XC3 Weaponlight

Archive for the ‘Clothing’ Category

TAD Gear – Mission Capable, Wilderness Smart, Urban Ready….

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

One of the goals of Soldier Systems Blog is to introduce cutting edge products and services to our audience. Triple Aught Designs stands as the perfect example. If you had to pick one word to describe TAD, it would be “tacticool”.

From somewhat humble beginnings, they have carved out a market niche offering high end tacti-gadgets from a variety of the world’s best suppliers and have further expanded their offerings with their own signature brands to cover market voids. One example is tactical clothing. Their designs blend the best designs and construction techniques of the commercial outdoor clothing market with innovative tactical features. Their success is finesse. They have developed a subtle yet effective color palette and incorporated features, that are at once both effective and subtle. With the exception of the products offered in Multicam, nothing screams “gun”. I have been using TAD products for several years now and have watched their textiles evolve into one of the finest tactical clothing lines available. In fact, it would be hard to believe but TAD has been producing specialized clothing for the past seven years except that they apply every lessoned learned in each new generation of products. What’s more, they have gone from small production runs that sold out as pre-orders, to large production runs that well out within days of release. At one time you could say they had a cult following, but not anymore. While they maintain a devoted customer base on the the Usual Suspects Network forum, their clothing is being used by armed and other service professionals the world over. If anyone doubts their market penetration, you can easily gauge their success by the amount copies you can find on the web.

Not content with just taking the tactical clothing market by storm, they have recently begun to launch a family of specialized nylon load carrying solutions. They aren’t reinventing the wheel here. Every design they offer fills a vacuum in the market. A classic example is the PSP pouch they made up as a “tacticool” accessory. They had initially only planned on making 100 but once it was featured in the Army Times newspaper, demand was so great that they streamlined the design and put it back into production, at a lower price point. This product in particular has drown the interest of competitors. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then TAD is very well liked indeed.

I recently acquired both the Combat Anorak and Bug Out Anorak. I love the design and appreciate the different materials. The pic below is of me conducting testing of an armor panel. The day was rainy and I was wearing the Big Out Anorak.

Another Day on the Job

Check the entire line of TAD products at Triple Aught Designs

As TAD releases new products we will endeavor to keep up with them here.

Field Jacket – a Eulogy

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

Don’t expect to see a tear filled goodbye to the Field Jacket from me. Instead I am jumping for joy. Starting in FY09 the Army will cease fielding the M-65 Field jacket. Instead, each Soldier will be issued a Gen II ECWCS (Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System) parka in UCP (Universal Camouflage Pattern) and it will be transferred as an OCIE item with the Soldier from assignment to assignment much like the laundry bag.

It amazes me to see so many still wearing the venerable M-65. The basic design for the M-65 hails from WW II and remained relatively unchanged over the years. Soldiers wore the M-43 Field Coat during their march to Berlin. Over the years there were small changes like a redesigned collar or the introduction of Quarpel (Quartermaster Water Repellent), the precursor to today’s DWR treatments. In the 80s the Field Jacket was transformed from OD Green to Woodland Camo but the basic design didn’t change. Later a 3-Color Desert variant was issued as Organizational Clothing for operations in the CENTCOM AOR. Finally, when the ACU was fielded the Field Jacket saw its latest change. The pattern was changed to UCP and velcro was added to the sleeves for shoulder sleeve insignia and to the zipper flap for rank.

Its replacement, the Army version of the Gen II ECWCS parka is also in UCP and began its life as a Marine Corps garment. The Marine Corps wanted a replacement for the first generation of ECWCS which featured out dated design features. The Marine Corps has moved on to an even more improved version of the garment called APECS (All Purpose Environmental Clothing System). The USAF has also adopted APECS in conjunction with their switch to the ABU.
ACU Field JacketUCP Gen II ECWCS

Mirage Camo

Sunday, May 25th, 2008

Bulldog Equipment unveiled the new Mirage camouflage pattern at AUSA in October of last year. At SOFIC they modified their display of tactical equipment to feature their new uniform system in the Mirage pattern. The uniform consists of a Fire Resistant Undershirt, Garrison Combat Top, Summer Combat Top, and Pants. The garments are well made and include features that were developed through direct feedback from testers. These include super fabric reinforced knees, elbows and, shoulders, reinforced crotch, over-sized pen pockets to accommodate chemlights and sharpie markers as well as reinforcements in other areas of high abrasion. In addition to uniform items they have also produced versions of their assault pack and sniper drag bag in Mirage pattern. Although they are quiet about possible customers, Bulldog remains adamant that they will restrict the innovative pattern to US DoD only.

Access to the new website is available to those with .mil email addresses.

Mirage