As a thanks to their customers GCS is giving away two FREE CamelBak® Linchpinsâ„¢ in Multicam. This giveaway is simple……Like GCSWarrior on Facebook and sign up for their monthly newsletter at GCSWARRIOR.com. GCS will give out a Linchpinâ„¢ on New Year’s Eve and the 2nd one two weeks later.
Full details here.
We ran across this the other day and we have to say up front that if this stuff is real, then why is the US Army getting ready to invest millions of dollars in the Family of Camouflage Patterns program?
According to a recent release by Hyperstealth, CEO Guy Cramer presented the new wonder fabric at the Brussels International Camouflage Symposium held in October. His presentation was entitled “Fractals in Camouflage and the Future of Adaptive Materials for Mobile Concealment” and included a video glimpse of SMARTCAMOâ„¢ technology. Unfortunately, according to Hyperstealth, the “US Military” has requested that he not reveal the video to the public.
Oddly enough, Hyperstealth CEO Guy Cramer was at the Army’s Camo Improvement Industry Day and not a peep was uttered about this. Granted, the Army was pretty open about not looking for out of the ordinary solutions but something like this? That promises to blend into any background would make our troops all but invisible? Why bother at all with developing camo patterns that are really just compromises?
So, if this is real, let’s see it. I don’t know if you can put a price on true adaptive camouflage, particularly for the individual Soldier, but if SMARTCAMOâ„¢’s works, let’s adopt it.
I’ll admit, I’m skeptical. If something sounds to good to be true, it generally is but if this is what they say it is, it’s a huge leap ahead for anyone who adopts the technology. Read the whole press release here and decide for yourself.
When Black Ops first came out, there was a glaring problem with the sound mixing in the game: your own footsteps were highly audible while you couldn’t hear any other player’s movement. However, recent patching has virtually fixed this problem (Ninja Pro helps) and the practice of ‘soundwhoring’, or using a headset to locate your enemies based on the noise they make, is once again possible. There are many models of headsets up to the task, but in particular, I’m reviewing the Tritton – Call of Duty: Black Ops Dolby Digital True 5.1 Gaming Headset for Xbox and PS3.
The headset is decked out in Black Ops emblems and has interchangeable leather or terrycloth ear pads. A Dolby Digital decoder box converts the standard in-game sound into surround sound. All cabling is braided and all connectors are gold plated and are of a high quality. An in-line control allows you to adjust either in-game or chat volume and you can independently mute either. You can also attach a flexible microphone to the headset to allow for in-game communication and chat. The whole thing requires its own power supply via an AC adapter and along with the relatively short cable, you’ll most likely have to be close to your television. This, along with the multitude of required cables, made installation a bit of a pain in the ass, but it’s not a huge problem. The whole set can be stored in a hard carrying case, also decked out with Black Ops graphics. Still, components mean squat if the headset doesn’t perform well.
I am happy to say that the headset does run as good as it looks, but to be honest I found it to be a little disorienting at first. The size and weight of the headset coupled with having surround sound right next to my ear caused me to take them off more than once. However, this quickly passed and now I find it somewhat difficult to play online without them. There’s plenty of satisfaction in hearing that one guy (or guys, as is common) running Ghost with a suppressed weapon, stomping after you just for you to hear them coming and headshot them. They also work great with other games, and not having to rely on your television’s sound system for in-game audio is a nice bonus if being quiet while you game is preferred.
Only one question remains: To buy or not to buy? It’s a really good, solidly built headset, but at $250 this honestly boils down to a fanboy product. For a similar headset at a cheaper price, go for the Tritton AX Pro. It’s almost the same headset without the Black Ops graphics, and as a result, you save about $100. If you like the CoD license but still want to save some cash, there’s also the Black Ops Dolby Digital Surround Sound Gaming Headset. It’s virtual 5.1 instead of true 5.1, not too much of a difference honestly. It’s also $50 cheaper.
-Tactical Fanboy
The winning name is SPARTAN and the generous folks at Mystery ranch are going to award packs to the three contestants who suggested the name.
PF, ML, and PG need to contact us here at SSD to arrange for your prizes. Thank you to all who entered! For those of you who want a Spartan of your own you are going to have to wait 4-6 months for full production to be ramped up.
Unit and agency orders can be handled by ADS.
Watershed, makers of the finest submersible waterproof bags we have seen, has introduced an iPad cover. It is designed so that you can actually use your Ipad while still in the bag. They showed us a prototype at one of the early Fall trade shows and it is pretty cool. We held off writing about it because they aren’t on the website yet, but they can take your order over the phone (1-800-811-8601). Retail cost is $96.95.
Remember that the entire Watershed line is available from ADS.
Papercut, a fashion magazine has a great article on Natick’s Design, Pattern, and Prototype Team. Check it out here. Be patient, the interface with the article can be a little finicky.
Koevoet (crowbar) was a police counter insurgency unit located in South-West Africa during the 70’s and 80’s who were deployed against SWAPO fighters seeking Nambian independence from South Africa.
Thanks to Feral Jundi
Just a quick reminder that BC2: Vietnam is coming out on Tuesday, December 21st for consoles and was already available for PC via the EA Store on the 18th. It costs $14.99 or 1200 microsoft points.
-Tactical Fanboy
