Revision just let us know that the Tan 499 Desert Locust Goggle Kit just hit the APEL. The new color configuration is designed to better integrate with the U.S. MultiCam uniforms currently in service in Afghanistan. The new kit features a Tan 499 frame and strap with MultiCam sleeve and carrying case. The Tan 499 Desert Locust Goggle U.S. Military Kit retails for $99.99 MSRP. More info may be available on Revision’s website.
Tag "multicam"
I’ve spent a fair amount of time checking out boots this week at SHOT Show, and I’d like to humbly submit my new favorite: Magnum USA’s Sidewinder and Spider boots, in MultiCam.
The boots highlight a common theme here at SHOT. Dozens of companies are either demonstrating or introducing MultiCam products to the market, each of which signed a license agreement with Crye Precision, MultiCam’s creator, before producing their products. Think Crye is cleaning up? Yeah, me too.
Anyway, both MultiCam boots were officially launched this week. Magnum says they were tested in Afghanistan by U.S. and British special operators, becoming the first MultiCam boot to be wear-tested in theater.
The Spider boot (in MultiCam below) incorporates leather and ballistic nylon into the upper, a leather toeguard to resist snags and abrasions, a sand-proof ventilator technology near the toes known as Vent-Guard, a shock absorbing sock liner and fins on the sole to silently grip walls. It weighs 21.4 ounces. It was new in desert tan in 2010 with a suggested retail price of $165. With the MultiCam, the price jumps to $200.
The Sidewinder boot is brand-new in general, in addition to being new in MultiCam (pictured above). It will reach the market in desert tan in March, and in MultiCam in June, company officials said. It incorporates a suede upper with nylon panel for breathability, a leather toeguard, lace eyelets that will not shine or glint when scratched, among other features. The desert tan version ($200) will reach the market in March, with the MultiCam version ($250) out in June.
The Arc’teryx Law Enforcement & Armed Forces (LEAF) collection has grown this month with a slew of new offerings.
Arc’teryx is well known for their climbing and upper-end outdoor clothing, but the LEAF lineup takes the lessons learned from the outdoor enthusiasts and applies it to the ultimate outdoor adrenaline activity. The LEAF articles are based around law enforcement and military needs, and with the Arc’teryx clothing I’ve used, I would say they’ve done a solid job. Materials that hold up, stitching that doesn’t leave you exposed, clothes that are cut right, and designs that look and feel good in uniform and out.
Military Times is looking forward to laying hands on this new lineup, and being able to give direct feedback based on real-world use. We’ll get the specifications for the new items up as soon as we can get them, but for now, check out the pictures and get an idea of what is starting to emerge on the market.
Tru-Spec combat shirt in MultiCam. 2-12 INF Soldiers were issued UCP combat shirts so some turned to the internet to buy MultiCam versions.
Updated: Now with more details from our Friday morning interview.
According to Matt Cox at Army Times, the Army announced Friday morning that it will begin fielding MultiCam ACUs to forces flowing into Afghanistan as soon as this summer. Program officials told us explicitly that we would begin to see MultiCam fielding in August. The Army plans to begin the fielding in two overlapping stages.
The initial push will be to get MultiCam on 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, at Fort Polk, La., and the Iowa National Guard’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, both deploying for OEF this summer. Once that effort is underway, the Army will then concentrate on getting new ACU-MultiCam and selected OCIE to currently deployed OEF-A soldiers.
Boom.
According to the Army’s test results, MultiCam was the only camo pattern to rank first in all three categories of the Army’s photosimulation evaluation.
… UCP-Delta did well in the detectability, not as well as MultiCam, but pretty well. UCP-Delta did perform significantly better than UCP and it would have been cheap, but we didn’t want to go ‘cheap Charlie’ on the soldiers. If we can give them an edge, we wanted to give them an edge even if that meant spending some extra money.
Colonel Bill Cole, Project manager for Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment, U.S. Army, PEO Soldier
The MultiCam uniforms will have a few other improvements that are already headed for future ACU contracts. OEF-A bound soldiers will receive about $4,000 worth of gear including four sets of MultiCam uniforms, four combat shirts and matching combat equipment.
Read MoreSoldiersystems.net is reporting Gen. George Casey’s approval of a plan for the immediate fielding of MultiCam to soldiers in Operation Enduring Freedom. We haven’t yet gotten the official word but have no reason to doubt the report after confirming it with our own sources. We expect an announcement from the Army shortly.
UPDATE: This one is going all the way to the Secretary of the Army, the Honorable John McHugh, for approval. So even though General Casey has signed off on the recommendation, the fat lady hasn’t sung yet. We hope to have the final word tomorrow.
I wonder why the Secretary of the Army is weighing in? I don’t know if it’s a rubber-stamp sort of thing, but it seems like the chief’s signature would normally be enough to approve a uniform regulation. Perhaps it’s a play to put some political capital behind the request. The Army will need it if it goes up to the Hill to ask for help funding the camo change introduced by the recently deceased Rep. John Murtha.
Read More
Someone posted this update to PEO Soldier’s Twitter feed via a mobile phone text message. I wonder if this was a meant for another recipient since all other posts to PEOSoldier’s account were made either from Twitter’s Web site or an iPhone application.
The latest (as of last night) we’ve heard is that Gen. Casey is now mulling it over.
Read MoreI spoke with Otte Gear president Todd Fairbain days before SHOT, and he let us in on three new jackets that are moving into production. Being a confirmed jacket whore, and already owning some of their gear, I was more than a little interested.
U.S. Army 1st Lt. John Cumbie, left, assigned to D Company, 2-12 Infantry Regiment, 4 Brigade Combat Team, 4 Infantry Division, speaks with a village elder during a patrol in the Kolak village in Kunar province, Afghanistan, Dec. 17.
Thanks to combat camera’s Sgt. 1st Class Leonardo Torres, we now have some pics of 2-12 wearing Multicam outside the wire in Kunar Province, Afghanistan.
Here are the twelve contenders that went up against UCP in Natick’s 2007-2009 Photosimulation Camouflage Detection test. The five patterns at the bottom didn’t make the cut because they didn’t perform well enough to be considered, or were too similar to other patterns in the test. The Spec 4 patterns were specificaly DQ’d because their desert variant was available for the test.
With a little creativity, Natick could have made a badass photo calendar. All they needed was a set of well proportioned female models holding guns and the study would have paid for itself.
Recent Comments