gear review

The secret to making a Ruger LCP carry-able is buying the right accessories

I picked up a Ruger LCP for a steal a few months ago. I wasn’t on the market for compact pistol (I’m a big enough guy that my EDC Glock 19 rarely gives me any trouble concealing) but I am, for better or worse, a gun guy. When I’m presented with an opportunity to buy and shoot something I’ve never played with before without getting yelled at by my wife for breaking the bank, I tend to jump at it. The gun was still sealed in the package, but was technically second-hand (part of an estate liquidation), and I happily took the little pistol home despite knowing nothing about it but its reputation – a reputation that honestly isn’t all that good.

The LCP, or Lightweight Compact Pistol, comes chambered in a respectable .380 with a magazine capacity of six rounds (plus one in the chamber). It’s solidly affordable at around $220, and even comes with a handy pocket holster for you to nuzzle your adorable little gun into like a nest for what seems like a dainty piece of gear. I mean, I can hide the entire pistol in my hand and it weighs in at about 9 ounces unloaded, so I couldn’t help but feel a little bit like my new concealed carry pistol was a fragile little thing intended for smaller, cuter hands like my wife’s (who actually carries a Walther that has a larger footprint). Sure, I felt that way… until I went and shot it.

Now, full disclosure, I first started firing my new LCP only a few days after being taken out of a cast for a broken wrist, so my surprise at just how hard this little thing kicks may have been exaggerated, but (in my opinion) the poor grip design is a bigger culprit. A pistol I love to shoot fits into my hand as though it was meant to be there, and the LCP’s grip angle just isn’t intuitive for the shape of my hand. It doesn’t seem to be a size issue, and to be honest, it may really just be a matter of my personal preference.

Small, lightweight pistols that are chambered in anything larger than .22 tend to have a real kick to them – that’s honestly part of the fun – but this little pistol just feels a bit out of control in my gorilla mitt under rapid fire conditions. So, I attempted to remedy the issue by purchasing some aftermarket accents: a magazine mounted grip extension, and a grip pad to thicken it up a bit.

Ruger LCP before and after adding grip pad and extension.

To be honest, for a total of about $30, I managed to make the pistol feel close to comfortable in my hand, but some other issues persisted. Its sights, which can’t be adjusted or replaced, are pretty much useless to anyone whose vision wouldn’t qualify them to fly side by side with Maverick at Top Gun, and for the size of the pistol, the trigger throw is just long enough to make you worry about what part of your finger you use to squeeze it to avoid shifting the pistol in your hand as you fire. These aren’t deal breakers, they just mean getting good with this thing takes practice at more than just the fundamentals.

The first time I ever touched my 1911, I was able to keep a tight group at 25 meters as though the pistol and I were old friends. The first time I fired my Glock, I fell into that classic category of guys that found their rounds impacting a bit high and to the left of where they were intended until I buckled down and focused on what I was doing; it didn’t take long to correct. The first time I fired my LCP, I was just glad the damn thing stayed in my hand. Jokes aside, it’s a pretty accurate firearm once you get the hang of it, though from 25 meters, I wouldn’t trust myself to stop a threat with my first round. Other (better) shooters though, certainly could.

I did, eventually, find the right accessory I needed to make the Ruger LCP a much more feasible part of my Every Day Carry loadout – the De Santis Pocket Shot. The pistol slides into this little holster and is made for you to fire the weapon while it sits inside. In effect, it turns your LCP into a wallet that isn’t all that much bigger than my own.

Ruger LCP in De Santis Pocket Shot as compared to a normal wallet.

I opted to leave the grip extension on my magazines for my own comfort, but removing that would give the pistol an even smaller print. I now tend to carry my wallet in a front pocket, with the pistol tucked into my rear, right pocket like my wallet used to be. It’s not much thicker than my wallet was, so it doesn’t cause any problems with comfort while driving or walking around, and I have the ability to access it quickly, and in a manner that doesn’t draw a ton of attention.

Ultimately, if you’re on the market for a compact pistol with pretty good stopping power, the Ruger LCP is reliable and accurate, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. That doesn’t mean it can’t still be a lot of fun at the range (people tend to look at you funny when you start shooting your wallet), and in a jam, I’m confident that I can count on this little pistol to give me a fighting chance.

If you choose to pick one up for yourself, I highly recommend that you purchase the De Santis Pocket Shot as well. For me, it actually made the pistol seat in my hand more comfortably, and it’s certainly one of the easiest and most convenient concealed carry options I’ve seen around.

Images courtesy of the author

Rad on Gear: Light a fire in any environment with the Crate Club ‘Turbo’ Lighter

In this edition of Rad on Gear, Rad’s talking about starting a fire for morale or for survival (and wherever the two shall meet). There are lots of options when it comes to fire starting gear, and a lot of them have their place in any well-prepared adventurer’s loadout, but few will get a fire rocking and rolling faster than Crate Club’s windproof “turbo” lighter.

Rad got his lighter thanks to a subscription to the Crate Club, which sends out new pieces of high quality tactical, adventure, and survival gear every month–but if you’re on the fence about locking down a subscription of your own (or maybe you just want to get your hands on this lighter) you can actually purchase it directly from the Crate Club’s Airdrop store!

Check out the deal the Crate Club is offering on their windproof “Turbo” lighter below!

12 Gauge Microphones: The coolest way to record your music

Like so many of us that work from home, my office has slowly become a sort of shrine to the different lives I’ve lead over the years. From tactical gear to trophies, stacks of books to childhood toys, parts of my office can sometimes feel like a museum meant to help me remember all of the things I’ve been: Marine, journalist, rugby guy, MMA fighter, science fiction nerd, football player, and so on. Of course, none of the objects I’ve got decorating my bookcases or hanging on the walls date back quite as far as the dusty Dean acoustic guitar I keep within arm’s reach, just at the end of my desk.

Pictured: Where I spend half of my life.

Of course, I’m no good at playing it–never was. This guitar belonged to my father, who, as luck would have it, was also never all that good at playing. I keep it here because, for a few years during and after high school, it and the electric Fernandez Revolver Pro sitting in my closet served as part of my connection to the greatest group of friends I’d ever have: A small band of like-minded maniacs that used music as our excuse to have a good time. Of course, some of us were better than others, and while I may have muddled through a few chords and faked the rest through sheer confidence, the guys I was fortunate enough to play with were no such charlatans. Brad Martin, as one example, always had an ear for music, and thanks to him and Chris Raetz, our Spinal Tap-esque antics were always accompanied by a professional caliber soundtrack.

A lot has changed since then. We each went on and built our own lives as high school friends tend to do, but some things stayed the same: I still suck at playing the guitar, and Brad still has one hell of an ear for music.

Today, Brad’s the owner of a company called 12 Gauge Microphones, and true to his innate knack for musical mastery, his microphones have already found their way into professional studios all over the world. It isn’t just the great quality sound Brad’s microphones capture, however, that helped his startup grow into a successful enterprise, it’s also the aesthetic. Just as the name suggests, the first pieces of gear produced by 12 Gauge Microphones were studio mics housed within expended 12 gauge shotgun shells. It didn’t take long for the combination of quality and style to catch the attention of folks in the music industry and today, those mics remain among the company’s best sellers.

This setup was used to record Dee Snider in Finland (photo credit Peter De Wint)

Here at the Loadout Room, we tend not to spend much time talking music. It just isn’t in our realm of expertise, but I know I’m not the only veteran that keeps a guitar close at hand. Perhaps more importantly, I know lots of vets that are actually good at playing theirs — and if you want to record your ballad about the romantic times you spent alone in a port-a-john parked unceremoniously behind a chow hall, the rock anthem you wrote about police calling a flight line, or an instrumental beat for your interpretive dance about DD-214s, you can’t find a more appropriate recording medium than the guts of a high quality microphone stuffed into a spent .50 cal shell.

Order your own mics from 12 Gauge microphones by clicking the link below:

www.12GaugeMicrophones.com

Rad on Gear: Staying connected with Plantronics Bluetooth

In this edition of Rad on Gear, he’s back on the slopes and talking about ways to stay connected. Whether he’s listening to music or fending off calls from his adoring fans (sorry ladies, Rad’s taken), he’s been keeping his hands free thanks to his Plantronics Explorer PLT 500 bluetooth earpiece. This isn’t just some piece of kit Rad’s trying out – this is a piece of gear he’s purchased multiple times because he likes the quality so much.

Whether you’re on the slopes like Rad or just making your way through your morning commute, keeping your hands free makes everything easier (and often safer). Check out the deal we found on the Plantronics Explorer 500 below to get your own!

Rad on Gear: Always prepared with the Gerber Paraframe

Here at the Loadout Room, we love a good knife. This time, Rad’s back out in the hills of Utah doing the sort of thing we all do, but rarely talk about from a preparation standpoint: killing time.

Whether you’re widdling on a stick or marking trees on the trail, Gerber’s Paraframe knife is light enough to be no bother in your pack while still being strong enough to be useful for any number of things. Here’s Rad to tell you why he carries this handy and inexpensive little knife.

Rad on Gear: Get the job done with the Leatherman Wingman

In this edition of Rad on Gear, Rad’s talking about one of the most useful tools you can carry – the all important multi-tool. Now, it’s true what they say about having the right tool for the job, and for most tasks, there really is a right tool… but what if you’re out and about and run into a situation you need to solve? What if you’re out in the middle of nowhere and there’s no time to run back home for a specialized tool for gear adjustments and the like? That’s where having a good quality multi-tool really pays off.

Rad carries a Leatherman Wingman to help him solve whatever problems he runs into during his adventures. We’ll let him tell you why: