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Wild Things “Name That Jacket” Contest

Monday, July 21st, 2008

Last week we met with Wild Things owner Marie Meunier-Bouchard. Marie is a lifelong climber having begun mountaineering in her native French Alps at age 14. She combined her love of climbing with a desire to build better products and founded Wild Things, named after the book, “Where the Wild Things Are” with her ex-Husband, John Bouchard. Vermont-based Wild Things is a longtime supporter of the military. Their designs have been used for years in the SOF community. But recently they have gained prominence in the Soldier Systems industry by designing and manufacturing the Gen III ECWCS Level VII Loft layer for the US Army. A slightly modified variant of the Level VII garment has been dubbed the “Happy Suit” by the Marines and included in a developmental Cold Weather Clothing System. Both of these garments are also available from ADS.

Some of the most exciting things that Marie showed us were two recently released new jackets designed for the Soldier Systems market. Essentially they are different versions of the same jacket with the exception of materials. One is FR and the other is not. The price on the Basic jacket is phenomenal, just under $100 direct. The FR version is 100% FR, shell, lining, insulation, and zipper so naturally the price is going to be a bit higher but wasn’t available yet at press time. Intended to replace levels 3 and 4 in Gen III ECWCS, these jackets are simple yet elegant. A lot of thought was put into the design by a house that always been at the forefront of new, promising fabrics. There aren’t extraneous bells and whistles on either of these jackets and the casual observer wouldn’t appreciate the design features incorporated into these garments until he wore it. Every design element makes sense from a functional point of view. These jackets a practical application of the Ultra-LightWeight movement in combat clothing. They combine the practicality of more than one other garment and each feature is there solely for function.

Manufactured with a face fabric of Polyester microfiber, the Basic jacket features a quilted Primaloft insulation, the same material found in both PCU and Gen III ECWCS. The rear hem is elastic in order to keep it taught and prevent cold air or snow from entering the jacket. There are two slash handwarmer pockets on the front of the jacket and a single interior pocket on the left chest. The hand warmer pockets are lined with a comfortable knit material. The jacket also comes standard with pile tape for Name, Service, and Rank insignia.

Both jackets are currently available in Black, Coyote, Foliage, and UCP. Plans are underway to also offer the basic jacket in Multicam.

Marie is looking for your help in naming both of these jackets. The winning entry will receive a jacket as prize.

Contest Rules:

– One entry per contestant

– Name BOTH jackets

– Marie decides the winner

– Winner will be announced here

– In the event more than one contestant submits the same winning entry date of email will decide the winner

– Winner receives a jacket as prize

– Only one winner for the contest

– Contest ends 31 July, 2008 at 11:59 PM

– Send all entries to: Marie Meunier-Bouchard.

For more information on their entire line go to Wild Things.

Tags: ECWCS, Multicam, Wild Things
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Mountain Boots

Friday, July 4th, 2008

The history of dedicated footwear for mountain warfare traces its way back to WWII. A square toed, brown, smooth leather boot with tongue and groove on the sole for ski bindings was issued to the 10th Mountain and First Special Service Force. Mountain boots would remain a Special Forces standard issue item up until today.

Although members of 10th SFG(A) stationed in Bad Toelz, Germany privately purchased mountain boots from local cobblers in the 50s and 60s, the issue Mountain Boot remained relatively unchanged. The infamous “Chips” or Chippewa Mountain Boots were a Special forces staple up until the late 80s. They were also issued to the 10th Mountain Division during their initial stand up. Featuring bright steel speed lace hooks, thick felt insoles that never dried out, and a sole with a tongue and groove to fit the old issue “suicide stick” skis, the design had barely changed from WWII. Wearing them was like walking around with bricks strapped to your feet but no self-respecting member of 10th Group would be caught without them.

But as the 90s wore on the US was without an issue Mountain Boot. Influenced by 1/10th SF’s experience at Bad Toelz and later in Stuttgart, over time SOF units issued boots from Koflach, Raichle, Lowa and eventually La Sportiva who manufactured a special black version of the ever popular Lhotse for US forces operating in Afghanistan. Ironically, the brown leather Lhotse was better suited to military operations than the black model. But the major weakness that all of these highly specialized European brands was just that; they were European. The Berry Amendment requires that US forces must use US textiles. Unfortunately, at the time there was no US manufacturer of hard core Mountaineering Boots.

As an interim, both the Marine Corps and Army are issuing Danner Mountain Boots although they are different models. Danner has developed a dedicated boot for mountain operations for the Marine Corps that was unveiled earlier this year. The Mountain Cold Weather Boot is brown and features an abrasion resistant toe and heel cap as well as a Gore-tex lining. Each pair comes with a new sock system for cold weather.

The Army on the other hand has chosen to issue a commercially available Danner to members of the 173d and 101st. Combining leather with nylon fabric panels, the Army’s boot stops just above the ankle resembling a hiking more than a combat boot. PEO-Soldier officials have been very clear that these are an interim solution and in no way intended to replace the current issue boot. For that, the Army is hedging their bets on a new modular boot system set to debut in 2009.

Both the Army and Marine Corps solutions are really more trekking boots than actual Mountain Boots. To fill this void in the US military’s family of footwear, they have turned to Bates Footwear and their new Tora Bora model which they are touting as the Tora Bora Alpine Combat Boot. Originally a SOCOM requirement, the user community for the Tora Bora but it is expected to eventually include both the Marine Corps and Army.

For more information on the Danner Combat Hiker contact Danner.

For more information on the new Tora Bora, go to Bates.

Tags: Bates, Boots, Danner
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Team Soldier Certified Gear – Update

Monday, June 30th, 2008

When we posted the recent article on the Army’s plan to test and certify commercial Soldier Systems items we inadvertently omitted this briefing. It contains some additional details and if you are interested in this subject we highly suggest your read it.

Tags: PEO-Soldier
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Sling Bag, MOLLE’s Latest Addition

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

I wanted to post this Army news release to show that the Army is on it. The item is entering production and will soon see issue. Please notice that this article is from December of last year. That is a pretty good turn around.

Sling Bag for Soldiers
Army News Service | December 27, 2007
NATICK, Mass. – Finding a way for Soldiers to accomplish their missions more easily is what lies behind the design of many products created by the Individual Equipment Lab at the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center here.

“Part of our job is to spend time with Soldiers in the field and look at what they are doing, and see if there is a way we can improve how Soldiers carry their equipment,” said Richard Landry, equipment designer. When service members tour the SSC, their ideas and suggestions for individual equipment are considered to determine if they are practical.

Currently, the lab is working on a tactical sling bag, a project created by the SSC load-bearing team for the Product Manager Clothing and Individual Equipment group under the Program Executive Office Soldier.

“Soldiers use the MOLLE [modular lightweight load-carrying equipment] assault pack, which is like a daypack, and they love it,” Landry said. “But one of the problems is that they can’t sit in a vehicle while wearing it.” It is also difficult for the Soldier to access equipment inside the packs when it is on their back, he continued. And, during the time they have to stop to put on or take off their packs, they are left in a vulnerable position.

Landry said the sling bag could be slung over a Soldier’s back, out of the way. The bag could be rotated to the front if the Soldier needed to access equipment or get into a vehicle.

“We started by looking at civilian carrier bags,” he said. “We needed to find one that could be used not only inside a vehicle where they could reach items easily, but something that could be effective throughout their mission.”

The team from the Individual Equipment Lab looked at commercial bags, but couldn’t find one that met the necessary requirements. The current prototype created by the lab has about 700 cubic inches of space and is slung over one shoulder. It has MOLLE webbing on the front so the user can add various pouches from the MOLLE system. It also has a secondary security strap to ensure it stays in place with a pull-tab for quick separation when needed.

He thinks the sling bag would be a valuable tool for medics. “This would essentially give medics a hands-free capability while ensuring their supplies are easily available,” Landry said. “Additionally, if the medic came under fire while treating a casualty, they wouldn’t have to worry about leaving supplies behind. They could always be attached to his body.

Although the sling bag has been roughly sized around the combat lifesaver kit, Landry and other service members already see plenty of additional uses. “This bag could be helpful for anyone who will be carrying small electronics,” he said. “…even laptops.” The Chaplain at SSC was also recently looking for something for the components of the resupply kit. “He thought the sling bag was a good fit,” Landry said.

From here, the idea will be to incorporate the sling bag into the MOLLE system as an accessory item. Landry concluded by saying, “The MOLLE system is constantly changing based on what we learn from Soldier feedback.”

Photos courtesy US Army, by Sarah Underhill, AMC, December 20, 2007

Tags: MOLLE
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Team Soldier Certified Gear

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

PEO-Soldier mentioned this item at the APBI in May, but didn’t have any details on implementation. However, they have just made a formal announcement of the Team Soldier Certification program. The reasoning behind the program is sound. The point is to help Soldiers identify soldier systems items that meet certifications for issue. This will help both individual Soldiers as well as units to avoid purchasing substandard equipment. Certification has already been implemented for Protective Eyewear, FR Gloves, and the Family of Flashlights.

PEO Soldier is developing Authorized Products Lists (APLs) for certain types of gear. When an item is authorized, it is placed on the APL. The APLs are published on the PEO Website, furnished to the Army/Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), and communicated to Army commands. Eventually every commercial item authorized for use by Soldiers will have this certification.

One VERY interesting piece of information on the program has surfaced. Vendors selling authorized items in commercial retail stores may use the logo on the item and in their advertising. The logo will be the way Soldiers can verify that the item is authorized. Vendors using the logo for commercial retail sale of authorized items will require a License and Royalty Agreement with the US Army. And as a warning to those who might counterfeit the new logo, the PEO-Soldier website says this, “PEO Soldier, working with Army Legal Services, will take action to ensure that only actual authorized items have the logo. A range and series of actions will be taken against any fraudulent use of the logo.”

Each item will be identified with a tag similar to this one.

Both the USMC and USAF have indicated that they will follow suit.

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Field Jacket – a Eulogy

Thursday, May 29th, 2008

Don’t expect to see a tear filled goodbye to the Field Jacket from me. Instead I am jumping for joy. Starting in FY09 the Army will cease fielding the M-65 Field jacket. Instead, each Soldier will be issued a Gen II ECWCS (Extreme Cold Weather Clothing System) parka in UCP (Universal Camouflage Pattern) and it will be transferred as an OCIE item with the Soldier from assignment to assignment much like the laundry bag.

It amazes me to see so many still wearing the venerable M-65. The basic design for the M-65 hails from WW II and remained relatively unchanged over the years. Soldiers wore the M-43 Field Coat during their march to Berlin. Over the years there were small changes like a redesigned collar or the introduction of Quarpel (Quartermaster Water Repellent), the precursor to today’s DWR treatments. In the 80s the Field Jacket was transformed from OD Green to Woodland Camo but the basic design didn’t change. Later a 3-Color Desert variant was issued as Organizational Clothing for operations in the CENTCOM AOR. Finally, when the ACU was fielded the Field Jacket saw its latest change. The pattern was changed to UCP and velcro was added to the sleeves for shoulder sleeve insignia and to the zipper flap for rank.

Its replacement, the Army version of the Gen II ECWCS parka is also in UCP and began its life as a Marine Corps garment. The Marine Corps wanted a replacement for the first generation of ECWCS which featured out dated design features. The Marine Corps has moved on to an even more improved version of the garment called APECS (All Purpose Environmental Clothing System). The USAF has also adopted APECS in conjunction with their switch to the ABU.

Tags: ABU, ACU, APECS, ECWCS
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Duffel Bag Drag

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Recently I posted about the Army’s plans to replace an old GI standby; the cotton towel. Well another military icon may be on its way out as well. While it might not be as sexy as a new rucksack, the venerable duffel bag is one of the few items that will follow a Soldier into civilian life. Other than updating the material and shoulder straps in the 80s the design hasn’t changed since before WW II. The Army’s PM-CIE plans to incorporate features of the flyer’s kit bag into the new design while retaining the ability to secure the new bag’s zippered opening with a padlock. The new duffel will also feature cargo handles on each end in order to facilitate loading of the bag on to trucks and pallets.

There will be a user field evaluation in FY09.

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Don’t Throw in the Towel – Yet

Saturday, May 24th, 2008

Remember that thin brown Army Towel that you were issued in Basic Training and only worked because you didn’t have any hair to dry? The next time you pulled it out of the bottom of your duffel bag was for PLDC. Well one of the most useless issue items is finally undergoing an update. PEO-Soldier is currently conducting a market survey of alternative towels. Many Soldiers have purchased travel towels or other chamois-style towels. Officials want to see if they can source a Berry compliant version that is lightweight, fast drying, and actually does its job.

Tags: PEO-Soldier
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