The Thyrm Cell Vault is now available in Rescue Orange, featuring the same slim-line, attachable battery and gear storage as the other military/LEO colored models. Consider it for SAR and maritime use as well as survival applications since it will not only hold your CR-123A batteries, but other items as well. Additionally, the Orange really stands out on dark internal MOLLE/PALS panels.
Grinnell, Iowa (February 16, 2016) – NRA First Vice President and CEO of Brownells, Pete Brownell, announced today that he will seek a third term on the NRA’s Board of Directors. If re-elected, Brownell will likely become NRA President at the 2017 NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Atlanta, Georgia.
An NRA Life Member since birth, Brownell, 47, boasts proven NRA leadership experience and is a widely-recognized visionary in the firearm and outdoor industry. Brownell’s service to the NRA began in 2006 when he was nominated to serve on the NRA Membership Committee. Following his election to the board in 2010, Brownell began serving on numerous other committees, including:
President’s Committee on Advancement
Nominating Committee
Sport Shooting Committee
Finance Committee
Law Enforcement Committee
Meeting Site Selection Committee
Publications Policy Committee
Task Force on Industry Relations Committee
Investment Oversight Committee
Proving himself as an ardent defender of the Second Amendment and a powerful voice for the NRA, Brownell was elected the NRA Second Vice President in April 2013. Two years later in 2015, he was elected NRA First Vice President, an office he holds today.
“It’s a distinct honor and privilege to serve the five million members of the National Rifle Association of America,” said Brownell. “I’ve been an NRA member my entire life, literally from day one. I grew up with a passion for firearms and a deep desire to maintain and strengthen our Second Amendment.”
“Defending the Second Amendment rights of good, honest and responsible gun owners is synonymous with protecting the core values that make America great,” added Brownell. “These are the same values our founding fathers envisioned, the same values my grandfather and father fought to protect in the military, and the same values the NRA seeks to safeguard through unwavering support of an individual’s right to own and use firearms.”
“It is my promise to defend these rights to own and use firearms and advance the values of individualism and personal responsibility. I ask for your vote of support.”
Brownell is proud to have received support from prominent members of the firearm community, including host of “Tom Gresham’s Gun Talk Radio,” Tom Gresham.
“It’s a privilege to endorse Pete Brownell for the NRA board,” said Gresham. “Pete brings to the board a lifetime of experience in firearms and business, and his perspective is something we need to help guide the organization in the coming years.”
Brownell has also earned the endorsement of the Iowa Firearms Coalition (IFC), the leading pro-Second Amendment organization in his home state.
“I have enjoyed the unique position of witnessing first hand Pete Brownell’s tireless efforts, and the tremendous energy he expends, defending and advancing the Second Amendment rights of the good citizens of both Iowa and this country,” said Barry Snell, President of the IFC. “Pete’s work in the firearms community has been stellar, and there’s simply no question at all that Pete Brownell needs to be on the NRA board.”
To learn more about Pete Brownell, to get in touch with him or to read more endorsements, visit www.petebrownell.com.
Yes, I realize the name looks backward, but it’s not. SOG Knives and Tools takes its name from the famed Military Assistance Command Viet Nam Studies and Observations Group. The new MacV tool also takes its name from the parent command.
Integrating 12 tools, the MacV is made from 3Cr13 stainless steel with a hard cased black coating. It is also TSA compliant.
In a story on the Army.mil website, Picatinny Arsenal Public Affairs specialist Cassandra Mainiero discusses work on durable solid lubricant or DSL, which is a dry surface treatment applied during manufacturing. The motivation here is to make weapon maintenance simpler for Soldiers. Currently, they plan to transition the technology to PM Soldier Weapons by 2017.
(US Army photo by Erin Usawicz)
PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — Although weapon maintenance may seem tedious to the unencumbered civilian, Picatinny Arsenal engineers know a clean weapon could save the warfighter’s life.
That’s why they are developing an advanced surface treatment for armament components that not only mitigates weapon maintenance but also provides increased reliability and durability.
Currently, when cleaning a weapon, warfighters use a conventional wet lubricant known as CLP (cleaner, lubricant, and preservative) that is continuously reapplied.
CLEANING METHODS ARE CRITICAL
As early as 2003, the Army was experiencing problems with weapon stoppages in sand and dust environments if proper lubrication procedures and cleaning methods were not followed.
Army engineers recognized the importance of weapon maintenance in these extreme environments.
Thus, they set out to identify a materiel solution, which resulted in a Durable Solid Lubricant.
“The new technology eliminates CLP and uses a dry surface treatment known as durable solid lubricant, or DSL, that is applied during armament component manufacturing,” said Adam Foltz, an experimental engineer at the U.S. Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, or ARDEC.
“So far the DSL has been applied to small and medium caliber weapons, such as rifles, like the M4A1 Carbine, and machine guns like the M240 to demonstrate the technology capability,” Foltz continued.
As a result of using the durable solid lubricant, weapons function properly, require less maintenance, and the war-fighter has more peace of mind regarding possible weapon malfunctions.
Foltz is part of a team of ARDEC engineers who set out to perform a rigorous program of material screening experiments for an improved lubricant. The team was established with a cross-functional team of subject matter experts.
Aside from Foltz, who is with the Individual Weapons Branch, other team members are Christopher Mulligan, research engineer (specializing in surface technologies) from Benét Laboratories, and Doug Witkowski, a project officer at the Weapon Software and Engineering Center.
The team was challenged by its sponsor, the Joint Service Small Arms Program, to mature and transition the DSL technology to Project Manager Soldier Weapons by FY17.
“The Soldier knew that something had to be done,” said Witkowski.
“These extreme environments necessitated rigid adherence to weapon maintenance schedules and had a tendency to degrade weapon performance if scheduled maintenance lapsed.
“The Soldier knew that if this problem continued that operational availability would be compromised and that the warfighter’s mission readiness would be impacted.”
Witkowski added that the warfighter was experiencing similar problems with machine guns. “Army engineers understood the importance of maximizing weapon reliability and reducing the sensitivity of system performance in adverse environments,” Witkowski said.
The program, a science and technology funded project, began as a response to the U.S. military’s Global War on Terrorism campaign to counter terrorist attacks on the United States.
Yet, Picatinny was not the first group to experiment with developing new surface treatments. A number of commercial and congressional programs also attempted to improve surface treatments for armaments over the past 15 years but were unsuccessful in finding a materiel solution.
The challenge of a development effort like this is finding a solution that can do all the things that CLP does, and do them better, said Foltz.
MULTIPLE BENEFITS
The DSL solution achieves three ideal outputs: a lower friction coefficient, better wear resistance, and improved corrosion protection. “Friction coefficient” describes how a weapon slides; a low coefficient means the weapon slides easily, a high coefficient suggests sliding resistance.
“With typical wet lubricants, Soldiers need to reapply in order for the weapon system to function properly. Soldiers also have to regularly clean off carbon residue that builds up from firing and it can be tough to clean,” explained Foltz.
“Our DSL has a high wear resistance and a low friction coefficient, so it’s easy to clean off anything that builds up. You can use a steel brush to knock off any residue, and you don’t even have to worry about reapplying anything.”
Additionally, the current industry standards for preventing corrosion on armament components involves treating steel parts with phosphate and oil while aluminum parts are anodized (coated with an oxide layer.)
DSL uses a benign material that eliminates the need for a phosphate/oil coating process, making it an environmentally friendly solution.
DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
To accomplish these goals, the team broke the project into three testing stages, progressing from lab scale experiments to live fire testing in order to rapidly and effectively evaluate solutions.
The first stage involved tribiological testing of 27 different coating combinations in a rapid “ball-on-three-disk” test. During this test, a ball–coated with the different candidate coatings– is brought into rotating, sliding contact at a specified load against three pads, which are also coated with the various candidate coatings.
Then, the friction coefficient is recorded and wear on the pads is measured. The samples were tested in various environments including with and without sand, as well as at ambient and elevated temperatures (up to 480 ?F) to evaluate overall stability.
In stage two, the 27 combinations were down-selected to six material combinations and placed in the team’s slide-rail simulator.
The team created the slide-rail simulator to glean a more accurate representation of the unique geometry, motion, and contact stresses typical in the gun.
The simulator included two pieces of metal (denoted a slide and a rail) coated with the materials of interest that slide against each other in a manner meant to simulate specific weapon actions.
In stage three, the team down-selected to four different promising material combinations and did a small-scale live fire test at the Armament Technology Facility. Testing included ambient endurance firing, hot and cold, sand/dust, and salt/fog.
In the ambient environment, the project team shot 15,000 rounds per weapon. The baseline weapons with the CLP showed wear and complete loss of the phosphate on approximately 75 percent of the bolt carrier sliding surfaces and 90 percent of the bolt.
Meanwhile, the DSL material showed less than 5 percent wear on both the bolt carrier and bolt.
In every instance, the DSL material showed either an improved or an equivalent performance to the CLP baseline. Results demonstrated increased wear resistance, increased reliability, and improved maintainability.
Although this project is ongoing, the payoff for the warfighter continues to rise. According the team, the DSL material has potential application to numerous other armament systems, manufacturing machinery, and advanced oil-free turbomachinery.
For now, though, the next stage for the DSL project is a repeat of stage three, but on a larger scale.
If testing is successful, the project will be transitioned to Project Manager Soldier Weapons, which will eventually field it to its ultimate customer, the warfighter.
“I know that it [weapon maintenance] is not a glamorous topic and when you’re briefing, there are higher profile technologies being briefed,” said Witkowski. “But this is a high-tech innovation and they [the warfighters] will love it, when they get it.”
The TRACE Systems Authorized Trainer Course is a 5 day program that covers advanced use of TRACE Systems. Topics include professional and hasty rescue systems with 1 and 2 person loads, guiding lines, high lines with reeves, multi-pitch work climbing, glacier travel and crevasse rescue among other topics. The 5 days of training will bring a unit/agency’s instructor cadre to the Authorized TRACE Systems Trainer level for the agency, and Instructor level for the Instructors, authorizing them to teach basic and advanced use to their unit after completing the online pre-course/pre-use packages. This course is ideal for military units requiring complex terrain negotiation, law enforcement special tactics units and even civil Search and Rescue Team. TRACE Systems is not to replace traditional systems, but to fill a gap, provide a light weight alternative, without compromise of safety or capability, when traditional systems are weigh prohibitive.
Venue’s for the training can be urban, mountain or a mixture of both depending on the agency’s mission requirements. A typical course will start with a day of basics, getting into the details and the importance of specific progression in the training when running a course. Glacier travel and crevasse rescue can be taught on a tower or rock. A glacier is not a key component to learning the systems. Two days of rescue systems follow learning professional rescue with one and two rescuers. Included in those days is high lines that can be used with a reeve for rescue, or for bridging in complex terrain negotiation. The fourth day will get into the process of climbing with the system, setting up fixed lines and the always interesting discussion of self-rescue. The work week finishes off, depending on venue, with a multi-pitch climb. And all this done on the TRACE Systems 6mm rope.
High Angle Solutions is a weekly feature by DMM, CTOMS, and Atlas Devices.
For when things don’t quite go how you had expected.
I really like this ad.
Columbia, SC, February 15, 2016 – Panteao Productions is happy to announce the launch of the much anticipated Panteao Make Ready Channel on Apple TV. With Apple TV, Panteao now has the Trifecta of streaming platforms, bringing the Panteao videos directly to subscribers’ televisions on Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.
When Panteao first launched streaming content from the Panteao website in May 2011, the only option was to watch the Panteao videos directly from the Panteao website on a desktop or laptop computer. Technology has grown in leaps and bounds in the past five years and Panteao has continued to expand the platforms that subscribers can benefit from. First there were the Apple and Android mobile apps. They give subscribers the opportunity to watch our content on their phones and tablets anywhere they want. The launch of our Roku Channel in August 2015 bridged the gap between computers and mobile devices, introducing televisions. With the addition of Amazon Fire TV and now Apple TV, subscribers have many ways to enjoy our content.
Panteao offers a monthly subscription as well as a 3-month, 6-month, and a yearly subscription. Subscribers have access to over 30 instructors and all the video content Panteao offers as often as you want, whenever you want. More videos are added on a regular basis, expanding the amount of content subscribers have access to. Yearly subscribers (domestic customers only) also receive a free one year membership to the National Rifle Association and a choice of one of their magazines.
While training online does not replace actual trigger time on the range, it is an excellent supplement to a class. Instructional videos can prepare you for what an instructor is going to present as well as serve as a refresher of what you learned when it’s months later.
The unfortunate reality of training is the majority of firearms owners do not seek it out. Whether it’s because of a lack of ranges nearby, the cost of attending a class, or the inability to take time away from work or family. Some may even feel they simply don’t need it. Whatever the reason (or excuse) it doesn’t change the fact that firearm handling skills do not come by simply purchasing the firearm and reading about an instructor and his/her drills in your favorite gun magazine. If you are lucky enough to take a class, will you be able to afford another? What about that carbine class you want to take but the trip to Disney with the wife and kids is coming up? Or the braces little Johnnie needs? Every firearm owner should be seeking out formal training with a qualified instructor on the range, but most never will.
Then there is the seemingly endless flood of supposed firearms experts releasing videos on social media sites like YouTube and Facebook. Many are a walking liability waiting for an accident to happen. It’s hard to filter the nonsense from the true firearms instructors on the net. The vetting process doesn’t exist. Anyone with a video camera and a social media account can portray themselves as a firearms expert. With Panteao, you are presented with top instructors who have been vetted. Their backgrounds are legitimate and they are considered to be among the best in their circles.
With Panteao’s Make Ready with the Experts Series you have no excuse. Start learning proper firearms safety and gun handling skills from the best. Then go to the range for some trigger time. No excuses.
For more information on the Panteao streaming video subscriptions, visit: panteao.com/subscribe-now.
