Since the 2020 panic, MREs have been hard to find for a good price. It would appear that MRE prices are not going to come back down any time soon. When I used to buy MREs prior to 2020, I paid $55 for a case of standard MREs in Alaska. Now, you will be paying at least three times that. Lets face it, the days of $4 MREs are gone and now it is a question of availability and cost effectiveness. If you can even get MREs, they are going to cost about $20 per meal and another chunk of change to have them shipped. However, there is another option by a company called MRE STAR out of Sarasota, Florida. In this article, I am going to review a single meal that I found in a local store that is common here in Arkansas, but MRE STAR also makes other types of meals like this 24 hour ration sold on mremountain.com.
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In my years of carrying, I have learned that you need two points of contact with the belt if you are going to carry a pistol the size of a Beretta APX A1 Compact. The Vedder holsters Pro-Tuck, the Clinger Holsters Hinge, and the Aliengear Cloak 3.5 were all good candidates with their own merits. When I got my APX A1 Compact, I soon found that the holster companies had not caught up with the fact that the APX A1 was on the market for two years. None of my favorite holster makers, listed above, had a holster for the APX A1, not to mention the compact model. There were other choices available in the appendix holster arena or the cheap single belt clip arena, but as I mentioned, they would not suffice for my needs. Eventually I ran upon the Beretta APX A1 Hybrid holster sold on Beretta's website. It was fairly expensive, but it seemed like the only option at the time.
When I was in the Marines, I was issued a variety of load carrying options. I had plate carriers, the Interceptor vest, the MOTV , and the LBV (Load-Bearing Vest) "ELL-BEE-VEE", also known as the FLC (Fighting Load Carrier) "FLICK" in the Army. I found the LBV to be an ideal method of carrying all my crap while leaving my plate carrier slick. This allowed me to shed the added combat load without dropping my body armor with it. I found it clumsy and odd to attach all my pouches to my armor and then try to get into a vehicle and drive for hours, just to have to then go on a patrol or go on post for four hours. I was just standing there in a Hesco tower, so it was ridiculous to have all my ammo ON me when I could lay out my LBV and take a load off my back, knees, and feet. Overall, I was able to turn my body armor into Line 1 and have my LBV as my Line 2 gear, making it more accurate to call it the Fighting Load Carrier (FLC). This worked out well and I have carried this concept forward with me. For the remainder of this article, I will use the acronym FLC, since I believe it describes the gear more accurately.
After experiencing the original Beretta APX full size, I felt that there may be a place for a pistol like it on my hip, albeit smaller. I liked the way the original APX functioned, and my local gun store had one for about $400 collecting dust. I was tempted to jump on the old APX, but after doing some research, I figured the APX A1 Compact would be a step up if I could get it at a comparable price. I ended up getting my APX A1 Compact on www.palmettostatearmory.com for about $300. After about 500 rounds, I feel that I have a good amount of experience to discuss what the pistol is like. If you did not see my article on the full size APX, read it here to get a more comprehensive review on the original APX design.
THE BERETTA LEGACY
Beretta has been used in the US military since the M9 began service in the 80s. It has dazzled us on the big screen for decades and has left a lasting impression on us through cult classics like Die Hard and Lethal Weapon. It was on scene during the North Hollywood shootout and served in Federal (Border Patrol) and State Law Enforcement holsters for years. Not to mention that they have 500 years of experience manufacturing firearms. Suffice it to say that Beretta has a reputation that it intends to uphold. The APX is just the continuation of this legacy. |
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