VaulTek? Isn’t the company from Fallout? A google search reveals that the Fallout company is Vault-Tec, and VaulTek is an American safe company that designs and produces technology advanced safes. They make a variety of small to moderate-sized safes. Today we are looking at the very cool and compact LifePod. Specifically, the Lifepod 1.0, which is the smaller variant of the LifePod. Also, just because I have to mention, they make a humidor LifePod, and that’s just all kinds of cool too.

The LifePod 1.0, henceforth referred to as the LifePod, is a 10.25″ L x 7″ W x 2.25″ H mini safe that weighs two pounds and three ounces. The inside of the safe gives you 7.75″ L x 6″ W x 1.75″ H of internal storage. As you can tell, this is on the small side of safes. It’s roughly the right size to fit a duty-sized handgun or smaller. A competitive-sized firearm with optic and light wouldn’t be the best option for this small safe. It fits a firearm that’s 7.75 inches or shorter.

Breaking Down the LifePod

This small safe is more than your average lockbox. It’s made from a mix of metal and some form of polymer. VaulTek calls it an impact-resistant proprietary material blend. Is polymer weaker than metal? Sure, but this isn’t intended to be a long-term firearm storage option. Hell, boxes this small don’t need to be cracked open when they can just be swiped and stolen.

Also, unlike your average lockbox, the LifePod comes with a digital locking system that uses a 4 to 8 digit combination. The digits are 1 through 4, and then the Lock button fires the thing up for you to key your code in. When you press the lock button, the keys light up a dim red for easy visibility.

This is your main lock when securing the firearm. Powering the lock and keypad is done via a micro USB cord or a 9-volt battery. This setup allows it to be a cord-free journey safe or to act as a backup if the power goes out. Additionally, should the power go out or the battery dies, you have a manual key as a tertiary means to open the safe.

Everything Proof!

On the sides sit two dual compression latches. These don’t lock but, compress the door down and ensure it’s also a waterproof design! Yep, it’s adventure approved. Oh, besides being waterproof, it can also float, so if it falls overboard, you can easily retrieve it without worrying about losing it. As a kayaker, this is something I seriously appreciate.

Along with being waterproof, it’s dustproof and airtight too. Dustproof is a must-have for me. I live on a dirt road and sandhill so the moon dust here gives Iraqi moon dust a run for its money. I’ve never found dust in the safe, and that’s after years of life in a dust bowl.

The LifePod can be dropped at any angle, including its corners, without popping open. Drop it, kick it, toss it, and it will take the beating without issue. The LifePod takes lots of abuse and protects the treasures you store inside from everything.

Set Up For Success

Sure the LifePod can act as a gun safe, and hell, that’s what I use mine for. However, the LifePod can be used to secure damn near anything for a wide variety of reasons. It’s perfect for securing cash, electronics, jewelry, and more while traveling. Expensive goodies like camera equipment or sensitive items like hard drives and SD cards can be stashed and secured while remaining protected.

Most of us use these kinds of things to limit access to something, be it a firearm, a Rolex, or a hard drive full of rare Hentai. The LifePod can do that, but more than just secure the goods, it can protect them. The LifePod’s foam-lined interior adds a good degree of protection, and the factthat it is air, water, and dustproof adds an entirely new level of protection to your goods.

When I go fishing or kayaking, I can stash my wallet, cell phone, and car keys in the LifePod. I’m not securing from theft but protecting them from life. If they fall overboard, I know they’ll float and remain protected until I retrieve them. The same goes for backpacking and hiking.

The sleek and slim design of the LifePod paired with its lightweight nature makes it perfect for hiking and camping. Again I’m securing goods but also protecting them from that cruel bitch we call nature.

How I Use the LifePod

As mentioned, I use the LifePod for a variety of tasks, but the main use is as a gun safe. Specifically, it acts as a car safe. When I know I’m going somewhere I can’t legally carry a gun, I want a safe to lock it up. I’m not dropping it in my glove box like an idiot and hoping no one breaks the window.

Instead, I drop my CCW in the safe and then use the included metal tether to secure the safe to my vehicle. Specifically, secured under and to my driver’s seat. This way, if someone tries to snatch it, they really have to work for it. It’s been sitting under my car seat for two years now, and that speaks to its durability.

This poor LifePod has been locked in the dark with barely any break for two years. Here it’s been exposed to kicks from kids, dirt, dust, and the bounces and bumps that accommodate rural living. Beyond that, it gets dropped into my kayak, or my boat, or my rucksack to get even more abuse thrown at it. Oh, and the inside is immaculate because, as mentioned before, it is dust, air, and waterproof.

Yet every time I type in my combo, the safe beeps, boops, and opens right up. The keypad isn’t tactile but is instantly reactive to my finger typing in the code. They advertise the battery will last a year, and I can say that’s more than accurate. I change the battery yearly, but it has never actually died on me. I just swap batteries for safety and convenience sake.

Staying Safe

The LifePod is one of those products that’s ultra-handy to have. It’s far from expensive, and when you factor in the quality, the electronics, and security, it’s damn near a bargain. The LifePod makes securing a firearm or protecting your goodies easy, and not just from thieves. Your stuff will be protected from the environment, from spills, tumbles, and more. If you need a bigger LifePod check out the 2.0.

I’m not much of a bolt action kind of guy. I lack the range to put a long-range weapon through its paces, and I was born into a shotgun family. Don’t get me wrong. I can still appreciate a good bolt gun. They just rarely get my motor running. One that finally did was the Savage Impulse. How did the Impulse metaphorically flirt with me?

Well, Savage promised a straight-pull bolt gun, something many of us are unlikely to be familiar with. As a milsurp fan, I do appreciate the K-31 and the M1895 Lee-Navy, but I had never seen a modern hunting rifle with a straight-pull bolt.

What’s The Big Deal With A Straight-pull Bolt?

Most bolt action rifles utilize a rotating bolt design. For the shooter to reload the weapon, they have to grip the bolt, rotate it upwards, and then pull the bolt rearward to eject a casing. Then they have to shove the bolt forward and rotate downwards to fire once more. A straight-pull bolt only has two motions, pull the bolt rearward, push the bolt forward.

As far as manual actions go, this is faster and often simpler than a rotary bolt design. Straight pull bolt guns are popular in Europe due to their rapid-fire design and the fact that semi-autos are often banned. Lots of European companies like Blaser produce straight-pull bolt guns, but it’s rare for American companies to take up the challenge.

The Impulse from Savage Arms brings the straight-pull rifle home.

The Savage Impulse — Predator

It does so with three different models. We have the Hog Hunter, the Big Game, and the Predator. I’m handling the Predator model today, in the classic .308 Winchester. Each rifle offers different barrel lengths, calibers, and stock options.

The Hog Hunter is the lightest and shortest, the Big Game offers long action cartridges like the .300 Winchester Magnum, and the Predator falls in-between. These rifles use the AICS magazines, and the Predator comes with a single ten-round magazine. We get a Mossy Oak camouflaged stock, a 20-inch threaded barrel, and it’s optics ready.

Our stock is adjustable with a set of spacers to allow the shooter to set the length of pull. One of the first things I did was shorten it to 12.75. Even though I’m a big dude, I’m comfortable with a shorter length of pull. The comb height can also be adjusted, but it was comfortable from the factory for me.

On top of the receiver sits a 20 MOA Picatinny rail that is machined as part of the receiver. This means you’ll never need to worry about loose rail syndrome. There is plenty of room for whatever optic you’ll want, and I attached a Primary Arms GLx 2.5-10X.

My Predator comes in the good ole fashioned .308 Winchester, and with some ammunition sent from our friends at Remington, I was ready to hit the field.

Setting The Impulse Up For Success

Zeroing is obviously the first thing I needed to do with the GLx and the Impulse. I started at 50 yards, made sure I was on paper, and moved back to 100 yards. I dialed in and began shooting my 100-yard groups. I’m also testing the GLx optic, so I used this opportunity to test the turret’s adjustments and slowly walked the rounds from the outer ring directly to the bull’s eye.

Holy crap, is the Impulse Predator an accurate gun. The rounds land next to each other consistently, and the Accu-trigger never fails to impress. It mixes a very light trigger with a Glock-style metal blade safety. This ensures you get the accuracy of a light trigger without any of the traditional risks it offers.

Once I dialed the optic in, I created a very tight group in the center. Of course, it was plagued by a flyer when I got a little overzealous. Minus my overzealous nature, and this is a sub-MOA gun at one hundred yards. With both Remington and Winchester ammunition, I scored groups in the .70 inch range at 100 yards.

I feel incredibly confident about taking this gun on my next hog hunt, or my future coyote hunt, or hell, it’s accurate enough that I feel confident taking it against prairie dogs. The Savage Accu-Bed system, the fine-tuned factory headspace, and the awesome trigger do their job.

That Bolt

I haven’t mentioned the bolt yet because it really deserves an entire section. The Impulse and its straight-pull bolt are a fantastic pair. The bolt is a lot like a shotgun’s pump. Once the weapon is loaded and cocked, the bolt is locked in place. This way, nothing hits the bolt and opens up the action.

A button at the rear of the bolt will allow the bolt to be manually unlocked and cycled. This way, you can easily and safely clear the weapon. After the weapon is fired (or trigger pulled), the bolt unlocks much like a shotgun pump.

Manipulating the straight-pull bolt is swift and fast. I would say it’s easily as fast as a lever gun without the downsides of a lever gun. Meaning I can work the bolt in the prone without breaking my position. Plus, I can fire spitzer bullets that maximize range and power. You can toss fast follow-up shots downrange with ease and with accuracy.

Killing hogs in Florida often means more than one, and being able to take an extra shot might result in an extra kill. A rapid, easy-moving bolt makes this entirely possible. The Savage Impulse combines a rapid bolt action with an accurate platform that’s perfect for scoring quick kills.

The bolt doesn’t protrude far enough rearward to pop you in the face. You can manipulate the bolt without breaking your sight picture so that follow-up shots stay quick and easy.

The Impulse of the Impulse

Another feature that makes the Impulse easy and rapid to fire is the recoil impulse. It’s fairly light — surprisingly so for a bolt gun. I honestly expected a little more jump, a little more rearward force, but I was left pleasantly surprised.

The Savage Impulse doesn’t hit with significant force. It’s downright pleasant, to be honest. Why is it so pleasant? Well, it’s because the rifle is hefty. The Impulse Predator weighs 8.7 pounds unloaded and without an optic. With the optic, we’ve hit the ten-pound point. All that weight makes it a bit hefty for carrying through the woods but makes it easy to stabilize and reduces recoil.

The weight is the only real downside of the Impulse, but even then, it comes in handy for making that fast follow-up shots. Savage put together a fantastic rifle and offers a bolt configuration, unlike most sporting rifles on the market.

The Savage Impulse does pack a heftier price than most. The MSRP is $1,379.00 dollars, with the street price being fairly lower. To be fair, that price point put lower than all the European straight-pull bolts on the market. In fact, it’s downright humble compared to a Blaser or a Browning Maral.

What do you think about straight-pull guns? Do they have a place in your tree stand? Let us know below.

Outside of sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their heads, firearms that fire laser beams out of the barrels come in as a close second as my favorite laser-type things. It’s even better if it’s a 40-Watt Phased Plasma Rifle. However, the Mantis Laser Academy Training Kit gets me part of the way there. And it actually exists! You can get fairly decent feedback with dryfiring alone, but with the addition of a laser and the 1’s and 0’s in the Laser Academy App (for both iOS and Android), you get even more data on how you suck.

What Is It?

It’s a portable training kit from Mantis X with shooting drills and realtime feedback. The Mantis Laser Academy Kit uses a caliber-specific laser module for your pistols and rifles. This is then used with a series of smart target pages that the Laser Academy App can read and mark hits from the laser. Not only can the targets track your hits but one of them is even used as a remote so you have no need to touch your phone. You can start, stop, or clear your session by just firing at a target, which is pretty handy. If you are as stunned as I am you might end up forgetting to use the target to start things. However, the app still tracks your shots so consider it free target practice.

Setup

Setting things up is extremely easy. The kit literally comes with everything you could need to start enhancing your dry fire in the house, or while you are on the road, for those who spend more time in hotels than their own beds. The Laser Academy app has numerous firing modes in it like Duels, Bullseye, Holster Draw, and many more. By purchasing the Standard Kit you get an unlock code that opens the PRO modes which also allows you to get future updates to it so if they make a new mode you get it. This is actually a fairly interesting option because custom drills and things can come at a later date or they can even partner with trainers to incorporate their own drill. If it uses a separate target you would just need the target and the system would then read it, allowing you to test your skills. 

Depending on what you have around, the kit comes with two tripod options a small tabletop tripod with flexible legs and another one that gets up to about mid-chest. The flexible tripod can be bent around a chair top or used as a standard tripod on a desk or table depending on your room situation. At first, the tall tripod feels fairly flimsy since it’s so light in weight, but it doesn’t have to deal with wind and things. All it needs to do is hold your phone. The standard kit also comes with two different phone clamps to give you some versatility.

Once you have your phone in the clamp on a tripod and you downloaded the Laser Academy app you will need to insert the laser cartridge into the barrel of the firearm. Follow all your normal safety precautions and whatnot, rack the slide and lock it back, pop the cartridge in and release the slide lock. Look through the app and figure out what drill you want to do. The app will tell you what type of target you will need to use.

Speaking of targets you get two sizes of each 5″x7″ and 8.5″x11″ which can either be used to make things easier to see or be used based on space 2 yards vs 4 yards. The larger targets you stick to the wall using the included blue tack and the smaller ones you can do the same or use the included target stands. For my situation, I have found the smaller 5″x7″ targets to be the perfect option and have shot them from as far away as 10m in my basement because I could. The keyring style clamp on the target stands can be a bit stiff and it helps if you help pop them open a bit with a fingernail first so you don’t end up mangling your target cards.

Now you just aim the phone camera at the target and you will notice a box appear around the targets. This happens because it reads the four coded squares in the corner of the target telling it what target it is and sizing it for the app. Using all this data it knows where all the scoring zones are on the target and how big they actually are.

Thoughts From Use

I have had this kit for around a month now. I’ve used it a fair amount, playing with the different targets and modes and getting a feel for everything it can do and for features I hope will be added at a later time.

First things first, I have found the accuracy of the camera to be exceptionally precise, picking up the laser at the exact point on the target. While my wife was shooting, I looked very closely at the target and then checked the phone. The shot was appropriately placed on the screen and scored accordingly. 

There are a few suggestions I have for making the system a little more efficient, though. Being as this is just a cartridge in the barrel it won’t reset the trigger so unless you have a double-action pistol you will need to partially rack the slide to reset the trigger in order to shoot again. Something like one of the CO2 replacement barrels from CoolFire would really amp up some of the training that could be done with the kit.

I also have an idea for a training program for the Dot Torture test targets. I think it would be cool if it randomly called out a target by saying, “One,” or “Grey Square Two”. This would assess your time in target recognition and drawing from a holster. This kind of program could also be done with the silhouette targets where it calls out the target name and says, “Two shots,” or something like that.

The other area I see this potentially being useful would be with something like an Indoor Dryfire Training System and a bolt action-specific caliber. You could have Know Your Limits type targets or even have PRS style targets setups.

This brings me to my next point about the app. It allows you to set an offset. This comes in handy in case, say, your red dot on your pistol is zeroed far enough away that the close distance in your house causes you to aim off-center on the target.

What they don’t have or that I can’t see is firearm profiles. So say you have a Glock with a red dot and a P320 with iron,s you don’t have to adjust this each time. The range I belong to does not allow holsters, so I can’t practice drawing and firing from a holster there. With the Laser Academy, I can do this whenever I want at home.

Results with the Mantis Laser Academy

I have noticed a tremendous increase in my draw and fire times. With my Glock that has an Aimpoint H1 on it, I am getting way faster at getting the dot on the target and firing a shot. Sadly I recently traded this pistol and need to get my other Archon slide milled for a red dot but you get the idea. The system has loads of potential, especially for new shooters or people who are a bit iffy on firearms. There are no loud sounds or recoil, so they can focus on learning the fundamentals in a familiar place. And, to be honest, it’s just fun—kind of like an arcade game.

*Update This article hasn’t even been posted and there is already an update with Hunt Drills. It has Easy Medium and Hard. On hard, it will call out shade so Light Square 1 which is awesome and is fairly tricky.

It’s rare to see anything truly unique in the handgun world, so it’s interesting to check out the KelTec P50, which really is a different kind of gun. In this video review, YouTuber Caleb Downing tries it out for himself and gives you his take on its design and overall performance. Haven’t heard of the KelTec P50? Check this out. We think you’ll end up wanting a closer look.

What is the KelTec P50?

The KelTec P50 is a handgun chambered in 5.7x28mm. This description makes it sound basic, but it is anything but basic. It has what the manufacturer calls a “retro” appearance and is bulkier than traditional handguns. The P50 is a handgun you’re not likely to want to shoot one-handed, and you’re definitely going to want some trigger time with it.

Downing runs through some live fire with the P50, which he calls a “space gun” (understandably). This all has to start with loading the magazine, which is probably the gun’s most unique feature. It’s a 50-round FN PS90/P90 magazine and is loaded into the gun’s frame horizontally. 

Loading it with rounds of ammunition is an interesting feat that involves getting the hang of using the base of one round to press the nose of the bullet of the previous round downward and to the side, allowing it to rotate into place. According to Downing, there is a speed loader available and it looks like it would be a good idea to use one.

As for performance, the first round through Downing’s review gun failed to eject, but after that, it appears to have cycled reliably. He also discovered during his time running the handgun that it will fire a chambered round with the magazine out of the gun, which is nice to know. Overall it looked like he had fun with it.

Interested in finding out more about the P50 and seeing Downing load that magazine himself? Check out the video:

What’s the Purpose of the P50?

The first use for the P50 is to have fun plinking with it. It is, after all, a cool gun. In this caliber, it could be used to handgun hunt varmints and pests, and there are those who would probably consider using it for some form of home defense. Overall this is one of those guns that’s just fun to own and a joy to shoot, and there is nothing wrong with that.

YouTuber Nickademus77 mentioned some other simple purposes for the KelTec P50 in the comment section for this video, including:

• Home defense when the number of invaders and overpenetration are a concern.
• Secondary sidearm. ‘Perfect pair’ for the PS90/P90.

Would you want a KelTec P50 of your own? Why or why not? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Specifications

• Manufacturer: KelTec
• Model: P50
• Caliber: 5.7x28mm
• Capacity: 50 rounds (standard magazine)
• Barrel Length: 9.6 inches
• Barrel Threads: 1/2×28 TPI
• Overall Length: 15 inches
• Height: 6.7 inches
• Width: 2.0 inches
• Trigger Pull: 5.0 pounds (factory)
• Weight: 3.2 pounds (empty)
• MSRP: $995