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Tab gear

AED146

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Aug 30, 2011
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Baytown, Texas
Interesting I saw this post in the BEAR PIT SECTION


I thought I would say a few words about what has been going on with TAB GEAR recently.



For the last nine years Rifles Only has been our distributor and you could also purchase all of our products through their store too.



That chapter of our life has come to an end and Rifles Only is no longer our distributor. They have decided that they want to continue on as a dealer and will carry a few of our products in the future.



I would like to say that TAB GEAR has absolutely nothing to do in any way shape or form, from designing or manufacturing, with the FTW line of nylon products that Rifles Only has recently begun designing, carrying, and promoting.



I am aware that there may be some questions or concerns from some people. Please know that I am only an email or phone call away. If anyone has any questions about anything, I am very easy to reach and have no problem what so ever in answering any questions anyone may have.



One thing that will never change is our dedication to building high quality gear that has a lifetime guarantee. Our lifetime guarantee means that the customer determines what the lifetime of the product is. We have always worked with our customers who have any concern with any of our products until they are happy.



We treat the “regular guy” who only wants to purchase a single rear bag with the same courtesy as we do with our largest dealer. We simply try to treat everyone how we would like to be treated.



It is very gratifying to receive a phone call from a customer who says he felt like he should call because he has had such a great customer service experience from us. Usually it’s April who is the “face” on the phone that people talk to and she’s great at what she does. I refer to her as my social butterfly who likes to go to matches, or product demos, to talk to our friends who use our products.



We also do not plan on changing anything on how we build our products. We still use all US made materials when we can find them, right down to the thread. We feel like that is just the right thing to do. I was recently given some pricing and samples for some overseas cloth materials that I could not tell the difference from US products even with a magnifying glass. I could buy the overseas products for less than half of what I pay for my US made materials, but we continue to purchase the US made materials. Price has never been the issue with us on our materials. Made in the USA, and high quality, is what we look for in our raw materials.



We now have our own website store up and running, tabgear.com, so please give us a visit if you would like to. As with anything new there may be some glitches that we need to get the bugs worked out of and we appreciate any feedback on things that need to be fixed, or ideas on how to make the site a better experience for our friends and customers.



We are also on Facebook as Tab Gear so please like us and check back often to take part in the many giveaways that we plan on promoting in the future and for Tab Gear information.



We have always felt that the dealers around the world who carry TAB GEAR products should have been promoted to help spread the word that they think enough of our products that they are putting their money on the line to carry our gear, we just did not have the website to do so.



Now that we have our website up we will have a page that lists all of our dealers in the USA, and a page the will list all of our dealers around the world, with links directly to each of these companies. Very few people know that we currently have approximately 19 dealers in the US, and 14 dealers outside the US in 8 different countries.



We are currently exploring several different avenues to help promote TAB GEAR in the future and will be announcing them here on Snipers Hide, as well as other venues, when we get the details worked out.



One change that we are so excited to announce is that MILE HIGH SHOOTING ACCESSORIES in Colorado will be a TAB GEAR distributor. They have been a TAB GEAR dealer for several years. Randy and Diann Pennington are some of the best people you could ever hope to meet and work with. Their customer service is without question. They think like we do in that they will do whatever it takes to make a customer happy. It wasn’t till recently that we learned that they are also a distributor and had been purchasing TAB GEAR products and passing them along to the dealers in their network at dealer pricing. Mile High was losing money on all TAB GEAR products that they sold to their dealers because of the shipping that they were having to pay for our products to be delivered to them. We asked them why they had never said anything to us about them selling to their dealers and they said that they were simply doing this because they believed in our products and wanted their dealers to have a complete selection of the products that Mile High offers. We are honored to be working with them and for them to be a distributor of TAB GEAR products. Mile High Shooting accessories, Welcome to Mile High Shooting Accessories will be carrying all TAB GEAR products in their store. If you have not had the opportunity to meet or do business with this company and their family, you are missing out.



We have recently purchased new equipment and are upgrading existing equipment to be able to keep up with the demand that we have been experiencing and they will be coming on line shortly as well. These actions will help alleviate any supply issues into the future.



We have had a lot on our plate recently and have not come out with as many new products as we would like to have come out with. That doesn’t mean we haven’t been working on any new stuff though and that will change in the near future. We are very excited about the projects we are developing and are working with some people who are quite well known in the shooting community to design and manufacture some new products we think you guys will like.



Thanks again to all of the friends we have made over the years, we look forward to what the future holds and developing more friendships throughout the world.



One last thing, everyone at TAB GEAR would like to thank all of you who have expressed your support to us during this time of change that we are going through. It has made these hard decisions easier to make, knowing that we have so many friends behind us. Thanks for your encouragement, our future is bright.



Tony Burkes

TAB GEAR LLC


AMF
 
I was wondering about that when I saw the FTW sling and knew they were pretty much the premier TAB distributor (took you right to their site if you clicked 'order' on TAB's old site). Couldn't figure out if TAB was making it for RO or if it was their own thing. I believe Camelot Tactical (vendor on SH) carries TAB gear as well.

My only gripe with anything TAB was that the arm cuff slider wouldn't keep the cuff tight but I read that they are fixing it and offering a retro fix for all previous slings, so I can't really complain.
 
Tony Burkes is a gentleman and a solid American.
His gear has always been innovative and of the highest quality.
His lifetime guaranty and his word are the "gold standard" by which all others are judged.
Best wishes to you in this new endeavor.
 
Another shout out to Tony and his level of customer service. I purchased a sling from a distributor and the swivel broke. Emailed Tony here on the hide. Less than a week later, I have a new replacement part in my hand at no charge, no questions, no BS. Just flat out "thanks for being a customer". Class act. That's why I have TAB gear on all my rifles. Thank, Tony! Good luck on the new endeavors.
 
Just wanted to write a quick note here as well. For the last 9 years Rifles Only had the pleasure of working and building TAB Gear. Lisa has been worked daily with TAB Gear from day one, which most of you know and have dealt with her on a regular basis. Lisa's late Mom originally designed the rear bag that we handed over to TAB with honors (as well as a couple of other product designs) as TAB has always done quality work and there is no doubt they will continue to do great work. TAB was and is still part of the Rifle Only family and we will support them in any way that we can. FTW was formed for the sole purpose of having our own brand name and to grow Rifles Only. Never once was it meant to go again TAB as there is plenty of room for everyone.
 
This is exactly what we all have come to expect from such a great American company. Keep up the great work!
 
To this point, I've never been a TAB Gear customer, but that just changed. I will buy everything possible in the future from TAB Gear, Mile High Shooting Accessories, and any other business with this type of committment to customer service and production utilizing domestic resources. (Made in USA) Thanks very much!!
 
Just wanted to add some information on how TAB GEAR got started and what is going on now.

I’m sorry this post has taken so long to make, we have been extremely busy lately and have had some very large orders that we have been working on as well as some other business opportunities that we have been negotiating and working through.

Many times over the years we have been asked what TAB means, how did you arrive at your logo, and how did we get started. TAB stands for Tony and April Burkes. The logo came about when a group of us were sitting around and I mentioned that we needed to come up with a logo. One of the guys that was there was an Army Ranger. He said, how about a play on words, there’s the Ranger tab that is put on a uniform, you could have the border like the Ranger tab and put your name in the middle. You’d have a TAB Tab. I thought that was a great idea and he gave me a gold embroidered Ranger tab, which I still have, and that’s how we came about our logo.

How we got started was way back in early 2005 and Frank Galli, owner of Snipers Hide, had shot in a 48 hour match in Oklahoma. That match included land navigation and rain. The only thing out at the time to protect the rifle was the padded scope cover and muzzle protector. This setup did not cover the action to keep Mother Nature out of it and Frank’s action became all gunked up with the red mud that was caused by the rain. If anyone has ever gotten that red mud on anything you know it’s almost impossible to get it all out.

Frank posted a picture of his rifle here on the Hide (I sure would like a copy of that picture to frame) and that’s what started me thinking because Frank said, “wouldn’t it be good if someone could make a cover to protect the whole rifle”.

I asked what he’d like to see in a cover and his suggestion was something with padding in the scope and muzzle area, as well as allowing some way to have the sling exposed and a carry handle on top.

At this point I had never sewn a stitch in my life. My first effort involved a roll of blue shop paper towels and a stapler to get a crude idea of what was in my mind. I had my wife, April, give me some pointers on sewing and about her small home sewing machine, bought some material, and started working on a second prototype. My next model was actually a tube that the barrel fit into and there was an area for the scope and the bottom was an opening that I had April show me how to install the elastic around the opening to close it up on the rifle.

I took pics of this and sent copies to Frank Galli, Lindy Sisk, and Jacob Bynum, and asked them what they thought of it. Jacob got back with me and said there was nothing like it and that he wanted to be the distributor of the cover and we proceeded to discuss what features would be needed on the cover.

At this time I was still using my wife’s little sewing machine until I almost burned it up trying to force multiple layers of 1000 Denier Cordura through it.

Frank told me I needed to look at this new material called MultiCam, I had never heard of this stuff but looked it up online and thought it was cool and that I would purchase five yards of it. We’ve been using MultiCam since day one and it’s still as popular as ever. We typically purchase it in quantities of 250 yards at a time now.

Back to the almost burned up home sewing machine. I figured out that I was in trouble one day when I asked April how to accomplish some sewing technique and she said “let me show you how to do that”. When she pushed down the pedal to operate the machine nothing happened and she said, “what’s going on with my machine”? I said, “here, I’ll show you what I’m trying to do”. I then proceeded to force material through the machine. It was at this point that she pointed out that I was about to destroy her little sewing machine and that I needed something bigger.

Money was pretty tight at that time so I searched high and low and found an old upholstery machine. The guy that I bought it from said that it was about 30 years old. This thing had a clutch motor on it. If any of you have ever sewn with a clutch motor you know how good we have it now that we have the servo motors of today. That machine would go from nothing to about 3000 stitches per minute with about .002 of an inch of travel on the foot pedal. I spent many hours cussing at that damn machine that would go from nothing to red line in less than a heart beat while my family laughed in sympathy from the other room every time they heard the machine take off like that and grumbling afterward. I got really good at sewing with one hand grabbing the wheel on right side of the machine to prevent a runaway from happening every single time I pressed down on the gas pedal.

Remember, I didn’t know squat about how to sew anything and had to self teach myself everything. I stayed up late reading sewing websites on the internet researching techniques and tips on how to sew things and make equipment. I also took a lot of different things apart to see how they were made. At the same time, I’m trying to figure out how to make a cover to fit a rifle. When I wasn’t working at my day job that paid the bills I was in our dinning room sewing. I spent the first four years of TAB GEAR sitting on a metal folding card table chair in a 10x10 dining room crammed full of a cutting board on the dinning table with samples and projects filling the little room up. I’ve estimated that for the first six years of TAB GEAR , including working at my day job, I spent minimum 100 hour weeks teaching myself how to sew and working out how to make patterns and just making product. Because we had no access to our dining room table for at least six years, our family would eat all our meals standing at the kitchen island. We find it hilarious that we still catch ourselves eating, standing at the kitchen counter or island out of habit instead of sitting at our dinning room table.

So, the first product we ever made was our rifle covers, based on Frank Galli’s original question here on the Hide, and suggestions from him and Jacob. It took me a long time to work out the patterns for the Gen I, II, and III covers, since I was still just learning how to sew. The second TAB GEAR product was our shooting mat. Someone asked, again on the Hide, if there was a lightweight shooting mat on the market that could be easily rolled up and stuffed into a pack. I said I could try to make one and began asking questions on line about what guys would like to see in such an item. After about a week of playing with prototypes I posted a picture of what I had come up with. I figured I’d at least sell one to the guy who asked the question originally and maybe some other guys would want one too. Holy Cow did they like it. It’s still one of our best selling products to this day.

Our third product, about six or seven years ago, was our SAS1 suppressor cover. I had seen some guys using a suppressor cover with Jet Suppressor logo embroidered on it and was at a match at RO when I saw a guy who had a can cover get approached by another competitor and ask how the Jet can cover was working out. The cover owner said it wasn’t a Jet cover, it was a cover he was testing out for Jason Baney, the guy who has been running the Smack The Smiley match for the last several years. Jason had come out with a suppressor cover and had approached Jet to T&E the cover for him. What they did was to simply copy his design and make it under the Jet name and never gave Jason a thing for his troubles. Several months after the match at RO, I was approached by a customer asking if I could build a suppressor cover. I told him I sure could, but didn’t have a clue at this point, when I remembered the conversation I had over heard at the match at RO, so I called Jason and asked him about his cover. He told me about the Jet deal that had gone down the tubes. I had never met Jason in person at this point, so I said, that sucks you were ripped off and I’ve heard you’re a great guy so why don’t you let me use your design and I’ll pay you a royalty on the SAS1 cover. I didn’t have to do that, I could have just told Jason thanks a lot for your time and made my own cover since precedent had been established by Jet’s actions. I felt like the right thing to do was to offer a royalty to the guy who started the whole suppressor cover thing, so that’s what I did. We began making the cover and I revised it a bit to include the internal ridge so there wasn’t a cord hanging out that you had to contend with.

Shortly after we started producing the SAS1 I sent one to a large firearms manufacturing company for some feedback from them for military sales. They replied back that it worked well but if it was installed backward then it would be shot off and TAB GEAR would look bad even though it wasn’t our fault. They wanted me to make a model that was “soldier proof” in that it wouldn’t need any directions, just install it and go. So, that is how the SAS2 came about with the bungee in each end of the cover. We paid Jason a royalty on the SAS1, and the SAS2, for a period of time and then I asked Jason how much would he want to buy him out on the royalties. He thought about it and came back with a figure and I thought about it and doubled the figure and we were both happy with the arrangement.

It was in this time frame we came out with our rear bag. I had begun making a bean bag for myself and others for quite a while and really didn’t think about making one to offer on the market since at that time it seemed like everyone was making one. Our first bag that we offered for sale did not have the strap on each side like you see now but did have the loop on a corner. Pretty soon we added the straps that you see now and the outer construction design hasn’t changed since then. We first were using a urethane rubber pellet for the filler and I thought it worked great because you could kind of compact the bag when you squeezed it. I had known Terry Cross, one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, and an outstanding gunsmith too, at some matches and had sent him one of our rifle covers to test out and give me feedback. I sent him a rear bag and asked him to test it out and give me some feedback on it too. He played around with it and called me one day to discuss his findings. He said, “I love the bag and how it is constructed, but I HATE the stuff you’re using as a filler” I had not heard anyone having any negative feedback on the filler up to this point but if Terry Cross has a concern I was all ears on how to fix it. He said that he could not maintain a solid hold on the target using my bag and just thought he was getting a cold until he had a couple of buddies try the bag with the same results. When he went back to his old bag he was rock solid again. I asked him what it was he was using for a filler in his bag he kicked around in the yard till he found where he had spilled some of the pellets and sent me a picture of them. I searched different companies until we found a supplier who made a plastic pellet similar in size and that is what we’ve been using ever since. For some reason, maybe it was the lack of sleep I was constantly operating under, I don’t remember being given a bean bag design with honors, whatever that means.

It was right at the five year mark when I found out why most small businesses fail. I had been working so many hours that I was just getting worn out. I think the main reason small businesses fail is not because the product isn’t any good or that they are not selling product. I think lots of them are like ours, you still have to work a day job to pay the bills, and work every other bit of time off to build your small business and the toll it takes can make people want to give up and go back to the security of a steady job with someone else worrying about the minute details. I missed out on a lot of activities with my family because my products were selling and it was just me making everything and the business needed my time non stop. There was a couple of times around this five year time frame where I had some serious discussions with myself about how easy it would be to sell the equipment and just go back to a regular job. Man, the temptation was very strong a couple of times to just give it up and relax. The thing was, is that I really liked sewing and designing products, and I was just too hard headed to quit on something that was moving in the right direction, no matter how tired I was. So I finally crossed the mental line and made the decision I was giving it all I had.

My regular day job consisted of a twelve hour shift working four days on and four days off, alternating between days and night, and about this time my dad, who a lot of you guys have met either at matches or at SHOT, was considering cutting back on his hours at the business he owned and he asked me if I’d be interested in taking it over. As I had no idea at all about the industrial gas business I had to learn that before I would be able to make a contribution. So, I began working at his place when I wasn’t working at my day job, and sewed when I could squeeze in the time. I worked a whole year at his place, with no pay, every day I wasn’t working at my twelve hour day job to learn the business. Meanwhile, my wife was working full time, running the household and taking care of our two teenage kids. When I wasn’t working at either one of these jobs I was sitting in front of a sewing machine, remember the minimum 100 hour weeks, and you can see that burn out was setting in before I flipped that mental switch. I quit the day job I had had for 18 years to go full time with my dad’s company in 2006.

I had attempted to hire contract sewers a few times over the years but it just never worked out. I would have people simply not put in the time to learn my products, or contract sewing companies would tell me my standards were too strict and would try to make me drop my quality requirements. I would never drop my quality with any of these people or companies and would just move on in my search for dependable workers. I talked my son, Hunter, into coming to work for me part time in 2007. He went to work for me at my dad’s company in 2009 and worked there and for TAB GEAR until mid 2012 when he quit the gas company to work full time at TAB GEAR. Now that I think about it, it was Hunter who was the actual first full time employee at TAB GEAR. It was the first part of 2012 when Hunter’s girlfriend, Elena, began working for us full time. She has made just about every regular CAD rifle sling, RAS rifle sling, Carbine sling and every biathlon sling among other TAB GAR products since she came on board with us. My dad sold his company at the end of 2012 and I quit that job and April quit her job in retail management to work full time at TAB GEAR too. My daughter Jillian had been working on and off part time for us since 2010 and came on full time about a year and a half ago. So, if I had been able to find contract sewers in the beginning I would not have had a place for my kids to come work with us. There’s nothing like being able to give your kids a hug every day and look around us and realize how great life is in the USA. We have all worked very hard to get TAB GEAR to where it is today. I know I can be hard to work for at times because my philosophy is when there’s work to do you work until it’s finished. We have 19 dealers in the US and 13 outside the US. In fact, since this thread has started, we have brought on a new distributor in Germany. So now we have a distributor in the US, Mile High Shooting Accessories, and a distributor in Germany as well.

Most of our products have been developed by input from people all over the world. Our original rifle sling was produced from a sling that a military group had cobbled together when they were overseas and brought with them when they went to RO for some additional training. When Jacob and Frank saw the sling and asked the guys about it they said we can have TAB GEAR develop this into a better idea and will outfit you guys with the result. They were happy about that and Jacob, Frank, and myself, went to work designing the TAB GEAR Rifle Sling. What you see today is what evolved from some soldiers making do in the field, to what we were able to produce with input from lots of different people. That’s how most of our products have been developed. Someone will have an idea about something, we’ll solicit input from people with different experience levels and different areas of the shooting community, whether it be regular guys who shoot matches a lot, to law enforcement officers, to military members of some of the worlds elite fighters as to what features they would like to see in the end product. I’ll work on a prototype and get it into the hands of people to field test. We’ll take the constructive criticism and refine the product back and forth till we feel like we have the bugs worked out and bring it to market. We have always solicited feedback from customers using our products on ways to make them better and more effective.

As in all things, life and relationships change. There was a time when we felt like we were part of the Rifles Only family and we are very grateful for the encouragement and support that Jacob and Lisa provided in the early years. However, we have not felt like we have been a part of the Rifles Only “family” for many years. It has been my immediate family I have been able to depend on and the many great friends out there that I consider family. They are the ones who have given me the support and encouragement that has kept me determined and driven to continue moving TAB GEAR forward the last several years.

After recent developments behind the scenes since my original post in this thread we believe that we will be better off to completely sever all ties and go it alone. So, not only will we not be using Rifles Only as our distributor in the future, we will not be continuing on with Rifles Only in a dealer capacity of any kind in the future either.

Also, we have just picked up a large quantity of our products and have it back in our possession. When going through and taking inventory of that large quantity we have found over $2,500.00 of that product was not rotated and sold as we transitioned into different materials. The older products were simply pushed to the back of the shelf when newer products were sent and not rotated to the front for sales before new products. Due to circumstances beyond our control they have become obsolete due to us having changed either webbing color, or webbing style years ago, or have simply sat on the back of a shelf for so long that the dust is so thick on it that we will have to wash it to sell it. These are all products that are 100% functional and we would still honor our lifetime guarantee that we have on all of our products. We
will make this offer to Hide members first who see the offer here at a discount of 60% off of retail on a first come first served basis until the product is gone. I will post a list of products here shortly and you will have to accept them here on this thread on an “as is” basis. I can assure you that the functionality and quality of them will be up to our standards, it is only the color, webbing style, or just dusty product, that is the reason for this sale. We will honor “I want “x” item” on this publicly viewed page based on time stamp that everyone can see. If there is a tie then I’ll put both names in a hat and draw the winner and post it here.

Once again we all would like to take a moment to thank everyone around the world who have expressed their 100% support for the changes we are going through. It is because of our friends and customers that this has all been worth it and we are so excited for what the future holds.

Stay tuned, there is lots of good stuff ahead.
 
Great to hear another successful startup story. It never fails to impress me how someone can take something that started in your dining room to a full on business that employs family and friends. I'll be keeping an eye out for that list of "dusty" stuff. ;)
 
Just ordered my first TAB bag. And it wont be the last. Look forward to the old gear. Just like me old is good. LOL
 
I apologize if guys on the S4 section didn't know about the original post on the Bear Pit. I posted the sale items up there yesterday and it completely slipped my mind to make a reminder here that the sale was up on the Bear Pit. I'm sorry about that if you were watching here for the items to be posted here.
 
Great inspirational story and great products as well. Just like folks have stated, it is amazing to hear how things start and progress to what your company is today.
 
I apologize if guys on the S4 section didn't know about the original post on the Bear Pit. I posted the sale items up there yesterday and it completely slipped my mind to make a reminder here that the sale was up on the Bear Pit. I'm sorry about that if you were watching here for the items to be posted here.

It looks like I may have missed most the stuff but I posted up if anything was left. I think that is the first time I've ever been on "The Bear Pit" section of the forum.
 
Great story. This should be required reading for anyone considering starting a small business. You've won a new customer.
 
Thank you all for your encouragement and support. I am certainly not magic, or gifted, I have just worked hard. I'm the perfect example of what can be done with little knowledge and hard work. It's out there for anyone who wants to get up and make it happen.
 
I sent Tab Gear an email last week asking a question about their SAC product and by 8am the next morning I had a reply, not a normal reply, but a lengthy email detailing what they can do. Mr. Burkes took time out of his busy schedule to spend time on this email. When I showed it to my wife, she said order everything he has!!!

Now this is the kind of person I will do business with
 
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I've only used TAB gear, its my favorite gear and I dont look to change. I like supporting people like this as well. Good luck with your own site.

Tony, that sounded like the Badlands match.
 
77Bronc, thank you very much for your comments, I've passed your post on to our whole crew and told them it's a reflection on their hard work. Thank your wife too, we love that kind of support. :)

Thank you too RobertB, we appreciate your continued business. You might be right on the Badlands match that Frank shot, I'll have to ask him about that.

AED146, there are times I can't even find the bus. :)
 
I've been looking forward to picking up a couple of your AICS mag pouches, but other expenses keep getting in the way. After reading this, I understand that the price justified. I will make it happen when I can spare the cash.
 
Friends,
I will echo your sentiment regarding Tony/April and TAB Gear.
Here is my story...

About three weeks ago I emailed Tony an order for 2 magazine pouches, a sling, and a dope thing.
I won't bore you with the details, but apparently my order did not go thru as expected because of technical difficulties, so a couple of weeks later I was still waiting for my goodies....
I emailed Tony about it and that same night he and April shipped my order overnight, free of charge, with an apology. Actually I felt a little embarrassed because I realized in my email I had come across a little too demanding not thinking that hey sometimes shit just happens. I offered to pay for the whole thing twice, but they just wouldn't have it. The order was sent free of charge!
Needless to say, TAB Gear has a customer for life. I really appreciate Tony and April going out of their way to ensure I got my order in time for the week end shoot. This type of commitment is rare these days and therefore greatly appreciated.
Tony and April are people of great integrity and on top of that, their products are the best in the market. I will be placing another order....you can count on it.

SM
 
That's a great story! Coincidentally, just yesterday I started seriously looking at slings for my bolt rifle and AR-15 I plan to buy in the future. I'm ordering some of your products now even though I'm in Japan and won't get to use them until next Summer.