Archive for November, 2009
IDF Soldiers Refuse Order
Posted by David Voodoo in Commentary on November 17th, 2009
Several members of the Israeli Defense Force were sentenced to a few weeks in jail for refusing to participate in the destruction of an illegal settlement on the West Bank.
You can review the entire article here, but I’ve clipped a few key paragraphs:
“In an incident on Monday played down by the military as an aberration and described by some political commentators as a crossing of a red line, a handful of soldiers protested against the partial dismantling of a settler-outpost in the West Bank…
“Two of the soldiers disobeyed orders and refused to secure the settlement site, which had been built without government permission and where police razed two buildings. They were sentenced respectively to 20 days and 14 days in jail.
“Two other soldiers, who held up a sign at an army base in the West Bank saying their battalion would never evacuate settlements, also faced a disciplinary hearing at which each received a month-long prison term”
While I think the chain of command displayed bad judgment when it ordered the IDF to do a job previously done by the police force, it was not an illegal order. (Short-sighted and stupid, yes, unlawful no.) Political leaders and commanders must realize that the military should be focused on external threats, of which Israel has plenty. Only oppressive regimes use the military to quash internal dissent. Is this the company in which Israel wishes to find itself?
Regardless of whether an order goes against a soldier’s personal, political, or moral beliefs, a lawful order from an officer must be obeyed. That these soldiers can get away with this behavior and receive such a light sentence is a sad commentary on the current climate within the IDF and its leadership. One hopes it is not be symptomatic of a greater weakness, both from a combat-ready standpoint and from a position of political will power. Israel was a military power in its neighborhood and the IDF was a mighty fighting force that kept the wolves at bay for the latter half of the 20th century. Is it still, or has political wavering weakened it? We may find out in the not-so-distant future.
Olight M30 Triton Tactical Flashlight Review
Posted by David Voodoo in Product Review on November 8th, 2009
The following product review was submitted by a walk-in customer who acquired his M30 from us several weeks ago. The author is otherwise unaffiliated with Voodoo Tactical. We encourage other readers to submit their reviews of Voodoo Tactical gear and the other products we sell.
WARNING: This is no ordinary flashlight.
LED flashlights have improved by leaps and bounds since they first hit the market, and the M30 Triton by Olight is no exception.
The M30 Triton is a light source that uses a super bright Cree MC-E LED and three or four CR123A batteries to operate. The reason it uses either three of four is because the light is supplied with a removable extension tube that holds the additional CR123A battery, which can be removed if one desires to decrease the overall length of the light.
When using the extension tube, one can use two 18650 batteries, which should provide more running time than the four CR123A’s. With the extension tube attached, the light is 8.3” in length, and without it, it is 6.96”.
The Olight M30 Triton Tactical Flashlight
The body is made of rugged virtually indestructible aluminum with anti-scratching type III hard anodization. The body has flat sides to prevent rolling. There is a push button tail cap switch which turns the light on and off and another push button located on the side of the light next to the tail cap that regulates the amount of lumens output and the strobe mode.
The light has three levels of brightness plus a tactical strobe mode. The levels are 8 lumens, 120 lumens, and 700 lumens. I did notice while using the light on 700 lumens that the bezel area of the light became very warm. In cold conditions this could actually prove to be useful. The maximum running time, advertised to be a continuous 90 hours, is on the 8 lumens setting. Olight says that the M30 provides 1.5 hours at the high intensity 700 lumen setting and a very reasonable 7 hours at the 120 lumen setting.
While the on/off switch is easy to use, I did find the brightness control switch hard to find at times with gloves on, although using it was easy once located. When the flashlight is in the off position, pushing this button activates the strobe only. In my opinion, this is a good defensive option for those of you who go into harm’s way.
To test the strobe I incorporated the assistance of my German Shepard dog, Ruger. At night, while shining the strobe on Ruger, he had a hard time orienting himself to approach me. He would walk sideways to the light and twist his head back and forth as if he was having trouble navigating. Once the light was off, he would come right in (thanks, Ruger).
The M30 Triton is also supplied with a beam diffuser which forces the narrow beam of the LED to work as a flood light. Lastly, the light is supplied with a battery magazine tube which will hold three CR123A batteries at the ready for easy refilling into the flashlight.
The Olight M30 Triton Tactical Flashlight shown with and without the extension tube installed
I found myself using the light during an outing in the Linville Gorge area of North Carolina. The flashlight was dropped, rained on, left running for extended periods of time, mishandled by some, and used to tap down a rusty nail with no breakage. Having said that, I would not recommend treating a light of this quality and price as I did, but I wanted to see if it would hold up under extreme use and it did without any problems. I even submerged it under water as far as I could reach (the mountain water was cold) and worked all of the functions with no leakage. As I am a certified SCUBA diver, I may give it a go sometime during a dive just to see how deep it can be submerged without leakage. Never-the-less, I spoke with Jian Li of Olight and he has assured me that the light would be replaced without question if it fails under normal use (see warranty supplied with light).
I found the body of the light to be easy to grip and could operate the tail cap with gloves on. The light has defensive scallops at the bezel and tail cap ends which appear to be able to do the job if called upon by an experienced person (Ruger did not volunteer for this).
I like everything about the light, especially the strobe. I spoke with a friend of mine who is a tactical officer with a department in the hills of North Carolina. He said that their team uses strobes on every tactical search warrant entry and found that it greatly increases officer safety by disorienting the people inside the residence upon entry. They use the strobes in conjunction with the super bright settings. The strobes are usually directed into the eyes of the suspects while the constant super bright light allows them to navigate.
To say the least, I found the M30 Triton to be a very capable flashlight. It performed well for me and I believe it will hold up to some of the worst conditions and perform as good or better than other comparable designs. I am going to add this one to my gear in the event that I find myself in less than desirable conditions.
T. T.
Durham, NC
Send us a Guests Posts and Submit Your Comments
Posted by David Voodoo in Announcements on November 3rd, 2009
This Blog exists primarily so that those of us here at Voodoo Tactical can share information with YOU, our users, customers, and other members of the tactical community. We recognize that you have opinions, advice, suggestions and input that you’d like to share with us, and with your fellow members. So we are opening up the Blog for comments and guest posts.
If you would like to contribute a guest post, either send it to us via email or contact us first to discuss your idea. Potential post could be anecdotes, lessons learned in the field, first hand experiences, tactics and suggestions, product reviews, even suggested links.
We also welcome comments in response to posts, but we also know that comments in blogs tend to get out of hand if left unmoderated. So we publishing are a few ground rules for leaving comments.
Rule for Comments
You must be a registered user and logged in to leave a comment. Please note that the login system for our SitRep blog is NOT the same as the login for our the store. You can use the same password if you wish. If you have an avatar, we are currently allowing their use.
Every comment will be reviewed before it is posted. While legal an moral standards vary, the intent of this review is to not allow comments that are rude, offensive, or might be considered libelous or slanderous. As a general rule, if you would not want your mother to pick up the local newspaper and read your comment, don’t post it. If you write a comment in a moment of anger, save it and re-read it the next day. You may think twice about posting it.
On a case-by-case basis we may choose to edit or sanitize your comment. For example, if you make a salient point and then go off on a rant, don’t be shocked to see the rant deleted. Also, we may remove or replace curse words if we feel the content of the comment has merit.
Avoid pissing contests. Or take them to the Forum, which is less heavily moderated.
Comments that are unrelated to the post will be deleted. This includes Spam, of course.
If you are being critical of someone or something, please be objective, not subjective. That means back your opinions up with facts, or give facts and let the reader form their own opinion. For example, instead of saying “I hate the Brand X product and their customer service stinks!” say something that is factual, such as “I bought the Brand X product but their zipper failed in the first week. I tried to get a replacement but they did not return my emails or phone calls. After two weeks, I gave up and bought the Voodoo Tactical product, which has held up very well.”
Comments are not the place to report a customer service issue. That is what email is for, or send call our toll free number: 1-877-5-VOODOO during East Coast working hours.
Welcome to our New Web Site!
Posted by David Voodoo in Announcements on November 1st, 2009
Welcome to our redesigned web site! We have made multiple enhancements to make purchasing Voodoo Tactical gear faster and easier, and we have added dozens of new products over the past few weeks. More will be added weekly.
As part of the upgrade, we’re increasing our communications with you — our customers and potential customers. There are lots of exciting things going on at VoodooTactical.net, and we’ll be blogging about many of them right here.
We feel communications is a critical part of customer service. Here are some of the ways we communicate with our customers:
Phone: We hate web sites where the phone number is buried or not present at all. Makes us think it is a fly-by-night operation, or perhaps run out of someone’s garage. So we provide our toll free number at the top of every page in our store and have knowledgeable customer service personnel on hand to answer your questions or take your order weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Eastern time, and often later into the evening. Just call us at 919-384-9760 or toll free at 877-5-VOODOO.
eMail: A phone call normally gets you an instant answer during the work week, but eMail will get you an answer most evenings and over the weekend. Please be as specific as you can in your email. For example, if you are inquiring about a product, give us the exact product name or web address so we can better answer your question. If you say something generic like “your tactical vest” that’s just likely to delay the answer since we sell several varieties of vests.
Forum: We’re created a forum where you can post questions about products or perhaps get input from other guys in the field who are using the same gear. It’s brand new, so don’t expect a wealth of information there yet, but feel free to post there.
Order Status Updates: When you order something, you’ll get an email receipt immediately, another email the next business morning when the order is processed, and then an email when it ships. Depending on when you make your purchase, it is likely you’ll get all of them within 24 hours. We apologize in advance if you think this is too much darn email, but we’ve found that customers like to know when their purchase ships.
Reviews: As part of the new site, we’ve give you the opportunity to post reviews about products you have purchased from us so that you can share your experiences with other customers. Please keep your feedback objective and your criticisms constructive.
Field Trials: Want to show off your gear? Send us a photo and a brief report from the field and we’ll consider posting it on the web site. Anyone who’s submission is used gets a $10 coupon. Also, we’re happy to blur out your face or any identifying patches, if you ask us to do so.
Twitter: We use Twitter to convey to our customers when a new product arrives or when a product that was backordered is back in stock. VoodooTactical.net is different than many web sites in that we only sell what we have in stock. This allows us to ship most orders within one business day. The downside is that you may not find the exact color or size of an item you want. (Often, there’ll be a picture of a black bag, but it will not show up as an option. That mean’s its temporarily out of stock.) Thankfully, we usually get a truck load of gear delivered every two weeks or so.
Facebook: We’re also on Facebook and encourage you to become a fan of our page. You can contact us there, but you’ll probably get a faster response if you email us directly.
Online Order Tracking and Order History: by visiting http://www.voodootactical.net and clicking Login, you will be able to review your order history and track your packages.
We look forward to hearing from you!
Time to Buy Some More Ammo – Part 1
Posted by David Voodoo in Commentary on November 23rd, 2009
One year ago, we were in the midst of the largest surge in the sale of ammunition, guns, high capacity magazines and related gear since the Brady Bill and the so called “Assault Weapons” ban passed in the mid 1990s. The jump in sales was directly attributed to the election of a far-left Democrat with a track record of restricting gun rights and an attorney general who aggressively supported gun bans. People feared they would not be able to buy guns, and they feared a potential ammunition tax, so they went out and stocked up on both, creating a shortage that lasted at least six months.
One year later, much of the furor over Obama’s potential for gun-grabbing has died down. Sure, he may get around to it one day, but he’s got far bigger concerns on his plate, and he is losing his mandate. As a result, gun control has, thankfully, remained off the legislative front burner, even as the Supreme Court is considering several new 2nd Amendment cases.
It would follow, then, that the sale of guns and ammunition would have returned to their pre-Obama behavior. Surprisingly, they have not.
In the third quarter of 2009, sales of pistols and revolvers jumped 23.6 percent, ammo sales increased 8.4 percent, and long gun sales fgrew 4.1 percent, according to data from the federal excise taxes collected during that period . (I am also willing to bet that ammunition sales would be up even more if there was more ammunition available on the market.)
Look at these sales figures from this article:
“Smith & Wesson is expecting sales to rise by 30 per cent to $102 million (£61 million) in the first quarter of the next financial year, after growing by more than 13 per cent this year to $335 million.
“At Sturm and Ruger, sales for the third quarter hit $71.2 million, up 70 per cent from the same period last year. At Glock, the leader in law enforcement markets, pistol sales rose by 71 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year for 2010, in comparison with the same period last year.”
It if isn’t gun control driving sales, then why are gun sales up? It’s a simple one-word answer: Fear.
Fear that the cratering economy and rising unemployment will spur a rise in crime as desperate people do desperate things to feed their children and pay their bills. I believe fear of crime has generated the 23.6 percent increase in the sale of handguns and a surge in concealed carry license applications. It’s keeping production rolling and Glock, S&W and even Ruger, as well as at their privately owned brethren.
Fear that we will see a collapse of the dollar and a failure of our financial system which could cause unrest and rioting that could spill into the streets. Fear that the only way to survive the resulting anarchy will be to have a battle rifle, a few well-armed friends, and plenty of ammunition.
Fear that law enforcement will be overwhelmed by the great unwashed hoards of hungry, angry, desperate people who have lost everything, including the veneer of civilization. Fear that upright citizens will have to defend themselves and create their own law and order when the police are occupied elsewhere.
Those of us who live with a gun strapped to our side know that while cowardice is to be scorned, a trickle of fear keeps you sharp, heightens the senses, and prepares you for what is to come. Fear is our early warning system, part of our flight or fight response, and we should listen to it. It’s an instinctual response to a situation that isn’t right; the gut instinct that saves us if we are smart enough to listen to it.
So if you feel a trickle of fear at what the future holds, don’t ignore the feeling that you might need another gun, some more ammunition, and some spare magazines. Check your personal gear; make sure you have some spare parts, extra batteries, web gear, and a Plan B. Get your family up to speed with weapons familiarization in case you can’t be there to protect them, or if you need some back up one day when the radio is down.
If I was unprepared and I had $500 dollars, I would stock up on dried and canned food with at least a one year shelf life and maybe some MREs. But if I was unprepared and had $1,000, I would buy the food, plus another 1,000 rounds of .223, and two boxes of high performance bullets for my pistol.
ammunition, economic collapse, preparedness
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