FirstSpear TV

Archive for January, 2012

Jones Tactical Belts on Tactical Fanboy

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Tactical Fanboy wrote an article on Jones Tactical‘s belts. Their two-tone belts feature AustriAlpin buckles and have set the standard for customized gun belts.

www.tacticalfanboy.com

Yes, the Offer is Still Good

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

We’ve been asked a couple of times if the special deal on Roclite 295s from Extreme Outfitters is still valid and the answer is, “Of Course.” I own a pair and they are a great shoe, and this is a great deal.

Working in conjunction with Inov-8, Extreme Outfitters recently introduced the Roclite 295 Multi Purpose Trainer. Available in both Black and Sand, the Roclite 295 is an excellent minimal structured on/off road trainer suited for nearly all terrain and hard road surfaces. Weighing in at 295 grams, this shoe is awesome for gym use providing an excellent stable platform utilizing its sticky rubber outsole which provides amazing grip in wet conditions and dries out very quickly!

The Roclite 295 features:
– Synthetic leather and breathable mesh upper.
– Webbing upper support – lacing is attached to nylon webbing to cradle and secure the upper behind the metatarsal heads.
– Advanced Meta-Flexâ„¢ technology is anatomically aligned in front of the metatarsal heads for a natural forefoot flex.
– New 5-finger meta-shank aligns with each individual metatarsal for greater flexibility when contouring while retaining underfoot impact protection.
– Advanced Meta-Flexâ„¢ technology is anatomically aligned in front of the metatarsal heads for a natural forefoot flex.
– Met-cradleâ„¢: The upper webbing support is anatomically positioned to cradle the forefoot behind the metatarsal heads and provide a secure foot hold.
– The Fascia Band increases the structural stability of the arch area and the propulsive efficiency of the shoe
– Sticky rubber outsole compound has been specially developed using climbing rubber technology. This rubber optimizes grip in wet conditions.

We’d like to thank Extreme Outfitters for offering SSD readers a special 25% off this product for a limited time. To receive this discount simply use discount code 295 at checkout. This is a limited time offer as there are only 1,100 of each color in stock and they are moving out fast.

www.extremeoutfitters.us

TLS Isn’t Going Anywhere

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Despite criticism of the program (mainly from those who don’t have a piece of the pie) Defense Logistics Agency’s Tailored Logistics Support (TLS) program isn’t going away. In fact, it’s flourishing. All four incumbents have been issued a one year extension.

Originally envisioned as the Prime Vendor for Special Operations Equipment program over 10 years ago, the concept began as a means to provide better support to the diving community. DLA found itself stocking dive gear for a small community. The idea was formed to outsource the stocking of this gear to commercial dive supply houses who specialized in the gear and could actually support a wider variety of items. This saved DoD money by not having to stockpile equipment and provided the diving community with more options. Since many of the divers hail from SOF units, it was only a matter of time before the contract was leveraged to provide other specialized, low density gear.

Since that time, the program has morphed into TLS to more accurately reflect the other prime vendor programs which include food and medical commodities. This change has also introduced increased competition amongst the participants and improved administration and oversight of the program. Over the past 10 years I have observed ups and downs with this program and, while I don’t think it’s right for every purchase, it has certainly served DoD well.

From yesterday’s DoD Contract Announcements…

Tactical & Survival Specialties, Inc.*, Harrisonburg, Va., was issued a modification exercising the second option year on contract SPM8EJ-09-D-0001/P00016. The award is a firm-fixed-price contract with a maximum $5,680,898,304 for delivery of items supported by the Special Operational equipment, tailored Logistics Support Program. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. There were 14 responses to the Web solicitation. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2011 Defense Working Capital Funds. The date of performance completion is March 9, 2013. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.

W.S. Darley & Co.*, Itasca, Ill., was issued a modification exercising the second option year on contract SPM8EJ-09-D-0002/P00015. The award is a firm-fixed-price contract with a maximum $5,622,398,304 for delivery of items supported by the Special Operational equipment, tailored Logistics Support Program. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. There were 14 responses to the Web solicitation. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2011 Defense Working Capital Funds. The date of performance completion is March 9, 2013. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.

Source One Distributors, Inc.*, Wellington, Fla., was issued a modification exercising the second option year on contract SPM8EJ-09-D-0004/P00017. The award is a firm-fixed-price contract with a maximum $5,470,398,304 for delivery of items supported by the Special Operational equipment, tailored Logistics Support Program. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. There were 14 responses to the Web solicitation. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2011 Defense Working Capital Funds. The date of performance completion is March 9, 2013. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.

Atlantic Diving Supply*, Virginia Beach, Va., was issued a modification exercising the second option year on contract SPM8EJ-09-D-0003/P00017. The award is a firm-fixed-price contract with a maximum $4,316,398,304 for delivery of items supported by the Special Operational equipment, tailored Logistics Support Program. There are no other locations of performance. Using services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies. There were 14 responses to the Web solicitation. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2011 Defense Working Capital Funds. The date of performance completion is March 9, 2013. The Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa., is the contracting activity.

31 Souls Project and AmericanSnipers.org Raises Almost $15k!

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

The 31 Souls Project, working in conjunction with Americansnipers.org raised almost $15,000 for the Arc’Teryx Special Operations Support Fund. This non-parochial fund is outstanding in that they are ensuring that the survivors of all of the 6 August causalities receive support. I was at last summer’s OR when news spread about the crash and Arc’teryx moved swiftly to set up the Special Operations Support Fund.

The 31 Souls Project put together one hell of a raffle that was hosted by AmericanSnipers.org at SHOT Show.

Thanks to all who donated gear, time, and money.

FGI Purchases Para USA

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

“We welcome Para into the Freedom Group Family of Companies,” stated. E. Scott Blackwell, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Freedom Group Inc.
“Para USA is a leader in handgun technology and their fine products exemplify quality, innovation and performance. Para is a perfect complement to our industry-leading family of brands, and our success in 2011 with the Remington R1 – 1911. We look forward to deploying both human and financial resources to continue to develop and supply current and future handguns for consumers and our channel partners. We also wish to thank all its employees for their continued dedication that has made Para a success.”

That’s how Scott Blackwell characterized Freedom Group’s purchase of Para USA in an official statement. For many years FGI has wanted to add a pistol manufacturer to their portfolio, even going so far as to internally launch the Remington R1, a 1911 clone that has received tepid response from the market.

Rumors swirled around the sale at SHOT Show after Gear Scout spilled the beans about the pending deal but FGI marches to their own tempo so it’s no surprise they took a few extra weeks to announce the deal. Generally, a very secretive conglomerate, FGI only recently removed any mention of the long defunct EOTAC clothing business from their website with never even an acknowledgement that it had closed its doors.

The best part of the FGI press release was this little gem, “Para will continue day-to-day operations at their Pineville, NC based facility.” We’d like to add a “for now…” to the end of that one.

ADS Reveals Camo ExpertiseADS Tactical

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

ADS Inc never stops surprising us. Over time, we’ve come to know about their Ghostex program and their work with HyperStealth Biotechnology Corp on specialized camouflage patterns for Afghanistan. Most recently, they’ve teamed with Guy Cramer to win as spot as finalists in the US Army’s most ambitious camouflage improvement effort to date.

Now, they’ve launched a new section of their website dedicated to all of their camouflage programs. Not only will you see some better images of their US4CES-Delta patterns that we revealed here on SSD during SHOT Show, but they also reveal additional information on their Army-finalist Alpha family of patterns as well as some a few of the variants from the Ghostex Advanced Camouflage System.

Last, but certainly not least, ADS has been a prime supplier of critical clothing and equipment in the US Army’s Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern (OCP), commercially known as MultiCam. Both FREE and ECWCS Gen III are provided by ADS Inc and they have adopted both environmental clothing systems for issue in OCP.

ADS has informed me that they plan on adding to the camo section of the website as new information becomes available. In particular, we are looking forward to seeing additional Ghostex patterns as well as a glimpse of what their Army candidate patterns will look like on ACUs and OCIE. It is definitely worth taking a look at what they have going on.

www.adsinc.com/solutions/clothing-programs/camouflage-solutions

Take a Tour of the US Patriot Warehouse

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Wendy Foster (Miss Hooters 2010) talks US Patriot…we’re listening.

www.uspatriottactical.com

Spotted at SHOT Show – ECHO NiNER Morale Patches

Monday, January 30th, 2012

We ran into Ted Tae, the genius behind ECHO NiNER and the great E9 camera strap at SHOT where he bequeathed upon us a couple of his new combat photographer themed morale patches designed by Webtechgear.

If you can read Hangul, there is more info here. The patches aren’t up on the site yet but we hope to see them soon.

www.eniner.com