Just a quick update on what we’ve been up to for the last few days. I headed out to Big Bend National Park Sunday with my good friend Jack Spirko from The Survival Podcast to complete the second round of the ITS Camo Comparison.
As we continue to complete these comparisons I feel like we just keep getting better and better at refining testing procedures and location. The Big Bend area is truly beautiful country and hope that everyone will mark it down as someplace to visit eventually.
From the D/FW area it was a long 10-hour drive and I was glad to have Jack’s company to laugh and make fun of the ridiculousness that occurred along the way. I’m not sure if it’s just us, but Jack and I decided that changing lanes is about a 1/3 of a Truck Driver’s job, yet many of them had a hard time even doing that!
We’ve definitely found a great place to shoot future Camo Comparisons at Big Bend, the terrain matched Afghanistan even better than I’d hoped. Even though it’s the end of July, Big Bend had great weather. Virtually no humidity, and cool nights. The area also offers a wide range of terrain, with the exception of snow. This is Texas after all. Wait until you read the shenanigans we ran into
To detect objects the human visual system looks for object signatures which differentiates it from the background.
The term visual saliency is used in cognitive science to describe the features that make objects detectable.
The size of the “difference” with the background must become higher than a “threshold value” before the object becomes salient, or in other words, draws attention.
In terms of camouflage, consider the following attributes that have traditionally been mentioned in military texts as causing a soldier to become conspicuous – enhancing his salience. [Read More…]
Today we’re officially leaving for our next Camo Comparison! We had to reschedule from the first announcement due to logistics, but I’m happy to say we’re really leaving this time.
I’m heading down to Big Bend National Park with my good friend Jack from The Survival Podcast to not only take the next round of comparison photos, but also to work on some collaboration articles we’ve been talking about doing.
This next comparison will forgo solid colors and feature MultiCam, Mirage, A-TACS, Pencott, Desert MARPAT, Woodland MARPAT, SAF Digital (Singapore), UCP (ACU), Three Color Desert, Chocolate Chip, Desert Tiger Stripe and Japanese Flecktarn.
We’ve been working closely with Rian Rossouw, who is well known in Camouflage circles, to bring on board some testing procedures that will not only evaluate the different camouflage uniforms on what you’d feel would work the best in the environment, but will also evaluate colors and micro/macro patterns.
Stay tuned for an article describing these different ways to analyze camouflage tomorrow. We’re excited about the next round of testing, and can’t wait to bring you the results!
We’ve been hearing about the new SOF Tactical Tourniquet – Wide for some time now, and just realized it’s now available!
While we haven’t been hands-on with this new design, we’ve heard great things about it from those who have been. We’ve always preferred the SOF-T over the CAT when it comes to Tourniquets and have never hidden the fact that the CAT has some inherent issues.
The new SOFTT-W represents a fantastic upgrade from the previous version of the SOF-T, eliminating the Alligator Clip-like routing and thumb screw retention. Even though we felt the SOF-T was the best thing on the market, the previous routing/retention system always seemed bulky to us. The thumb screw always presented an issue too, as it takes somewhat fine motor skills to turn.
As everyone knows, fine motor skills go right out the window in situations that would require you to perform self-aid with a tourniquet. Needless to say, the new SOFTT-W looks to offer some solid features and we can’t wait to get hands-on with one.
Update: We’re now offering the SOFTT-W in our store! Look for a detailed review coming soon!
[Read More…]
We’d like to take this opportunity to announce the big winner in our Mil-Spec Plastics Cobra Cuffs Giveaway.
Thank you to everyone for your participation, and especially to Mil-Spec Plastics for their support and generosity!
As always, we’ve used random.org to draw the winner for this contest.
Winner!
Virius – ITS Tactical Plank Owner!
Congratulations Virius, you should have received an email already with details on how to claim your prize. If you haven’t, please contact us.
We have an exclusive discount code from Mil-Spec Plastics coming soon for all Plank Owners and Crew Leaders, stay tuned!
Continuing with our Lashings on the Knot of the Week, today we’ll be looking at the Round Lashing and discussing the variations and uses.
The Round Lashing is commonly used to lash up triangular A-frames of poles for rigging a block and tackle. If joining timber poles is what you’re after, like in creating a flag pole, you’ll want to exclude the frapping turns to secure the poles tightly to each other.
You’ll often see this lashing referred to as a Shear Lashing or Seizing, which we’ve gone over previously on the KOTW. We like to keep things simple and refer to this as a Round Lashing that you can use with or without the center frapping turns.
Two of these lashings can also be used for further security when joining poles. If what you’re joining will be weight-bearing, you’ll need to use a Square Lashing which is designed to hold weight. Think of the Round Lashing as what to use on the horizontal floor of the levels in a structure or the slats on a raft. [Read More…]
If you guys happen to remember our review of the Mayflower R&C Lo-Pro Armor Package, you’ll hopefully also remember that one of our comments on the UW Chest Rig was that the waist strap was too long.
Even at its shortest adjustment we weren’t able to properly secure it over the Low-Profile Armor Carrier due to the sewn-in adjustment with triglides. We wound up salvaging a waist strap from another rig to use and consequently created a quick-adjustment waist strap that we felt went along with the usage of the setup.
The way the UW Chest Rig works is that it quick-disconnects from the armor carrier to ditch in an emergency situation, change loadouts, or simply wear it stand-alone with the included shoulder straps.
Having to make these changes on the fly creates a pain in the ass with traditional waist strap adjustments. While our bastardization of a waist strap was crude (which you can read about more in the Mayflower R&C article), it definitely allowed the UW Chest Rig to quick-adjust somewhat dynamically and fit tightly without much play.
Recently, while browsing the blog of one of my favorite gear companies, Down Range Gear. I saw that Chris had come up with a wonderful solution to the problem that I feel plagues a lot of chest rigs, not having the ability to adjust dynamically. Enter the Adjustable Waist Strap from Down Range Gear. [Read More…]
You get a call on your phone and it’s Fate, you pick up: “Hey friend, this is Fate, just wanted to give you a heads up that you’re going to be put in an aggressive and dangerous situation next Tuesday. Be prepared.” And the phone call ends. What do you go out and buy? Do you go to WalMart and buy some knee pads, khakis, and an outdoor shirt (or maybe a casket?)
Or do you Google “best damn protective gear evarrr” and whip out the debit card? Most of us will probably choose the latter, but why do some go beyond bargain hunting and try to buy the cheapest gear available for kit up purposes? Why are we putting our safety and the hinging success of numerous American-based tactical companies at risk?
Why are we killing ourselves and the tactical/adventure companies of America? [Read More…]
I recently received a fitness book called Corps Strength from former U.S. Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant Paul Roarke, who had contacted us a few weeks back to see if we’d be interested in reviewing his program.
While initially skeptical, I emailed him back and expressed my interest in reviewing the book and offering my honest perspective of his program based on my experience at BUD/s and with the CrossFit Certification I hold.
Since leaving the Navy, I’ve been involved with CrossFit in some shape or form, but have always struggled to find a program that provides what MGySgt Roarke refers to as “working fitness.” [Read More…]
We talk about concealed carry quite a bit here on ITS Tactical and are all strong believers in the right to not only carry concealed, but to open carry as well.
As many of you already know, or will come to find out once you start carrying, the laws that govern carrying firearms are incredibly complex and change from state to state.
A fantastic resource for wrapping your head around these laws is Legal Heat: 50 State Guide to Firearm Laws. Available on your iPhone, iTouch, iPad and even in book format, Legal Heat not only gives you a comprehensive guide to concealed and open carry laws for all 50 states, but also easy to reference transport rules and Attorney General contact information.
The coolest feature of the app is the ability to notify Legal Heat of any changes in the law you may come across. Nearly all the changes in the newest update are thanks to this feature, how’s that for listening to customer feedback? [Read More…]
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