electronic devices powered up in both normal day to day use as well as emergencies, using the RAVPower Deluxe 14000 mAh External Battery.

During my career and personal life, I have carried a lot of different handguns.  From a service Beretta to a duty carry H&K USP Tactical, a Kimber 1911 to an FN 5.7; I’ve experienced the pros and cons of different controls and functions.  This doesn’t make me an “expert” in the handgun, but it does give me a wealth of experience to put to use when handling a new model of handgun to determine its merits, quality and consistency.  Monderno tasked me with evaluating the Lionheart Industries LH9, I had heard a little about the company and perhaps a little less about that particular model of handgun, so I figured I would be as objective as possible when reviewing it, or at least try very hard to be.

Monderno contributor Aaron Cowan from Sage Dynamics recently finished his testing of the Lionheart LH9 and sent over his review. Fanboys and haters, brace yourselves. In the meantime, enjoy.

Lionheart LH9, photo by Sage Dynamics

The post Lionheart Industries LH9 appeared first on Monderno.

If you want to know why you should get behind BLACK Season 2, Andre Jackson makes a pretty compelling case. Check this out.

The post Andre Jackson on BLACK Season 2 appeared first on Monderno.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 24-48 hours, then you know all about California State Senator Leland Yee and how he was arrested Wednesday for alleged conspiracy to illegally import firearms. You probably also know that he was rated an A+ by the Brady Campaign, and that he is a major proponent of victim disarmament, AKA gun control. 

According to an affidavit, Yee discussed with [an] undercover agent how to obtain weapons worth $500,000 to $2.5 million from a Muslim separatist group in the Philippines and bring them to the United States.

You just can’t make this stuff up…you know, it’s too bad this guy is a state senator and not a mayor, he’d fit right in with Bloomberg’s group of degenerates. At any rate, if you need to get caught up, here you go. The graphic below was created by the NRA and I think it’s worth sharing.

I’ve long been a big fan of Amazon. I have a Prime membership that I use all the time, and over the years I’ve spent a lot of money on Amazon. While I’ve always known that Amazon didn’t allow firearms to be sold or advertised on their platform, what I didn’t know until recently is the sheer number of items they prohibit, and the seemingly hypocritical way in which they enforce their restricted product policies.

Omni Sling vs dog leash – same materials sewed differently

Billy from Boxer Tactical contacted me a couple days ago to tell me about the

Editor’s Note: We hear a lot about the militarization of police these days, from rational evaluation of police purchases (does our local police department really need an armored vehicle?) to full on tinfoil hat psychosis and everything in between. While there’s no denying that America’s police are more and more adapting the “weapons and tactics of war,” the question remains: is it a good thing or a bad thing?

Personally, I’m against most of what is commonly referred to as police militarization, but I thought it would be interesting to view the topic from a police officer’s perspective, someone who puts his life on the line – literally – everyday  to keep you and me safe. To that end, I asked Monderno contributor Robbie, a second generation police officer who is very pro-liberty, for his thoughts on the militarization of police.

To the vocal minority that almost always surfaces when law enforcement topics are discussed: in my experience, most police officers