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The Buzz

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Well the main stream media finally caught up with us again this week. US Today published an article that the Army is going to eliminate Velcro from the cargo pockets on the ACU. This is hardly breaking news. We did a story on this last August, detailing numerous changes to the ACU. Unfortunately, Defense Supply Center Philadelphia who manages sustainment contracts for the ACU as well as the FR ACU which worn in combat, has yet to implement the improvements to any of the uniforms they are buying. PEO-Soldier on the other hand, is purchasing FR ACUs in MultiCam from a different contract so that combat troops in Afghanistan will have the advantage of the improved design.

The real irony in this, other than US Today chasing a story that is almost a year old, is that Velcro was added to the ACU based on use by Special Operations Forces. Big Army wanted what was perceived to work and they got it. Naturally and almost immediately, Soldiers began to complain. With Velcro, a little goes a long way.

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New Balance System 7

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

New Balance has developed a 7 layer FR clothing system. That’s right, it’s a complete system from New Balance, it’s Berry Compliant, and it’s Fire Resistant. Designed from the outset to work together as a system, NBS7 offers two types of male T-shirts and drawers as well as sports bra and boy short options for the female user. Add to this lightweight and mid-weight long underwear, fleece jacket, wind jacket, and inclement weather shirt and you’ve got some serious layering options. New Balance has also integrated a Combat Shirt and Pants into the mix. They top it all off with both soft shell and hard shell jacket and trouser options.

A quick review of the materials and you will see that they are using tried and true fabrics such as Tencate’s Defender M found in both Army and Marine Corps issued FR garments in addition to layering materials from Cocona and Drifire. Sizing options are unmatched from XX-Small – XXXX-Large. Did we mention that NBS7 will be available in Coyote as well as MultiCam? Available this Fall, check out the entire system at www.ADSinc.com/NBS7. They have prepared an excellent page detailing all of NBS7’s finer points for each component.

Be sure to attend the ADS Warrior Expo July 15 & 16 at the Virginia Beach Civic Center and check out the NBS7.

Tags: ADS, New Balance
Posted in ADS, Clothing, FR, Multicam | Comments Off on New Balance System 7

Stuff We Missed This Week

Saturday, May 29th, 2010

Like every week, this one was busy. Here are the things we didn’t get to discuss.

Navy uniform guide for iPhone
Botched Police Raids
The $4000 Polo Shirt
Sneaky Bags at SGC USA
UCP TRU-SPEC Combat Shirt only $39.99 at US CAV
The Sayoc Store

Posted in Armor, Clothing, FR, Knives, Load Carrying, weapons | Comments Off on Stuff We Missed This Week

Army Seeks FR Patch Kit

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

PEO-Soldier is seeking a Flame Resistant Uniform Unit level Repair Patch Kit that has the capability to provide Infra Red (IR)/Flame Resistance (FR) protection in a self contained kit. According to the requirement, the “IR/FR Uniform Repair Kit must contain 8 patches (2 3×3,2 4×4, 2 5×5, and 2 5×7 inch kits) made of self adhesive Fire Resistant material that are intended to be used to repair Flame Resistant MultiCam & UCP uniform items.” The patch also needs to “adhere to the FR Army Combat Uniform (FR-ACU), the Improved Combat Vehicle Crewman Coverall (ICVC) and the Aviation Aircrew Combat Uniform (A2CU) or other flame resistant clothing items, covering any holes, rips or tears.”

They have already completed a sources sought notice and should begin to consider technologies soon in order to begin fielding this summer.

Posted in FR, Materials, Multicam, PEO-Soldier | Comments Off on Army Seeks FR Patch Kit

Drifire Phenix II Flight Suit

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

We have covered Drifire‘s flight suits in the past but we just received some updated marketing data on their latest incarnation after taking a look at it at the recent ADS Warrior Expo. Available in both Khaki and MultiCam, the Phenix II exceeds Air Force safe to flight characteristics and provides not only FR protection but also moisture wicking and antimicrobial properties. The Khaki variant would be well suited for PMCs operating in IED environments. There are a few other new products coming down the pike from Drifire in the near future so keep your eyes peeled.

DRIFIRE Phenix II Flight Suit

Tags: Drifire
Posted in Clothing, FR | Comments Off on Drifire Phenix II Flight Suit

Navy Seeks Survival Gear and FR Clothing

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

NAVAIR has issued a Sources Sought Notice for Survival Items and Clothing for use by both Navy and marine Corps personnel. Survival items include equipment to assist isolated personnel in their recovery such as NVD compatible lights, signaling devices, hand held global positioning systems, knives, fire starters, multi purpose tools, water purification devices, hydration carriers and concentrated nutrition. All items should be efficient, compact, lightweight, water resistant, affordable and use common, commercially available batteries as a power source if needed.

The FR clothing side of the house includes items for both air and ground crews like flight suits and gloves, deck jerseys, and anti-exposure suits. They are seeking performance products whether fire resistance, environmental protection, or moisture management. This is an open ended RFI so as vendors come up with applicable items they can submit them.

Visit www.fbo.gov for the full details.

Posted in Clothing, Contracts, FR, SERE | Comments Off on Navy Seeks Survival Gear and FR Clothing

Fielding the OEF FR ACU

Monday, May 17th, 2010

As most of you know by now, the MultiCam version of the Fire Resistant Army Combat Uniform slated to be issued to troops in Afghanistan has been officially dubbed the OEF FR ACU. This is because it is supposed to only be used in Afghanistan (Operation ENDURING FREEDOM). I guess someone forgot that operations in the Philippines are also part of OEF. But then again, I don’t share PEO-Soldier’s wishful optimism that commanders in other areas won’t want their troops to be outfitted in MultiCam as well. I mean after all, testing has demonstrated it is a very effective pattern in a variety of environments. Why wouldn’t a commander want his troops outfitted in the best equipment available.

At any rate, where are those new OEF FR ACUs anyway? Well, the Army is on its way to fielding, working its way through the procurement process, but meeting the goal of July is going to be difficult if not impossible. The recently released pre-solicitation doesn’t close until 1 June. Then, the Army still has to release an actual solicitation which is usually open for about 30 days, make an award, deal with any protests that might arise, wait for uniforms to roll off the line, and finally distribute them. While mills are chugging away manufacturing FR Defender-M from Tencate, none of the manufacturers of uniforms will place orders for fabric until they receive a contract so there is only so much leaning forward in the fox hole that can be done.

One of the reasons that PEO-Soldier isn’t jumping into MultiCam with both feet is that the Army hasn’t made a long-term decision about camouflage yet. PEO-Soldier says that the Army is moving toward a decision on Phase IV of the camo project but thus far, almost nothing has been released on what exactly this phase entails. Hopefully, we will begin to see some transparency considering the brouhaha raised over the selection of the Universal Camouflage Pattern.

Tags: Multicam
Posted in Camo, Clothing, FR, Multicam, PEO-Soldier | Comments Off on Fielding the OEF FR ACU

Environmental Clothing Systems

Friday, April 2nd, 2010

ADS Inc, lead system integrator for both ECWCS Gen III and FREE has just published a comprehensive look at both systems as well as SOCOM’s Protective Combat Uniform. It is a great resource for anyone looking to gain a basic understanding of these systems or their histories. Check it out at www.adsinc.com.

Tags: ECWCS Gen III, FREE, PCU
Posted in ADS, Clothing, FR, Materials, PEO-Soldier | Comments Off on Environmental Clothing Systems