Sure, Crye Precision is a household name for kit aficionados, but briefing the Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C Dudley takes you to an entirely different level.
As you can see, camera shy Caleb Crye is brandishing an AirFrame helmet complete with rifle plate.
Earlier this year Lawrence Livermore National Lab issued a report on the issue helmet pad’s performance in mitigating impact injuries to the head commissioned by the Joint IED Defeat Organization (JIEDDO) and funded partially by the US Army. The main stream media made much of the researcher’s investigation of NFL helmet pads.
According to LLNL, “Five types of pad systems were studied-those currently and previously used by the Army, two used in NFL helmets, and one used in other protective sports equipment. The two Army systems consist of bilayer (hard-soft) foam pads within a water-resistant airtight wrapper or coating. One NFL system consists of a thin foam pad and a hollow air-filled cylinder that buckles under load, and the other is a bilayer foam pad surrounded by a covering with air-relief channels that connect to adjacent pads in the helmet. The fifth pad consists of uniform dense foam.”
Researchers Mike King’s and Willy Moss’s conclusion? None of the other pads out perform the current issue pad. In fact, NFL pads are not as soft as military pads, allowing larger forces to be transferred to the head.
Ultimately, the two scientists found that by increasing the thickness of current pads by just 1/8″ would significantly decrease the risk of Traumatic Brain Injury. While this answer sounds simple enough, it raises a serious issue. That extra 1/8″ of padding would require most everyone to go up one helmet size.
Unfortunately, the research was accomplished in support of ACH standards rather than against the energy levels associated with the new Enhanced Combat Helmet (.30) threat. Until this issue can be dealt with the ECH is ultimately just an expensive ACH. As lead service for the ECH program, the USMC has yet to unveil any plans at all on how to deal with the increased kinetic energy associated with the higher caliber threat.
Read the full report here:
Remember the old Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup commercials, “Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together”? Well, that’s exactly what has happened here. They’ve been working together for some time and finally decided to make it official.
Velocity Systems has acquired a minority share of Mayflower Research & Consulting, LLC. This acquisition will strengthen their ability to bring high-quality tactical gear to their extremely valued customers. Velocity Systems and Mayflower R&C have had a long-term friendship and a strong professional relationship which has led Velocity Systems to manufacture Mayflower products for the past several years and for them to collaboratively develop products together. The Velocity Systems patent pending SwiftClip® system, which is available on all Velocity and Mayflower vests, allows all of their auxiliary equipment to fit on all platforms, armor vests and plate carriers.
The synergy achieved by this acquisition will result in cutting edge highly-compatible products for the Warfighter. The compatibility and scalability of their products is second to none. Many of their valued customers are already utilizing this compatibility and their goal is to bring you much more of this in the near future. If you look at what they have already achieved together, just imagine what lay ahead. In fact, look for several new product releases from both Velocity Systems and Mayflower in the near future.
www.mayflower-rc.org www.velsyst.com
HP White Labs, world renown for ballistic testing excellent announced yesterday the opening of Cooper Main, a new Environmental Test Facility for personal and vehicular armor. The facility is named in honor of the company’s longest standing employee, Lois Cooper, who has been employed by HP White Laboratory for 53 years. Over her tenure, Cooper has held a variety of positions throughout the organization, ranging from ballistics technician to controller. Lois Cooper joined HP White Laboratory in 1958, following graduation from North Harford High School. During 53 years of service with HP White, Cooper has been a QC manager, ballistics technician, statistician, inventory manager, FSO, and most recently, company controller. Cooper will retire from HP White in the summer of 2011.
“Lois Cooper’s strength and longevity are hallmarks that underscore the H.P. White brand,†said Mike Parker, president, H.P. White Laboratory. “Over five decades Cooper demonstrated uncommon loyalty and adaptability to best serve customers’ needs and the lab’s.â€
The new laboratory houses four Environmental Conditioning Chambers capable of achieving temperature ranges from minus 75 degrees C to 150 degrees C, and humidity ranges from 10% to 98% for hard and soft armor samples up to 39.4â€x35.5â€x39.4â€. What’s more, the new facility provides a 575-square-foot sample storage room maintained at between 25-degrees C and 20%-50% humidity for compliant storage of samples awaiting testing.
With the addition of Cooper Main, HP White now provides vehicular and personal armor manufacturers with one-stop environmental conditioning and ballistics resistance testing required by multiple standards and regulations, including National Institute of Justice (NIJ), MIL STDs, UL 752, STANAG, military hard and soft body armor standards, and a host of other domestic and foreign protocols that require environmental conditioning. Manufacturers and suppliers can validate armor packages for research and development, certification, and acceptance testing. For hard and soft armor manufacturers whose armor must pass environmental conditioning requirements, Cooper Main represents significant cost and time efficiencies.
For more information visit www.hpwhite.com.
DuPont has announced the launch of the DuPont™ Kevlar® Innovation Awards, designed to foster innovation and collaboration in the development of protection technology. These Awards will recognize and showcase the ideas, methods, technologies, applications, products and services that are using Kevlar® in new ways. DuPont will make a $10,000 donation on behalf of each winner to a charity or science organization from a designated list. These Awards are open to all manufacturers of products containing Kevlar®. Last year DuPont sponsored awards for Nomex® and they were a huge success. SSD was honored to have been asked to participate in the selection process and it was great to be on hand for the award ceremony at AUSA. It was literally amazing to see some of technologies vying for honors last year and we feel these awards are an outstanding way for industry to recognize such innovation. For more information and to enter, please visit www.kevlar.com/innovation.
Archangel Armor has done it again. Constantly improving, they have been working quietly with developmental partners to continue to improve and evolve their already revolutionary designs. I can tell you that the systems you saw here in the past are not the same as what Archangel is producing now. This new system, which is is as advanced from their original design, as the original was from what the rest of the market had to offer, is already in production.
Working with focus and test groups has paid off. They have to adapted their core technology to new capabilities unseen in the market to date. Rather than build for the “wow”, Archangel has derived every aspect of their system from an effects based design principal. In particular, the goal has been the enhancement of the individual Soldier’s performance.
The statement that an armor system or integrations platform can act as a performance enhancer would be an outrageous claim, except for their quantified proof. Archangel feels that they have that proof in data collected during a recent test of the system.
Archangel conducted a performance based test (the second they have completed), conducted with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg as part of a Government driven test plan. Over two days of timed performance events, scores were compared between Archangel’s Internal Frame Load Bearing System (IFLBS) and the baseline US Army issued Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV). Based on information provided to SSD by Archangel, the performance of Soldiers wearing the IOTV over the two days was as expected, with a steady and significant decline in measured scores. The IFLBS, however, astounded even this unsuspecting test group. Not only did their mean scores not decline, most individual events scores showed increases, and in several cases the improvement was considered significant. In one case, at the end of two grueling days of back to back physical events, subjects consistently exhibited times in excess of 60% faster than their baseline score taken at the onset of the test when they were fresh and well rested. Participants also related that they experienced a greatly decreased level of personal discomfort and soreness. The test group and the data collectors (82nd NCOs) made specific note of a greatly reduced recovery time after events which allowed a much higher sustained intensity of training for an extended time frame. This also reduced the risk of load bearing injuries meaning the Soldiers could train much hard with reduced risk. Their recovery time between events was also significantly decreased.
There are a large number of new features that make this system very functional in a variety of scenarios and we can’t wait to show them to you. In fact, we can’t wait to be able to just show you the new system. Archangel has promised to release full product information and their test data soon. Look for more details here.
This is a quick peak at London Bridge Trading’s Sentinel Releasable Armor System, unveiled May 5th, 2011 at Warrior Expo West. The Sentinel is a captive releasable armor system meaning all pieces are retained even after the user has pulled the cutaway. Additionally, the Sentinel incorporates LBT’s Comfort Armor Suspension System (CASS), allowing users to carry heavier loads while transferring the weight to the hips for increased comfort and ventilation.
Look for a more in-depth article on the Sentinel soon.
www.ADSinc.com/London-Bridge-Trading is your source for Military and Government ordering of LBT products.
Ares Armor is well known to SSD readers for their functionality, versatility and quality of their gear designed based on direct experience operating in the field. Now, it’s all available in A-TACS.
Ares Armor was founded by seven Marines, all with infantry combat experience with service both Iraq and Afghanistan. Combined, Ares ownership has more than 50 years of actual combat experience. Five of the seven Ares co-owners are currently still on active duty with the Marine Corps and have held billets as Snipers, Recon, Infantry Platoon Sergeants, Infantry Squad Leaders, Infantry Team Leaders, Urban Shooting Skills Instructors, Military Operations in Urban Terrain Instructors, Infantry Combat Instructors, and Rifle Marksmanship Instructors. They convey this combat focused experience into every design they create.
Featured in the line is the Ares Armor Atlas Ruck in A-TACS, designed for long range patrols and extended field operations. The pack is only slightly larger than the standard large military mountain rucks with many innovative features including, seven external GP Pouches, a removable top flap Admin Pouch / Organizer with hidden straps that allow it to convert into a simple Short Range Pack, an Internal Radio Pouch as well as two Extra Long Pouches designed for use as Hydration Carriers or, 119 Foxtrot-sized Radio Carriers. Other features include, extra padding positioned along the mid-back crossbar as well as an enhanced Kidney Pad with additional webbing and storage. All of these features allow the operator to keep his mind on the mission and not on his gear.
Additionally, they are offering the Ares Combat XII Pack designed for short duration operations which was recently featured here on SSD. This unique and easily adaptable low-profile pack is designed to either clip directly into the MOLLE system of most Plate Carrier or Armor Systems without the use of shoulder straps allowing for a full range of motion or, the included straps can be easily attached for use as a backpack. Other features include two removable pop-up pouches, room for six 5.56 Mags or three 7.62 Mags, Space for up to two hydration bladders or PRC-117Fs as well as two access ports and dual side access pockets.
Other great offerings from Ares include, the Arturo Three-Day Pack, The Multi-Purpose Tactical Duffel, Tactical G Bags and a wide range of pouches, bags and Chest Rigs. For more information on new Ares Armor available now in A-TACS, visit them online at www.aresarmor.com.
