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Archive for the ‘Load Carrying’ Category

Protech Tactical Debuts First Tactical Carrier With FirstSpear Technology

Wednesday, October 19th, 2016

shift-360

Popular Shift 360 Plate Rack System now available with expanded options

Jacksonville, Fla. – Safariland, a recognized leader in the tactical armor market, today announced the release of the PROTECH® Tactical Shift 360™ Scalable Plate Rack System as its first platform to encompass the FirstSpear® Tubes™ closure system.

Utilizing advanced technologies from industry-leading armor brands, PROTECH Tactical and FirstSpear, the Shift 360 plate rack is a high-speed carrier system representing PROTECH Tactical’s fastest and most dynamic scalable plate rack offering. The system starts as a basic plate rack carrier with the ability to transition into a fully loaded tactical system for a multitude of mission specifications.

FirstSpear Tubes modernize the armor carrier closure system, enhancing the ease of donning and doffing the Shift 360 carrier with a quick up or down single hand function. The simple motion for attaching or detaching the system capitalizes on the user’s muscle memory, ideal for stressful or high-speed scenarios. This lightweight closure system ensures the cummerbund is always positioned in the same location, which is vital for proper ballistic coverage, and mitigates the risk of misalignment and incorrect attachment.

“The Shift 360 meets the requirements of patrol and tactical law enforcement officers who need to transition from routine activities to high-threat situations in a matter of seconds,” said Director of Tactical Armor Brian Santimauro. “Facing increased occurrences of scenarios evolving into active shooter, hostage or terrorist situations, law enforcement officers can have confidence that the Shift 360 will outfit them for any situation.”

“The Shift 360 system was put to the test with a variety of law enforcement teams, providing PROTECH Tactical with vital feedback to make it one of the most sought after scalable plate racks on the market,” added Santimauro. Beyond the FirstSpear technology, the Shift 360 plate rack incorporates other recently updated design elements, which elevate the functionality of the system, such as a cummerbund attachment, ballistics insertions and reinforced support. The Shift 360 AWS is available with all three closure system options – FirstSpear Tubes, single-point Quick-Release, and Velcro® closure.

“Protective technology is in our name,” said Todd Mackler, vice president of Armor. “This isn’t restricted to the ballistics and hard armor components that are inserted into our carriers. It also pertains to the carriers themselves with efficient designs and detailed components that we test, evaluate and integrate into our systems.”

Safariland introduced a new a-la-carte ordering system for 2016, which allows teams and individual users to configure the Shift 360 plate rack to meet their specific needs, including a full array of ballistic and non-ballistic accessory garments. The PROTECH Tactical Shift 360 is available for ordering with Type II and IIIA ballistic packages, as well as color options based on the load-bearing configuration. Integrated FirstSpear 6/12™ Platform & Pocket Technologies and Traditional Modular Webbing are due out at the end of 2016. More information on the Shift 360 Scalable Plate Rack system is available here:

www.safariland.com/products/body-armor/tactical-body-armor-and-gear/tactical-carriers/plate-racks/shift-360-advanced-webless-system-%E2%80%93-firstspear-tubes-SHIFT_360_FS_M_V

Rhodesians Didn’t Invent The Chest Rig

Wednesday, October 19th, 2016

In a recent post about Intellectual Property, a commenter mentioned that the US had stolen the chest rig from the Rhodesians. Well, I can assure you, that is not the case. We stole it from the same place they did, the Chicoms.  For you youngsters, or anyone who slept through the Cold War, that’s short for Chinese Communists, the same folks you’re buying your TVs from these days.

The US use of chest rigs took a slightly different route than the Rhodesians although the reasons were similar. We started using them during the Viet Nam war, mainly by Special Operations Forces, like the US Navy SEAL seen above. For many, it was simply a means to look like the enemy. Others carried AK-47s and the Chicom Chest Rig was the only means to carry the 30 round magazines with its distinct curve.

For the most part, the US got out of the chest rig business after the war. However, UKSF used them and there was some cross pollination with US SOF over the years. US issue chest rigs, although limited at the time, go back to the 80s, and continue today.

By the time the ‘Rhodesian’ was issued via SPEAR there was already a long history of the US use of chest rigs.

Raven Concealment Systems – Copia Magazine Carrier

Tuesday, October 11th, 2016

The Copia is an injection-molded pistol magazine carrier, developed to fulfill a government contract requirement for an ambidextrous magazine carrier that would accept magazines from multiple handgun models. They are now available for retail consumers.

Inspired by our original Kydex modular magazine carrier design, the new Copia carriers feature:

– Funneled mouth for easy magazine insertion

– Unique cavity and adjustable retention design allows the Copia to accommodate double-stack (both steel and polymer) magazines from over 100 different models of handguns chambered in 9/40/357, (including Glock, Sig, Beretta, FN, etc). Adjustable retention also allows magazines to be inserted facing forward or rearward.

– Short and tall body variants (short have a smaller profile and only work with three of our modular belt attachments, and tall are compatible with all of our IWB and OWB modular belt attachments)

– Body-hugging contour is more concealable and enhances comfort

– Available in single or double configuration, but additional units can be joined together to make larger configurations

Singles are $39.99, and doubles are $74.99. They are in stock and shipping now from RCS and RCS dealers.

www.ravenconcealment.com

AUSA – Mayflower Jungle Rig from Velocity Systems

Wednesday, October 5th, 2016

Velocity Systems continues to refine their Mayflower Jungle Rig. Those of you familiar with pre-GWOT British load carriage systems, particularly those used by British SF, will recognize the design inspiration at work. For example, a bungee is routed through the pouches in order to reduce bounce.

Below, you can see the pad. While it’s stiffened, it has spacer mesh and ventilation holes cut in the stiffener. Additionally, you can see the use of Blue Force Gear’s Helium Whisper.

Material selection was very important. The ULTRAcomp fabric is stiff enough to give the pouch and lid body so that the rig doesn’t flop around, despite its light weight. This construction also makes it easier to insert magazines. The Mayflower Jungle Rig offers both 2 x 7.62 magazine and 3 x 5.56 magazine pouches. In addition to Velcro closures, they’ve also incorporated Side-Release buckles for use during mobility, maritime and air operations on the magazine and GP pouches.

This photo gives you a different perspective of the pouch construction. The ULTRAcomp wraps around bottom of the pouch. There are also drain holes in the bottom of the pouches.

The sides of the Magazine Pouches feature PALS webbing for the attachment of grenade or other pouches. Although it’s not specifically addressed in this article, there’s also a Grenade Pouch which will hold the M67. It can also be used for a compass or other items.

The GP Pouch is quite versatile. The pouch has a skirt to keep debris out and will hold jackets up to Arc’teryx Atom LT in size or the Velocity Systems Basha with bungees and pins. The GP pouch is also sized to accept several models of canteens including the Nalgene 32 oz, 44 pattern (or later) water bottle, and Canadian cold weather model. It will also accept the British two-piece mess tin.

While the shoulder straps are low profile for wear under packs and armor, they’ve introduced removable padded sections.

Considering the amount of carrying capacity, it’s extremely lightweight. I didn’t get to weigh it, but it was obvious when I picked it up. Much of this is due to the materials used in its construction.

No release date yet. They are still working a few components such as a 40mm pouch which integrates with the shoulder straps.

www.velsyst.com

AUSA – Team Wendy Transit Pack by Mystery Ranch

Monday, October 3rd, 2016

This is a sneak peek of a cool new helmet storage and transport bag from Team Wendy who partnered with Mystery Ranch.

The bag is operationally focused with stowable shoulder straps and PALS for those who want to attach it directly to a vest or other bag.


Inside are two modular zippered accessory pockets as well as a larger drawstring bag for NODs which can be nestled in the shell of the helmet for additional protection. The interior of the Transit Pack is Velcro loop which is not only soft against your kit but also allows the pouches to be attached wherever you want.


Look for the Team Wendy Transit Pack by Mystery Ranch at SHOT Show.

AUSA – TYR Tactical PICO DS Chest RACK 

Monday, October 3rd, 2016

This is the new PICO DS Chest RACK from TYR Tactical. It was designed specifically for use with their PICO DS but it can also be run independently with an H Harness. An interesting feature is that each of the four individual magazine pockets at the rear are actually Combat Adjustable Happy Mag Pouches. For those who want extra security for their magazines, they’ve included optional bungees.

Additionally, it also capacity for two pistol mags (pouch is magnetic) and two GP Pouches, one of which will hold an M67 and the other is a bit larger at 4″x5″ for med/signal/SERE needs.

The spacer mesh at the rear is removable and the RACK can be attached via Velcro. However, the SR four buckles hold it in place pretty well.

www.tyrtactical.com

Hill People Gear – M2016 Butt Pack

Friday, September 30th, 2016

Hill People Gear has answered the requests of customers and persuasive friends with an updated version of the venerable M1956 / M1967 military butt pack. For many in the US, a moldy military surplus M1967 on an alice belt with a couple of canteen pouches (and sheath knife if you were lucky!) was a first field setup and still holds a special place.

Just like the originals, the M2016 Butt Pack can be used as a shoulder bag or mounted on a belt with or without H-Harness. Unlike the original, HPG’s new offering is also designed to mount securely on the top of a full sized pack as a floating and compressible top pocket. It comes with a shoulder strap with other carriage options offered separately.

The exterior has 4 different surfaces comprised of FirstSpear’s proprietary 6/12 PALS grid fabric. There are both top and bottom compression straps for adding additional items. The interior is accessed via a full panel opening secured with a #10 zipper and additionally protected with side release buckles. Internal organization consists of a full 6/12 velcro / PALS field next to the removable HDPE frame sheet and a mesh zippered pocket opposite that.

I love their videos which not only inform you about the product but also have a travelogue vibe.

The Hill People Gear M2016 Butt Pack will be available in mid-November for $135 in two-tone ranger green / khaki and two tone manatee grey / foliage grey. To be notified when it is available, email info@hillpeoplegear.com. Please specify color choice.

MDM – Berry Compliant Pouch for Magpul D-60 Magazine

Wednesday, September 28th, 2016

Earlier this year Magpul came out with a MOLLE compatible pouch for their D-60 Drum Magazine.  Immediately, customers started asking for a Made in USA version.  Magpul listened and made it happen.  Look for these very soon.


www.magpul.com