TYR Tactical

Posts Tagged ‘Mad Duo’

Mad Duo – Tactical Tailor’s New Open-Front Radio Pouch

Friday, September 24th, 2010

Anyone that’s met G.W. Ayers will attest that while he’s a nice, typically soft-spoken guy, he looks like someone shaved a gorilla(1) and hung LBE on it. This shouldn’t be taken as an insult—he’s a smart guy and we like him. It might, however, explain our initial hesitation at the sight of those outstretched paws(2) when he reached out and offered to take us over to check out his new radio pouch. We got over it and rode along.

Glad we did.

This pouch is an outstanding piece of kit and is another one of those forehead-smacking ideas. It came to them from an SF operator in the field, who explained what he needed and stood by. GW was quick to sic his custom shop on it. The result is now in use in a number of places, including several SOF organizations.

Designed for the Harris 152 radio (AN/PRC-152 Falcon III for purists and grognards), this modular pouch addresses the biggest problem you can have with your radio pouch—once it’s in there, you have to pull it back out to make adjustments and sometimes even to use them. Says GW, “What we’ve done is design this so it’s MOLLEd [note: that’s a verb, not a typo] onto the gear, then the radio will fall free at 45 degrees so you can change your channels, then you secure the radio. It’s a one-handed operations, so that you don’t have to pull the radio out of the pouch when you have to deal with it.”

(From the description on their site: ‘Releasing the heavy duty quick-release buckle on the front of the pouch allows the entire pouch to lean out, giving the user easy access to the keypad and screen, which faces the wearer and remains protected by a clear window.’)

The pouch will also carry the MBITR radio in the same configuration (yes, AN/PRC-148 MBITR radio, we can use the official cool name too), if you’re using that instead of the AN/PRC 152. GW’s folks developed wings on the side of the pouch to Velcro open and shut, so if you had to get to the buttons for some reason, or the data port on the opposite side, you have no issues. This is going to be really well liked for some of the AF guys that have to run a lot of data through(3).

So far the pouch has been a slam dunk for Tactical Tailor and they expect it to continue (note: they haven’t made these in our size yet, but give them time). It retails for $30 and is available in Foliage Green, Coyote Brown, MultiCam and Black. (No word on ABU or MARPAT, but I wouldn’t hold your breath.)

As you might have expected it’s constructed of 1000D Cordura nylon and heavy-duty hardware. Attaches to any MOLLE or PALS style gear with two long MALICE CLIPS® (included). Buy it here. Seriously, go buy one, or two. And tell GW we sent you.

As usual, if you have any ideas for us to review, drop us a line at BreachBangClear.com or FaceBook.com/MadDuo; unless you’re going to complain about our opinions, writing style and philosophy (or if you are Joy Behar or Keith Olbermann) . In that event you should feel free to go play in traffic and Foxtrot-Sierra-Oscar(4). MAD DUO OUT!

1 Gorilla GeeDuya GeeDubya, not Gorilla beringei beringei.

2 This should not be interpreted as hyperbole. Have you seen his mitts? He’s got fingers like bratwursts. Just sayin’.

3 It would probably be just as well received by Security Forces anyway, though they’d prob’ly lose it or break hours after guardmount—which is better than what the grunts will probably do it. We won’t go into that here.

4 The middle one is “Smooth”. We don’t have a brevity code for it, but you get the idea.

Mad Duo – Individual In-Line Filtration for Hydration Systems

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

Thirteen centuries ago or so, Jābir ibn Hayyān distilled water to purify it. Ten centuries ago, Avicenna espoused the straining of water through a cloth, or boiling it (or both) to make it safe to drink. Four centuries ago, Sir Francis Bacon published the results of numerous experiments on percolation, boiling and distillation for the purification of drinking water. Three centuries ago, Joseph Amy was granted a patent for a water filter design. Approximately one century ago, Maj. (later BG) Carl Darnall devised a chlorination system for water supplies, three years after which Maj. (later Col.) William Lyster invented the ‘Lyster Bag’ for the chlorination of drinking water in the field.

Three weeks ago, Darley Defense showed us an in-line filter system for a “reservoir backpack” style hydration system, complete with a small, lightweight pressure pump.

It was definitely one of those forehead-slapping moments. We at Breach-Bang-Clear think it’s one of the coolest things to come down the pike since peanut butter, the multi-tool and x-ray glasses. This thing is going to become as common and ubiquitous as the hydration systems themselves. (If you’re as old as we are, you remember what it was like when CamelBaks first came out, and how kewl they were compared to the standard one-quart canteens we used to lug around on our TA-50 or 782 Gear). This system will fit them all, CamelBak, Hydrapak, Platypus, Coleman or any of the others.

This filter system effectively marries up pieces of equipment already in use to make a unique piece of kit that capitalizes on the strengths of both. It utilizes filters already in use by the British Army and Royal Air Force (Pure Hydration) and a pressure/pump system by Ogwa. The prototypes we saw were less than a month old, but a lot of people have already shown a lot of interest in it.

“I’ve shown it to USASOC and Natick, and they both think highly of it,” said TJ Gilroy (he’s the manager of Darley’s Defense Division, and the one developed this as-yet-unnamed system). “There’s also an ODA from an SFG that’s deploying with them now, but we haven’t gotten any formal AARs yet.”

You see, the problem with any in-line filter is that it takes a certain amount of pressure to get water through it, applied by the user through the mouthpiece. To adequately draw filtered water through a CamelBak or similar line before, you had to generate the kind of suction normally found only in Olympic swimmers and dancers at Secrets Cabaret outside Ft. Bragg.

With this Darley system, you can put the filter into any line from an extant hydration system, along with a simple baffled pressure pump, in just a few seconds. The 2-stage carbon block and iodine impregnation doesn’t just purify the water, it filters it at the same time—you’ve got Iodinated resin beads between filters, so not only does it kill bacteria and whatnot, you wind up with fresh-tasting water (not like the nastiness we used to have to drink with those tablets out of the WATER PURIFICATION, INDIVIDUAL, IODINE bottles once found on the side of canteen pouches).

It takes 3 psi to pull water through the filter—the pump they’re using goes to about 10 psi, which is more than enough to pull water through it as fast as a user can drink. In fact, it puts out a pretty good push (like if you’re a medic and you need to rinse a wound, for instance, though not enough to beat a SuperSoaker in a straight up fight).

The filter lasts a hundred gallons and it has a positive fail system in it. Once you can no longer pull water through it, the filter is no longer any good and needs to be replaced. They are testing this filter to the NSF 248 Protocol, which in addition to sounding like a cool plot device in a Bourne movie is a measure of the filter’s efficacy.

Think about the advantages to this. It decreases the need to worry about potable water by a unit in the field by an order of magnitude. Running FID operations in Indonesia, or hunting AQ in the Horn of Africa? You can literally just scoop water up from a local source, close the reservoir and get back to work. This filter, which takes up less space then the main course of an MRE, lasts for a hundred gallons—you could keep an ODA in fresh water for months with less than the cargo space available in the back of a cut-vee.

It’s got some advantages to high mountain work too—if your lungs are under duress at altitude, like high in the amounts of Afghanistan or wherever, any additional stress on your lungs is a Bad Thing. This filter obviates that concern.

The system will be distributed by Darley on large scale contracts, not sure how/where they will retail them at the “individual” level, but if they do you can bet we’ll have them at Breach-Bang-Clear (or TJ will be sportin’ bruises and a haunted look). Seriously though, they are still actively looking for people that might be interested in it and may be willing to put some input to it. If you or your unit is interested, contact TJ Gilroy of the Darley Defense Division, www.DarleyDefense.com, tjgilroy@darley.com or 630-735-3538.

Tell him the Mad Duo sent you, and he still owes us lunch money.

If there’s a piece of kit you want looked at or evaluated, dropped us a line. We’ve done it for as varied a list of companies as 5.11 Tactical, Numa Optics, Tactical Duostock, Wellco Boots, the Weyland-Yutani Defense Industries Division and most recently the Umbrella Corporation, and are always interested in looking at new gear.

If you have any ideas for us to review, drop us a line at BreachBangClear.com or FaceBook.com/MadDuo (unless you’re going to complain about our opinions, writing style or philosophy in which case you’d be better off not wasting your time). MAD DUO OUT!

Mad Duo – The Rifleman’s Tool

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010

The Mad Duo attended Darley Defense Day held by Darley Defense near Ft. Polk last week and they promised us a couple of reviews. The first review is the Rifleman’s Tool, designed by none other than Walter “Blackie” Collins and coming to the fighting public via Tactical International. So, without further ado, here is their review.

We’re working on a full-blown, in-depth review right now but thought we’d give you the low-down quick and dirty now: this knife is COOL, and it really is more than just a knife—it’s a tool that may be the coolest thing that’s come along (at least in the category of lethal or hard-working cutlery) since the first multi-tool. Now, it’s not a Swiss Army Knife with a vast array of nifty gadgets, so don’t expect that. This piece of kit chooses a few things to do, specifically (as the name implies) for the rifleman, and it does it well.

The Rifleman’s Tool auto-deploys a strong 4” tanto style blade (non-auto versions coming), with the inestimable Mr. Collins’ signature on the side. Inside the body of the knife are several extremely useful implements for a rifle-shooter (particularly if the shooter is also an emergency responder). There’s a front sight adjustment tool, an aluminum shell extractor designed to avoid damage to the locking lugs on the M4 (you’ve seen it happen when someone grabs a multi-tool or a pair of pliers to do it), and a fire-starter that can also be used on the take-down pins to disassemble the weapon. All of these latter tools are accessed by unscrewing the threaded carbide glass-breaking pieces at the end of the knife.


(Sorry about the pictures: our minion was distracted and wasn’t doing such great work with the camera.)

The only thing some people might not like is going to be the price—we’ve seen it as high as nearly $400, averaging about $350 depending upon the retailer. Now, that’s actually not a bad price for a tool of this quality and potential usefulness, but you’re going to have to wrap yourself around the fact that you get what you pay for. This may also be the time you need to use the “yeah but look how many pairs of shoes you have!” argument with Household-6 in order to justify the expense. Note: Going Loud Tactical Outfitters carries the Rifleman’s Tool and is apparently running a special for a little while; enter SoldierSystems as a coupon code at checkout for 15% off the Rifleman’s Tool ($250.00 retail at Going Loud)…we’re not sure how long it’s supposed to last.

The Rifleman’s Tool is also available at Tactical International ($450.00) and DPMS Inc. ($378.00). Rumor has it that Darley Defense may also be offering the tool, but as of this date we couldn’t confirm that.

If you’d like to read a little more about it, Police Magazine did a review here. Otherwise, check back here because there is definitely more to follow!

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. We’ve got upcoming articles on a half a dozen really cool new pieces of kit and a picture of when we were coined by GW of Tactical Tailor, so it would behoove you to PAY ATTENTION.

MAD DUO OUT!

Mad Duo – Darley Defense Day at Ft Polk

Sunday, September 5th, 2010

Darley Defense hosted “Darley Defense Day” near Ft. Polk on Tuesday. Darley is probably best known for the firefighting equipment but has recently gotten involved in special operations and tactical equipment, in a BIG way. Initially to be held on Ft Polk itself, Darley got word literally 24 hours before the show was to open that having it on base was a no-go. A garrison marplot apparently got involved for reasons that may have been righteous, were possibly spurious, or most likely stoopid, but who are we to judge? The end result saw the show moved literally at the last minute to a hotel in the nearby metropolis of Leesville.

Now, we personally think Leesville is on par with Mos Eisley, but the show itself was great. This was largely due to the Herculean efforts of Todd Kasper (SFC, retired), local Darley coordinator and event POC. If you’ve never met him, Todd’s a hard-working SOB with a great sense of humor, unmatched energy and excellent taste in hair gel. (Great guy; should never be prescribed personality-enhancing medication.)

There were a number of luminaries from the tactical industry there, including representatives from Tactical Tailor (we’ll be telling you about an outstanding new pouch they’re putting out; it’ll make you smack your forehead and wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself), Eye Safety Systems Inc. (more commonly known as ESS, and wait until you wear the new temples for the Crossbow glasses, they’re awesome), Peak Beam Systems, Beamshot, Duostock Designs, Going Loud Tactical Outfitters, Ontario Knife Company, Rocky Boots, Wellco Boots, The Mako Group…you get the idea. There were actually a couple there we didn’t initially know anything about, like for instance Wild Things Tactical. How we’ve managed to spend years in this line of work without hearing of them we haven’t figured out but rest assured we’ve since been educated. (They provide inclement weather gear to snake-eaters from every branch and many Federal agencies, and provide every Marine’s ‘happy suit’.) WT Tactical had a couple of really sweet new pieces, which we’ll go over soon.

We met many Soldiers from a variety of outfits, including 10TH Mountain and the 509’s Geronimos. We remember one mean looking Sergeant Major in particular, giving all the gear a very critical eye; pretty sure he was with the OPFOR unit, but not sure. He had a shaved head, rasping voice and looked like all the spare flesh and sense of humor on had long since been boiled away, leaving just gristle, dick and backbone behind.

We didn’t talk to him.

Although there weren’t vast numbers of Soldiers milling about, this Darley Defense Day seemed to be a great success. We had the chance to sit down for a few minutes with T.J. Gilroy over lunch (good chow, by the way) about their goals for the show and others liked it. Foremost among those goals was the desire to not only make themselves known as the newest part of the TLS Program (formerly “Prime Vendor”) and to educate soldiers about options in available and authorized kit that’s out there.

There was more to it…we’ll explain more as we go. Please check back periodically to read up on some of the wicked cool new kit we saw while we were there.

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. We’ve got upcoming articles on a half a dozen really cool new pieces of kit and a picture of when we were coined by GW of Tactical Tailor, so it would behoove you to PAY ATTENTION.

MAD DUO OUT!

LBE for the Tactical Professional’s Adult Beverages

Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

It may not be the latest and greatest from Blue Force Gear, S.O. Tech, Blackheart, Mayflower, Agilite, Tyr or any of the other high speed, low drag manufacturers, but this new piece of kit may be good to go anyway. It certainly meets a need otherwise largely unmet in the tactical equipment industry—you can go to any one of a hundred different sites if you want a modular M4/AR15 magazine pouch, or visit your choice of at least as many places to pick up a 3-day assault pack or modular ruck.

That’s fine if you need kitted out to go kinetic. Where do you go to get jocked up for a dining out, team/platoon bbq or bachelor party?

After 5, apparently, or Urban Outfitters, or possibly Anvil Custom Leather, that’s where.

After 5 offers what thy call the Take-a-Shot Booze Belt—two holsters (sorry, neither SERPA nor Safariland SLS compatible) for bottles and six molded slots for your ammunition (shot-shell shotglasses included with the belt). It is made in the USA with 600 denier fabric, nylon webbing and molded foam. Apparently the holster and ammo can be adjusted as desired. Unknown whether it can be custom ordered with MOLLE attachments or not. The base price for this adult beverage LBE is $89.99…a little pricey for someone in the lower E-numbers, but not too much if you’re coming back from a tax exclusion zone in the AOR (or looking to get a present to welcome someone back from there).

This Next has one similar, but in bandoleer mode:

Other options, which we find far superior to the classic beer-can holding ball cap, include the 6-beer beer bottle belt from Urban Outfitters:

Or, for occasions that call for a dressier look (though not mess dress) the black leather whiske
y bottle holster from Anvil (also available in brown and “dirty leather”, which is perhaps more suitable for some civilian LE uniforms).

To date none of the above have been offered in Multi-Cam, A-TAC or any of the other progressive camouflage designs (we were really hoping for SURPAT) but don’t let that stop you from picking one up. Black goes with just about any camo there is and there’s always the patrol-ready beer can belt from DrinkingStuff.com, which can be rigged up with some modifications below your IBA or other armor (and is available in standard woodland camo). We don’t advise using the ones that carry glass containers if you’re in the field. Those should be reserved strictly for garrison use.

If you have any ideas for us to review, drop us a line at BreachBangClear.com or FaceBook.com/MadDuo; unless you’re going to complain about our opinions, writing style or philosophy in which case don’t bother. We just got in a brand new Rifleman’s Tool (very nice) and are still hoping to get a look at the Umbrella Corporation’s NFDD but as yet no firm word on the latter. MAD DUO OUT!

EMA Tactical’s AKMR

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

We’re not big on the AK74 or other AK variants, not because there’s anything intrinsically wrong with the weapon, but because there’s only so much money or ammo and gear unless you eat Ramen noodles for every meal. Now, Ramen noodles are good but they’re not that good, so we’ve spent most of our money and time on M4 and AR15 clones. That being said, the AK breed has seen an incredible Renaissance in after-market accessories and modifications over the last several years—that’s a Good Thing if you’re a shooter that owns one of the estimated eleventy-five gozillion AK47/74/SKS rifles floating around out there.

EMA Tactical has developed several pieces of kit for the AK, and one of their most popular (and least expensive) pieces is the AKMR. That’s the AK47 Polymer Magazine Release Extension, said to “provide easier access to the magazine release and quicker magazine changes”. It’s intended to allow the shooter to release the magazine more quickly, by providing a larger surface area on both sides, the front and bottom of the trigger guard. This could, conceivably, make the difference in a fight under stress, when fine motor skills degrade. We believe this piece of kit potentially qualifies for the Mad Duo TactiCAL designation (as opposed to TactiCOOL).

Mounting the AKMR doesn’t require a gunsmith and does not interfere with the trigger or trigger function. It’s made in Israel, of polymer, so far only in black (though why color would be a deal-breaker we don’t know, unless it was a choice between pearlescent salmon and chartreuse).

We asked Jay Portz about the AKMR when we first got word it was available in large numbers. “Boys,” he said, “the best trivia I can give you about the AKMR is that our dealers are ordering them fifty or a hundred or more of them at a time. There are so many AK47s out there, and the AK was designed at a time when ‘ergonomic’ and ‘ambidextrous’ weren’t part of the language, so the demand for a product like this is great.”

From everything we’ve seen and heard, that appears to be a spot-on assessment. We haven’t shot one ourselves (yet; we will be using one at a Sonny Puzikas class in November) but once we have the opportunity we’ll advise further. The shooters we have talked to advise the AKMR makes magazine changes much smoother and thus much faster. “No more fumbling for the mag release, it’s right there, wrapped around the trigger guard next to your trigger finger,” one told us (he’s 1/1 scale, not 1/6 like us if you were wondering) so we definitely want to check it out.

The EMA Tactical AKM is available at their website www.ematactical.com or any number of other distributors. They retail for $14.99 at most places.

If you decide to get one for your rifle, do us a favor. Mention that you read it on Soldier Systems in a piece by the Mad Duo. We’ve arranged for special prices with other companies before (like 5.11 Tactical, Duostock, Wellco Boots and the Weyland-Yutani Defense Industries Division.).

If you have any ideas for us to review, drop us a line at BreachBangClear.com or FaceBook.com/MadDuo; unless you’re going to complain about our opinions, writing style or philosophy in which case don’t bother. MAD DUO OUT!