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Posts Tagged ‘Ops-Core’

Warrior West – Ops-Core Superwide Ballistic Side Armor

Thursday, April 20th, 2017

The new Superwide Ballistic Side Armor attaches to the ARC Rail and gives you plenty of room for ear pro.

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www.ops-core.com

Visit Gentex at Warrior West

Tuesday, April 18th, 2017

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The Red Devils Jump with Ops-Core FAST Carbon Helmets and New Vented Liner Kit

Wednesday, March 15th, 2017

Liner provides increased helmet comfort during month-long training and charitable jumps in California

Carbondale, PA, March 15, 2017. Gentex Corporation, a global leader in personal protection and situational awareness solutions for defense forces, emergency responders, and industrial personnel announced today that its partners, The Red Devils , will conduct their team training and promotional jumps this month in California testing Gentex Corporation’s latest innovation, the Ops-Core Vented Lux Liner Kit .Designed for extended use, the new helmet liner will deliver increased comfort and fit in the Ops-Core FAST Carbon High Cut Helmets, which Gentex provides to each of the 12 members of The Red Devils, the official parachute display team of both The Parachute Regiment (The Paras) and the British Army.

“Gentex is proud to support The Red Devils in their mission to promote The Paras and the British Army, both long time customers of Gentex Corporation,” said Tom Short, vice president ground systems, Gentex Corporation. “Through this partnership we have the opportunity to help promote our common goal of advancing parachuting and skydiving safety, which the Ops-Core FAST Carbon Helmets and new Vented Lux Liner Kits are ideal for.”

Compatible with both the Ops-Core FAST and Bump Helmets, the Ops-Core Vented Lux Liner Kit employs vents and a more streamlined geometry than the standard Ops-Core Lux Liner for increased airflow, comfort, and a better fit, which are ideal for extended missions.Two retention systems are available with the kit: the Worm-Dial, which provides a quick adjustment in a low profile fitband, and the traditional H-Nape, which is designed to provide NVG stability.

Corporal Nathan Connolly, The Red Devils Team Leader, commented, “Our partnership with Gentex Corporation equips our team with the advanced Ops-Core helmet, allowing us to train and practice new canopy formations with a helmet that provides outstanding protection, and now added comfort and fit with the vented liner.In addition to its safety and comfort features, the Ops-Core helmet also enables us to maintain perfect all-round observation and clear voice communication; key components when practicing Canopy Relative Work.”

Joining The Red Devils during their training jump in California is guest jumper Chief Master Sergeant Christopher Kellam, (USAF, Ret). Kellam, also a retired detective from the Chicopee, MA police force, was invited to join the jump to help promote the Air Force Aid Society, the official charity of the U.S. Air Force who’s mission is to support Airmen and enhance the Air Force mission by relieving emergency financial distress, helping Airmen and their families achieve their educational goals, and improving their quality of life through proactive programs.

With its unique system design and rail technology for mounting helmet accessories, Ops-Core is today’s leading brand of modular, scalable, open-architecture helmet systems for elite defense and security forces. Ops-Core helmet system platforms and components are designed to seamlessly work together to provide true system level performance for modern forces.

See Ops-Core & Gentex at the ADS Emerald Coast Warfighter Expo

Tuesday, March 7th, 2017

FirstSpear Range Day – Gentex/Ops-Core

Monday, January 16th, 2017

To the left is the Gentex TBH-II MC (Mission Configured) and to the right is the Ops-Core FAST MT (Maritime).  I wanted to give you a little information to help guide those making helmet purchases.


From any angle, they look the same.  Both have the same shape, same suspension system, and same accessories. However, the TBH-II is an aramid ballistic solution and the FAST relies on a Polyethylene solution.  The TBH-II offers 9mm protection at 1400 fps and the FAST offers 9mm protection at 1200 fps, so fairly similar balllistics.  The real differences are in weight and cost.  The TBH-II weighs in at about 2.5 lbs while the FAST helmet is 1.5 lbs, both as configured. Now is the biggest factor for many agencies; the TBH-II is $599 and the FAST is in the $1400-1500 range.  

If you’re looking for mission configurability, and the cool guy factor, but are willing to accept higher weight, then you may want to consider the Gentex TBH-II MC.  

Gentex/Ops-Core To Exhibit at SHOT Show

Thursday, January 12th, 2017

Ops-Core Special Operations Tactical Respirator

Monday, January 9th, 2017

There was a time when helmets were only worn by SOF for airborne operations. Now, it’s standard practice to wear both helmet and body armor in both live-fire training as well as operations. Similarly, when I joined the Army in the mid-80s, the only eye pro were crappy Sun, Wind and Dust Goggles. By the late-90s, effective eye protective glasses and goggles were standard issue and wear in garrison, as well as deployed. The same can be said for active hearing protection. While it’s still not universal, most service members have access to hearing protection with active noise reduction features in addition to their ear plugs. We’ve adapted to the realities of the threat environment and driven technology solutions to the point of protecting head, eyes and ears. Now it’s time to get serious about protecting our service members’ respiratory system.

I first saw the Special Operations Tactical Respirator in the Gentex booth at Warrior West and was immediately impressed. There is no active requirement for this product. Gentex saw an unstated need and spent internal R&D Dollars to create a solution. I have a lot of friends with heavy metal poisoning from years of operating in threat environments as well as training in shoot houses. You’ll pick up a lot of lead just breathing during training, but being deployed exposes folks to a lot of residual, environmental threats as well. In the case of heavy metals, they collect in your body and left untreated, poison for the rest of your life. Naturally, it’s best to avoid altogether, or at least mitigate exposure. That’s where the SOTR comes in.

Adapted from technology created for use in the F-35 Lightning II Program (also known as the Joint Strike Fighter Program) and leveraging over 35 years of other experience in the development of oxygen masks and CBRN equipment for aircrew and aircraft maintainers, Gentex Corporation designed its first respirator for ground applications, the Ops-Core Special Operations Tactical Respirator (SOTR). The new half-mask respirator will provide protection against a wide range of oil and non-oil based particulate contaminants encountered by Special Operations Forces, tactical operators or specialized law enforcement officers.

The half-mask respirator filter offers at least 99.7% filtration efficiency against airborne particulates including lead, asbestos, lubricant mist, and explosive gunfire residue. If it catches on, I can see future development of a filter for use against riot control agents and even CBRN threats for in-extremis use.

Key customer input driving the development of the respirator was that existing respiratory masks were excessive for the current threats they faced and that they did not integrate well with helmets or weapons systems. Employing their streamlined systems approach to design, Ops-Core developed the new respirator to provide protection without interfering with operator’s tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP), and to seamlessly interface with weapon systems for optimal effectiveness.

Other key features of the low profile half-mask respirator include a microphone, compatibility with standard ground communications headsets, two exhalation valves for easier breathing, easy-to-adjust suspension straps for both helmet worn and helmetless wear, a flexible and lightweight silicone face piece to enable fit to a large variety of facial types, front mounted inhalation valve and cartridge ports for enhanced field-of-vision, and a quick, one-handed filter change. In addition to the strap seen here for stand-alone use, the SOTR will also attach to the FAST helmet in a similar fashion to the O2 mask used for MFF parachuting operations.

Available in early 2017, the Ops-Core Special Operations Tactical Respirator was developed at the company’s facility in Rancho Cucamonga, California, which is dedicated to the research, development, and manufacture of respiratory protective products for military and law enforcement professionals.

www.ops-core.com

Visit Gentex & Ops-Core at SHOT Show

Wednesday, January 4th, 2017