Life is a journey full of folklore, tales full of great victories and ego-driven drunken rants about all kinds of things, especially as it relates to competitive sports. Oh wait, that reality is being shared by a video gamer. These are the times that try men’s souls for the days of the true outdoorsman are numbered as the 10-point buck is quite frankly out of reach for most marksmen in the real world.

If you are stylish and trendy, then the steady ship is not for you. Buy the “hot” items, or ones with cool graphics or entertaining names. Things that simply work are not exciting enough, and the correct advice can be quite boring to listen to. I get it.

Maybe you are the philosophical type – the stoic, or worse, the existentialist – constantly reassuring yourself that choosing a gun lube or gun cleaner really doesn’t matter. A household or automotive product will do, and it doesn’t matter that the firearm manufacturers think otherwise. Not all by the way.

Sometimes, we play right into the hands of human nature and get complacent or disinterested in life’s little details or providing yourself with excuses why not to fork out $10 for a product that can work better, even if choosing otherwise can lead to aggravation up the line.

And then, there is the internet which is a fantastic source for misinformation fed by those who think they know, but really don’t. What a shame it would be if you move forward in your life with a mind full of false premises and irrational biases. Or sometimes, your stubbornness or pride gets of best of you, and you have to stay “all in” on bad decisions to save face. Your wife knows this all too well.

For decades, I have heard all of the sales pitches. The stories. The claims. And the excuses. I especially get a kick out of the people who insist that they only want to buy things made in the USA while they do most of their shopping at dollar stores. Sorry, usually in life you do get what you pay for, not to mention the trap of freebies.

I went to a gun show this week and heard from many firearm enthusiasts. I ask them which products they use. Some don’t know. Others mention popular traditional products. Some share a mixed bag of answers, while others give a very specific answer while explaining they aren’t quite happy and follow that up with “what do you have?’ It’s all good. Listening is the beginning to a good conversation, especially when I don’t try to sell them anything. I ask and listen. Diagnose. And, of course, try to figure out what they are thinking. Some people really do know what they are talking about, and there are other good products out there, but you don’t want to assume the results are good enough.

Yes, you can get by and be used to a certain level of “settling” for what you experience, but one’s competitive spirit should drive a shooter’s mind to be interested in doing something a little better since we are talking about results.

Not all lubricants are equal – they aren’t. Oil is not oil. Grease is not grease. Cleaner is not equal to every other cleaner. Reduced friction. Less buildup. Smoother, quicker action. Less frequent failures if at all. It all counts if you are keeping score and want that peace of mind if not less aggravation. That is among the competitors, and that doesn’t describe everyone.

One little boy walked up to me and recited what I guess his father taught him, stating “You have to keep your guns really clean, right?”

“Yes,” I said. That is true. And well lubricated.”

So, I sat that thinking about that for a while afterwards, impressed that this youngster might not have had the experience but at least he owned the right mindset. I asked myself, if a child can get it, why can’t every adult. At that moment I decided to accept what was as the story of Noah’s Ark entered my mind as it has quite a bit recently. I have come to the conclusion as it pertains to firearm maintenance, not everyone is means to get onboard. The great storm is coming, and some aren’t even considering getting out of the rain.

#tetragun #tetraguncare #2a #pewpewlife #pewpew #gunporn #gunsdaily #handgun #rifle #shotgun #shooting I will never forget that my first gun purchase was a Glock and it’s still clean and lubed after 1,000s of rounds and a few decades of range time