Over the past few weeks, we’ve started to make a bit of a name for ourselves in the gun space through giveaways, a little drama, and plenty of controlled chaos as we work to grow our small company and push things forward in our own way. During that time, we’ve been fortunate to work with a number of great brands: one of those being ARID Manufacturing.
Our relationship with ARID Manufacturing started to become more visible through two of our recent giveaways:
- Our AP5-P Giveaway (this one really pissed some HK Fanboys off)
- Our Heat-Inspired Colt 733 Giveaway
This was quite honestly something that feel into our lap
Little sidetrack about that AP5P giveaway. We actually managed to grab a dozen or so of these pistols from our Century contact, and I was itching to get at least one of them converted as a post-sample to have something I could show potential clients (such as LEO). Along with the relevant parts to perform this conversion, I also snagged a sling from ARID (the one pictured above to be exact). This particular model is the Minimalist Sling that can be found here. This, along with the Paracord Adaptors (pictured below and can be found here), had me with a setup that was pretty rocking sans an optic.
The AP5P giveaway actually became the moment where the sling clicked for me in a more practical way. The pistol (per ATF guidelines at least) was NEVER originally intended to ship with a sling. It was already a great giveaway package on its own, and at first, the sling was not part of the plan. But after using the AP5P in one of our recent videos where we converted it into a post-sample, I started to notice how much of a difference a good sling made in general handling. Moving around our local farm (that doubles as a shooting range), working the gun from different positions, and just maneuvering with it throughout the day made it obvious how much easier the platform was to manage with a sling that stayed tight and out of the way when I did not need it. That was the moment it hit me: this should be included in the giveaway.
The Colt 733 giveaway was a similar situation. The camo sling was never originally part of the package, and to be fair, it is not necessarily clone-correct when you compare it to the film-inspired look of the build. But at the end of the day, the sling made too much practical sense to leave out. A 10.3-inch AR pistol with a brace is already a compact, handy setup, and adding a sling made it feel more complete and usable. It gave the gun a practical upgrade without taking away from the overall personality of the build. Even if it was not the most clone-correct choice, it was the right choice from a utility standpoint. And trust me, as someone who takes clone-correctness VERY seriously, I still saw the utility here.
Those giveaways also gave us a better appreciation for what ARID is doing as a company. When you include a product in a giveaway, especially one tied to a firearm build, you are putting your own name behind it too. We do not want to hand people gear that feels like filler or junk.
That makes ARID an even easier company to stand behind. Every sling they make is American made, and in an industry that is constantly flooded with cheap imported gear, that actually means something. There is no shortage of products out there built to hit the lowest possible price point, often with little regard for quality, durability, or where the money ultimately goes. So when you get the chance to work with a company making practical, well-built gear right here in the United States, it feels good to know my money is going to a company that isn’t backed by the Chinese government or uses sweat-shop labor to make a subpar product.
You will often see me call out brands over things such as bad practices, lawsuits, and all that other garbage that we as an industry should really be avoiding as a whole, but this is one of those rare cases where I really have to say that the people over at ARID rock. We gave away their slings in past giveaways, and you can bet we will be including them in future content and giveaways as well.
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