Protective Coating to keep your equipment in the Adventure

My garage was a mess and needed reorganization before I left town for the week. As I moved about grabbing items and stowing them where they should be, I reached down to grab my pistol sized range bag. An overwhelming feeling of despair immediately overcame me. I unzipped the bag and withdrew my 10mm pistol. I cringed as I stared at the pistol covered in rust and corrosion.

I'll admit, I am a little harsh on equipment at times. When conducting an adventure into the backcountry, I expect my equipment to work. I don’t know if it’s my military mindset or just lack of regard, but if my equipment becomes covered in mud, submerged in water, or just exposed to the elements for a period, I still expect it to perform. When it comes to my weapon of choice these standards remain. The relationship between a backcountry adventurer and their weapon is complicated. On the one hand, a weapon is a tool, merely a means to an end. On the other, these tools often become extensions of the body, a reflection of the owner, and an inanimate object that will be cherished for lifetimes, conjuring memories of expeditions afield.

For years, I have carried a 10mm Auto with aftermarket enhancements from Lone Wolf Distributors as my backcountry carry option. In the summer of 2016, as I moved from Alaska to Kansas, I made a detour through Priest River Idaho to visit the guys at Lone Wolf Distributors and see some of their new lineup. The focus of my visit was red dot sights and metal coatings. I wanted to install an RDS because I want to use the pistol as a primary tool for hunting and not just defense. Some coating was in order because the gun was beginning to show its age after a considerable amount of time in the field, often riding in a chest holster exposed to the elements. I have had weapons coated in the past, and while done by professionals, the presence of the coating often required a new break in period to get all moving parts sliding smoothly again. Luke at LWD assured me that this was no longer a constraint.

Lone Wolf Distributors offers a line of high-performance Physical Vapor Deposition coatings. Physical Vapor Deposition or PVD is a process used to provide hardness and abrasion resistance to machine parts and cutting tools facilitating maximum efficiency. The application of PVD provides an impenetrable coating rated over 80 on the Rockwell hardness scale. In addition to its excellent protection attributes, PVD application results in no perceivable build up on the metal it is applied. What this means is that when applied to a pistol slide, the PVD appears to be a natural characteristic of the metal. Not only is PVD coating tough, but it is also available in a wide array of colors.

After discussing a few options with Luke, my current LWD slide was sent to Idaho for the installation of a Leupold Delta Pro and an Oil Rubbed Bronze PVD coating. Upon receiving the finished product, I was instantly impressed. If I didn't know any better, I would’ve sworn the stainless-steel slide was naturally a sleek root beer color. The coating felt good to the touch and immediately after assembly, everything functioned as smooth as it ever had.

Fast forward through the summer of 2017, and my PVD coated 10mm had continued to ride around in its holster for outings in the Midwest and served as my carry option while doing chores on the family farm. Inevitably one summer day while running a chainsaw to remove some trees, a severe storm came out of nowhere and began dumping rain on me while I was trying to finish my work. After deciding to return to the house drenched, I took the opportunity to look at the pistol, wet as it could be with sawdust stuck to it. The red dot was still visible even covered in water, and the red dot itself was very handy for manipulating the slide while wet. I needed to get heading home and thought to myself, “I’ll clean this up when I get home.”

Approximately one week later as I cleaned my garage, I remembered that the pistol was still in the holster, inside a range bag, setting in my humid garage. As I withdrew the pistol from the bag, it appeared that disaster had struck. Rust and corrosion covered the red dot sight, and even a large spot on the slide itself showed evidence of rust. So much for that coating, I thought to myself. Figuring the pistol was scarred for life I decided to coat it down in gun oil to see if I could save it. To my surprise in less than 5 minutes, using nothing more than a rag and gun oil, the rust and corrosion were gone.

The money spent to apply a state of the art protective coating to my trusty 10mm was well worth the cost. Most of my firearms are far from safe queens, but it doesn't mean that I don't want to preserve them and keep them looking good. As for my workhorse backcountry carry pistol, it is in as good of shape as it ever has been. I spend my hard-earned money on these tools, and I expect them to perform when needed. The PVD coating did not disappoint! I will continue to expose the pistol to harsh environments for further evaluation, but as far as I'm concerned the Physical Vapor Deposition coating provided by Lone Wolf Distributors is B.A.G approved.

Now, if I could only get a barrel in the Copper Color J

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