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Archive for the ‘Materials’ Category

Natick Purchases Alexium Cleanshell CB Treated Fabric for Testing

Tuesday, April 10th, 2012

Natick has purchased 600 yards of Cleanshell CB treated fabrics from International Group Limited. The order consists of several types of fabrics for testing. All have been treated with latest version of the Cleanshell CB treatment, which has been developed over the last nine months and optimized to provide water and oil repellency as well as improved repellency of Chemical Warfare Agent (CWA) simulants. In fact, this new treatment offers days of protection versus minutes for earlier Cleanshell treatments or conventional fluorocarbon repellency finishes.

www.alexiuminternational.com

Tags: Alexium International Group Limited
Posted in CBRNE, Materials | Comments Off on Natick Purchases Alexium Cleanshell CB Treated Fabric for Testing

PrimaLoft at Open Range Service Group’s MM&CW Workshop

Monday, April 9th, 2012

We’ve written about PrimaLoft before but we thought that the slides from their presentation at Open Range Service Group’s Military Mountain and Cold Weather Workshop was worth sharing to our readers. I don’t think we can say enough good things about that conference.

Originally developed by Albany International during the 1980s, PrimaLoft was originally intended as a water resistant synthetic alternative to down. Tim Cashell did a great job of explaining how it works and the impact it has had on military clothing programs, particularly USSOCOM’s Protective Combat Uniform.

PrimaLoft Military Workshop

www.primaloft.com

Tags: PrimaLoft
Posted in Materials | Comments Off on PrimaLoft at Open Range Service Group’s MM&CW Workshop

VELCRO Launches New Website

Thursday, April 5th, 2012

VELCRO has completely revamped their web presence with a new, more intuitive site. Right off the bat, you are immersed in a new homepage that stimulates exploration of VELCRO product uses through a series of interactive scenes including:

• Home
• Office
• Classroom
• Outdoor settings

As you can see above, the content is organized by type and you are only a click or two away from the information you are looking for. Jurjen Jacobs, Vice President of Global Marketing gave this statement in a press release, “Global consumer research was conducted and management teams in every area of the business were consulted to develop sweeping improvements to the user experience. The site is one of the first showcases for the clean, modern visual style that is being implemented across all brand communications from digital media to packaging.”

While it’s not optimized for the tactical user, you might just end up finding a more appropriate product for your application than you used in the past so surf a round a little and see what they have to offer.

www.velcro.com

Tags: Velcro
Posted in Industry, Materials | Comments Off on VELCRO Launches New Website

National Molding J Hook

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

National Molding has developed a new product called the J Hook designed to attach shock cord or paracord to MOLLE. The J Hook engages a standard bar tack and will maintain it’s position regardless of any tension on the cord. It can be removed or repositioned easily and under extreme load will snap free without breaking. They are available in black as well as any of National Molding’s standard military colors.

WWW.NationalMolding.COM

Tags: National Molding
Posted in Load Carrying, Materials, MOLLE | 7 Comments »

MultiCam Materials – Beaver

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

Every two weeks SSD showcases a different MultiCam print fabric from Duro Textiles LLC. This week, we are covering Beaver. MultiCam is a single camouflage pattern designed to help the wearer hide in varied environments, seasons, elevations, and light conditions. After a great deal of commercial success and adoption by elements of US Special Operations Forces, in 2010 MultiCam was selected for use by the US Army as its Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern (OCP).

This technical stretch fabric is designed for extreme-performance outerwear applications. By using a 3-ply laminate 4-way stretch composite is a waterproof breathable fabric. For added protection, they have applied branded NanoSphere® water repellent finish to the outside. This is a great solution for those companies that have been asking SSD about an off-the-shelf softshell fabric.

Specs:
Finished Width – 55 inches cuttable
Finished Weight – 3.75 oz/yd² approximately
Fiber Content – 93% Nylon/7% Spandex
Specific Properties – NanoSphere® Water Repellent

Download test report here.

Crye Precision actually chose Beaver for their FieldShell due to its lightweight properties and foul weather performance. The FieldShell features a unique, armor compatible venting system that unzips radially around the axis of the shoulder. This means it is accessible whether you are wearing armor or not. Additionally, the jacket features a lined collar and flat hidden-zipper front, as well as discreet zip mesh pockets for internal storage as well as inset bicep pockets.

Duro offers progressive pricing based on the number of yards ordered. For more information on this or any of the full line of MultiCam fabrics visit www.multicamfabric.com or email Galpen_Ben@DuroLink.com.

Tags: Beaver, Crye Precision, Duro, Multicam, NanoSphere
Posted in Materials, Multicam | 4 Comments »

New ECH Relies on Dyneema Material

Friday, March 16th, 2012

Ceradyne was recently awarded a contract for their Enhanced Combat Helmet for use by the US Army and Marine Corps. One of the key ingredients to the success of their design was DSM’s Dyneema HB80 unidirectional (UD) composite. HB80 happens to be the only material that passed stringent ECH testing and is currently used in vehicle armor applications.

In a press release, Dr. James Zheng, chief scientist Soldier Protective and Individual Equipment, PEO Soldier said, “The ECH program represents a major advance in helmet technology that can deliver enhanced superior protection for our troops. Our close collaboration with leading industry partners such as Ceradyne and DSM Dyneema enabled us to utilize their valuable technological expertise and support, resulting in the new ECH helmet.”

www.dyneema.com

Tags: Ceradyne, Dyneema
Posted in Contracts, Helmets, Materials, PEO-Soldier | 5 Comments »

Ceradyne Awarded LRIP for ECH

Friday, March 16th, 2012

Ceradyne, makers of the Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH) has received the first (~$3 million) of possibly two low rate initial production orders. Ceradyne expects full rate production to commence during second quarter of calendar year 2012 with totals to exceed $170 million. It’s good to see this program moving forward after it was plagued with curing issues after showing initial success. According to Ceradyne and the Marine Corps, slight changes in the manufacturing process to accommodate the transition of tech development to production had to be dealt with to ensure consistent performance.

Called the Ceradyne Diaphorm Ballistic Helmet, the winning ECH design is twice the price of current Army and Marine Corps helmets, but provides up to 70% improvement in ballistic protection. In addition to delays, the program has received criticism over its arbitrary protection level (an undisclosed .30 threat) since there has been no move to dissipate the energy of such a round. Additionally, the size, weight and shape of the Army’s ACH was chosen for the ECH. Rather than decreasing weight and maintaining current ballistic protection to make troops more agile and to help offset the added weight of applique sensors and lights, the choice was made to maintain the current burden on the wearers neck and increase ballistic protection. Instead of telling industry that they wanted to defeat a threat, the Marine Corps wrote a requirement that boxed everyone into a narrow set of solutions.

On the other hand, both Soldiers and Marines will be receiving a new, more protective helmet. What’s more, the legacy Army’s ACH and USMC LWH both rely on Aramid fabric (Kevlar) while the ECH uses an advanced thermoplastic (PE) product. Reliance on Aramids for ballistic armor such as the IOTV and IMTV result in heavier armor systems. Hopefully, this paradigm shift in headborne systems will open up new materials options for body armor.

www.ceradyne.com

Tags: Ceradyne
Posted in Contracts, Helmets, Materials | 8 Comments »

MultiCam Materials – Delta

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

Delta is the latest fabric in our ongoing bi-weekly series presented by Duro Textiles LLC focusing on the various materials they offer in the MultiCam camouflage pattern. MultiCam is a single camouflage pattern designed to help the wearer hide in varied environments, seasons, elevations, and light conditions. After a great deal of commercial success and adoption by elements of US Special Operations Forces, in 2010 MultiCam was selected for use by the US Army as its Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern (OCP).

Delta is a Light-Weight Soft-Shell 40 Denier nylon 2-way stretch laminated to a Wicking/Anti-Microbial Knit. Take a look at the photo to the left and it shows what the fabric looks like. You can see a small ripstop pattern. It is IR treated and has a soft hand making it ideal for soft shell jackets. Additionally, the face is laminated to a moisture wicking knit backer which is toward the wearer and allows for quick drying comfort. The face fabric is also NanoSphereÂ® treated and weighs about 5 oz/ydÂ².

Download a test report for Delta here.

Vertx chose Delta for their Smock and Gunfighter top. It makes both products great for three-season wear. In addition to the fabric, the Smock has several other features not found elsewhere.

– Innovative design with a unique pocket layout
– Mesh lined dual pull pit zips
– Mag pockets inside chest pockets
– Skirt mounted mag pockets