A majority of SHTF scenarios hit a bottleneck with mobility. The bug-in crowd solves it by staying put. The bug out vehicle crowd will just drive over the huddled masses. And the lone wolves will run for the hills scoping nightscape through a rifle-mounted thermal imager. For the rest of us, we need realistic gear solutions that address actual needs, and have a proven track record of performance. And we also need authentic solutions to move our gear. The Burley COHO XC Bike Trailer is a serious piece of hardware what scores at the top of its class across all categories whether for recreation, lifestyle or TEOTWAWKI.
Bicycles are the most efficient form of mechanized transport and can easily carry a human and gear over a hundred miles in a single day powered by nothing but bananas. Rolling along a flat road at easily over five times faster than a normal walking pace, the bicycle excels as a bug out vehicle. Add some cargo to the rolling equation and the mobility options presented by a bike and trailer can easily rival any other bug out vehicle. With a suggested capacity of 70 pounds, the Burley COHO XC can quickly exceed the gear hucking of even a Recon Marine. And that’s while still maintaining that 12-15 mile per hour pace!
There is a strong overlap between backpacking and bugging out And there is a significant overlap between the bug out trailer and a popular outdoor activity called “bikepacking.” the difference between bikepacking and traditional bicycling touring is that bikepacking uses the bike to carry the load whether riding the bike or not. Preferably the former. Bikepacking is like touring as road tripping is like overlanding. There is just something so different about piling on the gear and heading out anywhere, especially off road. And moving your heavy gear to a trailer has many serious advantages including an overall lower center of gravity, the ability to carry large single gear pieces such as a backpack, the advantage of ditching off your gear in one quick motion like unsnapping and dropping your backpack, centralizing your gear to maintain the front end handling of your bike as it was designed, and especially increasing your overall gear-carry capacity.
The bike and trailer combination can move near silently on and off road, and stop on a dime, turn on a quarter, and quickly be disassembled for portage over rock, water, and obstacle. The entire system can disappear into a bush, be hidden in a lake, or buried under dirt and leaves. It requires no gas, no oil and no electricity, and will run to the point of failure without a single complaint. The only real drawback is that you are the engine so your health and fitness is what keeps the bike and trailer system alive.
The serious single-wheel bike trailer was popularized by an early adopter called the B.O.B. Trailer. It’s heavy metal frame, complex yoke attachment, and low ground clearance opened the door for innovation. Other companies joined the quest for the perfect single-wheel trailer including the original B.O.B company, but until the Burley COHO XC arrived on the scene, all bug out options were a compromise given just how good a single-wheel bug out bike trailer could be.
Some of the major accomplishments of the Burley COHO XC bike trailer include an adjustable width yoke that fits up to 29-inch tall wheels and three-inch wide tires. Although the Burley COHO XC bike trailer requires a dedicated axel, there are enough choices to fit most bikes, and the variable-width yoke keeps the COHO XC engaged in the bug out across almost all realistic bike frames.
The COHO XC uses a wonderfully simple hitch mechanism. At the edges of the replacement axle are two spherical knobs that seat into matching cups on the trailer’s yoke. The curved nature of the knobs allows a spring-loaded capture/release catch to lock the ball into the cup. In the center-top of the yoke’s handle is a lever that operates the catch mechanism.
Because the lever and handle are integrated, it is both easy and fast to release the COHO XC from the axel and move it where you want. Unlike other designs that requires individual-side axle release and small-part manipulation (and risk of part loss), the COHO XC truly is a fine piece of high-speed-low-drag bug out kit.
Furthering the low-drag theme is the essentially tool-free design of the COHO XC. The yoke is attached to the frame with a long quick-release skewer, and the oversized rear fender mounts into frame tubes and is secured with cotter pins. As expected, the single wheel is locked into the fork with a traditional axle quick release skewer.
The COHO XC consists of a metal frame with durable nylon fabric completing the basket. A rigid fender accepts additional panniers (saddlebags), and throughout the frame are attachment points pre-drilled, threaded, and spaced for water bottle cages or any other attachment of similar bolt spacing. Another feature of the frame is that the top rails are level meaning an odd or oversized shaped load can be strapped to the frame without it pointing towards the ground. With all the packing goodness of the COHO XC it will be easy to forget the recommended 70 pound carrying capacity.
A key element of the COHO XC is the integrated kickstand. The spring loaded stand resembles an upside down set of old-school BMX bike handlebars, but the new-school advantage here is that the adjustable height kickstand not only folds away automatically when you start riding, but also is strong enough to support both the COHO XC and your bike keeping them upright assuming roughly level terrain.
The real test of the COHO XC was a fiery ride down a winding single track with all 70 liters of cargo space filled with bug out gear. On its own, the COHO XC performed splendidly. And compared to other past trailer designs, the COHO XC demonstrated what is possible when design evolution is set free to do its job.
The Burley COHO XC and I took a few three mile descents over varied terrain and hairpin turns. Even through mud and dropoffs, the COHO XC performed flawlessly. During the first run, I noticed the quick release attaching the yoke to the frame had loosened, but adding a little more tightness, it never loosened up again.
The effortlessness of the hitch mechanism seems to be something I should worry about, but only because it is so easy to operate. But too easy? In studying the design, I found the only real concern is that water could enter the cable housing that runs from yellow release handle on the yoke to the spring-loaded detents in the sockets where the axle balls fit. This would accelerate a RTTPOFS or rust-to-the-point-of-failure scenario. However, if the cable broke, I could easily disengage the detents and release the trailer manually by simply reaching into the sockets and depressing the detents with my finger. In a true SHTF, you could easily work around the ball-and-socket mechanism to the point of permanently securing the trailer to the axle, or building a simple but effective work-around to allow on-demand hitch and release of the trailer.
The handling of the loaded COHO XC requires a small adjustment in your riding habits. Due to the additional length, weight and potential sideways pull of the loaded trailer, the flow of the turn must account for the entire bike-trailer system. If the bike is turned too quickly, the trailer will add a Newtonian Law lateral tug on the bike requiring a course correction and balance adjustment. But when the bike and trailer are driven in unison, the entire system flows through turns and terrain like a champ. And when going downhill, you might even forget it’s there.
A key element of the single-wheel trailer compared to the more traditional dual-wheel trailer is that the articulated nature of a triple-wheel inline system (bike wheels followed directly by trailer wheel) provides multiple pivot points where road bumps and trail undulations are soaked up with a rocking motion rather than the aggressive ram-and-bounce approach of the dual wheel designs. The reason this articulation works is that as trail bumps and dips lift or lower the angle of the trailer while two-wheel designs raise and lower the entire trailer at once making for a much harsher ride and also a trailer than can easily get hung up on logs and curbs.
Even more, the width of the COHO XC fits within the width profile of the bike’s handlebars meaning you can zip through with trailer any opening or pathway you could have ridden through anyway. Not always true with dual-wheeled trailers, especially when turning. Even if you do encounter an edge, the wedge shape of the COHO XC as it extends off the bike will just force itself into alignment with the bike. And with a single-wheel design, there is no way you can hook a trailer wheel on an obstacle, tree, branch, fence post, or any other object small enough to fit between side wheel and frame and strong enough to destroy your trailer or throw you over the handlebars, or likely both.
Furthering the smooth ride of the COHO XC is a spring shock mounted between the frame and the rear wheel fork. The adjustable spring soaks up bumps and vibrations, and keeps the wheel on the ground as much as possible. Trailers are notorious for briefly leaving the ground when encountering bumps of a certain size. This phenomenon can cause the trailer to bounce sideways, and even hop off the side of a trail on its own. With a bit if spring actuated float, the trailer tire will grip the ground better under lateral forces over bumps and washboarded roads.
For the bug out, there is one feature that will likely not get used and that is the orange safety flag that rides atop a flexible pole. However, one flag component that will likely get some use is the bottle opener integrated into the flagpole mount.
The value of any particular piece of survival gear is based on its overall contribution to the survival equation with bonus points added for gear you can use now for fun and work. A $40k dedicated bug out vehicle that sits in your garage is an effective and desirable piece of kit, but perhaps not the most immediately functional. So for one 100th that price, you can have the next best thing, the Burley COHO XC bug out bike trailer.
The wizards at Magpul have done it again. This time with the humble rifle bipod. From its earliest start of two crossed sticks, to the dedicated but standalone bipods of the 19th century buffalo hunters, to the advent of the bolt-on bipods of bolt actions and machine guns in the 20th century, bipods have proved their necessity. One of the most popular civilian bipods is the ubiquitous Harris. The spring-loaded adjustable length legs of the 12.3 ounce Harris have pinched skin and caused blood blisters for over six decades. And still it remains popular. Until now, that is because the industry disruptor extraordinaire named Magpul Industries just showed up to the party and heads are turning. By mixing their special alchemy of hardened steel, anodized aluminum and proprietary plastic polymer, Magpul has delivered yet again another product that not only outperforms all others in its class, but makes everyone need one even if they didn’t yet know it.
Futureland So what is the Magpul Bipod? Well, let’s start with what the Magpul Bipod isn’t. It isn’t two pounds. It isn’t $300. It’s isn’t spring-loaded. And won’t give you a blood blister or cut your finger no matter how many times it’s deploy it. And just what is the Magpul Bipod? Well, it is now the finest 11.7 ounce, $109, button-deployed bipod on the market.
Available in two colors and three attachment options, the Magpul Bipod has raised the dusty old bipod bar so high that unless there is another company out there like Magpul, we won’t be seeing a better bipod offering any time soon. And we all know Magpul is a singularity.
The Magpul Bipod, for such a simple and elegant design, has a remarkable portfolio. In addition to being a six-position, adjustable length, pan, tilt, 45-degree, reversible platform of stability, it keeps its footprint small and personality sedated. Personally, I opted for the Picatinny rail option for the widest application across my rifles. The dual-bolt clamp grabs the rail, securely tightened with either a larger slotted screwdriver or 1/8th inch hex wrench.
Isosceles Rules The key to the Magpul Bipod’s performance is its ability to lock up solid when under load. The geometric magic of the triangle is in the amazing property where a triad of corners connecting three lines eliminate movement and distributes the force equally across the entire geometric structure. So no matter how much play there is in the system when not under load, when forward pressure is added to the equation, the Magpul Bipod steps up and locks down.
The Magpul Bipod has no loyalty to any particular triangle whether acute, obtuse, scalene, isosceles or even equilateral. The variability of the triangles along with the added 50 degrees of pan and 40 degrees of total tilt makes the Magpul Bipod a wildly effective stability enhancement. The polymer and 6061 T-6 anodized aluminum legs extend four inches beyond their initial 6.3 inches. The pair of glove-friendly buttons, one each for leg deployment and leg extension, snap to attention through spring-detent only. Not a blood blister in sight. For those who don’t get the reference, the Harris bipod is known to retract with sudden force often catching a bit of skin in the mix. Don’t worry, it happens to everyone, and like having a mean dog for a pet, you learn to keep your distance.
New Shoes The legs of the Magpul Bipod have aggressive rubber feet, but if your mission requires something even more overt, the legs will accept Atlas-pattern bipod feet whether spikes, skids, or spiky skids. A single roll pin holds the current shoes in place so swapping them out is as easy as swapping out a flat trigger guard with a Magpul enhanced trigger guard on an AR15. Easier actually.
When combining the tilt of the Magpul Bipod with a single full leg extension, you can get over 45 degrees of single direction offset. The average roof, pretending for the moment that you have SHTF overwatch in your neighborhood, is 26.6 degrees. Any roof over 37 degrees is considered a steep slope. In fact, a roof slope of 45 degrees would be difficult to stay on without ropes. So the Magpul Bipod will easily perform as needed across all useful domestic ridgelines.
And should your immediate needs not require any panning (side to side swing of the rifle), you can spin a disk that sits between the bipod and mounting platform to lock out the panning feature. This adds a measure of additional stability to situations where you are guaranteed a perpendicular intersection between bipod face and target direction.
Before the Magpul Bipod, my favorite bipod was the Elite Iron Revolution Bipod. It is truly a feat of engineering, and has no loyalty to pretty much anything. It works just as well upside down as rightside up essentially allowing the rifle barrel to spin freely but solidly within the bipod’s center. The two problems with the Elite Iron Revolution Bipod compared to the Magpul Bipod are that the affordable steel version Elite Iron starts at $600, and second, the 34 ounces of bipod is over three times the weight of the Magpul Bipod. All that said, the Elite Iron works well for those heavy rifles in the upper thirty caliber numbers and well into the forty-plus calibers.
Size Matters In the crotch of the Magpul Bipod is a manly one-and-a-quarter inch diameter knob that locks or loostens the pan and tilt. A quarter turn is plenty to access those features, but if you want to reverse the direction of the Magpul Bipod legs, you will need to spin the manly knob about four revolutions. And why would you want to reverse the leg direction? Simple. First, the bipod legs are usually mounted at the most forward position of the available rail, and since bipod stability is often a function of the forward pressure load on the bipod (lightly pushing the rifle away from you to strengthen the angle of the bipod), you would want the deployed bipod legs to be pushing against their housing rather than against the release mechanism. But this usually puts the feet of the stowed bipod in front of the muzzle essentially extending the overall length of the rifle package.
By spinning the bipod around pointing the feet towards the stock, the Magpul Bipod extends only a quarter-inch in front of the mounting point. I have several covert rifle cases that easily hold my ARs but not with the bipod pointing forward. A quick spin of the center knob (which, by the way, does not fully unscrew so there is no risk of loss or rifle wardrobe malfunction) the Magpul Bipod spins freely allow the rifle system to smoothly seat into its minimum case.
The knurled knob at the center of this angular masterpiece is a massive improvement over previous bipod designs. But also of note are other two pairs of buttons controlling the legs. A 7/16th inch diameter metal button releases the legs to re-stow them. Both legs can be deployed their 90 degree rotation without any button pressing. Because there is no button-press needed to put the Magpul Bipod to work, it’s possible to drag the bipod feet on the ground or other object while bringing the rifle barrel upward. This causes the legs to snap into position and remain there until the release button is pushed.
Control. Alt. DELETE! Just south of that button is an 11/16ths by 9/16ths inch rectangular button that when depressed releases the leg to extend or retract, or stop along its path in one of the five intermediate detents. Since the release button is on the moving section of leg, the operation can be quickly and efficiently done with one hand. Just push the button and pull the leg out. In contrast, the Harris bipod only had two built-in leg length choices; all in our all out. And worse, the legs were spring loaded into their short position, not locked up by any other means. And since the retraction button is unfortunately on the upper leg segment, combined with the loaded spring of the leg when in the extended position, when the retraction button is pushed whether intentionally or not, the lower leg screams home sliding into the upper section at lightning speed often catching a bit of skin or cloth along the way. Hence “Harris Bite.”
Actually the two-position Harris leg is not quite true. There is a set screw with a knob that holds the leg in place with a turn. However, the leg is still spring loaded with only the set screw holding it still so the briefest turn of the set screw knob sends the snapping violently home. Further, it requires two hands, one to hold the leg in position against the spring tension, and the other hand to turn the set screw. And pretty much the same mess happens with the overly aggressive springs driving initial leg deployment and retraction. Watch your fingers.
So Magpul has done it once again with the Magpul Bipod. By combining its engineering talents and in-house materials science, Magpul has created a rail accessory you can be proud of, and will actually improve your rifle’s performance along with your own. So do yourself and your rifle a favor; BYOD: Bipod Your Offense and Defense.
Like the occasional sore throat or stubbed toe, factory 10/22 triggers are just a fact of life we live with. They crunch and grind along through their take-up. Then they hit a wall until the pressure on the trigger shoe dents the finger pad. The kra-chunk of the release is less of glass breaking, and more of opening a can of beer. We lowered our expectations due to the reliability and durability of the 10/22 trigger, but never gave up hope. Ruger heard our cries for help and released the aftermarket BX trigger upgrade. Ruger’s drop-in trigger module swapped out completely the entire factory trigger unit. For those of us who drank the BX Kool-Aid, we were impressed. Not necessarily how good the BX replacement is, but more of how bad the factory trigger really was. And compared to other trigger upgrades in our ARs for example, we knew it could be even better.
Enter the Ultimate 10/22 Trigger Upgrade from TandemKross. An exquisitely machined and presented trigger parts group that literally turns the 10/22 into an entirely new gun. From the aggressively textured wide flat shoe, to the polished tool-steel sear and hammer, to the precision spring, the entire Ultimate Trigger Kit is everything a top-shelf trigger must be. And the older your 10/22, the bigger the difference in upgrade experience.
Metamorphosis By any standard, the aftermarket components for the Ruger 10/22 is deep. So much so that its easily possible to replace every single piece of a Ruger 10/22 with non-Ruger parts. Kind of like my favorite axe. It’s always been the best axe I’ve ever owned even though I’ve replaced the handle three times and the head twice. In fact, on one of my 10/22 builds, I’m just a few parts shy of a non-Ruger Ruger 10/22. And even if I swap out those final few parts, the non-Ruger will still be my favorite Ruger.
One part in particular has always defined the 10/22 and that is its exceptionally consistent trigger. No, not that the trigger consistently delivers, but that it consistently disappoints. The crunchy 10/22 factory triggers were just something we put up with, likely leveraging the low 10/22 price point to defend our low trigger standards. Even Ruger seemed not to care. It was as if a poor trigger was just another part of the 10/22 Rite-of-Passage that nearly every gun owner passed through. The Ruger 10/22 snuggled in nicely between the Schwinn Varsity and the high mileage F150. You know, somewhere between grade school and your first real job. Iron sights and minute-of-tin-can accuracy were plenty for those days, but now that we know that precision and accuracy should be givens, not dreams. The dated philosophy behind the archaic 10/22 trigger has come to an end.
By using electrical discharge machining (EDM) for the finer points on the hammer and sear, TandemKross in collaboration with Brimstone Gunsmithing has brought the mid-20th century 10/22 fully into the 21st century. Brimstone Gunsmithing, located on the opposite end of country from TandemKross (in Washington while TK is in New Hampshire), has tremendous experience with triggers of the 10/22 variety among others. Compared to many aftermarket triggers, the starting price of $135 for the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger hardly induces sticker shock. Many triggers at twice that price are common.
Learn your Gun The installation of the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger is straightforward with just a few places where choice matters. There is an excellent video on Youtube that walks you through the process. For those gun shy about the inner workings of your guns, I suggest two things: First, do work on your gun but start with the outside stuff and work your way to the inside stuff as you gain skill, confidence and tools. Second, anyone worth their prepper salt should have at least passing knowledge of how a bolt group and trigger system works in common guns like the 10/22 and AR 15. And the easiest way to learn them is by doing an upgrade.
The video for the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger walks you slowly through the disassembly and reassembly of the 10/22 trigger group. The only hiccup I noticed is the orientation of the hammer spring. On the video, the spring is blocked in view so it takes a moment of sleuthing to make sure it’s oriented correctly. It’s one of those things that makes perfect sense after you know how to align it.
The first time I installed a TandemKross Ultimate Trigger it took me about 25 minutes, partially to do it right, but mostly to savor the wonderful experience of upgrading a gun with my own hands. The second time I did it, again in no hurry, took about 15 minutes. The video does the main trigger work in about 12 minutes of the 19 minute video. And for those new to 10/22 disassembly, the trigger group/receiver assembly may not fit back into the stock unless the safety selector button is halfway between on and off. Forgetting that is a common point of frustration.
Upgrade and Up-Upgrade Two version of the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger are available, each in two different colors, red and black. The standard TandemKross Ultimate Trigger is for the factory 10/22 trigger group. The other offering is a TandemKross Ultimate Trigger with an extra part for upgrading the Ruger BX Trigger group. Which of course begs the question of why upgrade and upgrade? Easy answer. Because it truly is an upgrade to the upgrade. The entire feel and operation of the trigger is improved including the aggressive and colorful flat-faced shoe. Sadly, the $89 BX trigger that Ruger sells within its own aftermarket catalog should really be the standard trigger that every 10/22 comes with. It’s a good starting point with still plenty of room for improvement.
The days of substandard out-of-the-box performance should be over. But alas, Ruger, like many gun manufacturers, still sleeps well at night knowing that many of it’s guns could be so much better with just a little elbow grease and a few drops of polishing compound. As evidence of this Ruger has no shame in comparing its stock 10/22 trigger with its own BX trigger in a graph that highlights just how bad their own original trigger really is. In fact firearms seem to be one of the last strongholds where our tolerance for low manufacturing standards are still alive and well. Imagine if your truck or phone or hiking boots had disappointing flaws from the get-go. And worse, there is an entire segment of the economy devoted to fixing your just-purchased gun problem.
Anyway, at least in our current 10/22 reality, that’s how it is. Or perhaps not? During my upgrading of two different 10/22 rifles with TandemKross Ultimate Triggers, I noticed that my most recently purchased 10/22 was considerably more polished and smooth in finish work that the other one that was from the 1990s. In fact the earlier one was shockingly crude inside compared to the more current one. So that means that the older your 10/22, the bigger the perceived upgrade.
10/22 2.0 According to TandemKross, “The design of the factory spring and plunger requires a heavier spring in order to have consistent, positive resets. The “Ultimate” Trigger Kit does away with this design, replacing the spring and plunger with a single coil of music wire spring that flexes and rebounds with zero friction, binding or other trigger “noise.” This is absolutely true. In fact, so wonderful is the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger that it makes your 10/22 perform like an entirely new gun.
In my scientific trigger pull tests, the TandemKross Ultimate Triggers constantly broke at 3.2 pounds with very limited take-up and almost no overtravel. Comparing the TandemKross Ultimate Triggers to the stock trigger was more Venus and Mars than night and day or apples and oranges. The factory Ruger 10/22 trigger broke weakly at almost twice the poundage, and three times the travel. And the ride was pretty bumpy along the way. In my force vs. displacement tests, the stock trigger broke at just under six pounds, and 0.15 inches of travel. The 3.2 pound snap of the TandemKross Ultimate Triggers happened at around 0.10 inches of travel (I forgot to zero the displacement sensor so the travel is from -.05 to +.05).
Further, my graphs clearly show a distinct difference in break. The TandemKross Ultimate Triggers is instantaneous while the factory Ruger trigger seemed to need some time to think about breaking as indicated by the slope of the line rather than a vertical drop. While the factory trigger may sound to your ear like it’s obviously made up its mind when it’s time to break, the graph shows some hesitation. Compared to the redesigned sear, hammer and spring of the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger, the Ruger trigger takes its sweet time to punch the firing pin while the Ultimate Trigger shows no detectable hesitation.
Furthering the TandemKross Ultimate Trigger experience is the glorious aluminum shoe. By increasing the face area as well as flattening it, the index finger has a solid and predictable resting position that can pull evenly with little risk of slippage or rolloff. The textured surface provides a solid purchase whether skin or glove, and ensures a defined trigger shoe edge to work with. The shoe is similar to other TandemKross offerings including the Victory Trigger for both Ruger Mark and 22/45 pistols and the Smith & Wesson Victory .22 pistol.
So put a TandemKross Ultimate Trigger into your Ruger and fall in love with your 10/22 all over again. It really is that good.
