In Mid-July we wrote about concerns over the sunset of the Berry waiver afforded FR-Rayon fibers produced in Austria. Now CNN has picked up the story. Unfortunately, the waiver extension has been defeated in the Senate. However, the House will consider the measure when they return from recess. It’s still not too late to weigh in with your Representative in support of the waiver extension.
I attend a LOT of trade shows. I have become somewhat jaded, and when I am asked by friends and industry peers if I have seen anything “neat-o” I often say, “No, same stuff from last show”. That is why I scour the fringes of the trade show floor seeking out companies who don’t yet have enough points to sit at the big people table. And sure enough, virtually every show, I run across something both cool and completely unexpected. This OR Summer market was no exception. Granted, there was lots of interesting and innovative gear at OR but there can only be one “Most Innovative Product”. For me, it is the Flipanzip Interchangeable Zipper Slider.
It is so simple to use I figured it out the first try. The threaded fastener is held under tension with a spring and controls the connection between the top and bottom bodies. This allows you to replace broken sliders. Additionally, when used as a slider you can quickly clear fouled zippers arising from misaligned teeth or loose material. The latter often happens with puffy cold weather clothing. Additionally, the fastener can be tightened completely to keep a zipper from accidentally opening which could be very useful on packs.
The Flipanzip currently comes in two sizes. One accommodates 8, 9, and 10 coil as well as tooth zippers. Conventional or invisible, makes no difference. The other fits 6 and 7 zippers. Additionally, the Flipanzip is available with a dual pull option so it can be used with sleeping bags or reversible garments. Word is that the military is very interested in the technology, so hopefully we will see it integrated into US combat equipment soon.
Visit Flipanzip on the web.
Murdock Webbing Company. Inc.
Murdock featured their Jacquard woven digital camo webbing as well as elastic. The new Multicam elastic is fantastic and they have begun to integrate company logos into the design.
Full details are available at www.murdockwebbing.com.
Watershed Maritime Tactical Products
Watershed Maritime Tactical Products has a great lineup of waterproof bags, packs, and pack liners that are on issue to US forces. They recently added Multicam to their offerings of Coyote, Foliage, and Black.
Watershed also unveiled a collaboration with Granite Gear. The new waterproof packs combines Granite Gear’s popular suspension with a Watershed MTP Kodiak Pack.
Exum Mountain Guides
Exum Mountain Guides was walking the show and discussing their XMS3 (Exum Mountain Systems Safety Survival) course offerings. They provide several standard courses including multi-day mountain movement and avalanche training. Visit www.exumguides.com for more information.
DARPA’s “programmable matter†program aims to develop material that can be ordered to “self-assemble or alter their shape, perform a function and then disassemble themselves.†According to Henry Kenyon at Signal magazine, researchers are making some progress.
One day, that could lead to “morphing aircraft and ground vehicles, uniforms that can alter themselves to be comfortable in any climate, and ’soft’ robots that flow like mercury through small openings to enter caves and bunker complexes.†A soldier could even reach into a can of unformed goop, and order up a custom-made tool or a “universal spare part.â€
One team from Harvard is working on a kind of “generalized Rubik’s Cube†that can fold into all kinds of shapes. Another is trying to order large strands of synthetic DNA to bind together in a “molecular Velcro.†An MIT group is building “self-folding origami†machines that “use specialized sheets of material with built-in actuators and data. These machines use cutting-edge mathematical theorems to fold themselves into virtually any three-dimensional object.â€
The program, currently in its fifth month, is supposed to wrap up in the Spring.
Check out the entire article at Signal Magazine.
The name might be a mouthful but the concept is promising. Researchers at Canada’s Department of National Defence have developed a fitted battery-powered vest with a built-in thermostat. The system is designed to warm the torso to the point that the body can keep fingers warm on its own and negates the need for handwear as insulation.
The vest uses a built-in control system to monitor the wearer’s finger temperature, and turns up the heat when they’re chilly. This fools the core into thinking that the body is overheating, triggering an automatic response to send warm blood to the extremities.
Researchers have already demonstrated a prototype of the vest with Soldiers who disassembled and reassembled their rifles in -25° C conditions without difficulty.
Defense Research and Development Canada is interested in licensing the technology to the outdoor and sporting goods industries. Let’s hope someone in the Soldier Systems industry integrates the technology as well.
Interestingly, DARPA in conjunction with Standford Research Institute developed the “Glove” which does exactly the opposite. The hand is placed inside a cylinder with a rubberized cuff and a vacuum forms around the hand and cools blood which fills the capillaries. The blood is then in turn circulated through the body and cools the core. Performance is greatly enhanced in as little as five minutes of use.
When we need raw materials for a custom project we go to DIY Tactical and they recently revamped their site adding a whole host of new features including RSS feeds to keep you updated. Additionally, the “wishlist” option allows you to form a list of products you want to purchase at a later date. They have also added a “kits” section featuring instructions and materials to make basic nylon projects.
Check out the new site www.diytacticalstore.com.
Last Fall Duro took over distribution of Multicam fabrics under license from Crye Precision. Already they have introduced several new fabrics and are constantly developing new products.
Current offerings include:
330 Denier Cordura
500 Denier Cordura
725 Denier Cordura
1000 Denier Cordura
NYCO Ripstop
40D Nylon 2-Way
70D Nylon FR Coated
70D Nylon FR Finish
To order Multicam fabrics from Duro visit their web-store.
Archangel Armor, LLC (AAA) has been working with AustriAlpin of Austria to develop a cable releasable version of their popular Cobra buckle. The Cobra buckle is the only side quick release in the world that will not release accidentally by human or mechanical error when under load. They are going one step further and also developing a cable releasable plastic buckle as well and AAA recently demonstrated both types of buckles to us. AAA uses the new buckles as part of their Internal Frame Load Bearing Armor system.
While they are covered under Patent applications they have asked that we not release too much information on the buckles just yet. We have received a lot of inquiries from interested parties on whether the buckles will be made available commercially and the short answer is yes.
