Ruck Plates Comparison: GORUCK, SHplates, and DIYing

Posted onDecember 31, 2015July 2, 202116 Comments

Ruck plates for GORUCK or rucking, what are the options?

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

After using bricks, sand or whatever cheaper options for our ruck weights, maybe we finally want to invest in a more compact option: ruck plates. In short, these are the most common options:

Buy ruck plates from companies (e.g., GORUCK, Yes4All (10-45lb), Titan Fitness (10-20lb), ~~SHplates, Sprouse Metal Craft~~).
Buy/obtain a piece of steel that fits in a ruck (e.g., OnlineMetal.com, Synergy Steel Design on ebay [thanks mts49 for suggesting this in comments]).

Ruck plates comparison between SHplates, online-metal plate, and Goruck

Ruck plates comparison: SHplates, online-metal plate, and Goruck (10lb, 11lb, 20lb and 20lb).

[Review] IWB Holsters, the HSP INCOG vs. PHLster ACCESS

Posted onJanuary 26, 2015November 15, 20156 Comments

If you search “appendix IWB holsters” on the internet, you will surely encounter the G-Code HSP INCOG and the PHLster ACCESS/Skeleton. I decided to get both, and decide which one I might like better. I picked the ACCESS over the Skeleton because I prefer a shirt guard for my holsters.

* Keep in mind that the comfort of carry is quite subjective, and different body-types would find different holsters more comfortable or not.
* Also, PHLster focuses on making holsters for Glocks and M&Ps. If you have a handgun from another manufacturer, AND live in the Philly area, you could possibly go to their workshop and have a custom holster make for your handgun.
* For a comparison between the INCOG and the INCOG Eclipse (mod version), read this post.

Left: HSP INCOG (half guard, 1 belt-clip only); Right: PHLster ACCESS + ITW Snap hook for keys.

[Review/AAR] Haley Strategic Partner – D5 Handgun Course from a beginner’s point of view

Posted onDecember 13, 2014November 15, 20155 Comments

Note: This is my experience of the HSP D5 Handgun course as an individual who has only began shooting a handgun for ~3 months.

If only one thing:

If there is only one thing I could stress to those who are potentially interested in this course, it will be Haley3 “don’t be intimidated”. Don’t be intimidated by your own lack of experience. Or, don’t be intimidated how much better the other students might be. I have only been shooting for 3 months by the time I attended the course. And at no point did the instructors or other students made it uncomfortable or intimidating for the less experienced in the class. If anything, everyone was ultra-encouraging and very willing to share their knowledge and experiences.

There are other sources on the internet where they would go through what happens in the course day-by-day, so I won’t go over that. (it will be listed at the end of this post)