Today I’ll be taking a look at the Jones Tactical 2″ FatZombie Duty Belt. The FatZombie is unique and is by far the best duty belt I’ve ever worn. My hope is that this article will help you make an informed decision if you decide to pull the trigger on a FatZombie.
I’ll be the first to admit that until recently, I just dealt with the duty belt I was issued and didn’t give it much thought. But like other equipment, there comes a time where it makes sense to switch to new material technology and design. If your agency is like mine, they go with the lowest bidder, which in our case is Uncle Mike’s. Not to knock Uncle Mike’s (they are made in the USA), but the belt I was issued 9 years ago was no different in material and technology than the Uncle Mike’s belt I was issued as an MP in the Army 17 years ago.
I guess you could argue, “why change something that works?” For some people this is perfectly fine, but for those that are reading this, evolving with equipment and training is a way of life.
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Making your toothpaste lighter? Yep, today I’ll be showing you how you can even trim weight on your toothpaste. I’ll admit this technique sounded silly to me when I first heard about it, but if you’re serious about trimming ounces for lightweight backpacking, then toothpaste dots might be for you.
In my ongoing quest to make my backpacking dopp kit even lighter, I decided to test out a technique that Mike used on the GORUCK Ascent we both attended. Between Mike’s experience and reading about toothpaste dots in Ultralight Backpackin’ Tips by Mike Clelland, I set out to make my own. [Read More…]
This is the fourth post in my series on lightweight backpacking aimed at helping you reduce your overall pack weight without sacrificing any of the comfort or necessities. In my first post I introduced you to the concept of lightweight backpacking, the benefits, how to get started, and taking less stuff. The second post focused on weighing your gear, using gear lists, and knowing how much weight you are carrying. The third post focused on reducing the weight of your “Big Three” – your tent, backpack, and sleeping bag.
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I’ve been personally using the Cocoon Grid-It for a few months now and I’ve really grown into its versatility as a solution for storing cables and the various odds and ends that wind up in the pockets of my ITS Discreet Messenger Bag.
Despite the plethora of pockets and organization we’ve built into the bag, I still wind up with a hand full of cables when I reach into to find that specific one I’m looking for. When I first spied the Grid-It, I was intrigued, but not fully confident that it would work as I needed it to. Nevertheless, I purchased one and will share my thoughts on them here today. [Read More…]
This is the third post in my series on lightweight backpacking aimed at helping you reduce your overall pack weight without sacrificing any of the comfort or the necessities. In my first post I introduced you to the concept of lightweight backpacking, the benefits, how to get started, taking less stuff, and smaller amounts of things. In my second post I focused on weighing your gear, using a detailed gear tracking list, weight summaries, and the importance of keeping it up to date. How else can you know how much you are carrying if you don’t weigh your gear?
For this third installment I wanted to focus on the three pieces of gear that every backpacker must have and which collectively account for the majority of the weight you will be carrying – we call them “The Big Three” – your tent, backpack, and sleeping bag.
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The Liger Gun Belt has been a part of my EDC for the past few months and today I’d like to share my thoughts on it thus far. Manufactured by Edgy Gear and sold by Maxpedition, it’s one of the few products available there that’s 100% made in the USA and that was a big selling point for me.
I purchased the Liger Gun Belt to evaluate as an option for wear with every day clothing, more formal attire and especially for use in conjunction with concealed carry. [Read More…]
For the past year, I’ve been working hard at coming up with the minimal necessities I need while backpacking. By necessities, I mean hygiene items that give a good balance of size, weight, needs and wants.
Your mileage is going to vary considerably from mine, especially for the females reading this, but what I’m presenting here is a Lightweight Backpacking Dopp Kit that I’ve developed, along with some thoughts and considerations on how to develop your own. [Read More…]
I’ve been testing out Molly Stix for a few months now, ever since the first samples were available from National Molding and I’ve really grown attached to using them on my ETA Trauma Kit Pouches because of the ability to quick release the pouch if necessary. They’re also much easier to thread then other attachment methods.
Molly Stix represent a departure from normal MOLLE/PALS interface attachment systems, like integrated and reinforced nylon strips that are weaved through a pouch’s PALS webbing and a chest rig’s PALS webbing to create a secure attachment. Other products exist on the market for pouches that don’t feature integrated strips, such as Malice Clips like we include with our ETA Trauma Kit Pouches and also Blackhawk Speed Clips.
While Malice Clips can be a pain to install, they’re very secure once locked in. So much so that removing them can equally be a pain. The Blackhawk Speed Clips are interesting, but have their limitations as well. They’re quick to install with their rigid design, but I’ve had them work loose on me before.
Enter the Molly Stix. With a rigid design and locking top latch, a pair of these will not only add a solid locking design to your MOLLE gear, but by tying a pair of these together with the included cordage, a quick release can be implemented to create the fastest one-handed cut away I’ve ever seen. [Read More…]
There are many different flavors of rifle mag pouches out there, flapped, non-flapped, polymer, kydex and even reverse flapped. Before we answer the question of whether the lids from mag pouches get in the way on a reload, let’s talk a bit about retention. It’s impossible to talk about the reason for magazine flaps without mentioning retention.
Retention on mag pouches is either managed by elastic webbing or shock cord in traditional nylon mag pouches that either have no lid, like a shingle, or in pouches with a removable lid taken off. This can be sufficient for most activities that the average shooter finds themselves in while at the range, but when you throw running, climbing or other athletic activities into the mix, magazines can work themselves free and no one wants to loose valuable ammo. Valuable both in terms of cost and especially its value in a real world scenario where each round counts.
The possibility of having mags fall out can be increased when a single mag is absent from a double rifle mag pouch too. In this case, unless you’re running a flapped pouch or doubled up polymer/kydex pouch specifically designed to still retain that other mag, there’s almost no retention still on that mag left in the pouch. A flap on a pouch like this can be re-secured over that single mag to retain it. This may all seem like common sense, but I wanted to go over it for those that may not be familiar with all the options out there for mag pouches and retention. [Read More…]
We’ve been using Battle Systems Coyote Brown Vinyl Tape around ITS for the past few months and are happy to say we’ve found our replacement for duct tape when it comes to tidying up loose webbing on gear.
While this is far from the only use for this fantastic product from Battle Systems, what really sets this tape apart from duct tape and electrical tape (which this product is very similar to) is that it leaves NO sticky residue behind. Even in the back of a vehicle in Texas summer, which we can assure you gets pretty hot.
One of the issues with taping up loose straps and other gear is that if you ever need to remove the tape, you’re left with a sticky mess that discourages you from removing the tape and tweaking the adjustment of straps if needed. [Read More…]
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