Editor-in-Chief’s Note: ITS contributor Chris Sajnog is a former Navy SEAL and current Director of Training at Center Mass Group.
A few months back my good friends and Fellow Former Frogmen (F3?) over at T3 Gear were kind enough let me try out some of their gear. The gear was free, but I was asked to give them honest feedback on what I liked, and what I didn’t.
It took a few months to put their gear through the paces; gear evaluation takes longer outside of a combat zone. The first piece that I can provide an honest assessment of is the centerpiece of your warrior-wear: the plate carrier.
T3 calls this model the Geronimo Plate Carrier. I’m guessing they named it this as tribute to Operation Geronimo (later changed to Operation Neptune Spear), in which a few of my SEAL brothers paid a little visit to Osama bin Laden. [Read More…]
Despite the article title, US Palm certainly makes more than just gear and parts for the AK platform, but our primary focus in this article will be showcasing a few of their AK specifics.
We’ll also be taking a look at two different plate carriers, the Defender MOLLE and the ASP-C (Air Save Plate Carrier) to see how they stack up. Our testing has encompassed the better part of a year and this comprehensive review is the result. There’s a couple of video overviews embedded into this article as well as detailed photos to go along with it. [Read More…]
In the past few years I’ve noticed a big surge in the popularity of hard plate carriers. Not only for the military (those have been around for a while) but for law enforcement and even civilian use.
Trying to navigate through all the companies that are now producing plate carriers can be quite a feat these days. Just Google armor plate carries and you get blasted with acronyms like IOTV, CIRAS, PIG, LVAC, BOAR, RBAV, and PICO among a bunch of others.
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So what do you with your old ballistic vest panels? If you have been in law enforcement or other occupation where you get a new vest roughly every 5 years, you probably have a couple of sets sitting around.
A few years ago I figured there had to be a way to use the panels I’d accumulated, as mine were sitting in the closet collecting dust.
Around that time I came across a video and photos of a Schertz Texas Police cruiser that had taken a bunch of rounds to the front from a AK-47. The article showed forensics photos of the trajectory the rounds took and had the officer been in the front seat he would have been killed.
[Read More…]
Based on a Naval Special Warfare design, the Mayflower R&C APC (Assault Plate Carrier) represents an evolution in Mayflower’s growing lineup of innovative products and solutions for the military athlete.
Despite being designed as a more “overt” plate carrier with exterior mounting options, we’re still classifying the APC as low-profile due to the versatile form-fitting nature of the design, the significant range of motion the end user is capable of and the lightweight nature of the 500D Cordura construction.
Today we’ll be taking a look at the brand new APC in both the following written review and corresponding video review below. [Read More…]
Anyone who has ordered anything from SKD Tactical knows that they have some of the best customer service in the business. They also have super fast and inexpensive shipping. When shopping online, they only show what items they have in actual stock so there is never a backorder.
Along with great business practices, they also work with top gear makers to have custom gear designed and sold under the SKD brand. Their newest endeavor is a research and development shop with a full computer assisted design capability.
The Patrol Incident Gear (or PIG) plate carrier is the latest in plate carrier design. It is made 100% in the USA by Eagle Industries so you know you are getting a quality product. You also have to love a product line with a motto like this: “Help the Good Guys Break Things & Kill Bad Guys™“. [Read More…]
Sometimes bigger isn’t better and this certainly came true recently when I needed a fix for my TAC vest.
I was having issues with the vest coming apart partially at the sides. The front and rear panels are only held together with Velcro strips. This works fine for concealable body armor but it isn’t optimal for a TAC vest loaded down with gear.In extreme body positions the Velcro would try to separate and that wasn’t good. Like anything velcro, once you start to separate it, it doesn’t take much force to completely undo.
I started searching for a solutions online and came up empty. None of the “big” gear carriers had anything that looked like it would work. All the pre-made strap systems were for mounting things vertically on PALS webbing. In my case I needed to have the straps run parallel and I couldn’t find anything that looked like it would work. [Read More…]
When we first saw photos of Mayflower Research & Consulting’s Low-Profile Armor Carrier, we were in awe… when we discovered the purpose of the female fastex buckles attached to the front, our jaws dropped!
What we’re reviewing today is a complete package from Mayflower that includes the Low-Profile Armor Carrier with Level IIIA Soft Armor from Velocity Systems and the Mayflower UW Chest Rig (Quick Disconnect).
With the addition of hard armor plates, we feel this combined setup creates the most versatile, modular and lightweight low-vis system available today.
Mayflower R&C proudly uses materials and workmanship that are 100% made in the USA. [Read More…]
This is an update to our previous article concerning the Custom Armor Technologies / Diamondback Tactical RVA3A Level 111a Soft Body Armor.
The armor is now available as a special order through Diamondback Tactical for $625.95, and has a 30-45 day turnaround.
CAT/DBT RVA3A is a custom cut, requiring each individual to send in their measurements to be custom fit. According to DBT this custom cut armor also requires a custom carrier which they offer for $350.95.
We got lucky during one of Tactical Assault Gear’s sales about six months back, and picked up the Advanced Load-Out Bag for 50% off of the $599.95 retail price. We noticed that TAG no longer includes this bag on their Web site during sales, so we feel pretty lucky to have picked one up at a great price.
We’ve been beating this bag up for the past six months and as you can see from the pictures, the only wear spots are around the back wheels from humping it up concrete stairs a few times. This bag has been bombproof so far and exceeded our expectations. [Read More…]
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