And now that DADT has been struck down maybe some of the ladies who are downrange will appreciate this too…
Warning: Clicking through will take you to a holiday message that some may consider N S F W
Merry Christmas to the Boys Overseas
December 25th, 2010‘Twas the Night before Christmas
December 25th, 2010‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”
-Clement Clarke Moore
Panteao Productions Intro Video
December 24th, 2010S.O.Tech Winter Sale
December 24th, 2010
What: S.O.TECH Holiday 35% OFF Sale featuring over 100 items
When: Now until January 1st, 2011
Where: http://www.sotechtactical.com
Reversible Air Force Rain Suit
December 24th, 2010According to THY, producer of the suit, it is “Available in a new trademarked six screen camouflage with reverse in a Military Universal ACU pattern (for AFSOC use only) and a solid color brown for consumers.” Truth be told, you can have the UCP.
Developed over two years ago, this camo pattern has only been used by AFSOC. Notice that one side of the reversible suit is Army UCP, when THY first worked on the suit, AFSOC could not get permission from the Clothing Office to print it in Digital Tiger Stripe since there was concern that it might provide competition for the new APECS jackets just coming into the system. So AFSOC figured they’d just as well use UCP as it blends pretty well with DTS.
When it is configured with the green/brown camo out the styling very much mimics the old BDU cut. We have examined a set and two things struck us. It is very lightweight and very tear resistant.
In addition to the rainsuit THY is also releasing a lean-to.
Gameboy Shot Timer
December 23rd, 2010One of our readers pointed this out to us and after seeing it I just had to ask: Is it possible that someone converted an old Gameboy Advance SP into a shot timer? Sure, but it can’t be the device found in this still image from a KASOTC promo video; there’s just too many buttons.
Instead, it seems to be a Competitive Edge Dynamics CED8000 shot timer, which I’ll admit looks deceptively like the aforementioned handheld console. I wonder if Nintendo even knows this thing exists. I’m almost positive there’s a lawsuit in there somewhere.
-Tactical Fanboy
Mad Duo – AF Makes a Smart Move When It Comes to Snivel Gear
December 23rd, 2010SSD Note: This is great news for WTT as well as the USAF! Airmen look for your Gen III Level & garments in Grey.
As you may have read last week, the Marine Corps has ordered a bunch of new happy suits for Gyrenes in cold places around the world, courtesy of Wild Things Tactical by Wild Things, Inc. What you may not know is it’s now official that zoomies can wear their version of WTT. Yes indeedy, the AF has finally figured it out.
Now let me make this clear. Slim and I have been bad ass tough guys for years, but frankly when it comes to cold weather we’re what you might call actively voluble pussies. (That’s the MILSPEAK way of saying we piss and moan and bitch a lot, but still get out there and get the job done—and for the record, before you criticize us for being pussies, keep in mind that the snow currently stacked up to the top of your boot is actually over our head.) If you want to make an acronym out of that, feel free. We’re not ashamed of being AVPs.
Anyway, our handlers have spent the last couple of days in Wild Things Tactical snivel kit. You may remember us talking about WTT cold weather gear before, because it’s so damn fantabulous. We genuinely love this stuff, and so do our handlers, so it shouldn’t be a big surprise that we’re happy to bring this good news to those of you forced to wear that damnable digital tiger stripe crap and deal with zipper-suited sun gods.
If you do not know what a zipper-suited sun god is, then you haven’t spent much time around AF bases. We hear at Breach-Bang-Clear appreciate pilots for their impact on the battlefield, CAS gun runs in particular, but anyone whose spent any time around them out of the cockpit knows what a pain in the ass most of them are, and must wonder how much they spend annually on hair gel, sunglasses and teeth-whitener…but again we digress. Wild Things Tactical Extreme Cold Weather Gear, by Wild Things Tactical, Inc, is now Air Force approved.
According to the Air Force Uniform Office, Wild Things Tactical Gen III Level 7 Extreme Cold Weather System jacket and pants are replacing the N3B and F1B parka and trousers. This is the same ECWCS the Army has been using and it’s pretty bad ass. We actually called Richard Keefer’s office (he’s the head duck at the “AF Uniform Officeâ€) but we never heard back. This could possibly be because he and his staff weren’t sure how exactly to deal with an interview request by foot tall tactical operators-slash-journalists, or perhaps he’s just really busy. We won’t hold it against him.
A couple things you need to know if you’re an A4/purchasing officer type USAF individual (or anyone else that might want to put your troops, officers or operators into WTT snivel kit). First off, it doesn’t have to worn as just a layering system. It can be stand-alone. They jackets, for instance, are sized to accommodate body armor, and are sized in the torso appropriately to wear with a duty belt or holster (if you’re so inclined). This could be a Good Thing for some of the folks that spend a lot of time shivering in garrison, like skycops doing dismounted RAMs, foot patrols around billeting, standing overwatch at the gate, etc. It’s comfy, it’s warm and it’s nowhere near as loud or irritating as the Gore-tex jacket you’re already wearing.
Second, they’re built with Epic, which is way too complicated for us to explain here and will probably be over half of your heads anyway (no offense, we don’t get it either). It makes for a good cold weather garment, though, trust us. We’d lie to you, just not about this. They’ve got 6 oz. of PrimaLoft and the Epic barrier that allows it to insulate even while completely wet. This gear wasn’t only industry tested, it was NATICK tested.
Third, it’s already been tried and tested in really shitty conditions under fire by guys that know what they like. When the Army decided to completely redesign its cold weather system, it went to the 10TH Mountain Division (Climb to Glory!) for field testing between the Fall of 2006 and Spring of 2007. Reviews were outstanding. For instance, LTC Christopher Cavoli of 1-32 Infantry (“Chosinâ€) said, “…I found myself praying for bad weather…I knew my soldiers could handle it and the enemy couldn’t. [Wild Things Tactical] ECWCS allowed my men to outlast the enemy on their own terrain. When the enemy was forced out of the mountains due to the bitter cold to take shelter, that’s when we got them…â€
Fourthly, if you’re an AF purchasing official, UDM, etc. with authority to source equipment for your squadron, group or wing, Wild Things Tactical will send you a sample to T&E at the local level. You just need to contact their military sales representative, Grady Burrell, and make the arrangements.
Fifthly and lastly, Wild Things LLC, WT Tactical will offer until Jan 15, a Military / Federal Officer Discount of 20% off Retail on Multicam, Coyote, OD Green and Black Tactical Gear for INDIVIDUAL sales. Must validate with FED / MIL address. AD/RES and NG. ON IN STOCK ITEMS ONLY!
Gen III ECWCS is provided to the US Army under a contract with ADS. Air Force units wishing to purchase Level 7 should contact them. www.ADSinc.com/Gen-III
Oh…if you need to contact Grady (Grady Burrell III, Director of Military & LE Sales), he can be reached at (828) 421-4349 or Grady.Burrell@wildthingsgear.com. Make sure you let him know we referred you, so we can affirm in their minds once again how valuable an ally they have in the Mad Duo, and how foolish they’d be not to keep us up to speed on new developments on their end.
Please check back in at SSD more frequently than you might otherwise do so. We’ve gotten a bunch of new kit in over the last couple of weeks and are in the process of reviewing it. Naturally we are eager to share the finding of our evaluation, our wisdom and almost supernaturally incisive wit. If you have any ideas for us to review or discuss, drop us a line at Breach-Bang-Clear or FaceBook.com/MadDuo; unless you’re going to complain about our opinions, writing style or philosophy (or you’re a sissy) in which case don’t bother.
Mad Duo Out!
Tactical Distributors In-Store Promo
December 22nd, 2010
Tactical Distributors is looking to spread some holiday cheer by holding an in-store promo. When you shop in their store front you will get a -FREE- TD BIG Logo tee with $50.00 purchase. In addition they are offering a 10% percent discount on total purchase. Their warehouse is right out back so anything you see on the website is available for a showroom purchase. This promo is running now until December 24th at 12:00 noon. They will be serving hot coco so be sure to ask for a cup.
Their address is:
476 Viking Drive
Virginia Beach, VA
23452
1-866-916-6905
