If you have never heard of ASP, you must be living in a hole. ASP in my opinion is best known for their Friction Loc batons. Keeping with their tradition of fine batons, ASP has introduced their steel Talon Disc Loc Baton in 16, 21, and 26 inches. Unlike the Friction Loc batons from ASP, the Talon has a large easy to use button on the grip end that when depressed allows you to manually close the baton with one hand. This means that you no longer need to slam it on the ground to collapse it. When extended, the baton uses opposing discs to lock the baton in to position. You may remember that the Friction Loc would collapse unintentionally sometimes. This happened to me a few times during civil disturbance call outs in aMarylandcollege town known to get a bit rowdy after big wins.
That won’t happen with the Talon. Extension is smooth and lock up is positive. There is a slight bit of muffled rattle in the baton when extended but, when collapsed, there is absolutely no rattle at all making it completely silent. Extending the baton hasn’t changed but you get one more option for opening the Talon. It can be opened manually by pulling the tip of the long end. This can come in handy if you are in a tight space like a hallway or near other people who might be injured if you use the normal method of extending it toward the ground or up. On the 21 inch Talon I was provided, the balance point was approximately 8 ¾” from the grip end of the baton. This puts the majority of the weight in the grip area. The foamed vinyl portion of the grip end measures just short of 6 ¾” and is very comfortable in the hand. The foamed vinyl grip also helps in reducing shock and vibration felt in the users hand during a strike.
As I mentioned earlier, the Talon is made from steel and has a matte Cerakote finish. It has about 20 parts to it and if it’s damaged a trained ASP armorer inside your department can repair the Talon without sending it to the factory or a service center. If you damage the Talon, it comes with a lifetime warranty as long as the damage occurred during normal use.
To keep the Talon on you gun belt ASP also introduced a newly designed scabbard. Their Side Break Scabbard attaches easily to your gun belt and has removable shims for the various thicknesses of belts. You also have the option of attaching the scabbard to your MOLLE webbing. I used the scabbard on one of my plate carriers and found that it’s nice and secure without a lot of wiggle. The scabbard rotates 360 degrees and has 12 locking positions to give you easy placement and a quick draw.
The question of whether or not a Hindi Baton Cap will be available is sure to come up. The short answer is no, there will not be a Hindi Baton Cap for the Talon. In addition, ASP may not honor their warranty if you install aftermarket products on their batons. I can’t say I blame them though. ASP designs their batons a certain way and provides what they feel is the best product available. Ultimately, that is up to you and/or your department to see what works best.
Before I finish up the article, let’s take a look at user level maintenance for the Talon. Once every month or two you may want clean and lubricate the Talon. Unscrew the end cap and set it aside. This will allow you to remove the two shafts sections, locking discs, and center rod from the grip end of the baton. Wipe off the shaft sections with a dry cloth and very lightly apply your lubricant of choice and wipe off any excess. You can also apply a small amount of lubricant to the locking discs that you will see near the button where the end cap would be. Then you can hold the shaft sections and pull the center rod out. It’s not necessary to pull the center rod all the way out. Wipe off any contaminates and apply lubricant sparingly to the center rod. Reverse the process for re-assembly and you are back in business. It’s very simple and takes only a few minutes. Remember that less is more when lubricating the Talon; don’t overdo it.
The Talon retails for $175.00 and the Side Break Scabbard retails for $39.25 but if you shop around you will find lower prices. Be sure to watch this this video produced by ASP and visit the ASP website at: http://www.asp-usa.com/
