1. Save a Life You carry a firearm to save lives, and that’s critical, but you are even more likely to come across someone who needs emergency medical attention. One basic item is a tourniquet, yet these can be bulky. This is why the Snakestaff Systems ETQ Gen 2 was designed to be significantly smaller—about the size of your average magazine pouch. It has three smooth, flat faces on the windlass to help you get a good grip and uses a Carabiner-style lock to keep that in place. Instructions are printed right on the tourniquet band and include a QR code that takes you to additional instructions, as it may need to be applied by those who’ve never been trained or those who’ve forgotten the steps under the pressure of the moment. (snakestaffsystems.com; $31.99)
2. Semi-Custom Ear Protection The fine folks in the Decibullz booth at this year’s SHOT show scoffed at my tiny-ear problems and assured me they’ve never had someone who couldn’t use these Custom Molded Percussive Shooting Filter Earplugs, so I decided to try them. The hot-water molding process will be familiar to anyone who has molded sport mouth guards, but you need to be careful to use the right type of tip for the molding, which differs from the one you’d use for dampening gunshot reports (the foam tips offer up to 33 dB of impulse protection). Nevertheless, the process was easy, the earplugs seem to be staying in better and they are comfortable. I’ll stick with my earmuffs when I need to hear others well on the range, but when I can’t stand those anymore or don’t need to be teaching, these will be what I reach for. (decibullz.com; $79.99)
3. A Smart Holster This Galco Masterbilt Revenger belt holster is hand- molded with a slight forward cant. It holds onto my Ruger GP100 securely but doesn’t fight me when I unholster it—and the belt loop is reinforced with metal to ensure it stays put on the belt. The combination of that large revolver with this gorgeous premium steerhide leather instantly reverts me back to my Texan roots, despite my departure from the state more than 25 years ago, but the holster is also available for many other Colt, Ruger and Smith & Wesson models if you have a different setup in mind. (galcogunleather.com; $259)
