Guest Config: Abraham – Shepherd Firearms
For our very first official Guest Config, we spoke to Abraham Hepler, Vice President of Shepherd Firearms / Tactical Director of Shepherd Firearms Tactical.
1. What is your current go-to pack?
My go-to pack is the Triple Aught Design Fastpack EDC in Black. In addition to the standard pack, I have attached a TAD iComm Pouch, an ITS Tactical ETA Fatboy Trauma Kit Pouch, and a small Hazard 4 Mil-Koala Pouch (I have the EXACT same configuration in Multicam). The EDC is an incredible pack – it is very comfortable has a LOT of internal space and has some great features. But I find it lacked some of the organizational space I needed – so I actually use the ITS Fatboy as an item organizer. The Hazard 4 pouch is used to store my flashlight.
2. What item(s) can always be found in your pack?
Because 95% of my use for this pack is Urban EDC, the contents reflect that purpose. My 15″ MacBook Pro, and my external hard drive for instance. I also keep a large First Aid Kit, a tourniquet, a SOG SEAL Pup (fixed blade knife), a few extra ink pens (Arrow Stainless Steel), a home-made lock pick set, a Lenslight Mini flashlight, a Benchmade Seatbelt Cutter, a battery backup charger for my cell phone…
One of the more odd items in my pack is a small travel box from Johnson & Johnson that holds a number of different sizes and shapes of Band-Aids. I have kids – I can never have enough Band-Aids! I also carry a few very personal items in my kit as well – a small pocket knife that my father had commissioned specifically for me, as well as a small aluminum cross that was made as a memento for a three day silent retreat a number of years back.
3. Can you tell us a little about what you do?
I am the Vice President of a small firearms manufacturing company called Shepherd Firearms. We manufacture high end AR-15s. I am also the Tactical Director for Shepherd Firearms Tactical, a mindset and training company focused on helping people maintain a mindset of protection. I handle the marketing and promotion for both companies, as well as much of the graphic design. I am also the primary instructor for SFA Tactical.
4. What is the passion that drives the brand?
My personal passion for our brand comes from two distinct desires:
1. We want people to be equipped with the absolute best gear. Our rifles are manufactured to tolerances that are literally unheard of in an AR-15. We desire to push the limits of what has been done to offer products that exceed the quality of everything else in the market place. It was this drive that led Shepherd Firearms to begin manufacturing the only mass-produced Titanium AR-15 Lower receiver on the market today.
2. I have a passion to see people learn and grow as individuals. The goal of SFA Tactical is to see everyone take the next step forward in his or her personal skill set and in the mindset of protection. We offer training to help people take their very first step into the world of personal protection – beginning to think about how to protect and care for themselves and their families, and we offer training to help people of all skill levels continue to progress and grow. My personal passion is to see each of us grow – one new step forward each day.
5. How would you describe your level of pack organisation? (Chaotic, Casual, Pack Jedi, Scientific)
Scientific – Systematic and catalogued order. Zero flexibility.
Every item in my pack has a specific place. Over the last few years I have been in a constant state of refining what I carry to eliminate the items that were unnecessary, and to keep refining the items that can have multiple purposes. There are items that have literally been stored in the same place of my pack since the day I first carried it. (I have carried this exact set up every day since March of 2012).
I do have some repetition in the pack, but it is mainly ink pens – I use different pens for different purposes. Aside from my Band-Aids, all of my First Aid and medical kit is stored in the large front zipper pocket of the Fastpack EDC – I have attached a red Velcro strip to the pull on that pocket to minimize searching the pack if someone needs access to my medical gear. Every intentional item in the pack has an intentional place it lives: this makes for fast and easy access to every item, all of the time. It honestly also helps me keep track of my stuff; with so much happening all of the time, it just makes sense to not have to try and remember which pocket I put an item in after I used it last… so they are always in the same place!
