GUNS Military Christmas Gift Guide 2016

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Our Troops Are On Every Continent On This
Planet. Let’s Remember Them This Christmas

By John Connor

While the actual numbers of our family members, loved ones and friends serving active military duty may be statistically small, their importance to us is not. Whatever place they held in our hearts before they wrote that check to the United States of America for an amount up to and including their life, raising their right hand to swear to its validity—that place has been elevated by their service.

And so, once again, it’s time for us to reflect on them and their sacrifice as Christmas approaches, and that anything we send, if sent with respect, generosity of spirit and love will be received with a fullness of happiness and gratitude others simply are unable to feel. I’ve got a few gift suggestions for them.

Perhaps you don’t personally know any of those serving, abroad or here in the States, but you still want to honor their service. For that, below are some suggested charities you may donate to. Knowing they’re in it for the troops and the sacrifices they have made and continue to make, not the money, I proudly donate to all of them. My donations, like yours, may not have a lot of zeros after the numbers, but together we can make a difference. Don’t give ’til it hurts. Just give until it feels good.

Leatherman Super Tool 300

There are gadget-tools, wannabe tools and Leatherman’s Super Tool 300, with the strongest pliers they’ve ever produced along with 19 handy, easily deployed tools. These include plain-edge and serrated 420HC knives, regular, hard and stranded wire cutters with replaceable blades, four different screwdrivers, saw, wood-and-metal file and a whole lot more. Rolled handles make for a comfortable grip, and you can choose between bright stainless or black oxide finishes. Place your order early and you can have your Super Tool 300 engraved and gift boxed for an extra $9.90! Yeah, you can be Super-Santa with this gift!

Leatherman Tool Group
P.O. Box 20595, Portland, OR 97294
(800) 847-8665
//gunsmagazine.com/company/leatherman-tool-group/

Troops Direct

Troops Direct shouldn’t even exist—but it does and it must. Simply put, our hacked and slashed military apparatus often can’t provide for some basic and even critical needs of troops deployed in harm’s way in a timely manner: tourniquets, chest wound sealers, boots, socks, soap—sometimes even helmets, for Pete’s sake. “You need sandbags to protect against mortar and rocket attacks? We can get you some in, oh, 3 to 6 months.” Using ways and means more efficient and effective than DoD is capable of, Troops Direct can usually deliver needed supplies in the amounts required within days, not weeks or months.

Four days ago, Troops Direct shipped an order containing fully stocked field medical kits, stretchers, and tactical laryngoscope kits to a combat medical unit who couldn’t get them through “regular channels”—not in time to save lives. Check them out.

TroopsDirect Global Headquarters
2400 Camino Ramon, Suite 105
San Ramon, CA 94583
(877) 978-7667
www.troopsdirect.org

Trident 20

The military is awash in big floppy seabags, duffels and mega-sized field packs, but what many service members need is the perfect traveling bag for a weekend pass and getaway. They spoke, Vanquest Gear listened, and created the Trident-20. Carried like luggage or worn as a backpack, it’s tough, superbly designed, airline-friendly, offering all room needed for underwear, socks, bathing suit, toiletries as well as all your personal junk, including space for a 15-inch laptop and a tablet. The exterior of this one is Wolf Gray, and the interior is done in Vanquest’s signature light-reflecting orange to help you easily locate small items in the dark. Great gear, and a great gift!

Vanquest Gear Inc.
P.O. Box 16322
Irvine, CA 92623
(949) 216-8880
Trident 20

//gunsmagazine.com/company/vanquest/

Range Benchloader

Imagine having to load all your AR mags by hand from loose rounds. That’s what our trigger-pullers put up with. The Range BenchLoader from Maglula makes these chores fast and easy. Slide rounds into the slot, snap your AR-15/M4/M16 mag into place, and swe-e-e-e-e-p them in with one smooth push of the loading knob. Just 16.5 inches long, weighing only 13 ounces, it’s built tough to load hundreds of magazines per day, making your giftee a rock star in their unit. The only moving part is the slider, and that’s “captured” so there are no parts to go astray. Six small rubber feet keep it from slipping on most surfaces, and a honeycombed under-structure keeps it rigid and strong. It’s a time and fingers-saver, and could be a life-saver too. Available from many sources, I bought mine from Brownells.

Maglula Ltd.
P.O. Box 302
Rosh Ha’ayin, 48103 Israel
+972-8-6488001
//gunsmagazine.com/company/maglula-ltd/

AnySoldier.Com

AnySoldier.Com (which is also AnyMarine, AnySailor, AnyAirman and AnyCoastGuard.Com) is a long-time favorite charity of mine. Military personnel stationed worldwide send “wish lists” of items the supply system can’t provide to AnySoldier, along with information about the size and makeup of the unit—how many males and females, for example—their living conditions, and operational security limits, where on earth they are located. It could be six male soldiers in Estonia yearning for books and magazines in English, or 10 female commo techs somewhere in the Horn of Africa who can’t get shampoo, hair bands or sanitary products from a PX hundreds of miles away. Then you step in, and AnySoldier puts you in touch with them. Find out how it works at www.anysoldier.com

AnySoldier.com has no secretarial staff to return letters or take phone calls. Please go to the website.

Operation Finally Home

Operation Finally Home designs and builds custom homes for our badly wounded warriors, most of them multiple amputees and para- or quadriplegics. Features are designed specifically for their physical challenges and are given to them 100 percent free, with no mortgage. Just imagine helping supply a home to one of our severely disabled vets and consider a donation—please.

Operation Finally Home, Donations
P.O. Box 732667, Dallas, TX 75373
www.operationfinallyhome.org

Otis Star Chamber Cleaning Tool

Our troops don’t have the advantages of nickel-boron finishes and gas piston systems, so they’re still sentenced to scraping carbon from their M16’s. Give ’em a break with these goodies from Otis Technology: The little B.O.N.E. Tool cleans the bolt tail, firing pin and the interior of the bolt carrier. The self-aligning extendable Star Chamber Cleaning Tool first scrapes the chamber grooves with a coated brass star, then its specially-cut pads wipe away the grit and apply lube evenly and thoroughly. Available from many sources, I got mine from Cabela’s.

Otis Technology
6987 Laura Street
P.O. Box 582
Lyons Falls, NY 13368
(315) 348-4300
//gunsmagazine.com/company/otis-technology/

SureFire Sidekick

Everybody needs a Sidekick, right? This one from SureFire is the size of a car remote and weighs only 1.2 ounces, but packs 300, 60 or 5 lumens of light, maximized by a special faceted reflector. It’s rechargeable via a micro-USB port for up to 1.25 hours on high power (up to 45 hours on low), with a range out past 50 meters. Its rugged polymer body is weather-resistant and features a split ring for attachment to keys or carabiners. Shown here is the optional Lightkeeper clip with heavy-duty retractable cord. Don’t leave your giftee in the dark…

Surefire LLC
18300 Mount Baldy Circle
Fountain Valley, CA 92708
(800) 828-8809
//gunsmagazine.com/company/surefire-llc/

Spyderco Pacific Salt

This folding knife is so well suited for military use it has its own official NSN number for unit purchases. The razor sharp carbonitride-coated, hollow-ground 3.8-inch blade is H-1 steel, virtually impervious to corrosives like salt water and blood. All internal parts are similarly treated, so in a pinch you can even put it away wet without worrying about rust. The PacSalt’s thumb-opening hole is enlarged to 14mm to accommodate gloved or wet hands, and the textured fiber-reinforced nylon handle scales wear a reversible blackened titanium pocket clip. Your giftee is gonna love it!

Spyderco Inc.
820 Spyderco Way
Golden, CO 80403
(303) 279-8383
//gunsmagazine.com/company/spyderco-inc/

The Fisher House Foundation

The Fisher House Foundation builds and operates “comfort homes” at or near major military and VA hospitals across the country. Many families of badly wounded or seriously injured service personnel and veterans just can’t afford the travel and lodging costs to visit loved ones hundreds or even thousands of miles away. Their stays at Fisher House comfort homes are provided absolutely free, and through Fisher’s Hero Miles program, donated frequent-flyer miles can often pay for their airfare. If there’s no comfort home available at the hospital where a vet is receiving treatment, Fisher’s Hotels for Heroes program uses donated hotel points to provide rooms at hotels near medical centers free of charge.

Through 2015, Fisher House has provided more than 6 million lodging days to over 277,000 families, plus over 58,000 airline tickets. Help if you can.

Fisher House Foundation
111 Rockville Pike, Suite 420
Rockville, Maryland 20850
(301) 294-8560
www.fisherhouse.org