A Look At Our Match Gear

New shooters will often ask us what a typical gear load out looks like. The answer is gear selection is most often dictated by individual preference, what has worked in the past as well as budget considerations.

In this article and accompanying video, we each take a turn to go through the items we take to a match or practice session and highlight some of the rationale behind our choices.

Gear Roundup

Following are links to the gear that we describe in the order presented in the video. While much of this gear can be purchased through various vendors, we provide the Amazon links (where available) as they are a good source of honest and unfiltered customer feedback.

• Mystery Ranch 3 Day Assault BVS and duffel bag. The duffel bag Ed has is no longer listed on the mystery ranch site as it was a closeout item, but they have newer equivalent models.
• ESC Dynamic Gear Pump Pillow, Bentham Bag and Hybrid Shooting Pillow
• Wiebad Pump Pillow
• Tactical Tailor Magazine Pouches and Drop Bag
• Manfrotto 055XPRO. Current versions available from Manfrotto have been updated.
• Shadow Tech HOG Saddle and P.I.G. Saddle mounts
• MSA Sordin hearing protection the gel cups
• E.A.R ear plugs. We highly recommend doubling up on hearing protection.
• Mechanix Gloves. We cut the ends of the index fingers off to improve trigger feel.
• Decot Hy-Wyd Shooting Glasses. The way to go if you are tired of shooting glasses that fog up. Available in prescription.
• Shadowtech SS Loophole Sling
• Boonie Hat
• Goretex Pants/Rain Gear – You can find high quality military issue pants on Amazon, Ebay and at your local military surplus for a fraction of what a commercial offering would cost. They work very well over BDU pants.
• Big Dog Steel and Alex and Ryan Design Magazine holders
• Harris Engineering S-BRM Hinged Base 6 – 9-Inch BiPod, S-25 Hinged Base 12 – 25-Inch BiPod. Each bipod fitted with KW Pod-loc or equivalent. See our article on bipods for the complete mounting solution.
• Eklind Hex Keys – come in both standard and metric.
• Kleinendorst Bolt Disassembly Tool – a true must have if you’ve ever tried to take apart a Reminton style bolt with a boot lace.
• Bushnell Fusion 1-Mile ARC Binocular Laser Rangefinder 10×42. For the money, it’s a very good option.
• MagnetoSpeed Chronograph.  Probably the most convenient chronograph on the market.
• Emirates Air Foldable Hairbrush. No sense in hitting the firing line if your hair is out of place.
• Sunrise Tactical Armboard
• Voodoo Tactical Rifle Case
• Dewey Coated Cleaning Rod. These come in various sizes.
• Hornady Dry Lube. A really good alternative in dusty environments. Originally used the stuff that was intended for case lubrication, but now they have dedicated dry lubes for firearms.
• Bolt Lug Cleaning Kit. There are a number of options available.
• Tab Gear Magazine Pouch and Sunrise Tactical Gear mag pouch
• Camelbak Trizip pack
• Short Action Precision sling
• Borka Tool kit
• Sidewinder Dope Card Holder
• Microfiber Cloth Towels
• Kestrel Elite Advanced Ballistics with LiNK
• Armageddon Gear Bullet Bag

Editor: Ed Mobley (ed@65guys.com)