Be in the Blue Force Gear booth (#26209) at 11:15 on Tuesday, 15 January, for an important announcement from Chris Costa of Costa Ludus. Look for live coverage of the event from SSD for those of you unable to attend.
Archive for the ‘Industry’ Category
Costa to Make Announcement at Blue Force Gear Booth on Opening Day of SHOT Show
Wednesday, January 9th, 2013Thomas Kivlehan, Jr to Assume Role as BHI Master Gunsmithand Firearms Division R&D Manager
Tuesday, January 8th, 2013BHI has announced that Tom Kivlehan is coming on board as their Master Gunsmith and Firearms Manufacturing Project Manage. I’ve known Tom since his H&K days. Congrats!
Blackheart International is pleased to announce that Thomas Kivlehan, Jr. (USMC retired) has joined the BHI team in the role of Master Gunsmith and Firearms Manufacturing Project Manager for the company’s firearms division. Kivlehan’s decades of experience in firearms manufacturing, research and development, machining skills, NATO and foreign weapons expertise, and his years working with some of the top firearms manufacturers in the industry will be called upon as BHI launches its expansion phase of light arms development and production.
Kivlehan has logged 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he has served as a Rifleman, Small Arms Repairman, Ordnance/Logistics Chief, Maintenance Chief, Small Arms Instructor, and worked in the Rifle Team Equipment Shop in Quantico. After leaving the Corps, Kivlehan worked as a USMC System Command liaison to various firearms manufacturers. In the private industry arena, Kivlehan has held various consultant, gunsmith, machinist, instructor and R&D positions with such names as H&K, Armalite, Kimber, FNH and U.S. Repeating Arms. Some career highlights include Kivlehan’s work on the USMC M40A3 Sniper Rifle, M14 Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR), M82A1 Barrett .50 caliberSASR, MEUSOC .45 caliber pistol, competition and tactical M16A2/M4 rifles/carbines. On the commercial side, Kivlehan was a Law Enforcement Armorer Instructor for Armalite, assisted in R&D, testing and production of the K22 and 84M rifles for Kimber, served as Program Manager of the HK416 rifle and 40mm Grenade Machine Gun for H&K Defense, fabricated the first FNH USA Special Police Rifle (SPR) and assisted in the development of the first FNH Tactical Shotgun. In addition, Kivlehan has built numerous custom sniper rifles (bolt action and M1A/M14), 1911-style pistols, revolvers and shotguns.
“With Tom joining the BHI team,” says Blackheart International COO Travis Ernst, “we will be able to continue to provide expert level gunsmithing, as well as develop new and innovative enhancements to our current firearms lineup. Tom brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that will enable us to continue to provide the quality and expertise that our customers expect from BHI. Tom’s background will also be instrumental in Blackheart International Training’s upcoming military and law-enforcement armorer courses for foreign weapons, ARs and pistols, so our clients should stay tuned for upcoming course offerings.” In addition to heading up BHI’s manufacturing of premium AR-15 rifles, AR57 rifles and specialized AK rifles, Kivlehan will manage the company’s gunsmithing service operation, which includes rebarreling, pillar bedding, custom machining and action blueprinting for bolt-action rifles, and trigger work, sight installation, guide rod upgrades, custom modifications and general service for pistols and revolvers. Finally, Kivlehan will apply his precision long-range rifle manufacturing experience to providing BHI customers with the most accurate customized bolt-action rifles available anywhere.
[NOTE: Tom will be at the SHOT show in Las Vegas next week. Stop by the BHI booth (#20214) and talk to him about your custom firearms or armorer instruction needs.]
Elite Defense Appoints Nic Smith as International Sales Manager
Tuesday, January 8th, 2013Elite Defense offers this new hire announcement.
More good news of out the Elite Defense camp; we are proud to announce hiring Nicholas (Nic) Smith as the Sales Manager for Canada, South America and the Pacific Rim. Nic is a US Army veteran serving for over 8 years, all of which was in 1st /75th Ranger Regiment at Hunter Army Air Field in Savannah, GA. His extensive product knowledge hedged with his real world experience will bring a great addition to the sales force of Elite Defense.
Nic has spent time as a Sniper Section Leader, Squad leader and also managed JSOC’s training program for the Afghanistan Special Forces as a civilian. “I have known Nic for several years now and I’m excited to bring him on board with us here at Elite. He brings a high energy level and a plethora of experience that we can all gain knowledge from,” said Brett Westcott the Vice President of Business Development and Marketing.
Visit Elite Defense in Booth # 27411 during SHOT Show.
Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition is Looking for a Few Good Companies
Tuesday, January 8th, 2013The Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition will be at SHOT Show recruiting new members to join their association of industry leaders advocating for the individual equipment needs of the warfighter. Here are some details they provided to us.
The Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition (WPRC) is the unified industry voice engaged in advocacy, industry education, and grassroots efforts focused on our mission – to support warfighter readiness by ensuring American service members continue to train and fight with superior gear. Amplifying your company’s voice through the Coalition on issues such as needed funding lines and procurement reforms will increase the pace and probability of improvements and positively impact your business.
With the severe defense budget pressures and force drawdowns, significant risks and uncertainty exists to the current standard of operational equipment providing tactical advantage to the warfighter. This standard must be maintained to ensure warfighters never again enter conflict insufficiently equipped.
The WPRC is engaging the newly sworn in Congress to expand our successful multi-year efforts to build “on the record ” awareness for the need to continue funding for individual and unit level equipment while also improving related procurement processes to ensure industry can best innovate, produce and deliver superior equipment in the future.
Add your company’s voice to the Coalition. A unified industry voice in this sector is a critical and historically missing component of warfighter readiness. We welcome the opportunity to discuss WPRC membership with you at the SHOT Show. To set up a meeting and learn more, please contact Craig Heilman at craig.heilman@warriorprotection.net and see our website at: www.warriorprotection.net
The WPRC members are: ADS, Inc., ArmorSource, LLC, Bates Footwear, BAE Systems, Benchmade Knife Company, Bluewater Defense, Brookwood Companies, Inc., Ceradyne, Inc., Darn Tough Vermont, Drifire, DuPont, Duro Textiles, LLC, Eye Safety Systems, Inc., ForceProtector Gear, Gerber Gear, Glen Raven Inc., Insight Technology, Inc., International Textile Group, Inc., Leading Technology Composites, Inc., London Bridge Trading Company, Milliken & Company, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc., Otis Technology, Inc., Outdoor Research, Pelican Products, Inc., Polartec, LLC, Silynx Communications, Inc., Smith Optics, Surefire, LLC, Survival Armor, TenCate Protective Fabrics, W.L. Gore & Associates, Inc., Wilcox Industries Corp., Wild Things Tactical, and Wiley X, Inc.
FirstSpear Expands Technical Apparel Line – Announces Line Manager
Monday, January 7th, 2013FirstSpear, has announced the expansion of their technical apparel line with the addition of 20-year textile industry veteran Kate Paterson to serve as their Apparel Product Line Manager, developing and managing a new suite of mission-specific, custom product that the company will be launching in the near future. I am super stoked about this news. I’m already a fan of FirstSpear and I’ve known Kate for several years now. She’s a superstar and I’ve learned a lot from her. She’s going to bring a lot to the brand.
The new pieces will utilize the latest in performance enhancing materials and design techniques, complimenting FirstSpear’s existing apparel products and their unique, lightweight load carriage systems. One of the advantages for FirstSpear is that they already specialize in body armor systems and this new line will seamlessly integrate with current industry armor systems and may serve as standalone technical garments for customers. Paterson will work to ensure that the effort builds on the company’s high speed, customer driven business model.
Prior to her work with FirstSpear, Paterson spent 20 years at Arc’teryx working in a range of capacities, resulting in a core expertise in researching, developing, consumerizing and improving highly technical apparel.
“I am looking forward to working with an independent, research and development focused company that prioritizes the individual needs of the customer,” said Kate Paterson. “I really enjoy helping people do their jobs better. FirstSpear’s focus on the unique mission needs of the individual user is in complete alignment with my goals of developing and fielding the very best products for our first responders and professional users.”
Paterson joins FirstSpear’s head of Research and Development Jon Laplume, who will be leading the technical material development process and interfacing with end user groups to generate the final product.
“Our continued expansion in the technical apparel field is the next logical step in the evolution of FirstSpear,” said FirstSpear CEO Scott Carver. “We have worked for the past two years to deliver user-driven load carriage systems that enable our customers to meet and surpass their mission needs. Kate brings to our team indepth knowledge of how to assess, accommodate and address the changing needs of our country’s professional user groups. Her skillset will help us even further support our customer’s changing demands by offering them new apparel options that integrate seamlessly with their gear to deliver maximum capability.”
Good luck to you guys. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Wilcox Industries Launches New Website
Sunday, January 6th, 2013It’s been up for a little while, but it’s still worth checking out if you haven’t seen the new Wilcox Industries website. Even though it’s an all new site, at first glance, you say, “Wilcox.” The look is iconic for them. See what I mean?
In addition to increased information on their full line of commercially available products as well as links to dealers, there are also new videos which showcase the various families of products.
John Noveske Passed Away Last Night in Car Accident
Saturday, January 5th, 2013
The firearms industry lost a friend and pioneer last night when John Noveske perished in a single car accident near his home in Oregon. John was the founder of Noveske Rifleworks which is well known for innovation.
Noveske Rifleworks issued this statement :
Noveske Rifleworks would ask you to remember the passing of our founder, John Noveske, who died Friday, January 4th 2013 in an automobile accident.
John planned for all eventualities, and wanted to ensure any changes would be as seamless as possible for our customers, dealers, suppliers, employees and friends. While this will be a trying time, we do not expect a change in the day to day operations of Noveske Rifleworks. We would like to thank you for your support as we deal with our loss, and would ask that instead of flowers, you consider a donation to a cause we will announce at later date.
John was more than just the founder of Noveske Rifleworks, he was a loving husband and father, and caring friend.
Although I had only spoken to him once, he was a very pleasant and friendly man, well respected by peers and competitors alike. We offer our condolences to his family as they mourn his passing.
Rest in Peace.
RMJ Tactical Launches New Website
Friday, January 4th, 2013
There’s an interesting story behind RMJ Tactical’s new website and it reflects how that company is run. They are people oriented and it shows when you meet them. Now, they’ve shown me a bit more of that in the development of tis website.
Alan Campbell is building the website for them. Apparently, he started working on it a little over a year ago, but before he was halfway complete, he was diagnosed with a tough strain of cancer. I’m happy to report that after months of radiation and chemotherapy he’s back at it and getting better every day. Although, he says its going to take him a little while longer to get the site exactly the way they want it. The point is, RMJ stuck by Alan in this. They could have gone a different direction and no one would have batted an eye, but they worked with the man to see it through.
The new site does the RMJ Tactical line of full tang tomahawks justice. It looks better, is easy to navigate, and gives you some cool insight into the brand. Check it out.
