A few years back you may remember us reviewing the PALS Belt Stabilizer from Down Range Gear, a sturdy way to mount pouches that rely on MALICE Clips to your belt. This was and still is a revolutionary product from DRG, as at the time trying to mount a MOLLE compatible pouch on your belt was and still is less than ideal.
While the PALS Belt Stabilizer was certainly ahead of its time, it could be less than ideal for pouches that had their own proprietary MOLLE/PALS interface versus utilizing MALICE clips, as there was some play in the stabilizer channels. Down Range Gear once again stepped up with their PALS Belt Platform and gave everyone an option for mounting these type of pouches to the belt. [Read More…]
It’s no secret that we’re huge supporters of Zulu Nylon Gear and have thought highly of their craftsmanship since the beginning days of ITS Tactical when we first reviewed their Mega Admin Pouch and have gone on to develop our own products with them.
We’re also thankful to have been involved in the T&E process of the M4 Double when Zulu was first manufacturing these. This review of the M4 Double Mag Pouch has been a long time coming and we hope you look at its evolution as an advance forward from traditional mag pouches, as we do. [Read More…]
If you read my previous article, an Introduction to Lightweight Backpacking, you’ll remember that I only touched on the basic principles of lightweight backpacking such as how to get started, weighing gear, taking less, multi-use gear and some of the benefits of reducing your pack weight. In the following series of posts I’d like to focus on each of the core principles in more detail. Let’s start with weighing your gear.
In order to know how much weight or gear you need to eliminate, you first have to understand what you currently have and how much you carry on a regular trip. One of the most common mistakes that people make with a gear list is that they forget to maintain it, refer to it and adjust it. Having a detailed list of your gear is great, but keeping track of what you use and don’t use will provide you with valuable insight into areas where you can reduce or eliminate weight.
Another common mistake is not breaking your gear down into their individual components, for example don’t just weigh your first aid kit, weigh all of the pieces individually. [Read More…]
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…]
Today we’ll be looking at a few items from Marz Tactical Gear, which include their Admin Pouch with Chemlight Slots, Tourniquet Pouch and belt-mounted SSE Pouch.
I was first introduced to Marz while checking out their booth at SHOT Show last year. What caught my eye was their out of the box concepts on some fairly vanilla pieces of gear. That’s not meant to discredit any of their work, just to describe traditional admin pouches and dump pouches.
One of the things I really like about Marz is that many of their gear items feature a small pull tab of webbing that quickly releases the pouch, much like we feature in our Discreet Messenger Bag with our Med Insert. It hands-down works and to me is one of the best ways to quickly open a pouch. [Read More…]
The suspense that’s been killing some of you is finally lifted! We’re stoked today to announce our ETA Trauma Kit Pouch made exclusively for us by Zulu Nylon Gear!
The ITS Tactical ETA Trauma Kit Pouch was born out of the necessity in developing both a pouch that could hold our Vacuum Sealed ETA Trauma Kit, as well as the individual components of the kit if the end user needs to break the seal, or wants faster access to certain items.
We worked with Zulu Nylon Gear for nearly a year to design what we feel is one of the best medical pouches on the market today. With a simple pull on the red handle, the pouch quickly filets open to provide immediate access to your medical components without delay. [Read More…]
Anyone with true operational experience knows the mantra “Cubes and Ounces.” The slickest tactical doo-hickey is all good until you have to hump it ten clicks over uneven terrain. When you’re required to carry the entirety of your worldly possessions on your person, every cubic inch and especially every ounce becomes a major consideration.
As a Team Medic, this was an especially big deal to me because I had to carry my med gear in addition to all of my tactical equipment. We used to joke about the new guys fresh from selection and training because of the amount of gear they would strap to themselves. On the civilian side, we used to call them “SWAT Turtles” because our thinking was that if they fell on their back they probably wouldn’t be able to get up unassisted. On the flip side, the senior guys were the ones who streamlined their gear to the max. Field stripped MRE’s anyone? [Read More…]
How many times have we all heard that phrase and does it truly apply today with all the developments in the tactical industry? Suffice to say that there’s always going to be some truth in that statement, but I’d like to take a look at the down and dirty of the abuse that equipment endures.
To check out the rest of my article head over here to Center Mass Group who I’ve written this contributing article for. They’re a great group of former Navy SEALs that have recently started their training company that allows the experience of being trained by the most elite combat unit in the world. They deliver insight into the training of SEALs that until now has been unavailable outside the secretive walls of their elite community.
Today we’ll be taking a look at Source Hydration Systems, which I feel to be the leading hydration bladders on the market today. I’ll also show you some killer pouch offerings by London Bridge Trading to complement them.
Until I finally found a easy “source” through Tactical Distributors to purchase Source Military products about a year ago, I discounted them due to being hard to find. Once getting my hands on them, I quickly wished I’d done the extra leg work back then to get them! [Read More…]
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