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Kifaru’s new UltraLight series packs hit today!

By: Rob Curtis

15-12-2010

UPDATE: Kifaru KU site is live. Click here.

Kifaru’s new UL series of packs have landed. The series will consist of three packs to start; 2200,3700 and 5200 (shown above) cubic inches. To give an idea what ultra light means, their 5200 cubic inch pack weighs 2lbs 13 oz. They are using all kinds of high techness and plain ingenuity to wring the ounces out of the new bags while retaining the load bearing capacity you’d expect from the equivalent sized pack.

Composite frame stays made from Carbon fiber and exotic wood, double layered, micro-weight fabrics, zipperless access are features used to save weight on the new packs. All of Kifau’s packs are made in the US, so don’t be shocked when you see the price tags.

Kifaru is putting the finishing touches on their KU website and as soon as we have the URL we’ll post it. We were able to score some product photos and specs to tide you over till their site goes live! Thanks to Elk Reaper for the photo of the KU5200 in use.

	Size	Weight	Capacity	Price
KU5200	5200 cu	2lbs 13 oz	100+ lbs	$558
KU3700	3700 cu	2lbs 9 0z	70 lb load	$518
KU2200	2200	2lbs 7 oz	40+ lbs	$448
KUKoala	800 cu	1 lb	n/a	$169
KUE&E	1000 cu	9.5 oz	n/a	$104

Admin Pouch Cordon & Review

By: Rob Curtis

29-10-2010

Cordon & Review

Combat leaders carry a lot of stuff. Heck, every Lt. has to prove how tough he is by carrying his own radio, right? But, it’s not just the guys at the top of the triangle that have to keep things heading in the right direction. Guys are carrying all kinds of small items to support the mission; smart cards, notebooks, maps, map pens, batteries, navigation equipment, spare NVG batteries, blades, shades, and the list goes on. And that’s just for the line guys. If you’re a tech, medic, engineer, or any gear-ish MOS, you’ve struggled with ways of keeping the items close at hand, but out of the way ‘till you need them.

There’s probably as many variations of the admin panel as there are people that use them. GearScout pulled together a short list of pouches that range in size and capability from svelte to MEGA. Each of these pouches we rounded up in the next 4 reviews is made in the USA and have been designed with feedback from the field.

As an aside, I photographed the pouches on my trusty Mayflower Low-Profile Assault Armor Carrier for scale. I’ve used the carrier with soft armor and plates from Velocity Systems for a few trips to Afghanistan and Iraq. A review is coming, but suffice it to say that we bought full Mayflower/Velocity setups for our staff for use in high threat environments.

Tactical Tailor Escape And Evasion Pouch review

By: Rob Curtis

29-10-2010

Photo Recon, Review

On the opposite end of the bulk spectrum from the Mega Admin, the TT E&E is the micro admin pouch. It comes in horizontal and a vertical configurations. Both are listed as the same size on TT’s website, but in reality, the vertical is about 10 percent smaller than the horizontal. Both were made to hold a schoolhouse E&E kit in as compact a format as possible. Signal mirror, compass, chemlights, small blood chit, etc. The interior setup on both is similar; its a set of layered sleeves that secure with a bit of Velcro. All the pockets are sewn to be upright when the pouch is fully open. This means even when the pouch is unzipped and left to flop open, the goods will still stay in place.

Milspec Monkey Stealth Admin Pouch review

By: Rob Curtis

29-10-2010

Photo Recon, Review

Deceptively sized, the MSM Stealth Admin Pouch holds a lot without overwhelming your available space. It’s also got a novel two pocket setup that combines the easy access of a drop front pouch with the security of an additional top-zip pocket. Why call it the Stealth? It’s based partly on the Monkey’s successful Combat Admin Pouch, but its main pockets were secured with Velcro and were a bit loud. Dumping the Velcro origami in favor of zippers quiets things down at go time and meal time.

Original SOE Gear NSW Admin Panel review

By: Rob Curtis

29-10-2010

Photo Recon, Review

Need a little more room but still want to go low profile? Check out the NSW Admin Panel. It’s got a drawbridge opening to keep you from dumping your gear, a Velcro field to attach your GPS for heads up navigation, a sleeve for a Leatherman and smaller sleeves and keepers for map pens, local cell phones and chemlights. There are a total of three flat pockets for map tools, notebooks or smartcards, as well.

Zulu Nylon Mega Admin Pouch review

By: Rob Curtis

29-10-2010

Photo Recon, Review

If you’re a “size matters” guy, this is the pouch for you. The Mega Admin will swallow a squad leader’s kit, and leave room for desert. Platoon leaders, engineers, EOD techs, combat communicators and tactical air controllers can keep their whole kit in this rig and move it between vest and pack without fear of leaving something behind. It measures about 7.25″ x 9.75″ x 2″ around the outside, so plan on surrendering the entire upper chest PALS field of your vest as a tactical desk drawer. The Mega Admin works just as well on a pack or shoulder bag, though. Need an admin section on your Raid pack, here you go.

Mystery Ranch’s Comm 3 lets you TACPs go remote with your comm gear

By: Rob Curtis

30-09-2010

Product Announcement

Dana Gleason, Jr., gave us a tour of the Ranch’s updated Comm pack, the Comm 3. The new pack adds modularity to the ruck. It’s set up to carry almost any radio in the main bag, four 5590s in a smaller external bag and a laptop in a third removable pouch. It all hangs on the Mystery Ranch NICE frame. The first version is setup for a CF19 Toughbook, but other configurations for different computers are in the works. The coolness in the new version is the removable laptop case that holds up to 24 feet of cable so commo types can run their radios from a far without losing the protection of the case. Other bits include a clear window top and passthrough for cables. They’re still working out the price but look for it on Mystery Ranch’s website in the late fall/early winter.

Mystery Ranch Big Horn

By: Rob Curtis

07-10-2009

Product Announcement

The new Mystery Ranch Big Horn is the 3-Day-Assault pack’s big brother. Similar to their recreational Big Sky pack, the militarized bag is decked-out with a “stuffit” pocket (a.k.a. beaver tail), a beefed up suspension system and about 1000 more cubic inches inside for a total of 3000 cubes.

X-Frame is MR’s internal frame system. It consists of a couple of bars that cross and form a stressed frame, holding the pack and it’s contents up. There are a few pockets and a hydration bladder sleeve in the otherwise wide-open main compartment.

Outside, the removable waist pads slip over the waist strap and lock in place with a combination of Velcro and a tri-glide on the pack’s waist belt. The waist belt can be folded and stowed neatly up inside the pack when not needed, but you’ll have to pull the waist pads off to make this happen. As on the 3DA, there’s also PALS webbing on the sides for a couple of extra pouches, water bottle pockets and water resistant zippers.

Weighing in at 5 3/4 pounds, it’s a beefy pack. But, it’s bomber built up in Bozeman, Montana, and backed by a no BS lifetime warranty. The $390 pack just shipped and is available in Multicam, coyote and foliage.

More pics, including the guts, after the jump.

Kifaru’s new UltraLight series packs hit today!

Admin Pouch Cordon & Review

Tactical Tailor Escape And Evasion Pouch review

Milspec Monkey Stealth Admin Pouch review

Original SOE Gear NSW Admin Panel review

Zulu Nylon Mega Admin Pouch review

Mystery Ranch’s Comm 3 lets you TACPs go remote with your comm gear

Mystery Ranch Big Horn

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