Collectively, as a company, Combat Flip Flops and its mindful customers are a reflection of today’s polarized American society—we are civilians and veterans, Liberals and Conservatives, pro gun and pro gun control, men and women. But we all agree on a common mission rather than focusing on our differences. Together, we unleash the entrepreneurial good in people who live in places of conflict. Creating peaceful, forward-thinking opportunities for self-determined entrepreneurs affected by conflict. We take bold risks, create community connections, and flip the view on how wars are won. Through persistence, respect, and creativity, we empower the mindful consumer to manufacture peace. Business, Not Bullets.
“After seven years of serving mindful consumers with products made in conflict areas, we know that peace is the way forward. The new eagle carrying the olive branch represents that we forge ahead together, in peace,” said Griff, Combat Flip Flops CEO and Founder.
Our materials, design and function continue to evolve, bringing comfort and style to the Unarmed Forces. Check ‘em out here.
I first met the founders of KADRI earlier this year at Warrior East and soon realized that this is the most significant innovation in the tactical industry in years. A product created out of necessity, they not only designed a new pant to fit their needs, but a completely new sizing schema as well. Like it or not, women are here to stay in squad cars, ambulances, and on the battlefield. I also see a need for their innovation in the outback as more and more women enjoy the outdoors for both leisure and work. It’s about time they had some clothing that was designed by them, for them.
Women need pockets. Women in the tactical field definitely need pockets. This simple concept is typically not even a second thought for men working in the same occupation. For them, it’s not so much a question of whether or not pockets are needed, but how many, what kind and what placement best suits their tactical needs. For women, however, this is a constant battle. Due to the wide array of women’s body shapes and sizes, women are stuck with either clothes that fit with little tactical function, or clothes that are functional that don’t fit. Most end up wearing men’s clothes and simply deal with the ill-fitted reality of their current situation: to work in a male-dominated industry, there are just some things women must deal with.
This was the problem founders of KADRI Clothing wanted to solve when they started their company. Founded by two women who served in special operations units, KADRI Clothing is a by-women-for-women adventure-tactical apparel brand created to address common issues women experience in the field and other tactical environments. This includes everything from the functional to the fit needs across multiple body types and various tactical occupations and adventure hobbies.
We got the opportunity to look at the first item from their product line—the Valkyrie Field Pant— and the revolutionary sizing and fit system that goes along with it in the best environment possible: on a shooting range with seven tactically-minded women.
KADRI Clothing owner and USMC veteran, Katheryn Basso, walked us through this innovative new product.
The Valkyrie Field Pant is arguably one of the most advanced female garments available today with features intelligently designed for women. The pant contains 11 functional pockets, including well-sized cargo pockets that maintain their volume no matter the thigh size, and two back welt pockets sized for an M4 mag or large cell phone.
Constructed with a DWR finished nylon/spandex blend with overbuilt construction for durability. Designed with a mid-rise waist, the Field Pant features two waist gussets as well as an extended crotch gusset to allow for the perfect amount of stretch and enhanced range of motion when on the move. Belt loops accommodate up to a 2” riggers belt and include two front cross-design loops to secure clip on accessories like a carabiner.
Potentially one of the most ground-breaking features of the Valkyrie Field Pant is the industry-first sizing system. The Waist-Hip Variation Representation, or WHVR, Matrix sizing system uses waist, hip and inseam measurements to find a customizable fit.
This revolutionary system allows women to choose their waist size and up to two sizes larger in their hips. For example, if you are a size 4 waist, you now have the option of purchasing pants with a size 4, 6, or 8 hip. Additionally, the Valkyrie Field Pant comes in short (30”), regular (32”) and tall (35”) inseams. These options enable women to purchase pants specifically designed for their unique body type.
Rheinmetall has won an order from an international customer for state-of-the-art air defence systems. The contract, which is now official, is worth a total of around €210 million. Delivery is to be complete by 2022.
Among other items, the order encompasses Skymaster command and control systems, X-TAR 3D radars, Oerlikon Revolver Gun MK3-automatic cannon as well as an ammunition package that includes airburst-capable AHEAD rounds. Spare parts, technical documentation and service support round out the order.
As the world’s leading supplier of comprehensive ground-based air defence solutions, Rheinmetall combines all relevant sensors, effectors, platforms and C4I assets in overarching, scalable networks. This results in highly effective, modularly configurable ground-based air defence systems that assure maximum operational flexibility throughout the military mission spectrum.
POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Oct. 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — New York City Police Officer Christopher Wintermute responded to a call reference a man acting suspiciously and armed shortly after midnight on October 23rd, 2019. Officer Wintermute was shot in the chest and was saved by his body armor produced by Point Blank Enterprises. Officer Wintermute was treated and released. The body armor credited with the Save is the Alpha Elite series AXIIIA manufactured by Point Blank and issued to Officer Wintermute on November 16, 2017.
New York City Police Department is the largest police department in the world and Point Blank Enterprises has been the contract vendor for concealable and tactical body armor to the New York Police Department since June 9, 2011 and has supplied over 50,000 vests. The Point Blank Alpha Elite series is the most popular model of body armor worn by law enforcement in the country today, including Los Angeles, Miami-Dade, Orlando, San Antonio Police Department’s just to name a few in addition to several Federal law enforcement agencies.
Point Blank Enterprises CEO Daniel Gaston stated, “We are honored to provide personal protection equipment to the Officers of New York City Police Department and over half the other law enforcement agencies in America today. Over 200 law enforcement officers have been shot this year and we have had a record number of Saves, providing a daily reminder why our commitment to protect our first responders is so important.”
Bottom Line Up Front: The Government Accounting Officer has sustained Leupold & Stevens’ protest against the U.S. Department of the Navy Surface Warfare Center Crane Division’s recent contract modification for Miniature Aiming Systems-Day Squad-Variable Power Scopes (Second Focal Plane).
Leupold has “won” but they didn’t get anything tangible from the protest. Unlike many other protests, they won’t be awarded anything. It’s more a moral victory.
On the other hand, Crane won’t be able to pay SIG SAUER for changes to the optics they’ve directed.
Other than withdrawing the contract modification, Crane has not announced a course of action to correct the situation. Possible outcomes are to purchase the optics with a different reticle, a new solicitation, no procurement at all, a new solicitation being issued. Alternatively, SIG may decide you eat the cost of the government directed changes.
Background
In August, optics manufacturer Leupold & Stevens submitted a GAO protest of the U.S. Department of the Navy Surface Warfare Center Crane Division’s recent contract modification published on 18 July 2019, to the internal reticle under Solicitation No. N00164-18-R-JQ30 (“the Solicitation”) and Contract No. N00164-18-D-JQ30 (“the Contract”) for Miniature Aiming Systems-Day Squad-Variable Power Scopes (Second Focal Plane) to Sig Sauer, Inc. For this solicitation, Crane was working on behalf of United States Special Operations Command as their office of primary responsibility for lethality. SOF weapons and accessories as well as Visual Augmentation Systems are procured by Crane.
Leupold asserted that Crane improperly modified its contract with Sig Sauer and that the changes made to the contract were so substantial that the contract should be terminated and a new competition conducted for the modified requirements. The additional funding of the contract modification is so much when added to SIG’s winning bid that Leupold feels someone else would have been awarded the contract instead of SIG.
While the SIG Optics TANGO6T is at the heart of this action, it’s important to point out that the protest has nothing to do with performance. That hasn’t even been actually assessed yet as neither SIG nor Nightforce have delivered any production samples to the government. This is because USSOCOM decided to integrate a new reticle into S-VPS, the Tremor8.
When the program was created, a different reticle had initially been considered, but due to the adoption of 6.5 Creedmoor, SOCOM decided they wanted a bullet drop compensator reticle. Todd Hodnett had envisioned a new Tremor reticle and this was adopted, but in concept only. The reticle was sketched out on a napkin and included settings for 5.56 M855A1 as well as the new 6.5 CM round. Even when the optics had been selected and contracts awarded, the Tremor8 still did not exist. Just recently, months later, the reticle has finally been certified. Now that it has been certified, Nightforce and SIG can integrate the reticle into their scopes and deliver samples to the government for acceptance testing.
In fact, Nightforce has already provided first production samples and they’ve passed Destructive Testing at Crane. They’ve completed the New Equipment Training and Operational Testing earlier this month and should have the Fielding & Deployment Release by early November.
SIG’s winning submission to S-VPS (SFP) incorporated a proprietary wire reticle. While this was selected, SOCOM later decided they wanted an etched, illuminated Tremor8 reticle. Naturally, this increased cost and the government paying for the additional cost of the integration of the Tremor8 into the SIG TANGO6T is what Leupold protested.
The REBS Carbon Multi Ladder (CML) is a rigid, modular and multi-functional ladder system with a dual rail design. The system uses modular 90cm sections that can be locked together to create a ladder, stretcher or bridge.
It is manufactured from carbon fibre for a combination of excellent rigidity and a light weight.
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) — Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time of the year again: physical fitness assessment season. As we’re surrounded by the unwavering dedication of command fitness leaders and the Sailors within each command, one can’t help but get in to the fitness spirit. On May 29, the former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson visited Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and announced the addition of the 2-kilometer row cardio option and forearm plank that will replace the curl-up. On Oct. 7, Sailors gathered in the fitness center on base to commence the testing of the new workout metrics.
The study consisted of three different days of exercise. Day one focused on introducing Sailors to the 2-kilometer row, practicing the correct rowing technique. On day two, the Sailors performed pushups, the forearm plank and the 12-minute bike assessment. Day three focused on pushups, the forearm plank and the second trial of the 2-kilometer row. A big focus during this study was how Sailors perform the new plank as opposed to the curl-ups.
“The plank allows you to build that core strength,” said Lt. Cmdr. Melissa Laird, the work sponsor of the study from the 21st Century Sailor office. “It’s really a better test and better modality to assess that core strength than the curl-up is. It works on giving you good posture and it also has less chance of aggravating low back injuries which you can see with the curl-up.”
Laird also said that adopting a new form of cardio within the PFA allows Sailors an alternative to the standard 1.5-mile run. The rower uses approximately 70 percent of the body’s musculature so it provides a good cardiovascular workout that is low impact.
Sailors representing multiple commands volunteered to be the test subjects for this study. A seamless transition into adopting these two modalities for the PFA in the year 2020 is the end goal according to Laird.
Mr. Jay Heaney, a research physiologist from the Naval Health Research Center and the principle investigator for the study, explained the process of gathering the information from the Sailors’ performance and how it will be applied to the new PFA.
“We try to get as many people as we can within the age groups by gender,” said Heaney. “Then we look for what the norms are; what the high, medium and low scores are. From that, we will develop what the scoring metrics are for the different categories of the PFA.”
Heaney said that the Navy is trying to put a bigger emphasis on physical fitness as ship-based Sailors are required to climb ladder ways and do a lot of heavy lifting throughout their workday.
“I volunteered because I wanted to see what the new PFA would look like,” said Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) 3rd Class Amanda Zwiebel. “Not only to prepare myself but to prepare my peers and my command.”
According to Heaney, at the end of the day, it is important that our service members have complete physical readiness. The addition of two new workouts to the PFA helps the U.S. Navy move in the right direction.
By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Aja Bleu Jackson, NPASE West det. Hawaii Public Affairs
