XC3 Weaponlight

Archive for the ‘Gadgets’ Category

Technical Applications Group

Monday, August 17th, 2009

Technical Applications Group LLC is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB). You could think of them as a rep group on steroids but they go beyond just representing a company’s products or shopping concepts. As they put it, they “bridge the gap between Industry capabilities and Government requirements.”

Technical Applications Group Industry Advocate

They enjoy a unique position as Trusted Agents of the Government and find, verify, and exploit the most innovative technology available, working with industry clients to create usable solutions for the military, intelligence, and security communities in the US and abroad. So what does this mean for a company with an innovative solution that they would like to market to the military? They are your Industry Advocate. Technical Applications Group has lists of military capability requirements at their fingertips. They scour the Earth searching for low hanging fruit that will satisfy said requirements and present their findings to the Government. Such solutions are called Commercial Off The Shelf items and can range from items that fill the bill right out of the box to to products that have to be modified.

Technical Applications Group Test and Evaluation

Technical Applications Group can help develop these COTS items through a rapid development test, fix, test strategy that gets the solution in the Warfighter’s hands in a fraction of the time of normal development.

Technical Applications Group Test and Evaluation Services

As their name implies, they focus on the more technical aspects of the defense industry yet stop short of major programs. One example is the Personal Energy Generator we recently covered.

Technical Applications Group Product Development

To learn more contact them at www.techappsgroup.org.

Fuel Cells or Molotov Cocktails?

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

As we have seen some battery technologies can be dangerous. In this article Sal Palma discusses how new fuel cell technologies can be just as deadly.

Read the article here.

© Sal Palma, 2009. All rights reserved August 4, 2009

Absinthe & Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously

Saturday, August 15th, 2009

Absinthe & Flamethrowers

The work begins with a discussion on Thrill Seekers (Big T people) and those who are risk averse (little t people). I would say it’s a safe bet that most of my readers fall into the Big T category but the book features a simple questionnaire to help you figure it out if you haven’t already. The book is intended to help readers join those in the “Golden Third”.

Author William Gurstelle describes the “Golden Third”; “I found that moderate, rational, risk takers, that is, those with scores between the mean and one standard deviation to the right are the people who are most satisfied with their lives. I call that area “the golden third” because it’s roughly 1/3 of the population. Studies (and there are several) show that people who take just a bit more risks than average, that is, those who live their lives in the golden third, tend to do better than average. They tend to be more satisfied with their lives and more fulfilled.”

The rest of the book is a how-to guide of controlled mayhem designed to help you accept some controlled risk and get a few kicks.

Absinthe & Flamethrowers: Projects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously

Author

nPower Personal Energy Generator

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

Developed by Tremont Electric based in Cleveland, Ohio the nPower Personal Energy Generator (PEG) is very lightweight, ultra rugged, and completely silent. The PEG weighs a mere nine ounces packed into a nine inch long cylinder that harvests kinetic energy from the human stride and turns it into 2.5 watts of electricity.

Personal Energy Generator

The commercial technology has been adapted for military use and undergone limited evaluations by the Army, Marines and a Joint customer. There are currently two militarized versions of the device and they’re developing some additional versions for specialized use. The first version powers a handheld device (ie, a Garmin GPS, iPod, etc) and the other is a backpack-mounted version that can power a Toughbook, a radio, or other tech a warfighter may have. Both of these devices can, in theory, provide power indefinitely, as long as you’re moving. Current systems are crafted from Anodized Aluminum but plans are afoot to transition to Carbon Fiber in order to shave weight.

The military handheld device comes in two sizes. The first is nine inches long, nine ounces, and power output at 5 watts and the second is six inches long, weighs seven ounces, and power output at 2.5 watts. It can be mounted to PALS webbing.

Personal Energy Generator mounted on MOLLE

Additionally, they have demonstrated a larger backpack mounted laptop device. It is envisioned to be comprised of two larger units running in parallel inside of a dedicated backpack. To work successfully it demands more mass so a minimum load of 30 lbs is required. While it is heavier, it will produce up to 100 watts.

Personal Energy Generator

The PEG offers a couple of operational advantages not realized with many other technologies. It is temperature independent so it will work in arctic and desert environments with no modification. Additionally, it has no thermal signature like fuel cells, which means it cannot be detected in the Infrared spectrum.

Tremont Electric was recognized by Business Week as one of America’s most promising start ups.

Visit Tremont Electric for more info. Tremont Electric is represented by Technical Applications Group.

New TAD Gear Website

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

TAD Gear launches their new website today. Over the next couple of days, DNS servers will update the new site. Lots of new images were shot and new products are being unveiled along with the new site.

visit tadgear.com.

Kinetic Charger

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

Argentine industrial designer Lola Mensa has unveiled the Cargador De Celular, an environmentally friendly concept device designed to attached to your running shoes in order to generate energy while running or jogging. Once you finish with your workout you plug your mobile device into the charger and voila!; Renewable energy. I gotta say, I love the packaging.

Cargador de Celular

Apparently, the social meme believes that such technologies are new. A piezoelectric system built into the heal of boots to provide a trickle charge for batteries was demonstrated in the early 90s. Of course that was a defense technology and wouldn’t be considered “good”. At any rate, perhaps technologies such as the one proposed by this industrial designer will be perfected and integrated into Soldier Systems equipment as well commercial products.

Survival Straps

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Some of us are too busy (or lazy) to tie our own 550 cord bracelets and lanyards. Survival Straps takes the work out of it and offers a variety of woven products in over 900 combinations.

Their survival bracelets are made with over 24′ of 550 cord (wide variant). When I made them back in the day, I used a couple of knots at the end of the bracelet threaded through a loop as a closure and some guys got fancy and used a button from an old set of BDUs. But the survival bracelet features one of two unique closures. One is a side release buckle and the other is a stainless steel shackle. Both secure your bracelet and look sharp.

Survival Bracelet from Survival Straps

Two colors can be chosen for each product, one for the outer edge and the other for the inner portion of the weave. Survival Straps believes in their product so much that if you use it in a survival situation they will replace it for free.

We suggest you check out the entire lineup at www.survivalstraps.com. They offer numerous products and have an extensive library of photos to give you an idea of what your creation will look like.

BedBunker

Saturday, August 1st, 2009

Designed to replace the box spring under twin, queen, or king size mattresses BedBunker modular safes are compatible with most standard bed frames. The safe provides ample storage space for up to 32 rifles and 70 handguns not to mention various other valuables. 32 rifles? 70 handguns? That’s a lot of room. The BedBunker is also two hour fire rated at 1533 degrees.

Check out BedBunker online for all of the details.