Showers are a once-a-week treat at the Korengal Outpost, so soldiers make due on the in-between days with stuff like this. It’s a huge 2-by-4-foot baby wipe.
Tag "gear"
Getting into something a little different than weapon design or components, Magpul has given us a new iPhone case in your choice of colors, as long as those choices are military colors. Think of Flat Dark Earth, Foliage Green, or basic black as new colors for your iPhone. Valentines day is right around the corner, and for under $10, your girl (or guy) can get their iPhone all tactical-ed up.
Blue Force Gear DAP Covert Insert
Available now, $30
The DAP Covert Insert drops into a briefcase style bag and instantly makes it a fully configurable tactical go-bag using BFG’s line of “dapper” Velcro backed inserts. Choose from mag holders, pistol holsters, admin sleeves and lots of other attachments to make your own covert carry system that suits your mission. The insert replaces most 15″ laptop sleeves and folds up to measure about 15.5 X 11″ X 3″.
London Bridge Trading LBT-6142 Kangaroo Kit
Available now, $52.50
LBT showed us their new line of hydration sleeves and we were most impressed with the little guy in the family. The 27 oz Kangaroo Kit adds straps to the side of a vest and holds enough water for a short mission while keeping it cool using reflective thermal insulation. The kit includes the 27 oz Source hydration sleeve and insulated hose. It’s available in UCP, AOR-1, coyote, tan and green, though you might have to send an email to get the part numbers for those colors. Their specs:
• #2 Grommet in the bottom of the pouch for drainage
• Berry Amendment (DFAR 252.225-7012) compliant
• 5”L x 2”W x 8”H
Eagle Industries had this yet-to-be-named assault pack Yote Assault Pack half-heartedly hidden in their booth. The pack was built to spec for a special customer, but Eagle realized that this one would have some wider appeal with it’s flexible and compartmental setup.
The beaver tail holds snivel gear or a helmet, while the other 6 pockets are good for MREs, mags, maps, batteries, etc… Just take a minute and listen to Stormy Stormes from Eagle show you all the nooks and crannies. Available first quarter of 2009 for about $150.
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BAE Systems has developed a great way to power future warrior systems by adding a battery pack to the back of an X-SAPI plate. The Power Pack is getting spiraled out of their Integrated Warrior System (IWS) program and could provide power for tech laden operator’s current kit before it sees duty as part of Ground Soldier System or Land Warrior.
At it’s heart is a 480 watt/hour dry-cell, thin-film array that adds 2.5 lbs to the plate. Taking a hit may knock out a portion of the battery, but not the whole thing. And, if you missed that, they are DRY. No acid is going to eat through you or the steel decks of the research facility on LV-426, Ripley.
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Brunton’s new Solo “Personal Power Plants” can keep you gadgets running for days on a single charge. Just plug it in for a few hours to fill it up, then plug your iPod in using the USB port, insert toothpicks in your eyelids and watch all of the Star Wars movies, twice, without interruption (except for Jar-jar).
The Solo 3.4 is a little smaller than a pack of smokes, weighs about as much and comes with an array of adapters that should get the most popular gadgets in on the marathon for about $60. It charged up my Blackberry in about 40 minutes. It has two bigger brothers, the Solo 7.5 and 15, that add, size, weight and power for $200 and $400, respectively.
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Revision took a look at the state of affairs with goggle strap technology and decided that something had to be done. Soldiers know that the NOD mount always gets in the way when they lift them on to their helmets. The PDQ Goggle Retention System snaps onto a set of Revision Desert Locust goggles, replacing the stock strap with a short set of hook & loop extensions that mate to a helmet mounted halo that provides a secure mounting point that is isolated from the head. The halo consists of an elastic strap with gripper strips on the back and a rubber O-ring that mates with the NOD mount.
The kits are available now for $39 retail, $24 unit buy in black, tan, foliage and coyote.
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Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Surefire doesn’t’ make cheap stuff. This thing is going to cost you about as much as your first car. Unless your first car was a rusted-out, VW Rabbit with 200k miles and a rack and pinion that worked best on right turns. If that was the case, then this light will cost more than your first car.
The good news is that the light allows identification of objects up to 1km away, useful for border or maritime work. The Arclight uses arc light technology, usually found in stadium lighting, to make a light that puts out 1600-2800 lumens for about an hour using 16 CR123a batts or an integrated rechargeable battery, respectively.
The HID lamp has no filament to break, matching the durability of the hard-anodized aluminum body nicely. The three pound light is about the size of a double D cell flashlight with an ’80 VW Rabbit CV joint boot on the front. It will be available in the middle of 2009. Expect a soul-searing 5000 lumen version, the Arclight 3, to follow once Surefire’s engineers regain use of their melted retinas.
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One of the best feelings I get while reporting gear news is when I get something that is so new that the product manager says they haven’t even named it yet. I stopped by Gore and found out about a yet-to-be-named fire resistant material they are using to give FR qualities to traditionally flammable fabrics. Basically, you add this material to your average hardshell, softshell or fleece and you get a FR and water resistant outerlayer without affecting the qualities of the outer fabric. Adding taped seams will bring the jacket up to full Gore-Tex levels of water resistance.
Gore has designed and sumbitted their entry for the Marine Corps’ Inclement Weather Combat Shirt, above, that features the new material. Watch a video that shows how the material self-extinguishes during testing. On the left is a standard Marine Corps issue Dessert Combat Jacket, on the right is a version that incorporates Gore’s new military fire resistant material.
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Taking the two steps forward, one step back approach, our friends at Camelbak have redesigned the Motherlode, left, and the BFM, right. Thanks to the efficient, yet somehow sadistic designers, the new bags weigh less, but you can put more stuff in them. The redesign includes a shift to 500D Cordura everywhere but the bottom of the packs, new pocket layouts, fleece-lined pockets for optics, wider straps for comfort, and printed webbing so your PALS straps don’t give you away. The Motherlode gains about 450 cubes while losing about about 6 ounces, and the BFM picks up 591 cubes and drops 1.1 lbs.
Brand new this year is Camelbak’s Direct Armor Attachment System. It’s on three of their packs, the ArmorBak, left, ThermoBak, right, and the redesigned Ambush AB 500. The packs attach to the PALS webbing on your body armor using Fastex style buckle whose female side has a a split bar which just slide onto a PALS strap and stays there. You don’t have to zip-tie your Camelbak to your gear anymore. Bonus: the attachment straps run on the outside of the pack so you can cinch them tight enough to squirt water from your hydration tube. The new packs will be $55 and $70, $76 for the Ambush and should all hit AAFES by 01FEB09.
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