SIG SAUER - Never Settle

Contour Picatinny Rail Mount by Strikemark Targets

December 9th, 2011

Strikemark Targets has added a Contour Picatinny Rail Mount to their lineup of camera mounts we mentioned during New Breed of Warrior. Manufactured from a single piece of aluminum, the mount features a Black powder coat finish. It comes with an Allen key for installation and is held in place with a nylon tipped set screw. Installation is simple. You slide it on the rail, adjust its position, set the screw, and attach the Contour to the mount.

strikemark.com/products/contour-picatinny-rail-mount-strikemark

DSPTCH Camera Wrist Strap

December 9th, 2011

We were alerted to this camera wrist strap by DSPTCH. It’s a good looking item and an excellent concept. In fact, we’re surprised no one has done it before. Since it loops back through itself it is adjustable for the whole gamut of wrist sizes. Just be careful, your wrist is going to give long before that braided 550. But, the handy SR buckle should break away before you do. Available in Olive, Black, and Coyote.

www.dsptch.com

Thanks NH for the heads up!

215 Gear Giveaway

December 8th, 2011

215 Gear announced on their Facebook page that they will be conducting a Christmas giveaway drawing. From now until 24 DEC 11, any order over $100 will automatically be entered into the drawing. The winner will receive a $75 product redemption code, to be used at 215 Gear. The winner will be announced by 215 Gear on 26 DEC 11. Good luck to all.

www.215gear.com

Kifaru Woobie Update

December 8th, 2011

Kifaru has updated their website with some photos of the newest version of their reversible Woobie/Doobie in Coyote and MultiCam. Combining RhinoSkin Shell with ClimaShield combat insulation, it makes a great replacement for the issue poncho liner.

kifaru.net

SOTech to Unveil New IFAK at SOMA

December 8th, 2011

SOTech will unveil their new Flat IFAK the the SOMA Conference (Booth 531) in Tampa, FL this weekend.

SOTech designed their new Flat Individual First-Aid Kit to be less cumbersome when mounted on equipment like belts and armor vests. Many IFAKs stick out from a vest or belt and hang up on vehicle seats, doorways, and other hazards.

The Flat IFAK allows ambidextrous deployment via handles mounted on either side of the insert. Once deployed the envelope-style insert may then be temporarily closed using the cinch string and hung around the neck or stuffed quickly into a cargo pocket, allowing weapons manipulation or to free up the user’s hands for extraction/movement of the patient. This is a great feature since oftentimes, it is difficult to reattach the IFAK insert to equipment for further transport.

The Flat IFAK is approximately the same thickness as SOTech’s VIPER Plate Carrier, allowing it to be mounted to their BLOCS Padded Armor Belt below the plate carrier giving the wearer flat back profile when sitting in a vehicle or a helicopter. It is MOLLE compatible with is outfitted with SOTech’s patented Flex-Tab attachment system. The Flat IFAK is sold as a kit along with the BLOCS Quick Eject Tourniquet Carrier.

www.sotechtactical.com

Whiskey 5 – Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp

December 8th, 2011

Who
Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp.

What
A world leader in CCD (Camouflage, Concealment and Deception); Over two million military uniforms now use Hyperstealth patterns. While specializing in camouflage patterns for Individual Soldiers the company has also worked on CCD solutions for Military Ground Equipment, Aircraft, UAVs (Drones), Structures, Ships and Submarines.

Guy Cramer, President/CEO developed the KA2 digital camouflage in 2003 for the Kingdom of Jordan, under the direct commission of King Abdullah II. The country of Jordan has produced over 800,000 uniforms in this pattern and painted the pattern on over 3000 of their military vehicles.

In 2004 Cramer teamed with Lt. Col. Timothy R. O’Neill, Ph.D. (U.S. Army, Ret.), considered the world expert on camouflage, to develop the USMC Overwhite (snow camouflage) and the new Afghanistan National Army uniform camouflage, through the U.S. Government (1.1 million uniforms).

Cramer/O’Neill have worked together on CCD programs for over 40 countries and with W.L. Gore (Gore-Tex) on new science based hunting patterns under the “Optifade” line. Cramer/O’Neill collaborate on most projects, excluding those presenting a conflict of interest.

In March 2010, Hyperstealth completed the CUEPAT (Canadian Urban Environment Pattern) development for the Canadian Forces: Defenece Research and Development Canada (DRDC). Two of these Hyperstealth patterns are currently being field trialed.

They have over 10,000 camouflage patterns under international copyright. Cramer is now the top camouflage pattern designer in the world.

Where
Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp. was established in 1999 in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada. Hyperstealth Biotechnology Inc. was also established in 1999 and is located in Boulder, Colorado.

When
Unlike most of their competitors who began in commercial production, Hyperstealth started developing camouflage in 2003 for the military side and this still remains 95% of their core business; up to this point the company has had little reason to market their patterns to the general public or provide staged photos of their patterns in backgrounds which complement the pattern.

Using proprietary fractal algorithms (natural feedback loop patterns) Cramer was the first to successfully merge fractals into camouflage making the target harder to acquire than without the fractals. From 2003-Present Cramer has developed over 13 separate unique algorithms (fractals being only 1 of the 13) to optimize camouflage to disrupt the target shape while also blending the target into the background.

Hyperstealth has worked with all four branches of the U.S. Military and with various components of the Special Operations community. When lives depend on the effectiveness of your product, you need to give 110% to understanding what works and what doesn’t work. Hyperstealth is the only company which can set up objective testing (endorsed by the U.S. Government) of camouflage patterns and thus are aware of what works down to the millisecond and what fails to work. For reasons of security they do not share these results outside of the U.S. or Canadian governments.

Cramer corresponded on a number of programs at the request of Senator John Warner’s office, while he was chairman of the Armed Services Committee. A number of Cramer’s scenarios made it all the way to the President’s Science and Technology Adviser at The White House.

Due to the security surrounding much of what Hyperstealth does, most of it is not disclosed, or is delayed for public disclosure for many years. So while you may think you’re seeing the newest pattern from Hyperstealth at a tradeshow or on their web site, odds are, it’s already 4-5 years old.

What Else
In 2010 Hyperstealth announced “Smartcamo”; an intelligent textile which changes its color to match the background of the wearer in almost all environments. Further application of Smartcamo onto ground vehicles is expected to precede any wide scale uniform program as power and processors are one limiting factor for the individual soldier application.

In 2011 Cramer announced “Quantum Stealth” (Light Bending material) non-powered adaptive camouflage which portrays what is behind the user in-front of the user bending the light around the target. The cost is inexpensive, very lightweight and there are no power requirements. This technology was recently shown and sampled with a number of experts for the U.S. Military to verify the abilities of the material.

GHOSTEX
Hyperstealth and ADS Inc. initiated Ghostex last year, using new rapid production machinery; Hyperstealth can print any pattern to MilSpec fabric with inks that work in the NIR then send the material to ADS where they assemble 1 – 50+ uniforms in any of these new Ghostex patterns and colors with reasonable turnaround time.

Hyperstealth has been refining the system for short run production for field trial uniforms for countries military soldier upgrade programs. Current the company estimates they are printing 400 yards per month on these machines for Special Forces and country uniform programs.

For 2012 Cramer says there is a new technology he is working on which should be another leap forward in personal concealment with a material which can change colors allowing the user to dial in the closest colors by manually shifting through the camouflage color spectrum to match the background and/or time of day. More details to follow shortly.

In October 2011 HyperStealth signed a series of exclusive camouflage pattern licenses for SOPAT (Special Operations Pattern), SpecAm and CAMOPAT patterns and also the Passive Negative Ion Generator to Elba-Onyx Enterprises (an affiliate of The Onyx Group) with exclusive licenses for NATO, the European Union and non-exclusive licenses outside of these territories.

Hyperstealth also recently announced that the company has retained the services of The 132 Group as Advisers and Consultants. The 132 Group provide programmatic, equipment specific, and Business Development services to companies desiring to develop or increase their technologies or ability to provide their specific goods and services to the Government.

Bill Jarvis, the principle of The 132 Group, has accompanied Cramer on a number of briefings to different U.S. Special Forces Commands, British Military,and the Royal Navy earlier this year and is one of only a few people to see the actual SMARTCAMO (color changing) and also the Quantum Stealth (Light Bending) materials.

Just in the last few months, Hyperstealth has been featured in the “Atlantic” magazine, The Globe and Mail (Canada’s National Newspaper), Business in Vancouver, the Financial Times in London, Military Times, CNN and a live interview on the NPR (National Public Radio).

With Hyperstealth patterns being used in some upcoming large feature films, scientific documentaries and other large commercial companies upcoming pattern releases you may think you’re about to see it all, but it’s what the company can’t show you which really sets it above and beyond all others.

HyperStealth is referenced in the NATO Programme for Security through Science.

www.hyperstealth.com

Kryptek LEAF

December 8th, 2011

Kryptek is developing a good following for their unique hunting camouflage and clothing line available through Cabela’s. Earlier today, they unveiled Kryptek L.E.A.F., which is a SDVOB (Service Disabled, Veteran Owned Business) that handles all of their government/military work. What makes this so significant is the timing. We didn’t expect to start seeing any of the proposed US Army camo patterns until after the upcoming down select announcement, but Kryptek LEAF just unveiled their full lineup. Go ahead and click on the image below to blow it up to full size so you can get a better feel for the patterns.

These four patterns make a family that shares common geometry but with complimentary color palettes for different environments. There is Highlander which serves as their Transitional pattern, Mandrake which is a Woodland design, Nomad for use in the Desert, and Yeti for Snow use. Not shown on this image are Urban and Typhon which are Grey based patterns for various urban applications.

Take a look at Highlander. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen before and they’ve done a great job of producing the illusion of 3D. As you can see, it looks great on a flat file. The question with not only these patterns but all of the Army candidates is, “Can they print it?” I’d say that this photo is a good indication that they can.

Kryptek on how it works:
“Kryptek utilizes a multi-directional design to effectively conceal in a multitude of terrains that have either a lateral or vertical flow. The bi-level layering of the patterns incorporate background transitional shading and sharp random geometrical foregrounds to create a three dimensional effect that ensures the utmost in concealment at both close and long ranges. These components combined with colorations selected and matched based on input from testing and observations from Operators in the field make Kryptek Camo the ultimate in passive battlefield deception.”

Kryptek LEAF will be officially unveiled at SHOT Show in Source One Distributors booth #8203.

www.kryptek.com/leaf

Raven VanGuard

December 7th, 2011

Hill People Gear has been offering the Raven VanGuard for some time now and I am intrigued with the concept. Available for both the Glock and M&P, the VanGuard was originally envisioned by Shay VanVlymen of Mindset Laboratory and manufactured by Raven Concealment Systems. It is designed to protect a pistol’s trigger from accidental squeeze while being stored in non-holster carriers such as day or fanny packs. The VanGuard is tethered so that during the draw it will pull free from the trigger guard. Hill People Gear sells them for use with their Kit Bags and Runner’s Kit Bags, but the VanGuard looks like it would be a good pairing with many carry options.

www.hillpeoplegear.com