Camelbak Urban Assault Review
October 21st, 2009 | Cordon & Review | Posted by Phil Ewing
CamelBak’s “Urban Assault” backpack is a medium-sized bag designed for tactically minded city-dwellers who want to carry a lot of gear, a laptop, and water on their missions in the urban jungle.
If you don’t wear a tie to work every day — or you do, and you don’t mind looking like a college kid — this backpack can work as a great daily briefcase, especially if you’re commuting by train or bus. Pockets, sleeves and admin pouches secure loose papers, folders, pens and just about anything else, plus the dedicated laptop case is ideal for the expeditionary office drone. At 1850 cubic inches, it’s also large enough for a few gadgets or gym clothes.
If you’re getting ready to ship out to the sandbox, or looking for something to take on a hike across Death Valley, this may not be your first choice. The Urban Assault isn’t designed to accept CamelBak’s trademark suck-tube water pouches hydration bladder, instead setting aside two side pockets for its flip-up tube, Better Bottle water bottles.
Let’s take a closer look at the bag to see if it’s got what you’re looking for.
New Old Corpsman Assault Pack Goes Commercial
October 2nd, 2009 | Product Announcement | Posted by Rob Curtis
Propper and Arc’teryx are bringing the USMC’s Corpsman Assault Pack to the commercial market. At it’s root, the CAP is a beefed up ILBE assault pack that’s a bit bigger, has two compartments that combine, a couple of aluminum frame stays and a padded waist belt. Looking at it, the CAP looks like the ILBE programs version of the three-day-assault pack. The pack was originally fielded only to recon units and corpsmen but Propper sees a wider market for the CAP.
The CAP will be available in Multicam, Coyote, Green, Black, AOR1, AOR2, Digital Tiger Stripe and Army Universal Camo.
Shot 09- OR Airpurge Dry Sacks Keep You From Cubing Out
January 19th, 2009 | Product Announcement | Posted by Rob Curtis
The Airpurge Dry Compression Sack from Outdoor Research is a valveless dry bag that will keep your clothes dry and organized inside your ruck. At the bottom of the bag is a strip of one-way air purging fabric. The strip lets you crush the bag down so tightly that it forms a near vacuum and squeezes every last cubic nanometer of efficiency out of your pack.
The sacks will come in 4 sizes and two versions. The Coyote version is made in the USA for military customers. The imported versions will come in black and dark grey. Both versions will come in 10L, 15L, 25L and 30L sizes. Look for them in fall 2009. No word on price, yet.
Shot 09- Snap, Buckle & Pop
January 17th, 2009 | Product Announcement | Posted by Rob Curtis
The click n’ snap guys at ITW Nexus had a slew of new toys on their table at Shot 09. Three of the coolest plastic bits fresh from their Illinois factory were the FastMag, Gillie-Tex tactical link & the Dual Release Buckle.
Dual Release Buckle: The DR Buckle is a slap-on-the-forhead simple mod of a side release buckle that uses a cord to retract the buckle wings inside the housing. You pull the cord and the buckle releases. It turns the quick, two-finger buckle squeeze into an even faster pull-and-go. Since it uses gross motor skills it should be easier to operate in stressful situations. Costs about $0.30-$0.40. See and read about the FastMag and Gillie-TexTactical Link after the break. Read the rest of this entry »
Shot 09 — Hardcore Planner
January 17th, 2009 | Product Announcement | Posted by Matthew Cox
It’s not as cool as your old Trapper Keeper organizer, but it holds up better in the rain. Rite in the Rain – the company that makes almost every size of waterproof notebook imaginable – now offers a full size planner for those staff officers who like being prepared for the suck.
Shot 09- Tuna Anyone?
January 15th, 2009 | Product Announcement | Posted by Matthew Cox
It’s called a “tuna can” pouch but it would make a sweet case for carrying dip on your kit. That’s really what Maxpedition president Tim Lang designed the new prototype to be but hasn’t quite come up with the right name yet. “I was running out of steam before the show,” Lang said at Shot Show ‘09. “We will figure out the real name later.”
The circular pouch zips open and has a padded interior to hold your favorite can of snuff tobacco. It’s made of rugged Cordura and can be attached to the Army’s Modular Lightweight Load-bearing Equipment. Whatever its name ends up being, it will be available in April and cost $9.99 each. It will come in black, O.D. green, foliage green and khaki.