Thanks to our friends at Hill People Gear for showing us what Wolf Grey and Foliage Green look like together.
Archive for the ‘Materials’ Category
Wolf and Foliage – Like Peas and Carrots
Wednesday, October 30th, 2013AUSA – D3O
Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013D3O is a British form that specializes in solutions for impact protection. Specifically, they developed shock absorbing materials as well as engineered applications for those materials. At AUSA they exhibited several products that are part of their Trauma Reduction Unrivaled Shock Technology line.
These knee pads incorporate an external hard shell and offer both comfort for wear as well as shock mitigation.
The TRUSt Helmet Pads utilize D3O’s new Decell material that exceeds the current ACH standard by 33%. It is a 7-piece design that will work with most helmets that accept Velcro-in pads. It comes packed in a mesh bag that is interestingly, intended for retail sales.
AUSA – WL Gore/Raven Aerostar Turkey Suit
Tuesday, October 22nd, 2013
“THROUGH GORE’S PARTNERSHIP WITH RAVEN AEROSTAR, A WORLD CLASS MANUFACTURER, THE NEMESIS TURKEY SUITS WITH GORE MULTISPECTRAL CONCEALMENT TECHNOLOGIES OFFER A TRULY REVOLUTIONARY PROTECTION CAPABILITY FOR THOSE GOING INTO HARM’S WAY.”
– JOHN HOLCOMBE, W. L. GORE & ASSOCIATES CO-INVENTOR AND BUSINESS LEADER
Awhile back we told you that WL Gore was about more than just waterproof/breathable jackets. They design and manufacture (or license to others) a wide variety of technologies. In the defense sector alone they have been a constant source of innovation in the soft goods arena. The latest examples of this are the new GORE® Multispectral Concealment Technologies and the associated NEMESIS™ line of Garments, Personal Hides & Equipment Covers, Multispectral Signature Concealment from Raven Industries. Raven Aerostar has a long relationship with WL Gore and manufactured the initial ECWCS garments back in the mid-80s so it’s no surprise to see them introduce this new technology.
Commonly referred to as the Turkey Suit due to its resemblance to the suits worn by hunters. The NEMESIS™ garment seen above features a face fabric in a developmental, proprietary WL Gore camouflage pattern. Considering they have introduced commercial hunting patterns it should be no surprise that they also have military patterns.
But the underlying technology in this material is what’s important. Quite simply, garments made from GORE® Multispectral Concealment Technologies greatly reduce the range of detection from sophisticated multi-spectral (Visual/NIR/SWIR/MWIR/LWIR) sensors.
The NEMESIS Turkey Suit is available in a broad range of military camouflage textile patterns, including Digital Desert (compatible with AOR1 and desert MARPAT), Digital Woodland (compatible with AOR2 and woodland MARPAT), and Transitional (compatible with multi-terrain patterns).
Sizes available: Small/Medium or Large/Extra Large
The garment is available for authorized users on www.gsaadvantage.gov, just search for “turkey suit”.
Rigger Belt Buckle from National Molding
Tuesday, October 8th, 2013National Molding has introduced a simple alternative to the heavy metal buckles used on many Rigger’s belts. This buckle is molded in Acetyl and while it is not life support capable, it is both lightweight and relatively inexpensive. It can also be used as an adjustable attachment point for slings or other equipment. Currently available in Tan 499 but will be offered in all of the standard military colors.
WL Gore’s Reversible Marine Combat Jacket
Tuesday, October 8th, 2013Last year, WL Gore introduced their reversible technology. This type of garment is great for organizations with multiple camouflage patterns like the Marine Corps. With the release of the woodland version of the USMC Combat Jacket, WL Gore displayed a prototype that reverses to Desert MARPAT during the recent Modern Day Marine expo.
The Marines now have two separate Combat Jackets (Desert and Woodland MARPAT). The new optional wear CWJ will be available through clothing sales stores this Fall. But, if a Marine wants to deploy with both models it means additional weight and space in his sea bag, not to mention up front cost. The folks at Gore realized this and worked to adapt their reversible technology to the specialized fabrics used in this performance garment.
In addition to the Combat Desert/Woodland Jacket seen here, WL Gore has also produced versions of APECS. These types of reversible outerwear are great not just for the Marine Corps but also the Navy who uses different patterns for arid and woodland environments.
Sneak Peek – Skeletonized Magazine Retention from S&S Precision
Friday, September 27th, 2013Meet the MOLLE Killer…it seems like S&S Precision has been quiet for quite some time unveiling only incremental improvements to their flagship product, the PlateFrame. But late last week they invited us in for an exclusive sneak peek at what they’ve been up to. Get ready to throw away all of your nylon magazine pouches.
The SMR’s (Skeletonized Magazine Retention) genesis goes back to 2004 when one of the members of S&S Precision hand built a mag carrier from Kydex harvested from a Safariland holster. It was used on multiple combat deployments as a belt mounted, quick magazine holder for that first reload.
S&S Precision was founded in 2007. Interestingly, in 2009 that custom built mag carrier concept led to the larger development of load carrying systems which caused S&S Precision to concentrate on the groundbreaking PlateFrame which, after two years of internal work, was released in 2012. Around the same time the Kangaroo Insert was created for use with the NSW issue LBT plate carrier but the team at S&S Precision wasn’t satisfied that it was as refined as it could be. Consequently, they’ve turned their attention back to the initial focus of magazine retention.
But they aren’t satisfied with just making yet another mag carrier. The point of their development is Magazine Retention with as little material as possible to properly do the job. Additionally, the design needs to be modular so that it could be adapted to a wide variety of platforms. Specifically, it had to Integrate with PlateFrame as well as first line belt and PALS.
The system consists of two primary components; the SMR which is the actual magazine holder itself and the BasePlate aka “The Docking Station” which serves as the platform. For additional use with belts and PALS, they’ve also produced adapters for single SMRs.
A Rhodesian-style chest rig is also in the works that accepts the BasePlate.
Sure, we’ve seen other Kydex and Polymer magazine pouches, but everyone of them has used a more traditional mounting system such as a PALS derivative or a simple loop. The SMR concept takes modularity to a different level and looking at it, I can see multiple other ways that these pouches can be integrated unto other surfaces. Additionally, as you can see, so far they are only for 5.56 mags, but I can see a multitude of other SMRs available as well.
Coming soon from S&S Precision.
MDM – Serket
Thursday, September 26th, 2013Serket showed us their new Integrated Knee Pad developed in conjunction with Unequal Technologies. Serket relies smart engineering and solid partnerships with others industry to offer a better mousetrap but you may not have heard of Unequal Technologies. Their mission is to develop products to protect the human body from pain and injury by offering unique impact attenuation technologies originally developed to offer high-impact protection for those in the military. Interestingly, they were quickly adapted for innumerable sports applications. Today, you’re just as likely to find Unequal Technologies on a Soldier in theater as you are on an NFL quarterback.
Serket and Unequal joined forces to offer a state-of-the-art 3-Layer composite technology. The Serket-Unequal Integrated Knee Pad (IKP) system offers up improved comfort and performance over existing knee/extremity systems – including ballistic protection – an important feature that is missing from commercially available systems currently on the market. Additionally, that same Kevlar insert also resists punctures. Despite these advantages, the Serket-Unequal IKP is about the price as existing systems.
You can see the Kevlar layers embedded in this cross section of the IKP.
Serket-Unequal IKP spec details:
• Integrated ballistics available in two systems:
o 2 grain – 1,000 feet per second frag protection
o 17 grain – 1,150 feet per second frag protection
• Puncture resistance at least four-times higher than existing commercially available systems – including hard shell systems
• State-of-the-art plastomer material is comfortable, soft and pliable in a variety of temperatures, so it easily bends with the wearer’s knee
• Impact protection minimization of energy severity index and G force vs exiting commercially available systems
• Flame resistant
• Anti-microbial and anti-fungal
• One piece closed cell construction won’t absorb water/perspiration – avoiding weight gain and induction of bacterial/fungi
• Cost: comparable to other existing commercially available systems
The Serket-Unequal IKP will work in conjunction with traditional IKP-ready combat pants, and this fall, Serket will introduce its own combat pant that not only works with the IKP, but can be used with existing pants.
The Serket-Unequal IKP is available now as a COTS solution.
MDM – National Molding
Tuesday, September 24th, 2013
National Molding has introduced a Hybrid Side Release Buckle that boasts a 300 lbs break strength by combining stainless steel and polymer. You might also notice that pronounced actuation making it great for gloved hands.
