Darley Defense hosted “Darley Defense Day” near Ft. Polk on Tuesday. Darley is probably best known for the firefighting equipment but has recently gotten involved in special operations and tactical equipment, in a BIG way. Initially to be held on Ft Polk itself, Darley got word literally 24 hours before the show was to open that having it on base was a no-go. A garrison marplot apparently got involved for reasons that may have been righteous, were possibly spurious, or most likely stoopid, but who are we to judge? The end result saw the show moved literally at the last minute to a hotel in the nearby metropolis of Leesville.

Now, we personally think Leesville is on par with Mos Eisley, but the show itself was great. This was largely due to the Herculean efforts of Todd Kasper (SFC, retired), local Darley coordinator and event POC. If you’ve never met him, Todd’s a hard-working SOB with a great sense of humor, unmatched energy and excellent taste in hair gel. (Great guy; should never be prescribed personality-enhancing medication.)

There were a number of luminaries from the tactical industry there, including representatives from Tactical Tailor (we’ll be telling you about an outstanding new pouch they’re putting out; it’ll make you smack your forehead and wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself), Eye Safety Systems Inc. (more commonly known as ESS, and wait until you wear the new temples for the Crossbow glasses, they’re awesome), Peak Beam Systems, Beamshot, Duostock Designs, Going Loud Tactical Outfitters, Ontario Knife Company, Rocky Boots, Wellco Boots, The Mako Group…you get the idea. There were actually a couple there we didn’t initially know anything about, like for instance Wild Things Tactical. How we’ve managed to spend years in this line of work without hearing of them we haven’t figured out but rest assured we’ve since been educated. (They provide inclement weather gear to snake-eaters from every branch and many Federal agencies, and provide every Marine’s ‘happy suit’.) WT Tactical had a couple of really sweet new pieces, which we’ll go over soon.

We met many Soldiers from a variety of outfits, including 10TH Mountain and the 509’s Geronimos. We remember one mean looking Sergeant Major in particular, giving all the gear a very critical eye; pretty sure he was with the OPFOR unit, but not sure. He had a shaved head, rasping voice and looked like all the spare flesh and sense of humor on had long since been boiled away, leaving just gristle, dick and backbone behind.

We didn’t talk to him.

Although there weren’t vast numbers of Soldiers milling about, this Darley Defense Day seemed to be a great success. We had the chance to sit down for a few minutes with T.J. Gilroy over lunch (good chow, by the way) about their goals for the show and others liked it. Foremost among those goals was the desire to not only make themselves known as the newest part of the TLS Program (formerly “Prime Vendor”) and to educate soldiers about options in available and authorized kit that’s out there.

There was more to it…we’ll explain more as we go. Please check back periodically to read up on some of the wicked cool new kit we saw while we were there.

If you have any ideas for us to review or discuss, drop us a line at Breach-Bang-Clear or FaceBook.com/MadDuo; unless you’re going to complain about our opinions, writing style or philosophy (or you’re a sissy) in which case don’t bother. We’ve got upcoming articles on a half a dozen really cool new pieces of kit and a picture of when we were coined by GW of Tactical Tailor, so it would behoove you to PAY ATTENTION.

MAD DUO OUT!

Tags: Breach Bang Clear, Mad Duo

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