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Archive for June, 2008

Tango Down Quick Detach Foregrip Hits Market

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

The new grip unveiled at SHOT Show is now hitting the market. It is molded from their proprietary bulletâ€“proof heat and impact modified polymer, and features the new American Defense quick detach mechanism. The grip can adjust to any rail (MIL-STD or not) without tools. It mounts and detaches in a flash, and from what I saw at SHOT is rock solid. The grip features TD’s patented pressure switch pocket and water proof (to 66â€™) storage compartment and comes in 3 styles and 3 colors (black, flat dark earth and foliage green).

For a great write up see the Military Morons review at Military Morons.

Tags: Tango Down
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Ironkey – Secure Flash Drive

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

Many of you travel regularly, particularly overseas and are concerned about security. Even if you don’t travel, almost all of you have personal files that you would like to keep safe from unauthorized access. Ironkey is the perfect solution. It is an encrypted USB flash drive. The case is hardened and tamper-proof. Any attempt to open the waterproof case results in the data being destroyed. Additionally, if an intruder attempts to access the data 10 times with the wrong password the data on the Ironkey is destroyed. It works on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows platforms including XP and Vista without administrator privileges.

The Ironkey comes 1, 2, 4, or 8 Gb sizes and is available as Basic, Personal, or Enterprise editions. The Personal and Enterprise editions include Firefox and Tor allowing the user to protect online activities. Warning to DoD users: These versions use proxies and are highly discouraged for military users as they are banned for use on DoD networks. Of course the Basic version remains perfect for those on DoD networks.

Any write up I do here won’t do it justice. Go check it out. I use one. It works.

For more information, contact Ironkey

Tags: Computer, Ironkey, Laptop
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Contacting Soldier Systems Blog

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

Interested parties can contact Soldier Systems Blog at admin@soldiersystems.net

We welcome comments, tips and guest articles.

The admin stuff:

Inclusion of products or information on Soldier Systems Blog is for informational purposes only and in no way construed as an endorsement unless otherwise stated.

All content is copyright 2008 Soldier Systems Blog unless otherwise credited. Further use of content is prohibited unless specific permission is provided by Soldier Systems Blog. Corporate logos for companies featured on Soldier Systems Blog are the property of their respective owners and are used solely for illustrative purposes.

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Mirage Camo Pictures

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

These are actually from AUSA 07 but the pattern is so elusive, I have had requests to post them here. Bulldog as updated the cut of the uniform several times since then.

Access to the website remains restricted to those with .mil email addresses.

Mirage

Tags: Bulldog, Mirage
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ITW Fastmag

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

Three years ago ITW licensed the Fastmag as well as several other designs from Downeast, developers of the MOLLE frame. The first generation of the Fastmag was placed into limited production and proved very popular. However, it quickly became apparent that there was room to mature the design. Many felt that the original version was too wide as it took up too much real estate on a PALS platform. Additionally, engineers at ITW knew that they could enhance the retention of the magazine. Obviously they hit a home run on that one if this video from our friends at MilSpec Monkey is any indication.

There have been many posts online showing the new Fastmag but no one has shown it alongside the earlier version. These photos give you an idea of the many changes made to improve the product.

See all of the ITW products here.

Tags: Fastmag, ITW
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The Danger of Optical Brighteners

Monday, June 9th, 2008

This article courtesy of

Some detergents a hazard for ABUs

EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska--Pictured, the Army Combat Uniform, with material identical to the Airman Battle Uniform, shows the difference optical brighteners make under ultra-violet lighting. Laundry detergents with additives known as
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by compiled from staff reports
354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

9/4/2007 – EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska — Laundry additives known as “optical brighteners” should not be used for washing the Airman Battle Uniform.

Laundry instructions for ABUs specify not using any laundry detergents that contain optical brighteners.

Optical Brighteners make the ABU more detectable by night vision equipment and make the ABU more visible in a low-light environment of any kind, by reflecting more of any available light.

Optical brighteners are chemicals that absorb the ultraviolet and violet region of colors in a fabric. They trick the eye into seeing a brighter shade and reflect more light.

Near Infrared (nIR) capability of the ABU is degraded when washed with detergents containing optical brighteners. Because most commercial detergents contain optical brighteners, there is generally no indication on the packaging.

The impact of optical brighteners is permanent, it cannot be washed out.

Laundry detergents that do not contain optical brighteners:
Bold Powder
Cheer Liquid (all versions)
Cheer Powder (all versions)
All Powder (all versions)
Surf Powder (all versions)
All Detergent Free Clear Country Save Liquid Detergent
Allen’s Naturally Laundry Detergent (liquid and powder)
Bi-O-Kleen Laundry Detergent (liquid and powder)
Charlie’s Soap (liquid and powder)
ECOS Free and Clear Laundry Detergent
Mountain Green Liquid Laundry Detergent
Nature Clean (liquid and powder)
Ecover Ecological Liquid Detergent
Oxy-Prime Powdered Laundry Detergent
Planet Ultra laundry detergents
Seventh Generation Laundry detergents
SportwashSun and Earth LiquidSurf Powder (not Surf Liquid)
Washeze
Woolite, original and dark.

*No federal endorsement of products intended

Tags: ABU, ACU
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Digital Force Technologies – SIMEG

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Satellite Imagery Enhanced GPS (SIMEG) Receiver is a rugged, handheld GPS receiver that correlates the receiver’s position and displays it on satellite imagery as a geo-rectified moving-map. What makes the SIMEG so unique is that it supports all National Geospatial Agency digital imagery and map products down to 1-meter CIB imagery. Upgrades are being worked for NGA’s Vector Product Format and specialty products developed by NGA and terrain teams as well as commercial products such as USGS Digital Ortho Quads for work back here in CONUS. While a few new commercial receivers show commercial imagery, no commercial GPS receiver displays NGA products. That alone would make the SIMEG worth pursuing but the team at DFT has also made the SIMEG compatible with PFPS route and threat overlay files. This means you can plan a mission on a Mission Planning terminal and export overlays to the SIMEG. They will show up on the imagery just like they do on FalconView. Top that!

The SIMEG has been under development for about four years and in use by specialized forces. I say development, because as I stated earlier, DFT is constantly updating software to support new requirements and emerging digital geospatial products. DFT is also looking at ways to improve the form and fit of the capability but I’ll leave it up to them to tell you more.

In addition to the SIMEG, DFT has a range of ISR technologies aimed at the small unit.

For more information contact Digital Force Technologies

Tags: DFT, Digital Force Technologies, GPS, NGA, SIMEG
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TAD Gear – Mission Capable, Wilderness Smart, Urban Readyâ€¦.

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

One of the goals of Soldier Systems Blog is to introduce cutting edge products and services to our audience. Triple Aught Designs stands as the perfect example. If you had to pick one word to describe TAD, it would be “tacticool”.

From somewhat humble beginnings, they have carved out a market niche offering high end tacti-gadgets from a variety of the world’s best suppliers and have further expanded their offerings with their own signature brands to cover market voids. One example is tactical clothing. Their designs blend the best designs and construction techniques of the commercial outdoor clothing market with innovative tactical features. Their success is finesse. They have developed a subtle yet effective color palette and incorporated features, that are at once both effective and subtle. With the exception of the products offered in Multicam, nothing screams “gun”. I have been using TAD products for several years now and have watched their textiles evolve into one of the finest tactical clothing lines available. In fact, it would be hard to believe but TAD has been producing specialized clothing for the past seven years except that they apply every lessoned learned in each new generation of products. What’s more, they have gone from small production runs that sold out as pre-orders, to large production runs that well out within days of release. At one time you could say they had a cult following, but not anymore. While they maintain a devoted customer base on the the Usual Suspects Network forum, their clothing is being used by armed and other service professionals the world over. If anyone doubts their market penetration, you can easily gauge their success by the amount copies you can find on the web.

Not content with just taking the tactical clothing market by storm, they have recently begun to launch a family of specialized nylon load carrying solutions. They aren’t reinventing the wheel here. Every design they offer fills a vacuum in the market. A classic example is the PSP pouch they made up as a “tacticool” accessory. They had initially only planned on making 100 but once it was featured in the Army Times newspaper, demand was so great that they streamlined the design and put it back into production, at a lower price point. This product in particular has drown the interest of competitors. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then TAD is very well liked indeed.

I recently acquired both the Combat Anorak and Bug Out Anorak. I love the design and appreciate the different materials. The pic below is of me conducting testing of an armor panel. The day was rainy and I was wearing the Big Out Anorak.

Check the entire line of TAD products at Triple Aught Designs

As TAD releases new products we will endeavor to keep up with them here.

Tags: Multicam, Tacticool, TAD
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