S2H Winter Rifle Course Observations/lessons

[2Stamp]

I can see how if you need to wear those clothes the next day that makes sense, why you try and dry em out

Read the below link. Pay attention to the concepts and the situations mentioned in the material. Falling into a creek while crossing is an example. You may not have until the next day.

The Darkroom: A Navy SEAL Rewarming Drill | SITKA Gear

www.sitkagear.com

 

[northernlandgar]

Real field rifles should have a backup sighting system. There just really isn’t a good reason to bot have well designed aperture sights on the gun, or stored in the gun- without an aiming device rifles are useless. Scopes do hard break, they do get iced/fogged up on the outside, pouring rain renders them functionally dead, etc, etc. As well, states are starting to limit seasons with irons only…

A couple of us are working on proper aperture setups for rifles. There were two other, backup style options there as well.
That bottom picture is a full on aperture setup, and works extremely well. In the field with a highly practiced and skilled person, if they can see it with their naked eye, they can hit it.

10 rounds, prone off a pack, rapid fire. The taped spots are getting it zeroed. So far that rifle/ammo and those sights are averaging 1.5 to 2 MOA for ten round groups.
View attachment 845737

I'm very curious about the iron sight setups used here. Are you using NECG sights? Or is there a better way to have aperture sights that don't conflict with the scope? Thanks for the writeup.

 

[Okie_Poke]

Read the below link. Pay attention to the concepts and the situations mentioned in the material. Falling into a creek while crossing is an example. You may not have until the next day.

The Darkroom: A Navy SEAL Rewarming Drill | SITKA Gear

www.sitkagear.com

"It doesn't have to be fun to be fun." That's one way of putting it. Interestng read.

 

[stan_wa]

Read the below link.

Interesting in this article how they like synthetic and form was such a advocate for down

 

[2Stamp]

Interesting in this article how they like synthetic and form was such a advocate for down

I agree, It is. But like I said, pay attention to the scenarios and the concepts. That's what's important about, and why the rewarming drill and your clothing selection is important.

 

[Formidilosus]

Interesting in this article how they like synthetic and form was such a advocate for down

I’m not an advocate for anything except doing your own training/testing. I relay what is seen.

The difference between that article lies in the situation and environment. There is a large difference between 20-30 sets of gear being used every 6 months over and over and over, shredding and tearing, etc. As well, down from 20-25 years ago isn’t the same as some down available now. Thin, untreated down wets out completely- some treated down, and maybe some high quality untreated down doesn’t.

 

[CBB1]

One thing I didn’t see any reference to was chemical hand warmers. Are you guys using hot hands on a regular basis?


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[Formidilosus]

One thing I didn’t see any reference to was chemical hand warmers. Are you guys using hot hands on a regular basis?


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I do not. Must I am around do not either. They don’t work consistently well, altitude affects them, etc.

 

[Marbles]

One thing I didn’t see any reference to was chemical hand warmers. Are you guys using hot hands on a regular basis?


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Similar to Form.

I use them for my kids. I will carry a set just in case. I will use them working close to the truck. But, in the back country a system should work without relying on a consumable component to be adequate. If you need a hand warmer, add insulation. The exception is when you need more dexterity than that insulation allows.

I feel the same on heated gloves, but have a friend who uses them, so

 

[westsloper]

Awesome info here. Seems like the major issue with the synthetic bags is that they weren't warm enough. Makes the comparison not as helpful as it could be. I'd like to see a comparison of synthetic bags that are accurately rated to the conditions vs similarly rated down bags.

 

[wind gypsy]

One thing I didn’t see any reference to was chemical hand warmers. Are you guys using hot hands on a regular basis?

If it's that effin cold i'm day hunting anyway and handwarmers are awesome IMO.

The amount of guys backpack hunting frequently in late season is tiny.

 

[Formidilosus]

The amount of guys backpack hunting frequently in late season is tiny.

Very.

 

[HighUintas]

Very.

I've seen you mention stoves several times. Depending on how often you use one or if you need another, I think it would be worthwhile for you and the other guys you hunt with to try one of @renagde Ti stoves. I don't think he's planning on making them long term anymore, but he has 12" and 18" sizes and the design is geared toward being as easy as possible to set up with cold/numb hands, minimal parts, and still very lightweight. I think his might be lighter than all the option companies sell.

The goal being to either help him get more going if he wishes, because the design from what I can tell is awesome. All the others look like a PIA to set up. I got one, but likely won't get to testing it until next winter

 

[Formidilosus]

I've seen you mention stoves several times. Depending on how often you use one or if you need another, I think it would be worthwhile for you and the other guys you hunt with to try one of @renagde Ti stoves. I don't think he's planning on making them long term anymore, but he has 12" and 18" sizes and the design is geared toward being as easy as possible to set up with cold/numb hands, minimal parts, and still very lightweight. I think his might be lighter than all the option companies sell.

The goal being to either help him get more going if he wishes, because the design from what I can tell is awesome. All the others look like a PIA to set up. I got one, but likely won't get to testing it until next winter

I’ve never heard of those until now. They look like a good design though.

 

[Trogon]

What’s folks go to for a hard wearing wool beanie that comes in bright orange?

 

[Ajsomp]

I like Duckworth personally for all things wool - you could argue the orange isn’t “fluorescent” but it’s orange enough for me.

That being said, the knit watchman is the most comfortable beanie they offer. It just doesn’t come in orange.

 

[NSI]

I like Duckworth personally for all things wool - you could argue the orange isn’t “fluorescent” but it’s orange enough for me.

That being said, the knit watchman is the most comfortable beanie they offer. It just doesn’t come in orange.

That’s what I use. Until someone loves me enough to knit me one.

-J

 

[Dobermann]

Real field rifles should have a backup sighting system. There just really isn’t a good reason to bot have well designed aperture sights on the gun, or stored in the gun- without an aiming device rifles are useless. Scopes do hard break, they do get iced/fogged up on the outside, pouring rain renders them functionally dead, etc, etc. As well, states are starting to limit seasons with irons only…

A couple of us are working on proper aperture setups for rifles. There were two other, backup style options there as well.
That bottom picture is a full on aperture setup, and works extremely well. In the field with a highly practiced and skilled person, if they can see it with their naked eye, they can hit it.

10 rounds, prone off a pack, rapid fire. The taped spots are getting it zeroed. So far that rifle/ammo and those sights are averaging 1.5 to 2 MOA for ten round groups.
View attachment 845737

Do we know if the Tikka sights on the Arctic are available as a part to order?

@mxgsfmdpx - can you use your Tikka parts-fu to find out??

 

[Justin Crossley]

@Formidilosus, I haven't read through the whole thread so apologies if you already talked about this.

I saw where the MRC rifle failed and was cleaned/repaired and then worked. Since this is advertised as completely field ready out of the box, is this a failure to meet that goal? Is MRC going to do something differently going forward?

 

[RockAndSage]

@Formidilosus, I haven't read through the whole thread so apologies if you already talked about this.

I saw where the MRC rifle failed and was cleaned/repaired and then worked. Since this is advertised as completely field ready out of the box, is this a failure to meet that goal? Is MRC going to do something differently going forward?

IIRC, it was a lubricant failure - grease applied by factory on firing pin that was not rated for sub-zero operation. Apparently it was so solidified by that cold it turned to dust, but was easily wiped off.