Pocket’s Chocolates makes oat-milk chocolate-coated almonds that I first discovered at my local COSTCO. Their matcha-flavored almonds had me hooked after my first handful. These mildly sweet snacks are remarkably healthy with less than 10g of sugar per 14-almond serving. Perfect for my Keto diet.
When I heard that Pockets was running pop-up stores in Costco stores and their next location would be an hour south of me in San Jose, I just had to go. They would be offering tastings of all of their flavors. And I would get a chance to try their new Dubai chocolate flavored pastachios.
I drove down to San Jose in the middle of the Christmas rush. I introduced myself to their staff and discovered that 2 of their 3 co-owners were there. I met Lynn and Chris who were super friendly and as sweet as their product. They gave me a gift bag as a gift, and I bought a case of their chocolates because I’m addicted to their matcha and ube almonds.
I’ve reviewed a wide variety of LPVOs. And while many offer different features, reticles, and levels of glass clarity, one of the most common complaints people have with LPVOs is the distortion they see at low power. To add to the confusion, some LPVO makers intentionally design their scopes to show a larger field of view (FOV) through their scope, causing the perception that their scopes feel more “fish eye”. Moreover, some cheap LPVOs have uneven sharpness in their lens, creating additional distortions. At times, looking through an LPVO at 1x feels less like looking through a pane of glass and more like looking through a glass bottle.
Some of this distortion can be corrected by adjusting the diopter, but you can only adjust so much. I also noticed that with some LPVOs at 1x, objects look slightly offset from their position in the real world. It doesn’t matter if the scope costs over $2000 or less than $200, I will sometimes get a scope that doesn’t show an image aligned to its background.
But the odd thing is that when I rotate this “defective” mora than 90º in my hand, it seems to correct the effect. At SHOT Show, I stopped by the Trijicon booth (a company known for making combat-proven optics) and looked through their Credo LPVO, and it had that image shift issue I was describing. The effect was greatly reduced when looking through the Credo with the tube upside down! I asked a Trijicon technical staffer to explain this to me, but they shrugged and said they didn’t know what I was talking about.
I reached out to my friend, Dark Lord of Optics. There were too many confounding factors for him to diagnose the situation based on just my photos and videos. He suspects that I may not have adjusted the diopter properly for the camera (which I disagree). It could also be that the reticle and turrets were not optically centered or the elements were not assembled correctly.
I asked him if scope makers check for this issue at the factory. He said that scope factories center the turrets mechanically, but do not test for optical center. One thing that never occurred to me was that FFP (and some SFP) reticles are etched onto the lens and that the turrets move the reticle crosshairs by moving the entire lens. I tested one of the LPVOs that I thought had an image shift “out of the box”. I turned the turrets and discovered that it also shifted the overall image. This is only noticeable at 1x, which is why I only noticed this “defect” in LPVOs!
So the Trijicon Credo I looked at at SHOT Show probably wasn’t defective. There are hundreds of people touching and messing with the demo scopes at the expo. Somebody who was testing out the demo optic may have turned the turrets a rotation or even two. Even if they reset the turret number to “0” the image I was wasn’t optically, visually centered.
Now I know. And as G.I. said, knowing is half the battle.
If you want to get an affordable LPVO, check out the Discovery Optics ED-AR Official Website: https://discoveryopt.com/ (10% Discount Code: Moondog) Amazon: https://amzn.to/4ofFcnH (10% Discount Code: MOONDOG2A)
I visited the ProHear booth at SHOT Show 2025 and asked which model offered the best sound quality when connected to a phone or device. One of the deciding factors of Ear Pro (hearing protection) for me is the quality of the sound you hear through electronic earmuffs. The sound quality of music through electronic EarPro is a good indication of a headphone’s ability to recreate a realistic representation of the sounds and environment around you.
Ear Pro at a gun range or just mowing your lawn is important because any damage to your hearing is permanent. Electronic Ear Pro has become the standard for hearing protection, amplifying normal sounds while blocking out loud gunfire and noises. Better quality electronic Ear Pro can simulate or even improve upon what you could hear with your naked ears.
ProHear gave me a set of their EM030 “Machete” headphones. These are Bluetooth-capable, rechargeable headphones. They look like a boxier version of Howard Leight Impact Sports and have compatible earpads. Paired to my phone and playing a sound sample of music, their audio quality was better than Howard Leights or Walker Razors.
Testing them at the gun range, they quickly cut out gunshots while amplifying voices and environmental sounds. Unfortunately, the sound was omnidirectional without stereoscopic directionality or the distance of the sound source (the same complaint with Walker Razors). I could hear conversations a few tables away better than someone directly in front of me.
While the ambient performance was not better than my stereo-sound Howard Leight’s, the ProHear offers Bluetooth connectivity at the same price point. That may be the final determining factor between these two similar Ear Pro.
The Klarus XT11GT Pro is a traditional tactical flashlight that is 5″ long with a 1″ tube. It uses a standard 18650 (or 2x CR123) Lipo battery to drive an emitter with an output of 3300 lumens. It has a USB-C port to allow direct recharging of the battery inside the flashlight.
Its bell is impressively thick and reinforced with ceramic glass-breaking beads embedded in 3 of its crown teeth. The base of the bell is flared, similar to a sword pomel, to help prevent your hand from slipping when striking with the flashlight to break glass.
It’s operated via a primary clicky button, which activates its turbo mode of 3300 lumens. Along the rim of the tail cap is its Auxiliary control switch, which activates the flashlight in low, medium, high, SOS, and strobe. This dual button system makes for easier control but the angled Aux button prevents the flashlight from tail standing.
iThe XT11GT Pro is an incremental but significant upgrade. For those who are used to and comfortable with a traditional tactical light that will fit into many standard holsters, this is a great choice.
The Christmas music we hear playing this time of year can trace their roots to jazz standards of the 20th century. Lets talk about that with jazz musician Adam Chasnow. This this video is sponsored by Aura. Stop leaving yourself vulnerable to data breaches. Go to my link https://aura.com/moondog to get a 14-day free trial and see if any of your data has been exposed.
This American record company was founded in 1889 and is the oldest continuously operating brand in recorded music. It derived it’s name from its early headquarters in the District of Columbia (Washington D.C.)
It put out notable records by jazz greats such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, and Dave Brubeck, as well as pop artists such as Frank Sinatra, Benny Goodman, Aretha Franklin, and Bruce Springsteen.
This record company’s eponymous Music Club, was a spin off direct to consumer mail-order record business that promised 12 free records, tapes, and CDs if you joined. It taught many of us, the hard way, that we need to read the fine print and that there is no free lunch.
Olight has released the AkrPro, the newest model of their category-defining Arkfeld “blade style” EDC flashlight. This flashlight looks nearly identical to the Arkfeld Pro, but on closer inspection, the AkPro is slightly longer, and it has more upgrades in store.
On its left side, it now has a USB-C port hidden under a metal flap similar to the OClip. The ArkPro still retains the magnetic charging base, which also allows for a remote pressure switch accessory. When charging, a series of bars around the inside of the rotary control indicates the battery charge.
On its right side, it has a small button that activates the green laser pointer. Replacing the laser setting on the rotary wheel, the ArkPro now offers a FLOOD beam setting, which produces a broad flood pattern differing from the OLight’s “standard/spot” style beam. The UV light now offers a high and low output mode.
The ArkPro is everything you would want in an Arkfeld Pro and more, which makes me wonder why they would still offer the older model. The only thing the ArkPro is missing is an analogue Lock Out setting. Maybe that should be offered in an ArkUltra?
Light: White LED, UV (365nm), Green Laser (510-530nm) Max Brightness: Up to 1500 Lumens Max Throw: 205 meters (672 ft) Runtime: Up to 72 hours on low Battery: Built-in (2000mAh) Charging: USB-C & Magnetic Water Resistance: IPX7 Material: 6061 Aluminum Alloy Dimensions: 4.88″ x 1.06″ x 0.63″ (124x27x16mm) Weight: Approx. 4.06 oz / 115g
Whether to create an even more accurate long-range rifle out of an existing AR15 or to comply with certain states unfair restrictions on semi-automatic AR15 rifles, or just for the sheer novelty of it, you can now change any AR15 into a bolt-action rifle. Bear Creek Arsenal (BCA) debuted its BC15 bolt-action AR15 uppers at SHOT Show with an upper chambered in the straight-wall 350 Legend. Finally, they’re releasing BC15’s in other popular calibers. BCA sent me a BC15 chambered in 6.5 Grendel, a thicker cartridge that offers greater accuracy and long-range stopping power than NATO 5.56, while retaining the same length.
The BC15 I received for testing definitely looked budget in terms of fit and finish. The milling on the handguard felt a little sharp and unfinished. The action felt rough for a bolt-action, and this initial impression would only be reinforced with time. I mated it to a MilSpec AR15 lower and added a Discovery Optics ED-AR 5-25×56 precision long-range scope. For the 100-yard tests, I shot Hornady 123gr SSI 6.5 Grendel.
It shot a decent 2-inch group straight out of the box. I did not have a 6.5 Grendel magazine, so I tried using a 5.56 STANAG magazine, but discovered it fed unreliably, so I chambered each 6.5 Grendel round individually. Because I was running the magazine empty, I also discovered that my lower bolt catch would lock the bolt open and prevent me from closing the bolt until I depressed the paddle.
To say that my BC15 has a rough action would be a gross understatement. Often, its lugs would fail to rotate and release after a shot or require a hard slam to close the bolt. Undoubtedly, it would run better after a break-in period, but for now, it is frustrating. What the BC15 does have going for it is its ridiculously affordable price and a MilSpec design that allows for upgrades. And out of the box accuracy it printed 1.5″ groups at 100 yards.
In the last week, both Netflix and now Paramount/Skydance are in open war to buy Warner Brothers studios. In today’s Livestream we’ll talk about this takeover bid and review the most influential films created by Warner Brothers Studios. This video is sponsored by Aura. Stop leaving yourself vulnerable to data breaches. Go to my link https://aura.com/moondog to get a 14-day free trial and see if any of your data has been exposed.
This film studio was founded on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood in 1920, by 4 brothers from PA and produced the first successful “talking picture”, the Jazz Singer.
DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE
In December 5, Netflix announced its intention to buy Warner Brothers for $85B in stock. 4 days later, on December 9, Paramount Skydance announces a hostile takeover offering $30/share of Warner Brothers (worth $108B)
In 1989 this studio was bought by Time, Inc. In 2018 it was sold to AT&T and later merged with Discovery Networks. It is the home of such iconic franchises as Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and D.C. Comics’ Batman and Superman.
Continuing in CVLife’s lineup of mashing animal names and random words, they’ve come up with a new one: EagleVanta. “Vanta” means “boast” in Italian, and this scope boasts ultra-high definition glass. In my testing, I found the glass was color-accurate and bright. I like its BDC reticle, which is simple and easy to aim with a daylight bright horseshoe reticle.
While not quite as refined as a Vector Optics Continental, the EagleVanta boasts a build and appearance that puts it at the top of CVLife’s LPVO lineup. In addition, the EagleVanta comes with a good cantilever mount and a throw lever. Overall, I like the simplicity and practicality of this SFP LPVO. For the price, it checks all the boxes, including value.
When the OSight first came out earlier this year, they launched a micro reflex sight (RMR) that was wireless rechargeable at a very reasonable price. But many shooters were hesitant to buy any RMR that they couldn’t easily replace the battery.
OSight listened. They released the C model which offers the same performance as their original OSight multi-reticle but powered by a user-replaceable 16332 coin battery. Moreover, it can run for a whoppping 100,000 hours from a fresh coin battery in 3MOA dot mode at its lowest visible brightness (Level 3).
If this wasn’t amazing enough, they launched the OSight C with a street price under $150. At this price, with these features, and OLights great customer service, there is no RMR that is a better value.
