S.O. Tech’s dealer catalog has just been released. It’s full of the latest and greatest S.O. Tech gear, including newly upgraded belts, packs, and bags.
You can view the catalog by clicking the above image, or download it here: www.scribd.com/doc/228850585/S-O-TECH-Dealership-Program
We are pleased to share this announcement from the Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition regarding new membership. We see several great companies joining this organization and it’s been quite educational to join them each year in Washington as they engage Congress on equipping issues.
MARBLEHEAD, MA (July 31, 2014) – The Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition (WPRC) is pleased to announce three new members of its Board of Directors and the latest additions to its membership, including several leading companies in the warfighter equipment and clothing industry.
The three new industry representatives who have joined the WPRC Board of Directors include; Don Vavala of W.L. Gore and Associates, Frank Montie of Brookwood Companies, and Nate Smith of Oakley/Eye Safety Systems (ESS). The WPRC Board of Directors represents a cross section of the personal protective equipment industry, providing organizational governance and setting the strategic direction of the WPRC. These new Board members join current WPRC Board Chairman Luke Hillier and WPRC Secretary David Bohannon as leaders of this not for profit industry
association.
The new company members of the WPRC include: Lion Vallen, Outdoor Research, Burlington/International Textile Group (ITG), New Balance Athletic Shoe Inc., Patagonia, Inc., and CamelBak Products LLC. The added voices of these leading companies will be critical to advancing the WPRC mission to support the equipment and advanced clothing needs of the Armed Services and Department of Homeland Security.
Lion Vallen – Lion Vallen is a global leader in supply chain and lifecycle management of protective clothing, equipment and uniforms. LVI has a deep commitment to delivering superior services that support customers’ personal safety, readiness and professional identity needs. www.lionprotects.com.
Outdoor Research – Outdoor Research is a designer, developer, and manufacturer of apparel, glove systems, and accessories designed for the military and outdoor markets. Products for the U.S. military are manufactured at their own facility located in downtown Seattle. A full range of products is commercially available at www.outdoorresearch.com.
Burlington/ITG – Burlington leverages its advanced R&D with a diverse range of high performance manufacturing capabilities and a complete range of fiber/fabric blends that deliver state of the art military and commercial solutions worldwide. Their fabric portfolio encompasses applications for extreme weather apparel; camouflage combat and utility materials, tenting, shelter fabrics, shipboard covers and ballistic materials. Information on their military product offerings may be found at www.burlington.com/military-technical.
New Balance – Headquartered in Boston, MA, New Balance is focused on building global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host. New Balance is currently one of the few major shoe companies that continue to manufacture athletic footwear in the United States. In 2013, 1 out of every 4 pairs of shoes New Balance sold in the U.S. was made or assembled in the U.S. www.newbalance.com.
Patagonia – Based in Ventura, California, Patagonia, Inc. is a leading designer and retailer of core outdoor, alpine, fly fishing, snow, surf and sport related apparel, equipment, footwear and accessories. Patagonia is a world leader in apparel design, the development of protective garments and an industry pioneer in environmentalism. For more information on Patagonia and their commercially available products, please visit www.patagonia.com.
CamelBak – CamelBak is the leading manufacturer of hands free hydration systems. Special Forces, soldiers and law enforcement around the world use their Military & Tactical products. These offerings include water bottles, hydration packs, backpacks, and protective gear designed for a variety of climates and terrain. A full listing of these military and tactical products as well as commercially available gear is available at www.camelbak.com.
“The new Board members of the WPRC bring a wealth of industry experience and strategic thinking to our ongoing efforts to ensure our men and women in uniform have sustained access to the best American made equipment and clothing,” said David Costello, Executive Director of the WPRC. “We are grateful for their dedication to the WPRC as well as for the participation of our six newest Coalition members in our efforts to support those who serve our country”
The WPRC supports the readiness of the Armed Services by providing a unified industry voice to the U.S. Congress, the Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Homeland Security and other stakeholders. We work at the intersection of the Organizational Clothing/Individual Equipment industry, the federal legislative policy process, and the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security. Our membership includes companies throughout the equipment and clothing industry and with companies at every point in the industrial supply chain who represent the best in American manufacturing.
The Department of Defense’s Rapid Reaction Technology Office (RRTO) will conduct a Solutions Meeting in the Tampa, Florida area during October 2014. The Solutions Meeting provides selected innovative companies with an opportunity to make short technical presentations to government representatives about their technologies and products. There is a potential that companies may be selected for pilot projects or experimentation if their technology appears to match the needs described below.
The RRTO is supporting the Department of Defense in looking for technologies to protect and improve the Department’s warfighting capabilities. The operational goal is to significantly improve both the survivability and mobility of tomorrow’s warfighters.
The DoD Improved Solider Survivability and Mobility effort is looking for innovative technologies and capabilities in the following areas:
Innovative/Advanced Materials
– Ballistic armor and blast protection
– Chemical/biological/radiological protection
– Lightweight, conformal, shapeable
– Metals, ceramics, composites
– Multi-spectral signature management
– Performance enhancing textiles and fabrics, as well as electronic textiles
Imaging, Sensing & Displays
– Extremely low latency wearable digital optical systems
– Innovative personal display technologies with enhanced capabilities such as wide field of view, high definition, retinal projection, contact lenses, etc.
– Non-GPS assisted Mapping
Communications
– Beyond line of sight high capacity comms
– High bandwidth short range peer-to-peer comms
– Innovative antennas such as tunable antennas, body conformal, etc.
– Custom antenna manufacturing and design
– Remote tele-medicine and real-time physiological monitoring
Data Processing & Controls
– Rugged processors and sensors
– Advanced/lightweight cabling
– Intuitive controls/interfaces such as voice, gesture, neural, etc.
– Virtual controls – Novel software and application development tools
– Distributed computing
– Data compression
Data Analytics
– Modeling and simulation tools to assess impacts of load carriage and exoskeletons on musculoskeletal health and performance
– Bio-mechanical/kinematic motion capture and measurement
– Data set development, management and analytics
Power & Energy
– High performance/high torque and low power/small size actuators
– Power generation technologies, such as efficient/small internal combustion engines, hybrid systems, etc.
– Prime and rechargeable high density batteries
– Innovative energy storage solutions such as SOFC and PEM fuel cells, ultra capacitors, solid-state or lithium-air batteries, etc.
Aside from the weapons manufacturers, that’s pretty much every company that reads SSD. Companies interested in participating in the Solutions Meeting should submit an application to RRTO Innovation via e-mail by 6 August, 2014. For full instructions visit www.fbo.gov.
Long the stuff of movie legend, the shotgun suppressor has been a mythical beast. Sure, they’ve been demonstrated over the years to varying success but they’ve a lot of weight and length to the barrel of the shotgun making them less than ideal.
Just minutes ago, at SilencerCo’s 1st Annual F#!*ING Catalina Wine Mixer, CEO Josh Waldron formally announced the latest addition to their product line; the Salvo 12, a shotgun suppressor.
To be sure, this is great news for the tactical market, but this will mean a lot for the hunters out there as well. This is a great crossover product that I think will help to bring suppressors mainstream in the hunting market. It’s important to get the hunters on board when trying to pass suppressor legislation.
Knox Williams, President if the American Suppressor Association was present at the launch and said, “SilencerCo’s introduction of a commercially viable shotgun suppressor will introduce a new segment of the shooting public to the advantages of firearms suppressors. Forward thinking like this will help ASA and the industry transition suppressors from NFA items to the mainstream.”
Yes, it’s a 12 ga design. Considering the popularity of the 12 ga it was the right move. SilencerCo is open to developing suppressors for additional shotguns but wanted to get this out.
The Salvo 12 is scalable and can be configured by adding sections to customize the level of suppression you’re looking for. It integrates a Removable choke system to attach to your shotgun and uses a system of Rods, baffles and caps to lower the 12 ga report to that of a .22. In a video, we could actually hear the clay pigeon breaking upon impact.
Here are the performance specs provided by SilencerCo.
Coming Fall 2014.
U.S. Patriot Tactical has just announced a new website, with easier, intuitive search, more brands and products, and overall faster loading. To celebrate, they’re giving away a free dog tag set with free shipping to all visitors.
I recently heard about layoffs of the work force at SIG SAUER‘s facility at the former Pease AFB in New Hampshire. The numbers were very high and I was a bit concerned. I contacted SIG to see if it was true and they sent me the statement you see below. You’ll notice that they refer to the action as a “Staff Adjustment”. While many will write this off to bureaucratese, I’ve taken some time since receiving the statement last night to consider it, as well as what I know about the manufacturing business.
To start with, while SIG did not discuss the numbers with me, I am certain that the high percentages reported and then deleted by another website are untrue. I was there a few weeks ago and the loss of that many positions at once doesn’t add up. Additionally, the deletion of the story from the website that initiated the story tells me that they were way off. In fact, it was that deletion that got me looking into the issue in the first place.
By no means am I trivializing the issue. To be sure, these are jobs we are talking about and their loss, if even temporary, affects those workers and their families. But, as a manufacturer you don’t want to pay people for work that you don’t need. In the case of SIG (and other gun makers) you don’t want to pay people to build guns you aren’t selling. Anyone who works in manufacturing will tell you that they’ve seen a layoff or three. It’s part of doing business. To do otherwise puts the entire enterprise at risk.
The genesis of these manufacturing positions was panic buying. To meet the increased firearms demand after the Obama Administration’s call for firearms restrictions in response to the Newtown shooting in December, 2012, SIG hired additional workers. They also moved down the road into a new facility. But, those demands have changed and along with them, SIG is adapting.
NEWINGTON, N.H. (July 10, 2014) — SIG SAUER® has instituted a series of work force adjustments to adapt to ever-changing market conditions and manufacturing efficiencies.
The firearms market has begun to cool from the record highs experienced over the past couple of years. Additional resources, including new employees, were brought on to help meet this spike in demand. Now that sales have began to return to normal, an adjustment in staff numbers is needed to maintain an efficient and cost-effective workflow.
Additionally, enhanced productivity and efficiency at the company’s new Newington, New Hampshire, manufacturing facility has made certain positions redundant or no longer needed. In order to maintain quality and control costs, an adjustment in staffing levels is required.
These difficult, but necessary, measures will allow SIG SAUER to continue to deliver innovative, high-quality firearms to its customers. As SIG SAUER continues to grow into new business categories, including ammunition and accessory products, these market-driven decisions will play a significant role.
Become a fan of SIG SAUER on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sigsauerinc.
Just walk into your local gun store and you can see that the demand for firearms has slowed down since the Newtown shootings. Once bare shelves are now bristling with a wide variety of offerings. I’d say that sales are still up over 2012 levels, but they aren’t anywhere near what they were last year, in 2013. That’s across the board, not just with SIG. SIG SAUER is a privately held company and not a conglomeration of share holders. Also, they aren’t fixated on the next quarter’s earnings. I doubt anyone walked in one morning and said, “Ok, let them go.” Rather, they took a look along view (forward and backwards) at the market and where it was going. The last thing you want to do is lay people off, lower capacity and then have missed the cues for another surge in demand. It’s hard to make money if you don’t have anything to sell. It’s why SIG hired on extra workers, to meet demand, and conversely, when that demand has slowed, they’ve adjusted their staff to meet that new reality.
I don’t believe that the SIG layoffs are due to low quality or poor products but rather an overall drop in demand for firearms after a record breaking year. I visited SIG in June and President Ron Cohen told an assembled group of gun bloggers that SIG was going to move production of additional handgun models to the US from Europe, next year. Between that and the introduction of the MPX and MCX along with new suppressor designs, I’d say that some of those folks who were laid off will end up returning to work. To me, that’s promising. Many walked in the door knowing that their jobs were temporary. Hopefully, at least some of them will see additional employment with SIG in the future.
Tru-Spec has just made a few new announcements regarding their product line, competitive shooting team, and their providing of uniforms for the upcoming Brownell’s Rockcastle Pro-Am 3-gun Championship.
First, Tru-Spec has partnered with A-TACS, and will now be offering their Tactical Response Uniform selections in A-TACS AU and FG. The TRU Shirt, Pant, 1/4 Zip Combat Shirt, Boonie, and Patrol Cap will all be available in the new patterns starting November 2014.
Secondly, Tru-Spec has added Bethany Harris to their roster of award winning competitive shooters. Bethany Harris has competed and placed in USPSA, IDPA, GSSF, and 3-Gun events. Harris, who entered the competitive shooting arena in 2010, has celebrated winning High Lady and a second place Tac-Irons Division finish at the Task Force Dagger 3-Gun in 2014 already this year; adding to a list of accolades, including: 2013 3-Gun Nation Ladies Division: 4th Overall, 2013 3-Gun Nation Divisional Series: 3rd Tac-Irons Division, 2013 Southeastern 3-Gun Championship: Tac-Irons Division Champion and match High Lady, 2012 3-Gun Nation Amateur Series Finish: 9th and 2012 3-Gun Nation Ladies Division Finish: 5th.
Lastly, Tru-Spec has been awarded the tile as “Official Range-Wear” for the 2014 Brownell’s Rockcastle Pro-Am 3-Gun Championship. They will be outfitting the entire staff with an option of 24-7 Series Shorts or Pants, Performance Polos, and Tac-Ts. Rockcastle will be hosting more than 500 shooters on the various courses, making it the largest gathering of competitors (and sponsors) at any one 3-gun outing.
The 2014 Brownell’s Rockcastle Pro-Am 3-Gun Championship is taking place at Rockcastle Shooting Center at Park Mammoth Resort in Park City, KY, August 22-24.
Last week, Tactical Holdings filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in Federal Court in Wilmington, DE. The brands under Tactical Holdings include well known FR clothing manufacturer Massif as well as footwear makers Wellco and Altama as well as other companies Tactical Intermediate Holdings Inc, Tactical Holdings Operations Inc, Ro-Search Inc, Mo-Ka Shoe Corp, and Massif Holdings LLC. As you may recall, Ro-Search developed the Panama sole used in the old jungle boot.
Fortunately, they were given permission to use up to $3.5 Million in loans from Wells Fargo to pay vendors in order to keep things going through the process.
At face value this looks pretty scary for these brands but Massif may well come out of this situation stronger than before. While all brands were given until the end of July to find buyers, Massif has already been courted by Sun Capital Partners, who owns Point Blank Solutions, Protective Products Enterprises, Paraclete, Kelty, Sierra Designs, Slumberjack, Ultimate Direction and Royal Robbins. These guys know how to do it. Dow Jones reports that Sun Capital Partners has a $13 Million offer for Massif. As I understand it, Massif will go to auction soon with Sun Capital Partners as keen bidders who wish to nurture the business alongside its other holdings.
In a telephone interview with Noelle Christensen of Massif, she related, “As you know, we’re part of a larger corporate group, including footwear brands Wellco and Altama. The corporation, along with all entities, filed Chapter 11 last week. This court process will divest Massif from Tactical Holdings and Massif will be proceeding with an auction soon, to determine if Sun, or another investor, will be taking ownership.
Massif is a strong company and we’ll remain strong after this process is complete. As mentioned in the court filings, Massif received approval to pay vendors deemed critical during this process, so we can continue to deliver high-performance protective clothing to the warfighter.”
Unfortunately, the outlook isn’t as good for the footwear brands. Declining contracts and an investigation last year into sourcing of footwear has led to layoffs at Wellco. If they can’t find a buyer, DoD contracts will be moved elsewhere.
I would say that assuredly, Tactical Holdings as we know it, will cease to be. Things look promising for Massif who may find a new home alongside other PPE manufacturers. However, considering the crowded tactical footwear market, we are unsure who might go after not one, but two boot makers.
