Cadex Defence has maintained a pretty low profile over the years. While they might be short on publicity they are long on credibility. Take a gander at their products page. It’s no wonder that so many turn to them to solve special problems. Rumor has it that they participated in working some of the manufacturing kinks out of the ACR although no one will verify this.
It was great to see Kifaru Tactical exhibiting at SHOT Show. In addition to their currently offered products, Kifaru was quite bold about showing off their prototype Outside The Wire bag. Mel had told me about the concept over the phone a few months ago and I immediately thought of an old school doctor’s bag. Sure enough, when I saw it in person visions of Doc Adams from TV’s “Gunsmoke” immediately came to mind.
The advantages are obvious. It’s dimensions are perfect and a lot of work went into getting them right. It will also stand on its own without fall over whether empty or full. Additionally, the stiffened flaps open and close with ease and features dual, stowable handles. Finally, it is large enough so that you can see into it to find what you are looking for.
Natick dropped a pre-solicitation for a new Low Viz Body Armor carrier on the street on the 15th of January while all of us were concentrating on SHOT Show. The actual solicitation which is supposed to hit the street by the end of the month is worth, “The minimum contract value will be $57,000 with a maximum value of $22,800,000.00.” SOCOM is seeking a Commercial Off The Shelf carrier and vendors will have 30 days to submit to include, “Complete proposals shall contain offerors technical, manufacturability, past performance, price and warranties to include Production Demonstration Systems (PDSs) packages. Initial Submissions will require 3 complete PDSs for each size and version of the SPEAR BALCS LVBAV.” This is for carriers only and not armor.
This requirement has been fulfilled for many years by the PACA carrier. However, it was only compatible with BALCS cut armor and plates used in the CIRAS and RBAV. This procurement demands a carrier that is compatible with both the RBAV and MBAV armor.
Finally, this is a set aside for small business. With so many companies being gobbled up by big business I wonder who is left to support this solicitation. Read about it here.
Bates did a great job of encapsulating the SHOT Show experience into one minute, minus the arrests and sore feet. Thanks guys!
Surefire noticed that customers were beginning to use their pistol lights in ways many hadn’t thought of before such as in place of the scout light on their carbine so they looked for a way to introduce more functionality in a similar foot print. The result is the new RAID series of lights. There are three versions of the RAID M720 coming including a white light only variant, high intensity white light, and the white light/IR combo. An added bonus is that Surefire has introduced a strobe function to this series of lights.
As for the M720V (IR), they took the Vampire technology released last year and applied it to their weapon light but with a difference. A simple twist of the bezel located behind the head switches from white to IR to disable. Integrating both white and IR lights into the same package, the new M720V packs a lot of power into a compact package. There are three IR settings (Low, Med, High) and four white light functions (Flashlight, Med, High, and Strobe). The RAID can be dismounted from the weapon and used as a flashlight or the same function can be used as a navigation light.
Notice that the battery compartment is at an angle. This is so that you can swap the two CR123 batteries without removing the light from the weapon. In addition to the light’s integral switches, there is also an optional tape switch.
Out of everything I saw at the show, this is the one thing that everyone with a weapon can use. The M720V is available in March from Surefire with other models to follow throughout the year.
For those of you that missed SHOT, here is the Crye Precision catalog in all its glory.
Please do not contact Crye over and over asking when these products will be available. The more you harass them, the more you gum up the works. They are all expected to hit the market at various points over the course of this year. Special thanks to Ash from MightyTactical.com for getting this together.
Late last year we wrote an article about the new 7.62 NATO L129A1. During a visit to the Lewis Machine & Tool booth at SHOT Show I was able to examine a production example of the new L129A1 recently adopted by the UK Army for their small unit designated marksmen. This photo was recently published by Strike Hold!.
The large Trijicon sight is designed to offer a wide field of view and gather lots of ambient light and features a mini red dot back up as well as a simple reticle pattern. Pictured is a folding fore-grip from Cadex Defence (pictured is the old style) but was not on the rifle displayed in the LMT booth at SHOT Show. The weapon also features KAC BUIS, Magpul PRS stock, and Harris bipod.
