WEAR GEAR

Propper STL I Pants

Details: Category: Clothing; Created: Wednesday, 19 June 2013 03:51

Propper has started several new apparel collections earlier this year with these STL I Pants being a part of the LS1 line. I don't know what any of those abbreviations mean, but the general design theory on the LS1 line is to combine tactical and athletic ideas which seems like a pretty good idea. Overall they fit a good middle point where they don't quite scream tactical man yet have more usable features than the more covert designs.

Hazard4 Kato Mini-Messenger

Details: Category: Packs/Bags; Created: Saturday, 09 March 2013 00:00

As usual I'm catching up on reviews so the Hazard4 Kato isn't new to the market, but as a result I've given it a solid 1 year beating and the design is still certainly relevant as a modern gear bag. Based on the smaller Tonto, the Kato is a slightly larger size meant to be a great mini messenger bag to hold EDC type gear along with ipads, similar tablets, netbooks, and small laptops.

PIG Full Dexterity Tactical (FDT-Alpha) Glove

Details: Category: Gloves; Created: Friday, 11 January 2013 00:00

SKD keeps cool guy stuff coming with their PIG line, this time some smooth operator gloves. With a lot of carbon fiber punch-the-wall kind of stuff out there, SKD went the other direction to a streamlined shooter's glove. Developed by a Rogers Shooting School “Advanced” graduate with over a decade of experience in instructing Military and Law Enforcement personnel, they started from the ground up rather than altering existing designs and it shows. The protection is there to keep the wearer's hands protected during firearm manipulation while being overall very slim and flexible to not hinder usage either. A classic example is a heavy padded palm zone may be great for giving bad guys a kung-fu palm strike, however will greatly affected the grip feel on a pistol. The PIG FDT-Alpha Gloves do not suffer from this issue.

Warrior Assault Systems Predator Pack

Details: Category: Packs/Bags; Created: Thursday, 08 November 2012 01:46

Keeping the pack party going with Warrior Assault Systems is the Predator pack. It may seem familiar as it was the original big boy pack that inspired the smaller Pegasus. Being almost double in size, it holds approx 2500 cu-in / 42 liters which is a slim 3-day pack size class. I sneak "slim" in there as 2800 cu-in appears to be the common 3-day size so the Predator dropped a little mass with the balance of offering more modularity. Since made to hold substantial weight, fortunately a nicely padded hip belt is included by default which is a must for heavy long hauls. There is quite a bit of Pegasus functionality sharing so I'm going to rock some copy/paste action, however you will also see the larger size of the Predator offers new features as well.

Warrior Assault Systems Pegasus Pack

Details: Category: Packs/Bags; Created: Thursday, 08 November 2012 01:43

Starting with a wave of goods from Warrior Assault Systems is this nice assault sized pack, the Pegasus. Coming in at around 1400 cu-in / 23 liters carrying capacity, it is a good medium size, likely considered a 1.5-day pack by most. When really stuffed it can get a bit cube-like in shape, however overall a good size to not get in the way of core body movement. Design wise there isn't really anything revolutionary or new about the Pegasus, but all the chosen worthwhile features and build quality makes it shine as a whole.

Revision Sawfly Photochromic Kit

Details: Category: Protective; Created: Tuesday, 18 September 2012 06:10

Revision Sawflys have been around for a while, but semi recently Photochromic lenses are now available to offer some more options. By default I'm still a fan of the Sawfly glasses in general as they offer great coverage in a nice lightweight, flexible package. I was even able to get this sample in a small frame size where regular size fit my head pretty good, but the small frame is just that smidgen better. None the less I'll mostly be blabbing on about the new lens. The general concept of Photochromic is that when hit by UV light the lens darkens, which in of itself is pretty darn cool. Thus the idea is to have clear lenses in the dark and dark lenses in bright light outside that is seemingly magically adjusted on the fly without having to change lenses.

511 Tactical All Hazards Prime Backpack

Details: Category: Packs/Bags; Created: Sunday, 26 August 2012 20:46

This year 5.11 has definitely picked up their game on their tactical gear line with this "All Hazards Prime" pack being a great example. Prime is about one word longer than I'd say, but perhaps it is their way of saying Rush 24 super turbo champion edition. Joking aside, everything I saw from 5.11 at shotshow displayed considerable design refinements which is a great sign that 5.11 is making a true modern gear effort and not a half assed one. The All Hazards pack is certainly feature rich so get ready for a long ride on my attempt to break it all down.

SafeGuard Armor - Stealth

Details: Category: Protective; Created: Thursday, 07 June 2012 22:26

Kevlar based soft-armor has been around for a while now so when it comes to deciding which one to get these days it comes down mostly to the small details in the carrier and of course price. My neighborhood isn't the greatest so I was happy to acquire SafeGuard Armor's Stealth package. Hence the name the Stealth design is meant to be a low profile/low viz carrier. Mine is level II rated so will be the lightest and most flexible they offer, however armor inserts are available up to IIIA rated with Stab and Spike level 2. Level II raw should be fine for my intended use as street thugs don't tend to roll with .44 mag or similar larger powered pistols and I'm not sticking around for a knife fight.

BAE Eclipse RBAV-AF

Details: Category: Vests / Platforms; Created: Sunday, 22 April 2012 22:20

Amongst all the ultra-light carriers these days, there still is a need for full armor carriers and the BAE Eclipse RBAV-AF is one of the best current specimens. Many modern plate carriers offer a soft armor slot, however these are sized similar to the hard armor leaving the sides unarmored. The RBAV-AF accepts SPEAR/BALCS soft armor to offer more complete wrap around soft armor side coverage. Highly based on the RBAV-SF, the AF version has many small improvements and rather than going into super detail let's just say the vast majority of users will prefer the new AF version.

Propper TAC-U Combat Shirt

Details: Category: Clothing; Created: Sunday, 15 April 2012 23:09

Although Crye was one of the first to make a combat shirt, other companies are now offering some worth while variants such as this Propper TAC-U Combat Shirt. The basic concept of a "combat shirt" being the sleeves and upper portion are done with more traditional military jacket materials while the torso is done very low profile with light weight breathable materials; the intent that armor will be covering that zone all day anyway. This concept change certainly helps a lot to keep cooler in hot climates and prevents pressure points from any extra buttons or pockets. The TAC-U Combat Shirt in particular uses 65/35 poly/cotton Battlerip fabric which includes a Ripstop weave, and torso has a 60/40 knitted Cotton/Poly Blend.