FirstSpear TV

Archive for 2013

NAVY SEALS — DANGER CLOSE

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

Hans Halberstadt and I are longtime friends but I read his books long before I knew him. He began making photographs as a door gunner in Viet Nam, then made movies for a while, then wrote books about the military for thirty years and 67 titles. He has taken some of his extensive imagery collection and began to create videos. I think it’s a great way to showcase his work but also pay tribute to our forces. Since SSD is headquartered in a Navy SEAL town, what better fit than a video dedicated to them? What a great coincidence.

Over the years much of his coverage has been of SOF – Army SF, SEALs and SWCC, JTACs, and USMC Recon – and these will become videos of their own. Eventually, he plans to do additional videos on combat aviation, armor, EOD, infantry, and other topics.

Halberstadt’s company, Military Stock Photography, offers imagery that is in compliance with DoD directives for commercial use. It’s a great resource for industry.

militarystockphoto.photoshelter.com

Fall 2013 Line Now Available from Arc’teryx

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

20130725-135654.jpg

Arc’teryx has has released the commercial Fall 2013 lineup for sale on their site.

Go check it out.

arcteryx.com/ProductFind.aspx?language=EN&collection=New_for_Fall_2013

Marzitelli Custom Knives

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

20130724-142837.jpg

This is the Smilodon from Canadian knife maker Peter Marzitelli. Check out his full line.

www.marzknives.com

Thanks Hopper for the tip!

DGB Bags from Honor Point USA Now Available

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

20130724-224148.jpg

The initial run of the Dive Gym Beach Bag featuring Honor Point’s Zip Off Technology is now for sale. Mesh and 1000D in assorted colors.

www.HonorPointUSA.com

In Memoriam – Rumiko “Miko” Wheeley

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

Cancer recently took away a cherished member of the LBT family. Although most of us didn’t know her, we knew her work intimately. Even though we didn’t know her name, we admired her attention to detail. That woman was Rumiko Wheeley, a pattern maker at LBT. Known as Miko to her friends, she will be sorely missed by all.

Miko Wheeley joined the LBT family in 1992 (21 years ago) and throughout her career proved to be an invaluable asset/team member. Miko began as a team sewer and later transitioned to the fabric-cutting department, progressing up to pattern making and design. She later became the leader of the fabric cutting/pattern department. Early on Miko displayed a strong work ethic and attention to detail. Well liked and respected by all members of the LBT team, one of her strong points was her ability to train and share her knowledge/experience with others. Miko was a key element in our design and engineering department with an instinctive capacity for developing, reengineering, and updating products. She will be greatly missed as a team member as well as a person.

-Doug McDougal

In Case You Were Wondering Where I Was All Day

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

Thank you Grey Group Training and Daniel Defense.

Canipe Correspondence – Unloaded Guns

Thursday, July 25th, 2013

Lately, Canipe has been the busiest man in the business but he took a minute out of his schedule to share these words of wisdom.

Unloaded guns have two purposes…

– Keep a safe from floating away
– Paperweight

Canipe

RAAF Blue MultiCam Variant – The Rest Of The Story

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013

Remember this photo we posted of a blue variant of the Australian MultiCam Pattern developed for the Royal Australian Air Force? Apparently, it promoted a query to the Department of Defence.

20130626-194409.jpg

Questions:
1.) Are there any variants (colour variants or otherwise) of the AMP being tested, considered, or evaluated. In particular, is there a ‘blue’ RAAF version as seen here (https://soldiersystems.net/2013/06/27/an-raaf-variant-of-amp/)
2.) Are there publicly available results of the comparative camouflage testing in which AMP featured? If not, when are these expected to be made available.
3.) What is the timeframe for the rollout of AMP to various units (including an variants), and will CPCU uniforms also be replaced?

A Defence Spokesman responded to all of the questions with this statement:
RAAF and Army currently wear the same Disruptive Pattern Camouflage Uniform (DPCU). RAAF is currently considering alternative patterns and/or colours which would easily identify Air Force personnel from Army personnel. The new uniform would provide the same protection from the elements as DPCU.

The image you are referring to is a prototype only. It was developed to provide a visual comparison to DPCU. This prototype is not being further considered. Patterns and/or colour variants of the new uniform are currently under development, hence no further information on timeframes can be provided at this time.

While we’re happy to see that this isn’t something that the RAAF plans on fielding, we have to wonder what these other variants might look like.

Thanks to N for the heads up!