By Mario Martinez Jr., HRT Training Corp Inc. As a 24-year veteran of tactical law enforcement and training consultant for federal and state law enforcement agencies. I have had the chance to test and evaluate hundreds of products for vendors worldwide. My training company has trained members from US Marshal Service, FBI SWAT, US Customs SRT, Ft. Benning SRT, Ft. …

by David Crane defrev (at) gmail (dot) com February 7, 2004 Last updated on 10/23/12. Some of you may remember the original “Hissatsu” that was manufactured for and marketed by Ancient Edge/Bugei Trading Co. in very limited numbers several years ago. Well, it’s back. Once again, it’s brought to us (in slightly modified form) by Ancient Edge/Bugei Trading Co., only …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com This article contains a high-resolution photo (JPEG format) of three custom Shiva Ki Merc anti-personnel knives.  Click on photo to view it full-size. Shiva Ki may just be the single best-kept secret in the custom knife world today. He makes what are arguably some of the sharpest tactical/fighting fixed blades in the world, and you can quote …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Lauer Custom Weaponry has come out with an interesting hard-use black firearms finish for tactical weapons. It’s called DuraCoat. DefRev hasn’t tried this finish out yet. To date, the only high-tech black finish the DefRev team has experience with so far is Birdsong’s Black-T, and we’ve all been very satisfied with it. I’ve had Black-T applied …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com Tactical Electronics was at SWAT Round-Up 2003, and they are one very interesting company. Tactical Electronics only does one thing, and that’s design and manufacture wireless handheld/hand controlled tactical monitoring systems specifically geared for LE SWAT and military Special Operations use (and, most likely, bomb detection as well). And, from all reports, they do it rather …

by David Crane According to reports, Second Chance Body Armor has introduced the Avon FM12 respirator and CT12 respirator into its tactical product line. This is an interesting development, as it appears to mark an expansion of focus by Second Chance, which, up to this point, has focused solely on… body armor design and production. It would appear Second Chance …

by Tim Chandler So you have the perfect AR15 with a properly tweaked extractor and equipment setup… And you have the perfectly reliable handgun on your hip for daily concealed carry… But do you really know how to use either of those tools well enough to save your life? Unfortunately, the answer to this question for many out there is …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com At last year’s SWAT Round-Up, I noticed that pretty much all the staff were wearing 5.11 Tactical Pants, and that these pants looked really good. I asked Mike Foreman, the Round-Up’s organizer and head honcho how he liked them, and he said they were great. Well that was enough for me. I’ve had three pairs of …

by David Crane defrev at gmail.com August 06, 2003 Let me say right off the bat that this gun doesn’t just fill an existing niche. It, along with one other competing weapon(read “Addendum”), literally creates its own new niche. I’m talking about the .50 Beowulf “Entry” Carbine by Alexander Arms that I had the intense pleasure to shoot at SWAT …

by David Crane david@defensereview.com With the Tactical Police Shotgun (TPS), FNH USA has given a very old piece of technology an interesting and utilitarian facelift. From what DefRev understands, the FN TPS is a essentially a highly modified and updated Winchester 1300 pump shotgun. Those modifications/updates have resulted in a very modern-looking 12 gauge pump-action shotgun that "borrows" various tactical …