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An Open Letter From Wild Things to Their Military Customers

Thursday, January 9th, 2014

Dear Military Community,

All of us at Wild Things would like to wish you a Happy New Year. We thank you for all you do for our great country and we appreciate your excellence, effectiveness and dedication to duty and country.

I would also like to thank our supply chain partners with whom we weathered the Sequester – their support and efforts to continue to supply needed raw materials has been much appreciated.

2014 looks to be a better year for all of us that supply the military. A two-year federal government budget should allow the DOD to plan their buys with some degree of confidence.

2013 was a tough year for the industry and a particularly tough year for Wild Things. We are nearing the end of a multi-year transition at Wild Things – a transition that has resulted in new owners, new management, upgraded systems and processes, new and expanded product line and a revolutionary new approach to consumer product – and the Sequester hit us hard. We closed our New Hampshire office in June and let people go to reduce our operating costs. In addition, we had some production delays in 2013. Wild Things has always prided itself on our rapid delivery of quality products. We did not perform to our standards and I would like to apologize to all who were impacted by our delays.

The back half of 2013 was a dramatic improvement. Our sales bookings were strong. Our manufacturing ramped back up and we have been delivering product at a steady cadence. In the midst of this difficult year, the Wild Things team has launched an entire new line of FR products, including:
• New high performance Fire Retardant base layers made with a new wool blend that contains no Modacrylic;
• New GORE-TEX® PYRAD™ Fire Retardant Hard Shell Jacket and Pants;
• New Fire Retardant Low Loft Jacket made with GORE-TEX® PYRAD™ Fabric with Fast Pack technology shell.

Please contact Frank Tarantino or Grady Burrell (828.421.4349) regarding appointments for Military or Law Enforcement personnel at SHOT SHOW or Outdoor Retailer to review our new product line.

I would like to thank our distributor partners who work hard on our behalf and who show our products to customers around the world. We appreciate your efforts to grow the Wild Things community.

Best wishes to all for a healthy, happy and prosperous 2014.

– Ed Schmults and the Wild Things Team

Tags: Wild Things
Posted in Industry | 1 Comment »

Announcing Cleer Medical LLC

Thursday, January 9th, 2014

For the past year, Eleven 10 LLC and Raven Concealment Systems have been collaborating behind the scenes on a new enterprise.

This new joint-venture is CLEER Medical LLC, based in Cleveland, Ohio. CLEER Medical combines Eleven-10’s operational experience and medical expertise with Raven Concealment’s advanced design/manufacturing capabilities and their expertise in developing gear for low-visibility/no-visibility missions.

Remember that Low-Viz Blow-Out Kit that we previewed in May? That is one of the products they have been working on.

The focus of CLEER will be to make TCCC-compliant medical products that are smaller, lighter, and more effective than anything presently on the market, without compromising effectiveness.

Making life-saving items smaller and lighter means those items will be able to be taken to more places, and in greater quantity.

CLEER Medical will be unveiling their first product at SHOT 2014. You can find their products at booth #561 (with Raven Concealment Systems). Those who wish to learn more can sign up for their email newsletter at www.cleermedical.com.

They can be found on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/CLEERMed

Tags: Cleer Medical LLC
Posted in Industry, Medical | Comments Off on Announcing Cleer Medical LLC

Vertx to Incorporate Fighter Designs’ Airflow Technology

Thursday, January 9th, 2014

Congrats to Adam Slank and the whole crew at Fighter Designs. You may recognize the name from their “Magnetic Velcro.” We have had some interesting conversations about the development of the Airflow Technology. Some of you make trousers made by Fighter Designs but I am looking forward to seeing how the technology works with the Vertx aPhantom pant.

(Cincinnati, OH 08 JAN 14) Vertx Apparel, the tactical brand and innovation design arm of Fechheimer Brothers, is proud to announce they have signed a licensing agreement with Fighter Design of Austin, TX. This new partnership will allow Vertx to incorporate Fighter Design’s proprietary Airflow Technology into new models of the world’s best tactical pant.

“Fighter Design’s ‘Airflow Tech’ has been on my radar for a while now,” says Vertx Director of Sales Darrell Morrow. “As an apparel feature there’s nothing else like it. It’s proven to keep you cool. Adding it as a feature option to Vertx tactical pants is frankly just an awesome evolution.”

Fighter Design’s Airflow Technology has already garnered well-deserved attention for shooters, athletes and operators who must work in high temperatures. It’s an aggressive, well designed system that utilizes extremely tough mesh material in strategic locations like the inseam of the pant legs and cargo pocket interiors to create a cooling flow of air into the pants.

“We’re very excited to be working with Vertx on this,” says Fighter Design’s Adam Slank. “They’re an amazing company and we’re all big fans of the Vertx brand. Of all the brands in the market, we really wanted to work with Vertx. People just need to try the new pants in order to feel the airflow for themselves. Some things need to be experienced.”

Though the partnership is a young one, an initial project will be debuted at the NSSF SHOT Show, Booth #126. This will take the form of a limited run of ‘Phantom Ops Powered by Airflow.’ Note that a small number of these pants will be available for preorder at the Vertx booth and on line—and doing so may very well guarantee participation in some otherwise invite-only after-business-hours Vertx SHOT Show events.

www.thefighterdesign.com

www.wearvertx.com

Tags: Fighter Design, VertX
Posted in Clothing, Design, Industry | 6 Comments »

Survival Armor Welcomes Gary Hughes

Wednesday, January 8th, 2014

Survival Armor is excited to introduce the addition of Gary Hughes, Director of Special Projects as a full time member of the Survival Armor team. Gary Hughes has been affiliated with Survival Armor since its inception and brings with him over 20 years of experience in the body armor industry.

Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Kurt Osborne says, “Survival Armor is committing resources to continue our growth and market penetration with the
ultimate goal of becoming the number one body armor supplier in the US, Gary’s vast ballistic and armor knowledge will lend support to the entire Survival Armor sales team and help us accomplish this goal.”

www.survivalarmor.com

Tags: Survival Armor
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Announcing SIERRA HOTEL MANUFACTURING Under The Guidance Of Jamie Wehmeyer

Friday, January 3rd, 2014

03 JAN 14 Austin, TX – You already know Sierra Hotel and you don’t even know you know it.

Sierra Hotel is the new marketing, R&D and direct commercial sales arm of a 1ST Tier DoD manufacturer. Though the parent company has been building equipment and parts “on spec” for decades, they had an inability to touch the civilian firearms market. They reached out to Jamie Wehmeyer, the co-founder and former designer from Legion Firearms and Sierra Hotel Manufacturing was born.

“Our parent company builds everything from humvee parts and .50 cal pieces to Mk 19 mounts,” says CEO and Sierra Hotel co-founder Wehmeyer. “They also build firearm components people have no idea they’re using, particularly bolt carrier groups. People literally do know Sierra Hotel and don’t know they know it.”

Those bolt carrier groups are being manufactured at a rate of up to 30,000 per month. A $20 million dollar machine shop and stringent quality control standards have allowed them to provide BCGs to a startling number of rifle manufacturing brands. NDAs are in place to protect corporate identity, which prevents specific brands from being named. However, at 20 to 30,000 BCGs per month for a very long time now, it’s just shy of a virtual certainty rifle owners have one in their possession (particularly if they own more than one rifle, of more than one brand).

“Widespread as they are, BCGs are only one small part of what we’ll be doing,” continues Wehmeyer. “We have plans for numerous innovative products that will really impact the civilian market—and we ‘ll be able to supply them in quantity. In house process- and design-engineers along with serious manufacturing capability allow us to be the sole manufacturer of our products. That’s just one reason we’ve been selected as an OEM by companies who want to keep their QC at an impeccable standard.”

Among the new products Sierra Hotel will be building are the modular MuzzleHub and a billet heat-treated fire control group. You will be able to see these things and others soon.

“Sierra Hotel products will be in several places at SHOT,” Wehmeyer advises. “Some will be in or on products at Crye Precision, some at London Bridge Trading, others at BattleComp and Legion Firearms. If you’d like to know more about them, or—for vetted journalists and reviewers—discuss T&E applications, e-mail us or come see us at SHOT Show.”

www.sierrahotelmfg.com

www.facebook.com/sierrahotelmfg

Tags: Sierra Hotel Manufacturing
Posted in Industry | 1 Comment »

ATS Tactical Gear Acquires Elite Line from Woolrich

Friday, January 3rd, 2014

ATS Tactical Gear Acquires Elite Line from Woolrich
Forms ATS Elite Tactical Clothing
(This is the official ATS Elite press release.)

Hopkinsville, KY, January 2, 2014: ATS Tactical Gear announced today the acquisition of the Elite line of tactical clothing from Woolrich, Inc. The new division is named ATS Elite Tactical Clothing. Jerry Rinder, who started the line with Woolrich, came over to ATS to head the new division. ATS Tactical Gear and ATS Elite will be exhibiting at the SHOT show in booth number 10321.

Once again, congrats guys!

Tags: ATS Elite, ATS Tactical, woolrich
Posted in Clothing, Industry | Comments Off on ATS Tactical Gear Acquires Elite Line from Woolrich

Dana Gleason Talks About the Montana Outdoor Alliance

Friday, January 3rd, 2014

The Big Guy, Mystery Ranch’s Dana Gleason talks outdoor industry stuff in this piece by Bozeman’s KBZK.com.
(more…)

Tags: Dana Gleason, Mystery Ranch
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Breaking – Magpul Announces Move

Thursday, January 2nd, 2014

Magpul announces their move, going wisely with the split location option. Personally, I see Texas as a risky move in the out years with so much pressure to naturalize illegal workers to citizenship. Based on national trends there is good reason to believe that this would strengthen the Democrat base in that State. Traditionally, Democrats support gun legislation, introducing bills to restrict Second Amendment rights. As for the multitude of doubters and armchair MBAs who didn’t believe that Magpul was actually moving shop; eat it. Having said that, 3 huzzahs for Magpul and lovers of Freedom everywhere.

MAGPUL INDUSTRIES ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR RELOCATION
Company Is Moving Operations to Wyoming and Texas

Magpul Industries announced today that it is relocating its operations to Wyoming and Texas.

The company is relocating manufacturing, distribution and shipping operations to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Magpul is leasing a 58,000 square foot manufacturing and distribution facility during the construction of a 100,000 square foot build-to-suit facility in the Cheyenne Business Parkway. The Wyoming relocation is being completed with support from Governor Matt Mead, the Wyoming Business Council and Cheyenne LEADS.

Magpul is moving its corporate headquarters to Texas. Three North Central Texas sites are under final consideration, and the transition to the Texas headquarters will begin as soon as the facility is selected. The Texas relocation is being accomplished with support from Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Economic Development Corporation.

“Magpul made the decision to relocate in March 2013 and has proceeded on an aggressive but deliberate path” says Doug Smith, Chief Operating Officer for Magpul Industries. “These dual moves will be carried out in a manner that ensures our operations and supply chain will not be interrupted and our loyal customers will not be affected.”

The company began a nationwide search for a new base of operations after legislation was enacted in Colorado that dramatically limits the sale of firearms accessories – the core of Magpul’s business. Magpul plans on initially transitioning 92% of its current workforce outside of Colorado within 12-16 months and will maintain only limited operations in Colorado.

“Moving operations to locations that support our culture of individual liberties and personal responsibility is important,” says Richard Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer for Magpul Industries. “Moving to a true multi state operation will also allow Magpul to utilize the strengths of both Texas and Wyoming as we continue to expand.”

www.Magpul.com/move

Tags: Magpul
Posted in Industry | 31 Comments »