That goes for pretty much any kind of cleaning – except personal hygiene of course – I’m totally a fan of long, hot, showers. But household cleaning, car washing, and gun cleaning – not so much. Those are pretty much a do-it-when-I-have-to proposition. It’s not like my home has been declared a superfund site or anything, but let’s just say that the paperwork was in process a time or two.

It’s not that I don’t appreciate clean things, it’s just that the ephemeral nature of the cleanliness renders the effort required to achieve it, totally unsatisfying. If I put in the effort to sew a quilt, it stays made for the next 20-50 years. But does the bathroom stay clean for even a hot minute after I’m done.? What do you think. Yeah – UN-Satisfying.

And then there’s the gun cleaning. A few years ago I tossed the idea out there for someone to make a dishwasher for guns, (a capital idea, right?) but so far no one has taken me up on it. I mean, I know that I have it fairly easy. I’m not a shooter putting thousands of rounds of crud a week into my firearms. But I always have a backlog. If it’s not the revolver from an IDPA match, it’s the ETHOS from sporting clays the following day, or the carry gun that needed a mag extension check. And shooting a 3-Gun match automatically puts me weeks behind. I know there are some people out there who claim they never put away a dirty gun, and I would like to know when they sleep. Seriously.

I do have a day job, and there are only so many evenings that I have the brains left to sit on the floor, disassemble important parts, and get it all back together again in the appropriate sequence. I know some women have husbands who take over that entire job for them, but I don’t have one of those, and up to this point it has been a point of pride for me to do all of the disassembly and cleaning entirely on my own. But I’m starting to think seriously about advertising for a cabana boy. MSR-cleaning and Margarita-making skills a must. If you know one, drop me a message, ‘kay?

In the meantime though, I have discovered what I can only describe as the “Swiffer for Firearms”. Yes, I know that’s a trademarked term – don’t sue me. I personally use it as a verb. As in – I Swiffered the kitchen 6 months ago, why is it dirty again?

This amazing cleaning product for firearms (Act now, and you get a second one, Free!) is the Otis Ripcord. http://www.otistec.com/ripcord/

I first discovered this handy little item (items, actually, because they come in a variety of calibers) at the Otis booth at SHOT Show this past January.

The Ripcord consists of a flexible cable that is stiffish, but not rigid, which is covered by molded rubber, which is then all wrapped with a Nomex outer cover. Otis advertises this as “Unrivaled one-pass cleaning”, and I believe them – because I have used the rival. 

The stiffened nature of the Ripcord allows you to push the product down the barrel from any angle, rather than having to dangle a weight and a tiny string from above. The Nomex gives heat resistance up to 700 degrees Farenheit, which means you can use it in the middle of a match on a hot barrel if you need to.

The Ripcord is also very handy for the nights before a match when I remember that I never cleaned my pistol after the LAST match. A little CLP of choice, a Qtip or three, a swipe or two with the Ripcord, and I have “Good Enough For Dr LateBloomer” -LOL.

I even recommend this product for you gals out there who have husbands (or cabana boys) to do all your cleaning FOR you. Because, and I know this is hard to accept – you might one day on the range or in the field, have an issue and need to *Gasp* – DO. IT. YOURSELF. I know that’s a traumatic thought, and I’m sorry, but if you have a Ripcord in your bag to fit your gun, you will always have SOME thing.

An additional reason for using Otis Technology products, is that they are a family owned and operated business, who have been supporters of Babes With Bullets like…. Forever. AND they were the title sponsors for the Babes With Bullets 3-Gun Challenge, in May. http://www.bwb3gun.com/

What an AWESOME time I had, and what awesome products they make!

Otis Technology – excellent products, made in the USA, and supporters of women in the shooting sports. What more could you ask for?