Bulldog Equipment Company offers bags for a variety of weapons such as the M4, M240, M249, M24 and M82A1 Barrett .50 sniper rifle. Constructed from ½†closed cell foam and 1000D Cordura, they also feature dual carrying handles as well as an outer pocket for accessories. Plus, from now until Thursday, October 7th, 2010, when you spend $100 or more on the Bulldog Online Store, receive a free Single Point Sling.
At the recent Infantry Warfighting Conference at Fort Benning, Georgia we caught up with Tyr Tactical and one item at their booth had tongues wagging; the MICO Machine Gunner Assault Pack. Designed to carry 500 rounds of belted 7.62 ammo in the pack body with another 75 rounds in the feed chute, it looks like something straight out of Hollywood. But, unlike some movie creation, this is real and actually works. Thanks to Scottsdale Gun Club, Tyr was able to demonstrate the MICO in action. It is a very specialized piece of equipment and we don’t see guys wearing this one a multi-day patrol, but it does put a lot of rounds with the weapon. The photo above features an armor vest we didn’t see at IWC and isn’t on their website. Could it be their SPD 8 entry?
According the Tyr’s Facebook page, a variant for 5.56 ammo is in the works. The 7.62 MICO Pack is available in MultiCam, Coyote, and Ranger Green.
Anyone that’s met G.W. Ayers will attest that while he’s a nice, typically soft-spoken guy, he looks like someone shaved a gorilla(1) and hung LBE on it. This shouldn’t be taken as an insult—he’s a smart guy and we like him. It might, however, explain our initial hesitation at the sight of those outstretched paws(2) when he reached out and offered to take us over to check out his new radio pouch. We got over it and rode along.
Glad we did.
This pouch is an outstanding piece of kit and is another one of those forehead-smacking ideas. It came to them from an SF operator in the field, who explained what he needed and stood by. GW was quick to sic his custom shop on it. The result is now in use in a number of places, including several SOF organizations.
Designed for the Harris 152 radio (AN/PRC-152 Falcon III for purists and grognards), this modular pouch addresses the biggest problem you can have with your radio pouch—once it’s in there, you have to pull it back out to make adjustments and sometimes even to use them. Says GW, “What we’ve done is design this so it’s MOLLEd [note: that’s a verb, not a typo] onto the gear, then the radio will fall free at 45 degrees so you can change your channels, then you secure the radio. It’s a one-handed operations, so that you don’t have to pull the radio out of the pouch when you have to deal with it.â€
(From the description on their site: ‘Releasing the heavy duty quick-release buckle on the front of the pouch allows the entire pouch to lean out, giving the user easy access to the keypad and screen, which faces the wearer and remains protected by a clear window.’)
The pouch will also carry the MBITR radio in the same configuration (yes, AN/PRC-148 MBITR radio, we can use the official cool name too), if you’re using that instead of the AN/PRC 152. GW’s folks developed wings on the side of the pouch to Velcro open and shut, so if you had to get to the buttons for some reason, or the data port on the opposite side, you have no issues. This is going to be really well liked for some of the AF guys that have to run a lot of data through(3).
So far the pouch has been a slam dunk for Tactical Tailor and they expect it to continue (note: they haven’t made these in our size yet, but give them time). It retails for $30 and is available in Foliage Green, Coyote Brown, MultiCam and Black. (No word on ABU or MARPAT, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.)
As you might have expected it’s constructed of 1000D Cordura nylon and heavy-duty hardware. Attaches to any MOLLE or PALS style gear with two long MALICE CLIPS® (included). Buy it here. Seriously, go buy one, or two. And tell GW we sent you.
As usual, if you have any ideas for us to review, drop us a line at BreachBangClear.com or FaceBook.com/MadDuo; unless you’re going to complain about our opinions, writing style and philosophy (or if you are Joy Behar or Keith Olbermann) . In that event you should feel free to go play in traffic and Foxtrot-Sierra-Oscar(4). MAD DUO OUT!
1 Gorilla GeeDuya GeeDubya, not Gorilla beringei beringei.
2 This should not be interpreted as hyperbole. Have you seen his mitts? He’s got fingers like bratwursts. Just sayin’.
3 It would probably be just as well received by Security Forces anyway, though they’d prob’ly lose it or break hours after guardmount—which is better than what the grunts will probably do it. We won’t go into that here.
4 The middle one is “Smoothâ€. We don’t have a brevity code for it, but you get the idea.
Offered exclusively by One Source Tactical’s Technical Services Division, the Jihad Interdiction Bag is designed to discreetly store and carry up to two rifles (short barreled rifle, a bull pup rifle, or a folding stock rifle) as well as a chest rig and/or armor loaded with several magazines and other ancillary gear. The bag features three outer bellows pockets and is fully lined with a PALS field made of loop fabric. It can be carried in hand like a large brief case, or slung over the back with the stashed-away back pack straps. Available in Black or Tan, it is 29″L x 15″H x 10″D.
The whole idea behind this product is unique. Since the US Army has adopted MultiCam for use in Afghanistan, troops will find themselves requiring equipment in more than one pattern. So, CPGear designed a reversible, modular chest rig that is UCP on one side for garrison use and MultiCam on the other for combat use.
As you can see, the rig comes with anchor points that attach to the Improved Outer Tactical Vest’s (IOTV)PALS grid. This facilitates rapid donning and doffing. Additionally, the RTMAP is designed to integrate with IOTV’s cutaway mechanism without interfering.
An added bonus to having PALS on both sides of the rig is that pouches can be attached on the inside as well. Take for instance this radio pouch. Not only does attaching it to the inside give you more real estate for other items but it also protects the radio from some of the knocks and dings it could otherwise be subjected to.
If you’ll be attending the Infantry Warfighter Conference this week at Ft Benning, Georgia be sure to stop by CPGear’s booth # 1109.
It may not be the latest and greatest from Blue Force Gear, S.O. Tech, Blackheart, Mayflower, Agilite, Tyr or any of the other high speed, low drag manufacturers, but this new piece of kit may be good to go anyway. It certainly meets a need otherwise largely unmet in the tactical equipment industry—you can go to any one of a hundred different sites if you want a modular M4/AR15 magazine pouch, or visit your choice of at least as many places to pick up a 3-day assault pack or modular ruck.
That’s fine if you need kitted out to go kinetic. Where do you go to get jocked up for a dining out, team/platoon bbq or bachelor party?
After 5, apparently, or Urban Outfitters, or possibly Anvil Custom Leather, that’s where.
After 5 offers what thy call the Take-a-Shot Booze Belt—two holsters (sorry, neither SERPA nor Safariland SLS compatible) for bottles and six molded slots for your ammunition (shot-shell shotglasses included with the belt). It is made in the USA with 600 denier fabric, nylon webbing and molded foam. Apparently the holster and ammo can be adjusted as desired. Unknown whether it can be custom ordered with MOLLE attachments or not. The base price for this adult beverage LBE is $89.99…a little pricey for someone in the lower E-numbers, but not too much if you’re coming back from a tax exclusion zone in the AOR (or looking to get a present to welcome someone back from there).
This Next has one similar, but in bandoleer mode:
Other options, which we find far superior to the classic beer-can holding ball cap, include the 6-beer beer bottle belt from Urban Outfitters:
Or, for occasions that call for a dressier look (though not mess dress) the black leather whiske
y bottle holster from Anvil (also available in brown and “dirty leatherâ€, which is perhaps more suitable for some civilian LE uniforms).
To date none of the above have been offered in Multi-Cam, A-TAC or any of the other progressive camouflage designs (we were really hoping for SURPAT) but don’t let that stop you from picking one up. Black goes with just about any camo there is and there’s always the patrol-ready beer can belt from DrinkingStuff.com, which can be rigged up with some modifications below your IBA or other armor (and is available in standard woodland camo). We don’t advise using the ones that carry glass containers if you’re in the field. Those should be reserved strictly for garrison use.
If you have any ideas for us to review, drop us a line at BreachBangClear.com or FaceBook.com/MadDuo; unless you’re going to complain about our opinions, writing style or philosophy in which case don’t bother. We just got in a brand new Rifleman’s Tool (very nice) and are still hoping to get a look at the Umbrella Corporation’s NFDD but as yet no firm word on the latter. MAD DUO OUT!
