Introducing the latest video of INVISTA™ CORDURA® TRUELOCK™ Fabrics within HLC Industries Inc., In-Stock Program of Solution Dyed colors: Coyote 498 – Black – Ranger Green – Wolf Gray – Tan 499, in 500D and 1000D, well stocked and ready to ship at the moment’s notice.
Contact: [email protected] for samples and marketing materials.
Austin, TX (09/07/2020) — Originally developed as a joint effort between Lamborghini and Callaway Golf Company, the forged carbon fiber process can produce complex shapes one-third the weight of titanium, yet stronger. Partnering with manufacturing company McVick, Black Collar Arms is excited to bring the world of forged carbon fiber components to a firearm near you.
Available first are Forged Carbon Fiber One-Piece Scope Mounts in 30mm and 34mm ring sizes. Despite weighing in at a scant 5.2 ounces, these forged carbon fiber scope mounts are as stiff and rigid as if they were machined from steel (three times stiffer than aluminum!) with just 1/6th the thermal expansion of aluminum.
These are the most rigid scope mounts on the market and maintain flawless zero in any condition. As if the gorgeous carbon fiber aesthetic wasn’t enough!
Forged Carbon Fiber One-Piece Scope Mounts are the first in an upcoming line of forged carbon fiber components currently being designed by Black Collar to be manufactured by McVick exclusively for Black Collar. Expect further optic mounting solutions plus other accessories and components, including AR-15 parts.
Quality is extremely high, but current production capacity is low. Mount availability will be rather limited with small batches arriving at Black Collar weekly while we gradually invest in increasing capacity.
Despite the limited and exclusive nature of the Forged Carbon Fiber One-Piece Scope Mounts and their physical advantages over aluminum mounts, not to mention their drop-dead gorgeous looks, MSRP is in-line with other premium scope mounts.
More information can be found at: blackcollararms.com/product/forged-carbon-fiber-one-piece-scope-mounts
The new Inversion products are the perfect complement to the existing Massif base layer assortment; they are engineered to provide unparalleled performance across multiple environments with the flame-resistant protection you’ve come to know and count on from Massif.
The specially blended yarn plus the addition of spandex generates improved range of motion, incomparable next-to-skin softness, and extraordinary recovery for wash durability with no unsightly “bag outs.”
Sweat is rapidly wicked away from the body through a superior moisture-management system scientifically engineered for faster dry times. This results in a highly breathable garment that allows the wearer to fully focus on the mission. To top it all off, industry-leading pill resistance combined with an advanced antimicrobial platform significantly boosts long-term wearability.
“Our customers have repeatedly asked us to create an extraordinary base layer at a competitive price,” said Darci Knobel, Vice President of Customer Experience. “Our Textile and Technology team, in collaboration with Apparel Design and Development, rose to the challenge for the launch of our Inversion Lightweight and Midweight Base Layers. One touch and you’ll be sold.
A few cycles of wear and you’ll be touting your new favorite base layer.”
The flame-resistant Inversion base layers are comfortable, affordable and mission ready. Inversion is offered in several colorways, including: Tan 499 and Tan 498 on the shelf today; as well as Black and Navy coming in late 2020. The line comes in lightweight t-shirts, long-sleeve crews and bottoms, as well as midweight long-sleeve crews and bottoms.
For more information on Massif, visit www.massif.com, or see what the company is up to on Instagram and Facebook.
MMI Textiles teased us with this image. Although they aren’t available, MMI promises is that if someone will roger up for 10,000 yards, they’ll make it happen.
Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-NC-10), joined Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) to introduce the American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act. This bipartisan legislation will help end the United States’ reliance on Chinese-made personal protective equipment (PPE) and ensure that hospitals and frontline healthcare workers have access to a plentiful supply of high-quality American made PPE.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has made it painfully clear that the United States has failed its hospitals and frontline healthcare workers because of our over-reliance on Chinese-made PPE,” said Congressman McHenry. “By returning production of PPE to the United States, we will address the concerns raised by the current crisis while also incentivizing future investments in high quality PPE made by American companies, ensuring the long-term protection of our hospitals and frontline healthcare workers. I am glad to partner with Representative Pascrell to introduce a bipartisan bill that does just that.”
“The ongoing pandemic has exposed America’s over-reliance on personal protective equipment made in other countries. In a cruel twist of irony we are especially dependent on medical supplies made in China, where COVID-19 originated and whose totalitarian secrecy deepened the world crisis,” said Congressman Pascrell. “Our reliance on non-American-made PPE has crippled our response to COVID from the start. Even as we continue to fight the virus, we must use this painful lesson to change our behavior now. Our bipartisan American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act will ensure we are investing in the best tools in the world at our disposal by making our own PPE right here in America. Encouraging production of medical supplies within our borders will ultimately help our economy, create jobs, ensure higher-grade equipment, and most important save American lives. This cannot wait until the next pandemic.”
“The U.S. textile industry would like to sincerely thank Congressman McHenry and Congressman Pascrell for introducing the American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act, a bill we believe will create strong domestic procurement rules to incentivize investment and the onshoring of critical medical textiles,” said National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) President and CEO Kim Glas. “Re-creating the successful domestic purchasing rules found in the Berry Amendment for all federal PPE purchases will not only help our country reduce its overreliance on China for PPE but also provide longer term support for our domestic supply chain that has supplied hundreds of millions of urgently needed items including face masks, isolation gowns and other needed PPE to frontline health care workers.”
“The American manufacturers who comprise the Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition (WPRC) applaud the leadership of Congressman McHenry and Congressman Pascrell, demonstrated by their introduction of the American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act,” said David Costello, Executive Director of the Warrior Protection and Readiness Coalition (WPRC). “This thoughtful legislation recognizes that a 100% American PPE supply chain is a matter of our national security and that ending reliance on unreliable, foreign made products is essential to ensure the health and safety of our nation. Our members are already investing their time and energy bolstering their domestic PPE capability and we look forward to working with Mr. McHenry and Mr. Pascrell to see this bill become law. “
Background: The American PPE Supply Chain Integrity Act implements the Berry Amendment standard of “100 percent of a product that is grown, reprocessed, reused, or produced in the United States” for the purchas of personal protective equipment (PPE) by Department of Defense, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. It also resets the contract level for the Berry Amendment from $250,000 to $150,000 to ensure more PPE is made in America.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — An Army-funded project developed a self-healing material patterned after squid ring teeth protein. The biodegradable biosynthetic polymer could be used to repair materials that are under continual repetitive movement such as robotic machines, prosthetic legs, ventilators and personal protective equipment like hazmat suits.
“Materials that undergo continual repetitive motion often develop tiny tears and cracks that can expand, leading to catastrophic failure,” said Dr. Stephanie McElhinny, biochemistry program manager, Army Research Office, an element of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory. “With a self-healing bio-based synthetic material, any sites of damage that emerge can be repaired, extending the lifetime of the system or device.”
The research at Penn State University and Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart, Germany, funded in by part by ARO, and published in Nature Materials produced high-strength synthetic proteins that mimic those found in nature. The researchers surveyed large libraries of novel proteins created by assembling repetitive sequences from the squid ring teeth protein in different configurations.
Squid ring teeth are circular predatory appendages located on the suction cups of squid used to grasp prey. If the teeth are broken — they can heal themselves. The soft parts in the proteins help the broken proteins fuse back together in water, while the hard parts help to reinforce the structure and keep it strong.
“Our goal is to create self-healing programmable materials with unprecedented control over their physical properties using synthetic biology,” said Melik Demirel, professor of engineering science and mechanics at Penn State and the paper’s co-author.
Current strategies for material self-healing have significant limitations, including requirements for potentially hazardous chemicals, loss in functionality of the healed material relative to the original state, and long healing times, often greater than 24 hours.
“We were able to reduce a typical 24-hour healing period to one second, so our protein-based soft robots can now repair themselves immediately,” said Abdon Pena-Francelsch, Humboldt postdoctoral fellow, physical intelligence department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and lead author of the paper. “In nature, self-healing takes a long time. In this sense, our technology outsmarts nature.”
The self-healing polymer heals with the application of water and heat, although Demirel said that it could also heal using light.
“Self-repairing physically intelligent soft materials are essential for building robust and fault-tolerant soft robots and actuators in the near future,” said Metin Sitti, director, physical intelligence department at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems.
By adjusting the number of tandem repeats, the researchers created a soft polymer that healed rapidly and retained its original strength. They also created a polymer that is 100% biodegradable and 100% recyclable into the same, original polymer.
“We want to minimize the use of petroleum-based polymers for many reasons,” Demirel said. “Sooner or later we will run out of petroleum and it is also polluting and causing global warming. We can’t compete with the really inexpensive plastics. The only way to compete is to supply something the petroleum-based polymers can’t deliver and self-healing provides the performance needed.”
Demirel explained that while many petroleum-based polymers can be recycled, they are recycled into something different. For example, polyester t-shirts can be recycled into bottles, but not into polyester fibers again.
Just as the squid the polymer mimics biodegrades in the ocean, the biomimetic polymer will biodegrade. With the addition of an acid like vinegar, the polymer will also recycle into a powder that is manufacturable into the same, soft, self-healing polymer.
“This research illuminates the landscape of material properties that become accessible by going beyond proteins that exist in nature using synthetic biology approaches,” McElhinny said. “The rapid and high-strength self-healing of these synthetic proteins demonstrates the potential of this approach to deliver novel materials for future Army applications, such as personal protective equipment or flexible robots that could maneuver in confined spaces.”
In addition to Army funding, the Max Planck Society, the Alexander von Humbolt Foundation, the Federal Ministry for Education and Research of Germany and the Huck Endowment of the Pennsylvania State University supported this work.
By U.S. Army CCDC Army Research Laboratory Public Affairs
MMI Textiles can now provide Printed MultiCam Velcro Brand Woven Loop (A-A-55126) available in widths: 3/4″, 1″, 1.5″, 2″, 3″, 4″, 5″, 6″. MultiCam Printed Loop has been a part of their Printed Narrow Fabrics line since 2016, but they didn’t have the capability to print on wider loop than 5″ – until now.
This in the USA/Berry Compliant loop is offered in MultiCam® Classic, MultiCam Arid, MultiCam Black, MultiCam Tropic, and MultiCam Alpine.
www.mmitextiles.com/blog/post/now-available-6-multicam-loop
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Every time a gun fires, lead leaches into the air. A scientific advancement could provide a comparable replacement for lead-based explosive materials found in ammunition, protecting soldiers and the environment from potential toxic effects.
Purdue University researchers, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Army Research Laboratory, developed two new lead-free materials that function as primary explosives, which are used to ignite powder inside a gun cartridge.
The work, funded by the Army Research Office, appears in a paper published in Chemistry – A European Journal.
“Right now, whenever you are shooting, you’re going to be spreading lead into the air around you,” said Davin Piercey, a Purdue assistant professor of materials engineering and mechanical engineering. “Any use of lead is going to end up polluting the environment in small amounts. The more lead you remove, the better it is for the environment.”
A past study found that people who have been shooting a lot could have elevated lead levels. But so far, the use of lead in explosives has been inevitable.
Matthew Gettings, a Purdue Ph.D. candidate, holds a cup containing silver salts, a new lead-free explosive. (Purdue University photo/Jared Pike)
When a gun trigger is pulled, a metal firing pin strikes a cup containing a primary explosive. The force from the firing pin deforms the cup, crushing the primary explosive and causing it to detonate. This explosion sets off a secondary explosive that burns and helps complete the rest of the firing sequence, accelerating the bullet out of the gun.
An experimental test shows the ability of silver salts to detonate just as well as commonly-used primary explosives. (Purdue University video/Jared Pike)
Because primary explosives are found in the cartridge of just about anything that fires a bullet, the Army has been searching for solutions for many years to develop lead-free versions of these explosives that satisfy environmental regulations associated with lead contamination.
“The development of these materials provides a potential pathway toward lead-free technology,” said Jesse Sabatini, an Army researcher who led the project’s investigation of which molecules to use for these new materials.
What enables the materials to be lead-free is a chemical structure that has not been used in primary explosives before. One material is made of silver salts while the other material contains no metal at all – just the basic ingredients for an explosive. These ingredients include carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen.
“Toxicity-wise, silver is an improvement over lead, but it’s still a little toxic. So we also made a nonmetal material that does not have heavy metal toxicity associated with it. Metal is dead weight, energetically speaking, and doesn’t contribute much to an actual explosion,” Piercey said.
The chemical structure used in these materials makes them very dense, meaning that only a small amount of either material would be needed to create an explosion.
Researchers at the Army Research Laboratory modeled these materials to get a sense of how explosive they would be. Piercey’s lab at the Purdue Energetics Research Center (PERC) made the materials and conducted experimental tests demonstrating that they work as primary explosives.
According to the researchers’ calculations, the materials they created have a detonation performance similar to or higher than commonly-used primary explosives.
The CCDC-Armaments Center at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, is interested in exploring these compounds for primary explosive-based applications for bullets and gun propellants. Purdue and Army researchers will continue to gather the data needed for determining which lead-based weapons systems these materials can replace.
“At PERC, our theme is ‘molecules to munitions.’ Our labs can do everything from designing and testing molecules to formulating and manufacturing those molecules into a useful compound,” said Steve Beaudoin, director of PERC and a Purdue professor of chemical engineering.
“Our partners can then take that useful compound and put it into a warhead, missile, rocket or whatever it needs to be.”
A provisional patent has been filed for this technology (track code 2020-PIER-69143) through the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization.
