I start every active shooter response course by placing my students a football field away from the objective.

No matter how experienced they are, the first thing I do is put distance between them and the building, throw a flashbang, and yell, “Go.”

The sprint is primarily about introducing stress. It is the closest I can come in scenario-based training to replicating what someone may feel crossing a parking lot toward gunfire or closing on a structure with a rifle and plate carrier, not knowing what is waiting on the other side of the door.

Heart rates spike. Fine motor skills begin to deteriorate. That is the environment I want my students operating in before they get on the X.

The sprint also serves another important purpose: the kit shakeout.

Standing Still Tells You Nothing

Somewhere along that hundred-yard sprint, gear almost always starts falling off.

Med kits. Tourniquets. Magazines. Sometimes entire pouches.

I call it a “yard sale.” An ant trail of equipment marks the path the student ran, like a trail of breadcrumbs made from pieces of their own kit.

Some of it is expensive gear that looked great in the locker. Some of it comes from overloaded carriers where a student attached everything they could think of instead of moving half of it into a backpack. Other times, it is department- or agency-issued equipment that no one has truly tested under movement and pressure.

The source does not matter. Equipment can look perfect while someone is standing still, but you will never know whether it works until you put it through the paces.

Students usually laugh when it happens, and watching someone trace their sprint path to collect scattered gear can be funny. But the lesson underneath it is not funny at all.

When It Matters Most

The real problem becomes clear a few minutes later.

The student enters the structure, engages the simulated threat, and encounters a casualty bleeding on the ground. They reach for the med kit on their belt or plate carrier, and it is gone.

It is sitting in the grass a hundred yards behind them.

Now they must run back to find it and then cover the same distance again to reach the casualty. In a real emergency, those are seconds that may determine whether someone survives a gunshot wound.

I do not mind when equipment fails during training. In fact, I welcome it because failure creates an unforgettable learning point.

It is better to learn that you should assume nothing works until it has been pressure-tested in a controlled environment. A kit shakeout in training may cost someone a little embarrassment that their teammates will not let them forget. A kit shakeout during a real armed response could have far more serious consequences.

One case has always stuck with me.

A student and friend arrived at a course wearing what I can only describe as an “Amazon special.” His medical pouch looked the part but had never been run under stress.

It did not survive the sprint.

His equipment failed in front of his peers, and he immediately understood the gravity of that happening during a real emergency. He adjusted his setup, retested it, and moved forward.

Today, he runs a Blue Force Gear® GRID® Battle Belt outfitted with a Micro Trauma Kit NOW!® Nano ES built for law enforcement.

That is exactly what a professional should do. Identify failure. Correct it. Test the solution.

One Setup Does Not Fit Everyone

Gear setups are personal.

Body type, job, environment, and mission all influence what works. There is no single correct belt, carrier, or rig for every operator or officer.

Looking at someone else’s setup can provide useful ideas butcopying it without accounting for your own mission is where problems begin. What works for someone teaching on a flat range may not work for an officer spending a shift inside a patrol vehicle. A setup built for short-duration operations may not work for someone moving long distances over difficult terrain.

Do not build your equipment around appearance. Build it around what you may actually be required to do.

My Recommended Kit Shakeout

1. Build for Your Mission

Set up your equipment around your job, body, environment, and responsibilities.

Talk to colleagues about their setups. Study how experienced professionals configure their equipment. Use those conversations for ideas but evaluate every decision against your own requirements.

Ask the hard questions:

• Can you reach your medical kit with either hand?

• Can you access it while sitting or wearing gloves?

• Does your belt remain stable while running, climbing, or changing positions?

• Can you move through doorways, vehicles, and confined spaces without snagging?

• Is your sling adjustable enough to stabilize a longer shot or move the rifle behind you when you need to go hands-on?

• Is every item on your kit necessary, accessible, and secure?

If you cannot explain why something is on your equipment, it may not need to be there.

2. Test It Through Realistic Training

The first time you truly test your equipment should never be during a real response.

Scenario-based training through your department, unit, or professional course will expose problems quickly. Events such as The Tactical Games can also reveal what happens to your setup once movement, fatigue, repetition, and pressure are introduced.

Do not limit the test to a flat range. Run in it. Climb in it. Get into and out of vehicles. Work from awkward positions. Access your equipment with either hand and while wearing gloves.

Standing still only tells you how the kit looks. Movement tells you whether it works.

3. Adjust and Retest

Never stop refining your setup.

If something shifts, bounces, snags, blocks another item, or cannot be accessed when you need it, change it. Then run the test again.

Equipment is only one part of proficiency. It cannot replace judgment, fitness, medical knowledge, or consistent training. But when the moment comes to use it, that equipment must remain secure, accessible, and functional.

Why I Run Blue Force Gear

I have been running Blue Force Gear for years, and the reason is simple: it is lightweight, low-profile, and built for movement.

When I stand next to people wearing bulkier, industry-standard equipment, my setup often looks small by comparison. That is exactly what I want.

Snag-free, low-profile gear allows me to move faster and cleaner when sprinting, climbing, working around vehicles, or entering a structure. It gives me the capability I need without adding unnecessary bulk.

Water resistance also matters. On a long movement in the rain with a 70-pound rucksack, added weight matters. Equipment that absorbs water gains weight and fights you for the rest of the movement.

My BFG® equipment remains close to the same weight wet or dry, and it has held up through years of hard use. More importantly, it stays where I put it when movement, weather, fatigue, and pressure are added to the problem.

That is when equipment earns your trust.

Pressure-Test Your Setup

Before you trust your kit during a real response, answer these questions under movement and stress:

• Can you reach critical equipment with either hand?

• Can you access it while wearing gloves?

• Does anything shift, bounce, snag, or interfere with movement?

• Does your equipment remain secure while running, climbing, kneeling, or changing positions?

• Does one item block access to another?

• Can someone else locate and access your medical equipment?

• Does your setup still work inside a vehicle or confined space?

• Have you tested it while tired, wet, and under pressure?

If you cannot answer yes to every question, your setup still needs work.

Your equipment does not earn your trust because it looks right, comes from a familiar brand, or was issued by your agency. It earns your trust after you have run in it, climbed with it, worked around vehicles in it, accessed it with either hand, andconfirmed that it remains where you need it under pressure.

Build it for the mission. Test it realistically. Fix what fails. Then,test it again.

Always Better®

By Kyle Sproles
Founder, Active Shooter Response Solutions
Visit Active Shooter Response Solutions

The range day is over. Your rifle is back in the case. The optic survived hours of steady rain. Your radio still works. The batteries have power.

Everything looks fine, so you wipe down the exposed surfaces, close the cases, load the truck, and head home.

Weeks later, you open that same case before the next training day.

A faint haze has formed across the lens. The battery contacts are beginning to discolor. The radio powers on, but the connection is inconsistent. You expected the equipment to be ready. Instead, you are inspecting contacts, changing batteries, and trying to determine what happened between the last range day and this one.

There were no drops. No impacts. No obvious equipment failures.

The conditions that caused the damage were sealed inside the case.

Surface Dry Is Not Equipment Dry

Rain is easy to recognize. You can see it running across an optic, collecting on a rifle, and soaking into equipment.

Sweat, humidity, condensation, and rapid temperature changes are less obvious, but they can still leave moisture on and around the gear you depend on.

The risk does not end when that equipment is placed inside a protective pouch or hard case.

Those systems shield equipment from impact, dirt, abrasion, and the outside environment. They can also trap moisture that is already present. The exterior of a case may be completely dry while the equipment and air inside remain damp.

Once the case is closed, that moisture can remain near lenses, battery terminals, electrical connections, metal components, and other sensitive surfaces. What begins as light fogging or discoloration can develop into corrosion, unreliable connections, and equipment that requires attention before it can be used again.

Wiping down exposed equipment is an important first step, but a towel can only reach the surface. It cannot always reach moisture around electrical connections, beneath battery covers, along seams, behind lenses, or within the enclosed environment of a pouch or case.

Temperature changes can make the problem harder to recognize. Equipment moved from a cold range, vehicle, aircraft, or outdoor environment into warmer storage may develop condensation after it has already been packed.

Before closing the case, ask one more question:

Is the equipment still warmer, colder, or more humid than the environment where it will be stored?

If it is, the condition inside the case may continue to change after the latches close.

Ideally, equipment would remain unpacked with sufficient airflow until completely dry and adjusted to the storage environment.Real operations rarely make that possible.

The team is moving. Vehicles are loading. The range is closing. Equipment has to return to an arms room, locker, truck, pack, or deployment bag. There may not be enough time, space, or airflow to leave every optic, radio, battery, and electronic device spread across a table.

That creates a dangerous assumption: if the outside feels dry, the equipment is ready to store.

Surface dry and equipment dry are not always the same thing.

Before You Close the Case

A few steps can help reduce the amount of moisture stored with sensitive equipment:

• Wipe down all exposed surfaces.

• Inspect battery compartments, contacts, connectors, seams, and lens areas.

• Remove batteries when required by the equipment manufacturer or unit procedure.

• Allow equipment to air out whenever conditions permit.

• Check pouches, packs, and cases for moisture before repacking.

• Consider whether a temperature change could create condensation after the case closes.

• Follow the equipment manufacturer’s inspection, storage, and maintenance requirements.

These steps matter, but time and operational conditions do not always allow equipment to dry fully before it has to be packed.

That is where moisture management inside the case becomes important.

The Next Requirement Changes the Consequence

Finding moisture during scheduled maintenance is a problem. Finding it during pre-mission checks changes the requirement.

The same fogged optic, corroded contact, or unreliable connection now costs time the user or team may not have.

For an individual user, that can mean damaged equipment, lost training time, or an expensive replacement. Across a military unit or agency, it can contribute to additional maintenance, equipment downtime, and critical gear that is unavailable when needed.

Protecting equipment is not only about whether it survives the initial exposure. It is also about whether it remains ready after that exposure is over.

Protective Cases Solve Only Half the Problem

Some of the equipment most vulnerable to moisture is also among the most valuable equipment in the loadout.

Night vision systems rely on clear lenses, electrical components, and dependable battery connections. Radios and GPS units must function without hesitation. Optics must remain clear. Batteries must provide reliable power. Weapons and tools contain metal components that can degrade when moisture remains against their surfaces.

Much of this equipment already travels inside padded pouches, lockers, packs, hard cases, or vehicle kits. Those systems protect against movement, impact, abrasion, and the outside environment.

They do not automatically remove moisture enclosed with the equipment.

A rugged case can help prevent an optic from being crushed. A padded pouch can protect night vision equipment during movement. Neither guarantees that the environment inside remains dry.

That is the difference between external protection and internal moisture management.

Active Moisture Removal Versus Passive Moisture Control

Disposable desiccant packets are commonly used for passive moisture control during storage and transport. They eventually have to be replaced and may not address all the moisture introduced through rain, sweat, humidity, condensation, or temperature changes.

DRYOUT® Active Moisture-Removal Technology™ takes a different approach.

Its patented layered material pulls moisture away from equipment, absorbs it, and traps it within the material. This supports two types of moisture management.

The first is preventative. DRYOUT can remain with sensitive equipment inside a pouch, pack, range bag, or case to help manage moisture within the enclosed storage environment.

The second is post-exposure recovery. After equipment encounters rain, sweat, humidity, condensation, or changing temperatures, DRYOUT helps pull remaining moisture away from optics, electronics, batteries, and other sensitive gear.

DRYOUT is reusable and resettable for repeated use. Collected moisture can be released through airflow or controlled heat according to the product care instructions. No batteries, electronics, or external power are required.

DRYOUT does not replace proper inspection, maintenance, or drying procedures. It adds active moisture management to the protection system already surrounding the equipment.

Blue Force Gear® protects the outside.

DRYOUT helps manage the moisture trapped inside.

Readiness Continues After the Gear Is Packed

The mission may be over. The range may be cold. The equipment may be back inside its case.

The exposure does not necessarily end there.

Damage may continue developing while equipment sits untouched and trapped moisture remains near the lenses, contacts, connections, and components inside.

The next time the case opens, you should be reaching for equipment that is ready to work, not discovering a problem that began after the last use.

Before you close it, consider what you may be sealing inside.

Because the damage you cannot see is still damage.

Explore the DRYOUT line at Blue Force Gear.

About Blue Force Gear

Blue Force Gear® is a leading innovator in lightweight tactical equipment, best known for producing some of the world’s most trusted weapon slings. The company continues to redefine load carriage with its Ten-Speed® multi-use pouches, MOLLEminus® platforms, and patented Helium Whisper® attachment system.

Driven by a commitment to performance and weight reduction, Blue Force Gear® engineers its products using proprietary ULTRACOMP® high-performance laminate materials, delivering durability without unnecessary bulk. This relentless focus on innovation, combined with precision manufacturing and attention to detail, has positioned the brand at the forefront of modern tactical gear.

Blue Force Gear® is a Great Place to Work® Certified company, reflecting its dedication not only to the warfighter, but to the people behind the mission.

For more information, visit www.blueforcegear.com.