A BIG thanks to our friends at the French website MultiCam Insider for this info. “The German firm Leo Köhler is entering the MultiCam market with three new products (guerilla vest, combat shirt and pants).” Interestingly, they are marketed as KSK items and can be found at ASMC.de.
GCS is offering 10% off on most items from their on-line store from 15 August to 15 September for those looking for deals as the end of the Fiscal Year closes in. GCS features all types of tactical equipment, uniforms items, K-9 supplies and transport kits from all major brands and some of their own. Be sure to enter “10percent” at checkout.
GCS has also produced a mid-summer catalog online specific to the MultiCam pattern. Items include FR gear from DRIFIRE, REVISION ballistic eyewear, CAMELBAK hydration and much more.
SSD favorites Pimps N Mercs has introduced several new badges in MultiCam. Below is a good sampling of what we’re talking about. While you’re there, check out their other wares.
It seems like just the other day that McNett announced the addition of two new camo patterns to their lineup of Camo Form® Protective Camouflage Wrap. No sooner than we tell you about it and they inform us that they will now also offer MultiCam. This is great news for guys using OCP downrange.
This is the MultiCam® Photo of the Month for July, 2011. Each month, Crye Precision holds a contest via the MultiCam® Pattern website for the best photos featuring the pattern. If you would like to submit your favorite MultiCam® picture for their Photo of the Month contest, please email it to photos@multicampattern.com. Each month, the best photo will be chosen and displayed on their website. Winners will receive stuff and things.
In the early hours this morning, like a predawn raid, FirstSpear launched their website. Make sure you check out their new line of products.
Why FirstSpear? We’ve been waiting for months here at SSD to be able to finally tell you.
The Primus Pilus, or First Spear, was the Senior Centurion of a Roman Legion.
“Centurions were the guardians of Rome. At the height of the Roman Republic there were over five thousand qualified Roman Centurions in the Legions. To be a Centurion required that, in a mostly illiterate society, one be able to read and write clearly, to be able to convey and create orders, to be capable of not only performing every skill of a Roman soldier but to teach every skill of a Roman soldier. Becoming a Centurion required intense physical ability, courage beyond the norm, years of sacrifice and a total devotion to the philosophy which was Rome.
When Rome fell to barbarian invaders, there were fewer than five hundred qualified Centurions. Not because Rome had fewer people but because it had fewer people willing to make sacrifices.
And the last Centurions left their shields in the heather and took a barbarian bride…..â€
The much anticipated website CamoRigs.com is now live. An offshoot of SKD Tactical, CamoRigs was born out of a dirty back-seat union between the Tactical and Skydiving communities. They offer sport containers in Genuine Crye MultiCam, Desert and Temperate MARPAT (Commercial), Woodland, Army Universal Camo and Tri-Color Desert, as well as other patterns. They also have in-house products, such as the Magnetic Slider Keeper, Packing Mat and Canopy Bag, all designed and made right here in the USA.
Keep an eye peeled for 2012, when they will be launching a new line of skydiving gloves called Valkyrie, a purpose-made glove for jumping that actually fits like a glove.
Photo: SrA Sandra Welch
Last Friday, the US Air Force released an article on the fielding of Army OCIE in OCP (MultiCam) for deploying Airmen. Referred to as JET (joint expeditionary tasking) Airmen, more than 180 of them assigned to Provincial Reconstruction Teams and other taskings are wearing the OEF Camouflage Pattern (OCP).
Interestingly, the article refers to the OCP FR ACU as the, “Joint Service Solution Uniform.” This is a first for us. While PEO Soldier regularly speaks of looking for Joint Service Solutions, even they haven’t placed that monicker on OCP lest they derail their ongoing search for a new family of camouflage patterns.
We’ve written about this plan before. Unfortunately, the Air Force still hasn’t gotten their facts right on the difference between the Army’s OCP OCIE and their own, internally developed Airman Battle System – Ground (ABS-G). For example, the article claims, “The uniform gives Airmen unique benefits and features that the Airman Battle System-Ground and Airman Battle Uniform cannot deliver.” Sure, the ABU is such a failure, the Air Force has already changed the design of the coat once and is getting ready to field an entirely new fabric story for the uniform, but the ABS-G is very popular with Combat Airmen. It’s really just the Digital Tigerstripe pattern that is the problem. So, we’ll chalk this claim up to visual camouflage.
The article goes on this same vein, “OCPs have a more advanced camouflage pattern that blends in with the Afghan terrain, making our Airmen safer and more effective on the battlefield,” said Lt. Col. Shawna McGowan, the Air Force future programs branch chief. “The material is also flame resistant, lighter weight than the ABS-G or ABU, and contains a pre-applied bug repellant.”
Not completely true. The fabric used in the ABS-G’s field uniform component is the same as used in the Army’s A2CU and is lighter and more breathable than that used in the FR ACU. However, it is not quite as durable, nor does it contain permethrin to keep the bugs at bay. However, the ABS-G is a total system that incorporates FR insulation layers. This is something that the Army’s currently fielded solution does not provide. Fielding the Army’s Gen III ECWCS in lieu of a complete ABS-G developed under the FIRESAFE program puts Airmen at danger of flame threats. The alternative is to issue Fire Resistant Environmental Ensemble (FREE) to each deploying Airmen.
As you can see in the photo above, the Air Force chose to go their own path in regards to insignia and use “spice brown” colored name and service tapes as well as enlisted ranks rather than the Army’s black lettering. Looks good.
Overall, we are pleased with the direction the Air Force is heading. But, a lot of time and money was spent developing a unique Air Force solution for Airmen. Air Force personnel, ask for a MultiCam version of the ABS-G. The Airman Battle Shirt is already available from producer Massif in OCP. There is no reason for the Air Force to abandon the currently issued FR cold and inclement weather clothing developed under ABS-G. Finally, don’t forget to just ask for a new, useful camouflage pattern for both home station and deployed environments. Maybe it should be MultiCam and maybe it should be something else, but regardless, it shouldn’t be the current Digital Tigerstripe.
