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Tactical Tailor Advises American Industrial Might Is Not Dead

January 29th, 2014

Citizens of this great nation have been bombarded with news that United States manufacturing is atrophied, if not on an outright spiraling decline. Though this may in fact be true in certain part of the country in specific industries, it is certainly not the case everywhere – and most definitely not the case in the Seattle area!

Pat attention Detroit! Tactical Tailor and the Pacific Northwest Defense Coalition (PNDC) are at the spearhead of a nascent renascence in American industrial manufacturing might.

In order to keep up with military contract requirements and citizen demand, we have vastly increased production times, with commensurate supplementation of quality control and supervisory measures. Tactical Tailor’s factory and assembly areas are now running 6 days per week—12 hours per day during the week and 8 hours on Saturdays.

The factory was previously running just 0630L to 1430L Monday through Friday.

Tactical Tailor, which recently earned the prestigious PNDC Member of the Year Award, will continue to run lean and build mean. We will maintain the same Kaizen and Kaban/JIT Lean Manufacturing Techniques and Advanced Quality Planning Control Processes, known colloquially as Control Plans, First Article Inspection and Process Capability. We will continue to keep the lessons of Clausewitz, Sun Tzu and Maurice Sendak in mind and most of all we shall remember, regardless of our ops tempo, that American Warfighters’ lives may depend on the quality of our work once they step outside the wire.

For you knuckle-draggers, that means everything still gets fit tested with a mag, radio or dummy grenade and thoroughly QCed before it goes out the door. Rest assured if you’re Joe Snuffy, rifleman, last man on the left flank and the last one to be issued something, your gear will always do what it’s designed to do with bomb proof Tactical Tailor quality that is guaranteed for life. Savvy?

Check out the Tactical Tailor website (www.tacticaltailor.com), our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/TacticalTailorInc) or YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/tacticaltailor).

Professional Regards,

Bob T. Tailor

Tags: Tactical Tailor
Posted in Industry | 22 Comments »

SHOT Show – Emergency Life Saving Armor

January 29th, 2014

I stopped by the DKX Armor booth at SHOT Show to check on their buoyant armor plates and they showed me the ELSA.

Emergency Life Saving Armor is a new take on something has been around for awhile but never executed very well; suitcase armor. Developed by a former Marine, the idea was to offer discrete armor protection that could be carried anywhere without a signature, yet quickly placed into action.

It looks like an ordinary nylon briefcase but can quickly transform into a fully functional Plate a carrier with PALS field that can be preconfigured with a basic fighting load.

It can support most standard sized armor plates and incorporates a routing system for comms cables or hydration tubes into the shoulder straps as well as a simple waist belt for stabilization that secures with a Cobra GTX buckle from ITW.

www.elsasaves.com

Tags: Elsa, SHOT Show
Posted in Armor, Grey Man, SHOT Show | 7 Comments »

US Army Seeking Digital Printing Capability

January 29th, 2014

Natick has issued a Sources Sought Synopsis looking for companies that are capable of digitally printing on a variety of substrates (fabrics). Additionally, they must be capable of NIR and SWIR compliance. Specifically:

Natick Soldier Systems Center requires rapid printed fabrics for field/lab testing of camouflage patterns for use in woodland, transitional and arid environments that conform to visual, NIR and SWIR requirements.

The Army is interested in prints on 50/50 Nylon/Cotton Ripstop Fabric, 500D Cordura and Rayon/Para-Aramid/Nylon Ripstop Fabric.

Notice in the documentation they reference Woodland, Transitional and Arid patterns? They go on and on about this, repeating it four times which tells me that, despite the contractual machinations currently (not) underway with Crye Precision for OCP (MultiCam), Natick is committed to working with a family of camouflage consisting of a Transitional pattern combined with Bookend Woodland and Arid patterns. Perhaps someone has realized that they actually own the Scorpion pattern (seen below), a precursor to MultiCam developed for the Objective Force Warrior program and can do pretty much anything they want with it. Then again, maybe not.

At this point, the Army is in a bit of quandry, having banked on a soft transition to OCP. Now, no one seems sure if the Army will be capable of moving away from the UCP camouflage. If a friend asked me in October if I knew what was happening I’d say “yes.” If they asked me now, I’d tell a story that sounds like a plot to an episode of “Three’s Company” and say “Not so much.”

As for trying to keep up; the Army is getting pretty savvy on releasing solicitation notices that deal with developmental camouflage issues on FedBizOpps. Looks like they’ve figured out that folks are keeping an eye on them so they are issuing them without any discussion of camouflage on the actual notice. Take for instance this one. It is titled “Fabric Printing BPAs.” You have to get down into the attachments to see what is really going on. Sneaky, Sneaky. But don’t worry Army, we will keep an eye out for you to help keep you honest. Since the Army likes to alter the public record by deleting postings once they’ve been brought to light on SSD, we’ve included the meat of what the Army is looking for below.

Click to download: CAMO_BPA2_Spec23Jan2014

If you’re interested in answering up, you’ve got until February 4th.

For the full Sources Sought Synopsis visit Fabric Printing BPAs.

Tags: Natick
Posted in Camo, Contracts | 41 Comments »

Gryphon Work Shop – Kryptek Kilts

January 28th, 2014

A reader of ours shared a couple of Kryptek kilts custom made for him by Gryphon Work Shop out of Vancouver, Washington. The kilts were done in Typhon and Mandrake patterns. These patterns aren’t a standard option on the Gryphon Work Shop site, although you can make a request for these and more patterns if you choose.

www.gryphonworkshop.com/

Thanks to AZ for the tip!

Tags: Gryphon Work Shop, Kryptek
Posted in Camo, Clothing | 7 Comments »

UNTIL it HURTS The Documentary

January 28th, 2014

Until It Hurts from DIGITAL THUNDERDOME on Vimeo.

A documentary detailing the back story of the UNTIL it HURTS artwork by retired Navy SEAL sniper Dave Hall and famous artist Ellwood T Risk, and how it has affected people so far is currently up for funding on Indiegogo.

www.indiegogo.com/projects/until-it-hurts-the-documentary

www.uihart.com

www.facebook.com/UiHart

Tags: indiegogo
Posted in Morale | 1 Comment »

OR – Ultimate Survival Technologies – ParaHatchet

January 28th, 2014

The ParaHatchet from Ultimate Survival Technologies features a 5mm stainless steel handle/blade and is wrapped in 8.2′ of either Orange or Glow In The Dark paracord. The blade integrates 3 hex wrenches and a rope cutter. It’s affordably priced and is the kind of insurance I’d throw in the trunk with a survival kit.

Tags: OR, Ultimate Survival Technologies
Posted in Knives, Outdoor Retailer, SERE | Comments Off on OR – Ultimate Survival Technologies – ParaHatchet

OR – Selk’Bag – Patagon

January 28th, 2014

Selk’Bag has been around for several years now but many have considered it a gimmick, more suitable for car camping (or slumber parties) than serious outdoor pursuits. But now they’ve introduced the new Patagon, a serious upgrade to the ergonomic sleep system that resembles an expedition suit rather than a sleeping bag. Rated for use to 35 Deg F, with extreme use to 9 Deg F, this is no small feat considering the extremities are separate from the torso. The bag is insulated with their proprietary KreKran which is named after the Chilean Ona Indian words Kre for Sun and Kran for Sun-Man. Temp ratings by independent lab.

Below, you can see the mesh lined, zippered vent found either side, mid-thigh. You will also notice that the booties can be removed via zipper so that the wearer’s boots are exposed for movement.