I decided to post a review to Amazon for a couple products that I bought which were made in China. Now, I could have returned them and then done the review, but if I'm being honest, one item fit the bill perfectly and I wanted to use it until I clone a better version. The other is almost impossible to find a non-china made version of.
However, my review got denied because of hate speech. I simply stated the facts of the matter regarding what purchasing these products supports, and somehow I have run afoul of the Amazon Hate Speech Police.
Well- this is MY site, and I can speak all the truth I want. So, without further ado, my review of the Emerson Airsoft Tactical Helmet Cover for MICH 2000.
Now, I will do my level headed best to be fair with regards to the product, and give you- the reader- a two level scoring. The first score will be regarding quality and functionality. The second scoring will be the Commie Score (IE, the rating I gave it on Amazon). The reason is I want to impress upon the reader that my feelings are not based on the quality of the product, but rather the quality of the nation that it comes from.
"What a racist twit," you say.
No- far from. I think Chinese culture- pre-Mao- is really cool. The Chinese people have a lot of vibrancy and color to their history that is worth celebrating and holding up. They have a lot to be proud of history wise. But the CCP is a vile, destructive, evil, racist, and tyrannical state that instantly creates a drain on everything they do. The people of China are a capable and tough people and if they could shed the terrorist government they have I would gladly buy their products.
The Emerson helmet cover is a good case in point. The material is a 35/65 poly/cotton twill with good coloration and some interesting features for those wanting a cover that can be kitted out some. For what I needed, it fit the bill perfectly. The only real issues I had outside of the CCP connection were the amount of velcro, and some of the accessory features- all of which can be removed.
The majority of the offending velcro can easily be removed with a hobby knife or seam ripper, and the cable guides (which were a small selling feature when I was going to buy the Syonix Opsin) were obviated when I got my -14s. They too were easily removed causing no damage to the cover. The only velcro that I kept was on the back pocket (which would have held the Opsin's battery quite nicely I think, but now holds a 1 pound lead shot counter weight) because it holds the flap closed. I could remove it and sew a smaller piece of velcro on the back, thereby opening up the camo, but I currently don't want to deal with it.
The cover has an elastic retainer with a barrel lock that helps the cover conform to the helmet geometry. This is nice- especially if you cut your helmet like I did- as it helps keep the cover from flapping about uselessly, and aids in breaking up the outline some. The barrel lock is in the rear, and can be tucked under the rear pocket to keep it out of the way.
As the cover arrives, I would give it a 3 star rating, mostly due to the over abundance of velcro and cable routing shenanigans. If that was paired down the the absolute minimum, I would give it a solid four stars.
But the commie adjustment goes to zero stars (1 star for Amazon, as I can't go any lower). Because (as my original review stated) the CCP is currently engaged in suppression of the free peoples of Hong Kong, the intimidation of the nation state of Taiwan, the genocide of the Uyghur people, forced organ harvesting from live subjects, and the persecution of various religious groups. Not to mention that whole "covid-19" thing. The CCP is a supremely evil institution that should go the way of the dodo (peacefully- I'm not advocating violence here).
The other item was a bottle of 5000 .2g biodegradable airsoft BBs from Elite Force. They work, they're reasonably accurate in the only gun I've used them in, and they're cheap. 3.5 stars. Zero for commie scoring. See above. Not much else I can say about those. They do what other BBs do, and they will supposedly break down over time.
Yay.
A quick bonus review for anyone who cares- the Holosun HE503CU Elite Paralow. I got this a while back, mounted it, shot it- then read the damned box. "Made in China." For Pete's sake- can I get anything not made in China? If you look at the star rating on Optics planet, it's actually pretty reasonable. For what it is, it's a damned good little sight. I have inadvertently drop tested it and it survived. I didn't see any issues.But what I really like about this optic is that it will work outside with a dead battery.
Yes, that solar panel thing allows it to function without power from the battery. It still has to be on, but it works. If you have a battery in it that works, it will auto adjust to the ambient light from whatever setting you have. This is really cool if I'm being honest and is one of the principle reasons I kept it. Having a green dot that can work even when the battery is dead just seems like a very useful feature.
The two things I dislike about it is that the battery is a really strange one that isn't very common (unlike the Vortex Sparc AR which uses AAA batteries), and the price point is a tad on the high end. Even so, these are minor problems with the overall function of the sight and if it weren't for the fact that it is made within the tender loving embraces of the CCP, I'd tell you it's worth the coin.
The chief rival to it in my mind is the aforementioned Sparc AR- which is also made in China. This guy takes up the same rail space as the Holosun, but runs on a single AAA battery and comes with Vortex's stupid awesome warranty. If this had that solar panel option, I would give this little guy five stars. It's tough (also drop tested on accident), simple, holds zero, runs on a common battery type, and you really can't beat the warranty. But, again, zero rating due to CCP.
Now why bring all this up? As I mentioned, things made in China aren't necessarily junk or cheap even if they're cheaper than US made items. All of the aforementioned items are really quite good, but they're all made in a nation I really can't stomach supporting. If Vortex would move their production stateside (or anywhere not a repressive shit hole) I would buy them without any remorse. Same with Holosun. As it stands, if you want to support forced organ harvesting from ethnic and religious minorities, as well as big brother styled government- then buy away. If you'd rather not support those kinds of things, find alternatives. It's an ongoing project for me, and I think what I will have to do is just start a running post here on those alternatives.
I hope you enjoyed this review and found it helpful. Would you like a list of alternatives to CCP made items? Comment below which items you like that are made in China that you'd like an alternative to, and I'll see what I can do. In the mean time, I will start finding those products that aren't made in the CCP, and review them as I go. It's a start, and one I can get behind.
Battle Specter, out.