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Veilance Launches Spring Line

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

The exclusive Arc’teryx urban line, Veilance has just released their Spring 2010 line. Those familiar with the brand will notice a few additions. Two of my favorite products are the Field Jacket LT and Cargo Pant LT. As you should remember from my article on Arc’teryx naming conventions, LT is their designation for lightweight, streamlined variants of their garments. Their combination of hard wearing Arc’teryx quality and design excellence with a high end twist, makes Veilance the perfect alternative for those who need to disappear into the urban jungle.

But don’t just take my word for it, go and see for yourself. veilance.arcteryx.com

Tags: Arc'teryx, Veilance
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Something Wild This Way Comes

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Wild Things has launched a new web address to go along with their new division Wild Things Tactical. In honor of their long-term commitment to providing quality expedition level outdoor clothing and equipment to elite military forces, WTT was created to oversee an entire new line of products being unveiled this spring. Last fall we gave you a taste of what’s coming with their Lightweight Softshell Layer. This product as well as several others are already being used by troops in combat.

I was able to review products at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market and they have some really cool stuff coming including FR pieces, and most of it will be available in MultiCam for those of you heading to Afghanistan. Personally, I have been using Wild Things clothing for over five years and they have always taken great strides to be on the leading edge of fabric technologies. I really like their stuff. Some of you may already be familiar with Wild Things and not realize it. They designed the level 7 puffy suit that is part of ECWCS Gen III.

While the new website isn’t quite ready yet, be sure visit www.wttactical.com and sign up for announcements of the release of this new line.

Tags: Wild Things Tactical
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MultiCam – Who Pays?

Monday, March 15th, 2010

The easy part is done. A camouflage pattern has been selected for use in Afghanistan in accordance with the wishes of Congress. The hard part has now begun. Specifications have to be prepared, contracts let, and new equipment fielded. All in rapid fashion if the Army is going to meet its own deadline this summer. Fielding of a new pattern won’t come cheap. According to COL William Cole, the Program Manager for Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment at PEO-Soldier, thus far everything has been paid for with offsets meaning the money used to purchase FR ACUs in UCP will be used instead to procure MultiCam FR ACUs. Unfortunately, this won’t make up for everything. TA-50 such as MOLLE lasts a lot longer than uniform items. With over one million sets of MOLLE already fielded, equipment in MultiCam will have to be purchased.

U.S. Army photo by Spc. Albert L. Kelley, 300th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

An additional issue, particularly for industry are ancillary items such as gloves, hats, and even the webbing tape on load bearing and armor systems. What color will it be? With the switch to UCP came Foliage Green. What color will the Army specify for use with MultiCam? PEO-Soldier officials have stated that they are still considering the issue but with the new Army Combat Shirt in MultiCam sporting a Coyote Brown torso, ~~chances are good that will be the accessory color~~ (UPDATE: It’s sounding like Tan 499 will make the cut). Additionally, industry is already producing a wide variety of raw materials and finished goods in Coyote for the Marine Corps, SOCOM, as well as the secondary market.

So where will the money to pay for all of this come from? The Army hasn’t prepared any reprogramming actions moving funds from one account to another to pay for this. And if it is forced to, where will those funds come from? PEO-Soldier’s portfolio? Will the Army be forced to rob Peter to pay Paul? If this ends up being the case, the Soldier loses either way. As I see it, it is Congress’s bill to pay. Congress asked for it, the Army complied, and they have the facts to back up their decision. The Army’s leadership should approach Congress with a funding request to field adequate amounts of clothing and individual equipment in MultiCam. Congress should happily appropriate these monies. In fact, if anything, it will leave a lasting legacy in honor of the man who got this ball rolling in the first place, the late John Murtha.

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EOTAC Updates Website

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

EOTAC has introduced numerous enhancements to the site but probably the biggest is under the “collections” tab. Other than displays at SHOT Show this is the first time they are fully unveiling the new Direct Action line. Consisting of the Recce Smock, Shirt, and Pant, the new line will incorporate pockets designed to complement the wearer’s load as well as durability enhancements. Additionally, the Direct Action clothing will be offered in Sand as well as A-TACS Camo in a full range of sizes. Visit www.eotac.com for more details.

Tags: A-TACS, EOTAC
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MultiCam – What You’ll Get

Friday, March 5th, 2010

In a recent interview with PEO Soldier’s COL William Cole and LTC Mike Sloane they detailed efforts to field complete ensembles of clothing and equipment in MultiCam required for combat patrols in Afghanistan. This first article will discuss what is being issued.

In addition to four FR ACUs and Army Combat Shirts in the new pattern each Soldier will receive an accessory kit consisting of name tags, rank, and shoulder sleeve insignia. The Army Institute of Heraldry still has to weigh in on the colorway and designs of individual SSIs. Other uniform components include Generation III Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System. PEO-Soldier is also hard at work getting Patrol Caps, Sun Hats, Knee and Elbow Pads as well as entire MOLLE sets into production. These will include Individual First Aid Kits in addition to the new Tactical Assault Panel seen in the accompanying photo supplied by the program office. IOTV covers and Helmet Covers as well as Nape Pads will also be produced in MultiCam. Every detail is being seen to in order to meet their fielding goals of mid-summer.

In order to meet this deadline a new contract will soon be let by PEO-Soldier for FR ACUs. Rather than relying on the current sustainment contract managed by Defense Supply Center Philadelphia for FR ACUs in UCP, this will allow the numerous improvements to the ACU design we wrote about last year to be cut in early to this new purchase along with the change to MultiCam.

Photo: Alexandra Hemmerly-Brown

What you won’t get are MultiCam ACUs. Lots of guys are already running out and purchasing several sets in the hopes that one day they will be able to wear them. However, this isn’t the case. Although specific wear policy hasn’t yet been released for troops in Afghanistan, this has the potential for being a dream scenario for uniform nazis. If you thought it was hard to sneak into the chow hall after a patrol in your Army Combat Shirt, don’t even think about wearing your ACUs in MultiCam. Current in-theater policy requires Soldiers to protect themselves by wearing FR ACUs, whether UCP or MultiCam. If you are in the wrong uniform you will stick out like the proverbial sore thumb.

Certain organizations on the other hand have fielded standard 50/50 NYCO (50% nylon/50% ripstop cotton blend) uniforms for some time. However, these do not provide the same level of Fire Resistant protection afforded uniforms manufactured from Tencate’s Defender-M like the issue FR ACU. Already industry is hard at work producing clothing and equipment on MultiCam that are designed specifically for use in Afghanistan. This includes FR products. Over the next several weeks Soldier Systems Daily will begin to unveil these products to you.

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Sleeping Coat

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Treehugger.com has a cool article on the Sleeping Coat which won an award from Germany’s Red Dot Institute for designer Lin Tsui-Wei. As you can see in the photo, the lower section is folded and carried by snapping to the coat. It can inflated and used as a mattress as well as for insulation.

But what is REALLY wild is the Suitaloon dating from 1968. What little literature available on the Suitaloon claims, “Comfort for Two.”

Anyone remember the Secret Agent Matt Helm movie where a spy pad complete with fully stocked bar inflated out of the trunk of his Lincoln? Ahhhh, those were the days. I mean it was the 60s. They had to be on something to come up with these crazy ideas.

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BAA for Warfighter Developmental Protective Clothing and Devices

Monday, March 1st, 2010

If you’ve got a great new widget that fits any one of the categories below then Naval Air Systems Command at Pax River wants to hear about it. What’s great about a Broad Agency Announcement is that they last all year so it’s easy to make the deadline and are intended to cast a wide net in search of solutions for issues facing a command. There aren’t any pesky requirements that you have to meet. They want to hear about your good ideas and see if they fill any of their capability gaps.

(1) protection against G-induced loss of consciousness, loss of situational awareness, spatial disorientation, and high altitude hypoxia; (2) micro / nanotechnology applicable to life support and protective devices; (3) protection against hypothermia / hyperthermia; (4) auxiliary or integrated human cooling and heating systems; (5) integrated helmet mounted displays, multi-mode helmet vision system technology; (6) advanced filter / device development for eye and / or sensor protection; (7) warfighter / equipment compatibility; (8) breathing systems and advanced concept approaches for current and future applications; (9) crash protection, advanced restraint systems (all axes of restraint), accelerative loads reduction and seating concepts; (10) emergency egress / escape concepts such as but not limited to improved signaling / locating, thermal signature reduction, and day / night cloaking technologies (11) integrated communications systems; (12) hearing protection and communication capabilities in high noise environments (13) integrated floatation systems; (14) human strength enhancement technologies; (15) garment textiles / materials, flame resistant / melt-proof fibers, webbings, water-proof, high-stretch, breathable fabrics, durable, malleable, lightweight conductive-network fabrics, low-bulk / high flexibility vascular compression mechanisms for acceleration protection, fast-response cooling / heating textiles; (16) crew / workstation design; (17) lightweight, portable power sources, recharging and scavenging technologies, and (18) other personal protective technologies.

As you can see this pretty much runs the gamut of Soldier Systems as well as some aviation technologies. If you think you’ve got what they need you will need to submit a white paper. Check out the entire solicitation at www.fbo.gov for further guidance.

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