Words: Dan (ATRG)
I’ve been following The Reptile House for a few years now. In this time I’ve unashamedly used its amassed research and knowledge to help me evolve my own armoury and gear.
Indeed, there are a number of replicas I’ve gone out of my way to build, because of the inspiration drawn from some of the extremely well put together weapons highlighted.
The first article I read from TRH was Mil Done Right #21 – Ben’s 416 in 2014. It gave me a taste for realistic military builds. It also made me realise that there were many individuals out there – beyond the borders of my local sites – who had a similar appreciation for realistic details.
Other articles such as 2016’s What Makes a Mil Build? and Voltron’s Blaster Guest List (itself a retrospective) have further fuelled my ambition to recreate old school and contemporary replicas of iconic and functional weapons.
Aside from its appreciation of incisive, memorable and iconic builds, I’ve always been fascinated by another side of TRH – it’s dogged pursuit of knowledge. It’s this same drive that’s at the core of my own blog ATRG – and I’d like to think it’s one of the main reasons it continues to grow.
The knowledge shared in SEAL Locker: A Loadout Interview With Gray Fox’s F01 allowed me to better understand how others have approached a look I’m aiming for – the Opfor/good guy in a bad guys clothes look.
Gear reviews from the very cutting edge keep tempting me to purchase new kit. Indeed, another blog from 2016 – Trending: Haley D3CR – MARSOC – was the catalyst for buying a used D3CR from Diablo’s Mark (D-01). I still own that rig and use every single game.
Overall, the draw of the blog is in its willingness to adapt and evolve; never shying away from what’s challenging, uncomfortable or difficult to achieve. The research that goes into the blog keeps me coming back for more.
It’s been cathartic looking back through the blog. With over 900 articles, there’s some I haven’t read – but thats the great thing. I know its there. When I get five minutes from work and I see a new post, I always make time to read something from the back catalogue as well.
The one thing that never fails to surprise me is that even looking back to the older blogs, you’ll see stuff that wouldn’t look out of place right here, right now if it was published today.
It’s timeless.
Catch up with more Fifth Anniversary blogs here
The Reptile House 