The debate over mobility versus protection and complaints from the field is by no means new. However, the recent focus on “returning [the Corps] to its high-mobility, high-tempo expeditionary roots” make it seem to be the source of newly focused attention.
Marine Corps System Command, Marine Corps Capabilities Directorate and others are participating in the Marine Corps Load Effect Assessment Program and “Lighten the Load” initiative.
“A middleweight fighter can fight one weight class down or one weight class up,” said George Solhan, Director of Marine Corps Science and Technology, echoing the sentiment of Marine Commandant Gen. James Amos, who originally compared the Marine Corps to a middleweight boxer. [click to continue…]
It is an annual tradition. In memory of founder Logan Coffey and in honor of his birthday, Tactical Tailor has a Founder’s Day Sale, from 1 through 7 May – during that sale everything manufactured by Tactical Tailor will be 35% off. You have access to everything on line of course, but if you happen to be in the area – such as JBLM – they would love for you to come by their brick-and-mortar store.
“This is an important sale for obvious reasons,” Tactical Tailor CEO Casey Ingels says. “We’re remembering Logan, and of course gear is never discounted like this except on Founders Day. We really want it to be circulated. Tell everyone, like the guys at Lewis McChord, to come by the retail store. 12715 Pacific Highway South, Lakewood.”
Tactical Tailor says, “Tactical Tailor may have started small, but Logan Coffey’s idea for a custom tactical gear company was anything but. Beginning in his barracks room in the Army, Logan worked hard to build Tactical Tailor into the industry leading company that it is today. Logan may not be with us today, but the dedicated employees of the company he created ensure that his dreams and ideas continue to thrive.”
(That’s 12715 Pacific Highway South, Lakewood WA 98499.)
EDIT: Here are a couple of shots of PLATEminus at BOOTH 501, Warrior West. Get by there and check it out.
Today at Warrior West Blue Force Gear will be unveiling their new PLATEminus loadbearing platform. It’s the fourth to date in their MOLLEminus series (fifth if you count CHAPSminus). The first pattern it will be offered in is Multicam, with Coyote Brown and Urban Wolf coming soon, and initial sizes available will be medium and large (unknown yet if or when they will offer other sizes), the PLATEminus is designed to fit any SAPI/ESPI style armor plate with or without backers. There’s an inner plate pocket constructed of color matched CORDURA® and Tweave to “…provide camouflage and signature reduction”; the wearer will not need special plates for said signature reduction. MOLLEminus gear utilizes laser cut slots and squares cut from one piece of ULTRAcomp™, a high performance laminate.
Features include:
Extreme light weight (less than 3/4lb unladen)
Provides load bearing modularity while mitigating bulk (it’s less than half the thickness of a dime)
Adjustable shoulder straps with cable routing (one wrap)
Compatible with LMAC shoulder straps (they will continue to make the LMAC, which is arguably more comfortable but not as low profile)
Is equipped with two rows of MOLLE on the bottom of the front piece ideally situated for a Tourniquet NOW! Strap
Single 1″ side straps to either size in lieu of a cummerbund to maximize profile reduction
Durability (four times as abrasion resistant as air textured nylon)
Note: PLATEminus is compatible with all legacy issue MOLLE pouches and for the ultimate lightweight plate carrier combine PLATEminus with pouches featuring Blue Force Gear’s revolutionary Helium Whisper™ attachment system.
Israel’s Agilite (a company founded by veterans of the IDF and the US Army) recently released a run of Limited Edition Tactical Hi-Vests after repeated requests via the Agilite Facebook Page. The Tactical Hi-Vest is an infantry-centric loadbearing rig designed to allow for a full loadout without impeding freedom of movement and maneuverability. The decision to make the Limited Edition A-TACS came, says Agilite’s Elie Isaacson, after a barrage of requests via Agilite’s social media platforms, “…literally from all over the world, from the US to Hong Kong to Denmark.”
Says Agilite’s Eli Freedman, a member of the design team, “The A-TACS AU Hi-Vest is a stock item at Agilite but seeing it in FG too is beautiful.”
The new vests were actually delayed after losing their turn in the Agilite Custom Department. Two of the designers working on them were called to active service as part of an emergency IDF reserve duty activation during the recent Operation Pillar of Defense in the Gaza Strip. It is Agilite policy that designers not just be veterans of the IDF’s own in-house tactical design studio but most also be former operators as well. This operational experience is one of the reasos for their continued design success and high levels of ergonomic design.
“The only downside [to that]“, says Freedman, “is that when things heat up we can be several men down!”
Brittney was supposed to call me when any of the Blue Force Gear DAP packs were available, but she didn’t. Since I’m guessing that catering to me is not the only thing she has to do I’m going to forgive her.
This time.
DAP Packs were first released by BFG several years ago and eventually discontinued (I didn’t authorize that, but they did it anyway). They’ve been keeping a couple of each style and color for reference locked away in the double secret BFG gear vault since then. Now with the arrival of the Hive Satchel and its coming mass release, as well as a couple of other developments we’ve yet to see they’ve decided to go ahead and sell the remaining samples.
I’ve had a DAP since they were first released. In fact, the one I have is a prototype BFG shipped me before they were released, and I have used the hell out of it. I love this pack. The only thing I have been dissatisfied with (on occasion) was the size (story of my life). My DAP pack is a Micro in multi-cam. I’ve wanted a larger pack with similar features in a less “Hey, I’m military” colors for some time now. Unfortunately, until now, the packs were discontinued and I couldn’t get another. Forgive the quality of the pictures, they were taken in between lectures with a very battered camera before we had access to phone cameras.
Grey Ghost Gear’s Stealth Operator Packs have proven to be very popular – they tend to sell out very quickly after a restock. Now the packs, designed as “low vis recce pack”, are available in Kryptek patterns. The packs are built around a large main compartment with a center zip and an updated internal storage panel to carry rifle mags, zippered lower pocket, grab handle, sternum strap and hydration pocket. They’re build of 500 Denier Cordura, with measurements as follows: 887.5 cubic inch volume, 17 3/4 inch length, 10 inch width, 5 inch depth.
The debate over mobility versus protection and complaints from the field is by no means new. However, the recent focus on “returning [the Corps] to its high-mobility, high-tempo expeditionary roots” make it seem to be the source of newly focused attention.
