ADS will be showing their entire ECWCS Gen III clothing system (in MultiCam no less) but one of the levels should be of particular interest for Air Force personnel attending SHOT Show as it was recently approved for use by the Air Force Clothing Office.
USAF Approves ECWCS Gen III Lvl7
New from ADS is their Volume 8 catalog: It is jam packed with 696 pages of goodness. In fact, you will feel like a kid in a candy store. If you have a requirement, ADS has got you covered. They literally have thousands of products from leading manufacturers in addition to ADS Solutions such as GEN III ECWCS, FREE, Escalation of Force Kits, Joint Forces Extrication Kits, MRO Solutions, Expeditionary Solutions, and more. ADS takes it a step further with Volume 8, continuing to offer more purchasing and contracting options than ever.
ADS will have limited copies available at SHOT Show (booth #20415), but for those of you who can’t make it you can view (or download) it on their website NOW. ADS will also accept orders for Volume 8 on 1 FEB 2011 via their Request a Catalog page.
Body Armor Real Estate – Those four words pretty much sum up the dilemma of about everybody wearing armor these days. It seems like there just isn’t enough room for the gunfighting essentials, let alone specialized tools like those required by EOD operators. ZERO POINT has combined their operational savvy with innovative designs to produce new versions of current products as well as a few new ones.
In addition to the BARE technology, ZERO POINT will also have a couple of other surprises on hand. If you are a Breacher or EOD make sure you stop by ADS’s booth (#20415) to check it all out.
While it’s not truly a debut, GHOSTEX, a joint venture between camouflage gurus Hyperstealth and tailored logistics titans ADS is being unveiled to the masses. The reason we say not truly a debut is that previously, they had premiered a sample of their lineup at the ADS Warrior Expo last summer in Virgina Beach.
Intended primarily to support niche forces, GHOSTEX (Ghost Textures) derives its name from the US Army’s Ghost unit of WWII, (23rd Headquarters Special Troops). This Ghost Army specialized in Camouflage, Concealment and Deception (CCD). The premise of the mashup is intriguing; Commercial Off the Shelf camo patterns to cover virtually any scenario paired with rapid manufacturing capabilities to support contingency operations.
We took a look at their wares during the Warrior Expo and came back impressed. The GHOSTEX website goes into pretty good detail about what they are up to so make sure you visit it to gain a deeper understanding of what they have going on. One important detail that we appreciate is that the GHOSTEX program is limited to authorized customers. These patterns are going to be restricted to those who need them only.
Will GHOSTEX be a contender for the Army’s Family of Camouflage program? We won’t know the answer to that until the solicitation is actually released, but if they do, my money is on something completely new that we haven’t even seen yet. After all, with over 8000 patterns to their credit, no one concentrates on camo like Hyperstealth.
Be sure to visit the Hyperstealth reps at ADS, Inc’s booth #20415.
ADS has just added ZERO POINT to their line up of vendors. ZERO POINT makes some pretty amazing equipment and much of it is built for very specific purposes and the CEx-E is just such a kit. Designed as a small and lightweight site exploitation kit it provides the EOD operator the capability to detect, identify and sample explosives, desensitize sensitive explosive compounds as well as sample and package unknown liquids and powders. In addition to the tools, the kit also provides supplies to collect evidence for Sensitive Site Exploitation purposes. There are components to collect and tag evidence, protect sensitive electronic IED components and media, and document and photograph a site. There is even a large collapsible bag to transport all recovered materials. They have thought of everything. The organizer which is designed to be carried in a larger pack is Berry Compliant and available in a variety of colors and camo patterns.
For more information visit www.zeropointusa.com. ADS can support unit and agency orders. www.ADSinc.com/ZEROPOINT
Tags: ADS Inc, Zero Point USA
Posted in ADS, EOD | Comments Off on ZERO POINT Combat Exploitation Kit
SSD 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!
ADS has begun to offer LTC‘s new SAPI training plates. While you may be unfamiliar with Leading Technology Composites, they are one of the industry leaders in ballistic plates. Unlike other training plates these have no ballistic value but rather are intended to be used solely for situations that do not require protection but where the bulk and weight of plates adds value such as combatives and vehicular crew drills. Ballistic plates can be damaged in training and it is difficult to ascertain if they retain their protective properties without expensive imaging systems. Additionally, some organizations to not have ample supplies of actual ESAPI plates to support both training as well as operations. That’s why training plates are so critical. Training can be accomplished by everyone at no risk to damaging ballistic plates. Naturally, these training plates are Blue and clearly marked for training use. Available in Small – XLarge, side plates and additional sizes are available by special order as well. Unit orders can be supported by ADSinc.com/LTC.
Tags: ADS Inc, LTC
Posted in Armor, Training | Comments Off on LTC Mock SAPI Training Plate
Courtesy of ADS Inc you too can learn the basics of field communications in the first installment of what we hope is a continuing series on the subject. “The Comms Locker” is written by Dave Meadows, a former Navy SEAL who specialized in the field before coming on board with ADS. We like Dave’s laid back style backed up with easy to read diagrams and can’t wait for the next article.
Read it here.
Tags: ADS Inc
Posted in ADS, Comms | Comments Off on Learn the Ins and Outs of Comms
