How about we try something new? Since we don’t have a forum and many of you don’t use FaceBook how about we have an open swim?
You guys can pick any subject you want and discuss it so long as it pertains to Soldier Systems or Tactical Systems.
Feel free to say if you like something or hate it. Government, Civilian, your choice.
Well come on, don’t be shy. You really kicked me in the bullocks over 5.11 and Condor. This is a chance to talk YOUR topics.
I dont typically reply to stuff but this made me chuckle. I look forward to your RSS feeds. Screw that social networking stuff.
Keep up the good work
Drew
How about you post things/ topics/ events of consequence that make the warfighters life easier/ more comfortable/ increase lethality.
It seems much of the topics been posted on SSD lately has been topics related to what the Airsoft crowd wants to hear.
“What weapon did the SEALs use to kill OBL?” Who cares – he’s dead/ Lets talk about the implications and who we should focus on as Enemy #1 — I’ll throw out a name — Siraj Haqqani. (He’s got some regional importance. maybe not so much international)
“Condor offering ATACs!!!” Really? #1 there is no operational professional I know who would use that cheap garbage. #2 it’s ATACs – while there maybe a great PSYOP campaign to tout ATACS as the next greatest camo, the likelihood of it ever being operational on a significant scale is laughable.
“TAD gear is the greatest thing since sliced bread!!!” Really? its another tool in the kit bag that operators who have the latitude to choose personal kit can pick from. along with any number of other outdoor retailers including Mountain Hardware, Petzl, Black Diamond, etc etc etc.
I’ve been familier with your work since the days of the Gear Guru site. I’m disappointed with the tone, topics and focus SSD has taken. Especially as of late.
Step it up.
Ummm… maybe the example of the G36 as the weapon with less accesories and degree of customization in the modern era? How about not being able to use a continuous flat rail on the top and the most useless folding stock of any current family of rifles? Some guys in Spain are working in a series of accesories for solving these things, but with +300K G36 users I think it will be interesting for the US weapons companies (Troy, VLTOR, Magpul,…) to make something for the platform.
I see alot about packs (Assault Pack’s good enough for me), knives (how many do you need? Honestly!) and nothing about tools.
I’m in Patriot, a 14E by trade. What tools are out there? Multi-tools. GMTK. Etc.
I wanna see tool kits that fit in an assault pack. REAL tool kits, not warmed over gerbers and cheap mini-me tools.
I make a living selling and leading other salesmen who only promote 100% USA made KIT. There maybe a River Hippi playing Frisbee golf wearing our gear somewhere, but bet your ass I didn’t sell it to him. I disagree with not allowing visibility of non USA gear on SSD. USA manufactures do not always have the latest ideas, and do not always have any less of a desire to keep a warrior safe. Spyderco has a NSN on a Japanese made knife. There were 8 USA factories building NSN knives but they still got a NSN. The reason Drago and Condor are growing is there is a market share there. Eagle got bought they didn’t buy Blackhawk.
How many military watches are made in the USA? What’s better Japanese movement or Swiss movement? Neither of those are USA movement. As a career enlisted Soldier, I know full well what it’s like to KIT out on $610.00 a month.
I will close with boots, how many Military members are wearing boots that are Berry? In the Army the most important portion of a Soldiers gear, IAW AR 670-1, does not have to be USA made. Soldiers must posess the NSN Issue boots, however the wearing of CHINA boots that are within the rand, upper, height and color is not only authorized, but prevalent.
I say, buy USA, patronize stores and companies that are warrior friendly, but look at other KIT, hell knock them off for a change and build it better.
COTS…just COTS…
Commercial “off the shelf” may save money but to us in green it means:
A) breaks, not GI proof
B) no TM, no NSN
C) Contractors are the only ones who know how to fit it
D) did I mention it breaks…a lot!
I agree that some COTS items don’t cut the mustard but many do. Have you ever heard the term “M-COTS”? The M is for modified. It’s where someone identifies a promising COTS technology and works with the company to change it slightly for military use. Perhaps a material is changed or a color. Or its dimensions are altered.
Can you name any COTS products that should be avoided at all costs? If so, why?
Haha. Well, you have opened the flood gates to that very small, yet very loud vocal minority on the internet. Chances are, the majority of those who read SSD, don’t mind what is posted here every day. I know I don’t. You could compare the number of page vies you get, to the number of comments each article gets.
But there sure will be those, who will always tell you that they know better and that you are doing it wrong. I mean, seriously the hate over some brands, items, subjects and news is perhaps passionate, but not always justified. And trying to argue the whole “Made in America” gear over other kind of gear is as pointless as fighting globalization. I mean, I have a $260 TAD pack, that says “Made in the USA”, but the materials were made in China. Doesn’t mean I like it any less. But you can see how complicated that subject can get.
I don’t know, I guess I also feel like voicing my opinion, because I feel that the comments posted are always negative. But all this arm-chair warriors will always jump to the opportunity to give you a piece of their mind if you give them a chance to respond, so you choose how to react to it all.
Honestly I’ve sold a LOT of Condor gear to SWAT, Marine Corps, Army, and other professionals, it’s been used in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and I’ve had a lot of good reports on it.
The guys I talk to realize that anything can wear out, but the Condor stuff holds up really well, costs a lot less, and does the job they need it to do. One customer of mine tore out 3 Eagle plate carriers, bought a Condor one, wore it overseas, and won’t wear another brand again.
SWAT guys I know laugh at people who insist that the ‘only’ thing you can wear is Blackhawk, Eagle, TT, or whoever. There are a lot of choices, and it depends on how much YOU need and how much you want to spend.
Like them or not but the Airsofter is consumer in the Mil/LE market. These “tactical-aspirationalists” are part of a vastly growing global action sport movement. While they aren’t true “operators” or contractors they are a buying power that many of the SSD sponsors rely on for maintaining profit margins. If an SSD article doesn’t apply to you, move on to the next one.
@ meredisign…..“tactical-aspirationalists ..you don’t mind if I use that for now on? I have been calling these folks many names for a while now…but that seems to fit in our politically correct world. I don’t want to hurt anyones feels anymore with the other names I called the older folks in their hobby. They sure do have a huge stake in the profit margin of tactical gear sales…Also, I don’t see a problem with Condor or 5.11?? I use a ton of 5.11 for my line of work. Its works for me, and I don’t care if its not cool in the tactical community or in Magpul videos, or DVM readers….Made in USA, China, or where ever…its still making money for US sellers, so its keeping people in America working.
I appreciate the fact that every so often you post something about an individual or company that is going way outside of accepted “norms” to produce something innovative and useful for those in harm’s way. Keep giving those guys some webtime, they’re the ones that’ll make the next (insert your favorite something here).
When you guys quote something, put the period and/or comma inside the quotation marks.
Correct: “The Dallas Cowboys are gay.”
Incorrect: “The Dallas Cowboys are gay”.
You guys always screw that up and it drives me nuts.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who checks out SSD more than once a day. Something that I haven’t seen enough of is gear being tested, and tested HARD. Gear Scout touched on it with their water bladder ringer, and I’d like to see something similar to that, albeit in a more objective, reliable and valid manner.
What about your forum sub section on M4carbine.net? I read your threads often.
Power. comms, nav, info management. I don’t see as much stuff about that element as I’d like. In reply to someone else’s COTS comment: much of the innovation in power, comms and nav are going on in the COTS world. The trick there is moving it to M-COTS to survive a deployment in a Marine’s hands (whats the old saying, a Marine in a padded cell with a brick and steel bar and he’ll break one, lose the other?)
When in doubt assault! Keep moving forward with the diversity Eric; alot of people from varied backgrounds/jobs read you daily. There is not enough time in the day to write an article that covers every subject to cater to every individual everyday, but I think your doing a good job of balancing it out.
Buy US!
We don’t test stuff because I used to that for DoD and to be blunt, NOBODY tests stuff right on the Internet. I don’t have the time or resources to do it right. Only one person comes close and that is Military Morons.
We will look at some items in depth but we can’t allocate a lot of time to it.
One thing I have noticed since you opened comments is a tendency to be a bit defensive of any criticism of a product you have profiled. Not everything you post about will have universal appeal. Not every piece of gear or equipment you post about is tactically awesome.
I think you do a great job keeping us informed about industry developments, and you fill a niche beyond a tactical gear evaluation site like MM. That being said, unless you are emotionally invested in every piece of equipment you post about, don’t get butt hurt when you get ripped on by end of the spear guys for posting about Condor. Other than that, keep up the good work.
I’m one of those guys that hits your site several times a day and I recommend SSD to anyone that might be intrested. Keep up the good work.
Oh, and I like 5.11 clothing. Don’t care for Condor but I understand the reason you posted it and kind of enjoyed the little S-storm that exploded around that post. Keeps things interesting.
I don’t think he got “butthurt” over condor getting ripped on. He came in and defended himself when he was getting ripped on for posting it. This site says at the top “Soldier Systems: An Industry Daily”. Condor is in the industry, thus it is INDUSTRY news and worthy of posting on this site. If all you want is gear, go to military morons, that’s what he does. I see soldier systems as a central location to hear about interesting things going on within the industry as a whole. You can’t tack down SSD as being about anything other than the Military/LE/Tactical industry.
Specifically relating to the condor post, ATACs has gotten a lot of air time on various gear blogs and magazines. Whether you like them or not, the fact that Condor throws their hat in with companies like TAG and Tactical Tailor as a producer offering gear in ATACS is newsworthy. I don’t like what condor does, and I don’t buy their products, but they fill a niche in the market, and they make money doing it.
To the point about posting “what gun killed bin laden”, I seem to remember every gear blog I read having at least one post on that subject. From an industry standpoint, like it or not, those kinds of facts drive sales for companies. There was rumor floating around that the Sig 226 delivered the killshot, and some dealers reported spikes in sales for the 226. As petty as that sounds, that’s how people work.
Instead of telling the admin to get his act back on course, maybe as readers people should step back and re-acquaint themselves with what the purpose of this site is. I personally liked it better when comments were closed.
I have always been a believer in having a blog in which blogger posted what the blogger liked. I don’t come to this blog to be told things that I already know, I come to this blog to learn things, some of those things that are posted don’t pertain to me, but I am hardly up in arms about it.
Advice: if it doesn’t pertain to you, scroll until it does. This is not the place to debate the existence of a company and its’ work, it is a place to report the news.
It seems that in this world today, the world of news and the world of conflict have become so intertwined that people assume that when the news is reported, it is their job as a reader to then report on the reporting of the news, so on and so forth. It isnt.
Lets be perfectly clear about this blog, the administration puts a ton of work into it, it shows, and if you want to catch an attitude about what is posted, then click the little x in the top right hand corner.
On a lighter note, anybody up for a condor gear glam photoshoot?
Perhaps, it’s time to look past all the interest in, “The Newest Gear,” and look into posting, what might be more meaningfull, to the “War Fighter”.
Training, that prepares a warrior, before, during, and after the trigger is pressed…
Almost all training available to a soldier, weather military, or private, has to do with pressing the trigger… Rarely does training stress all that is necessary to prevail, before the first shot is taken… How to evalute the enemy, his position, and his capabilities, and work to a position of advantage to exploit them… Without developing an urealistic dependance on, personal gear, Air Assets, or Artillary…
Seems like the Military falls back into the same bullshit strategy that failed frequently in Viet Nam… ” Drive into the enemy’s back yard, and hope to catch him by surprise…” Then hope even harder that he will be stupid enough to stand against your superior assets and take an ass kickin…”
Your all chasng your tails, when it comes to equipment… The enemy is using 30 year old munitions, zero air assets, and ancient uniforms, yet their strategy has often kicked butt, because we play their game…
One bad example: I have a buddy in THAAD. They have new shelters for the Fire Control section. Lots of Fiber Optic, CAT-5e and commo connectors.
Someone forgot to tell the engineer’s (who were all civilians) that we wear flack vests. In one minute a soldier walking in to brief the LT on duty sheared off connectors that took hours to re-install. And no, it was not his fault, in the old Patriot ECS, he’d fit no problem.
the DRASH generator is another bad example. An Isuzu motor not in the supply systems. Can’t get parts except from DHS. The tents have no NSN and fold only one way until sand gets in them. Then they just break.
Vendors, hire ex-military and test your gear. Drop it off a 5-ton. Drag in through the mud. Have it assembled with out the instructions/TM. Otherwise don’t bother. The comment about the Marine, the cell, the brick and metal bar is right on. GI proofing is a must.
“Since we don’t have a forum and”
Soldiers Systems does have a forum at M4carbine.net… just saying 🙂
One suggestion I have is if a new product is not available for purchase, make note of it in your blog. For instance, your recent update on the Phokus Aid was interesting, yet if you go to their website there is no mention of it even being available.
Ok I got a good question does anybody happen to know when the Mystery Ranch Spartan is finally going to come out?
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