ApocalypseEquipped: LEGear

Showing posts with label LEGear. Show all posts

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Review: Fenix - LD60 flashlinght

I was unfortunate enough to have my RAV4 broken into out the front of my house in December, and lost a bunch of kit that I had, both in the back, in a jumbled heap, and also in and around the front seats. I had my Platatac MAC, fully laden from an event I had been at emptied, but left behind, and a variety of other things taken, It was quite unnerving, as it had happened as I slept not 10 m away.

One of the things I lost was my most excellent Fenix TK-51 light, and I reached out to the good folks at Fenix and LEGear. They put me onto the folks at G8 who listened to my sad story and helped me select a new light to replace it. I wanted to try one of their newer models but wanted to get something portable and powerful. The LD-60.

The LD-60 certainly meets my requirements. Measuring up at 15.5cm (6.1") long and 4.5cm (1.8") in diameter around the body, 6.25cm (2.5") at the head and 360g (12.8oz) (excluding batteries). Lighter and smaller, the LD-60 fits nicely in a variety of pouches, although it comes with one of its own. The all-round build is more conventional than the teardrop big-circle/little circle configuration of the TK-51, and the triplet of Cree XM-L2 (U2) LEDs (with a lifespan of 50,000 hours each) which are in turn powered by either three 18650 rechargeable Li-ion batteries or six 3V CR123ALithium batteries. Even more exciting is that the three battery wells can accommodate one, two or three batteries and still power the light.

Eco

The circuit design also includes reverse polarity protection guards against improper battery installation for those in-the-dark battery changes, as well as digitally regulated output which maintains constant brightness, regardless of battery charge levels.

The LD-60 has the same kind of stepping power settings as the TK-51, with Eco: 30 Lumens (150 hours runtime) which barely lights up an outdoor setting, but OK for indoors or right at your feet. Low: 160 Lumens (29 hours runtime) has a very gentle effect outdoors. You can see, without dazzling yourself. Mid: 500 Lumens (9 hours runtime), which is the first setting that has any use at seeing at a distance, or broad areas.

Low

High: 1500 Lumens (3 hours runtime) casts a very significant light, illuminating a whole street clearly and lastly, Turbo: 2800 Lumens (1 hour, 30 min. runtime). This is like a hand-held sun. Or at least a car's headlights.

It also boasts a 460 m (1,509') beam distance which I tested by walkign to the end of a breakwater in the Port Phillip Bay, and happily illuminated the houses on the foreshore, some 400 m away, easily on Turbo mode.


Medium

The light also has an "instant-Strobe" function, activated by holding the single button for 3-4 seconds. The strobe alternates between two different frequency of flashes and is both off-putting and attention getting. They are pulsed at the 2800 lumen setting, and are not good to look at.

Not good at all. Which is excellent.

High

The switching between the settings is achieved by first powering on the light, with a brief hold of the power button, and then single presses to stage up the light from Eco all the way to Turbo. Similarly, powering the light off is by a two second hold.

The built in circuitry also has a "memory" state, recalling the last power-setting the light was used in, to give you immediate functionality for repeat usage needs, as well as a heat-damage auto-limiter.

It does get hot. Even with its durable aircraft-grade aluminum casing, and rugged design, the triple LEDs put out a lot of heat. The case itself is

Turbo

Premium Type III hard-anodized, which gives it a very good anti-abrasive finish and the toughened ultra-clear glass lens with anti-reflective coating is protected by being in-set behind the broadly crenelated rim. It comes with a spare o-ring for the gasket seal and with this is waterproof to IPX-8 standard. (2 m (6.5') for 30 minutes) It is also shock proofed for 1m drops. Table-height, don't get any fancy ideas!

The tail cap features two wide lanyard strap holes, and it even comes with a braided cord lanyard to go with it.

All in all, I am thrilled with the LD-60. I must say it is a step up from the TK-51, smaller, neater and less complicated.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Home Front: LEGear - 5.11 concept store

One of the places I look to for my kit is LEGear, an online store for Law Enforcement, Military and Outdoor products in Australia and New Zealand, who refer to themselves as a “One Source – Total Solution Provider” for government needs. In June they opened a third brick-and-mortar store, this time in my home town.

In both a soft-launch and grand opening, the good folks from LEGear, opened their doors and hosted a BBQ, as well as spending time answering questions about their stock.

I have covered a bunch of kit I've bought from and/or received for review from LEGear before, such as my much loved First Spear Oagre vest, a pair of Blackhawk pants and shirt. I sought out the LEGear team at the SSAA SHOT show and met up with the folks from Fenix through them.

It turns out that the Melbourne LEGear store is also a 5.11Tactical Concept store.
Avid readers will also recall that I have a soft spot for 5.11 gear as well, with a collection of their ATAC A1 flashlight, the CUB Karambit and several different styles of their pants. I also got to meet 5.11 CEO, Tom Davin, who was responsible for the Tactical Kilts going into production. Was a real treat to talk to him, and even got to put in a request for Kryptek as the next pattern choice they might look into.

So, all you Melbournites interested in the full range of 5.11 Tactical gear, from boots to bags, belts and clothes, as well as Fenix lights, and Benchmade blades go check it out!

A full range, all the colours and sizes on hand.

Boots, Boots, Boots.

Nukes, knives, sharp sticks ....

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Events: SSAA SHOT Expo 2013

I went along to my very first SSAA SHOT Expo last weekend and had a great time.

I've watched with envy as the American SHOT Expo's have been reported in the past and it was great to find out there was one in my own city of Melbourne.

Having missed out on the Land Warfare Conference last year I made sure that I would make it to this one.

I wasn't disappointed! Here's me plugging some pixelated piggies at the Australian Deer Association booth.

I met up with a friend of mine who has been working in private security, and we had a good wander around. The crowds were quite something, even for a Sunday afternoon, but I got to see it all. It was great to finally meet Ben Doyle Cox from Platatac as well

I was able to make some great new contacts, like the fine folks at Alpine Country, distributors for Stony Creek who took a bunch of time out of their day to go through their whole range with me. I look forwards to seeing some more of their stuff soon, and perhaps giving it a go in the field.

McMillan Rifles had the big guns ... .338 Lapua, .50 cal, and all manner of reach out and touch someone shiny.

I had a good long chat with Joh Dahlgren, of Dahlgren Trading, importers of Swedish hand made knives, axes and wrecking bars.

These were some very nice pieces; handcrafted from Swedish steels and some very nice handles in American hickory.

I especially liked the four archeological replica style viking era axes.

There were all kinds of fun things in cabinets, and on the walls for us to check out like this Colt .22LR

I was surprised to see so many pistols, considering the Victorian pistol laws, but it was great to see them up close.

We also saw a whole bunch of taxidermy...

A whole bunch of rifles and scopes at the Gun Emporium, a veritable smorgasbord of shooters.

The Outdoor Sporting Agencies stand had a wide range of longarms fro ma variety of vendors.

Lightforce had a great range of on-scope lighting as well as vehicle mounting lights.

The Beretta stand had partnered with Pelican cases, as well as showing off their own large range of irons.

Probably my favourite pieces of hardware were these two bulpup conversions at the Frontier Arms stand.

I really liked these, and were I in the market for a longarm, I would probably look strongly at these.

They also had a cabinet of target pistols seemed a lot more in keeping, and they are gorgeous pieces of precision machinery.

I enjoyed checking out the Moroka.30 Stand, especially their Snakebuster Gaiters and meat carrier packs.

I had a great time catching up with the guys at LEGear, especially Josh, for whom I've done some reviews (1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ) in the past.

I also met the visiting CEO and Vice-President from FENIX who were there with LEGear. Look out for some more from them soon!

Lastly, I dropped in on 5.11 Tactical, and caught up with them too, chatting with Bill over from the US. I had a great time, and got the low down
on a variety of their products, and scored a set of their Stryke tactical pants, stay tuned for a review soon.

All in all it was a great show, and next time I will have a real agenda, and a plan to cover it all a lot more systematically.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Review: Benchmade - Figure 5 cutter

A while ago, as I was packing up my kit to go and do the IRL Shooter: Patient Zero lasertag event, I seem to have mislaid my Gerber Strap cutter, which made me a bit sad, because I do very much enjoy having a safely cutter on hand, for a variety of adventurous reasons.

Combat shears are all good and well, and I certainly keep them on-hand when I am out and about doing adventure things, as part of my response kit, but there are occasions where you just want to pull-place-cut your way out of a problem.

When LEGear.com.au put on a big sale, I was quick to snap up a variety of goodies, and this, the Benchmade 5 Safety Cutter Hook was one of them.

I have been carrying this one in my pocket along side my CRKT Eat'n'Tool since it arrived, and the two marry very nicely. The Delrin Snap-Fithard sheath offers a friction release carry option, and itself has a variety of features.

With three webbing loopholes, as well as two lanyard or Tek-Lok capable holes, you can lash, loop or bolt it to pretty much anywhere. It will also take the MALICE clips from Tactical Tailor.
The deep crenelations on the spine give a really solid grip without tearing at the hand, thanks to their rounded shape, similarly, the "inside edge" where the middle finger rests, with its correspondingly smaller crenelations adds to that grip.

The main finger hole is 2.85cm (1.12") in diameter, making it a good fit, even for a gloved hand. The "mouth" of the blade section is 12.7mm (0.5") so can accommodate a wide variety of materials, and layers.

I will be mounting this one to my Zulu Nylon Gear CAOS Admin Pouch which in turn rides on my Bullock Echo daypack when its not in my pocket.

The safety hook aspect of it means that it is great for cutting cords, strapping and opening packaging, but as a rescue tool, there is something very reassuring about being able to go in fast hand hard to get someone out of a bind without worrying about gutting them.

The two extra holes are something of a mystery to me. They are not oxy-tank wrenches, (which are oblong), and they are in fact joined by a thin gap, that runs from the middle of the bottom, through the finger hole, and int othe second eyelet. I can only imagine these are cutting slots, and weight saving holes. Does anyone know what purpose they serve?

I cut a few things to test it out, some 1" webbing, a zip-tie and some paracord. Fast, efficient, and fit for purpose. Benchmade claim that even after 500+ cuts, the initial pull-to-cut strength is 4 times less that that of their competitors (1.8 kg or 4lbs) and will even cut 5 layers of webbing. That's a lot. I look forwards to using this more, but not NEEDING to use it, if you follow ...

Monday, April 15, 2013

Upcoming Events: Convertions/Expos

What with the Camping and Caravan expo a little while back, I've been givning more though to what other conventions and expos I can get to.

Here are a couple of events I'm intending on going to which are coming up....

SHOT Show Melbourne May 25-26

Australian Warrior Expo, November, Brisbane

and here is one that is on next weekend, the EcoXpo at the Melbourne Showgrounds

A bit of a divergence, I hear you think?

Not really. To be properly equipped, one needs an awareness of the troubles one might encounter, and a variety of methods to counter, combat and overcome those troubles. That doesn't always mean Khaki and MOLLE ... sometimes it's Solar and Suppliments.

I will be attending along with one of my associates from OurEcoFuture, Tim Pietschmann who is doing a keynote presentation. Perhaps you'll be there too ...

Any other Conventions or Expo's you think I should attend?
I didn't get to go to last years Land Warfare Conference maybe next time ...

I've always wanted to get to the US SHOT Show, but that's a long way off, financially ...

Friday, December 21, 2012

Apocalypse Equipped, no, really.

So, the Mayan Long Count Calendar is widely believed to clock-over today.

It's also the Solstice...

AND the last workday before my FAMILY XMAS (Que dramatic spooky music)...

Apart from having to be at work, I wanted to give you all a quick insight into my "it's all hit the fan" load-out.

When the sirens and screams start, this is the kit that I would be strapping on, and similar to what I'd be dishing out to my family to load up and be ready. Fortunately I have quite the collection at the ready.

To be fair, this is my full "there is no help or law coming" gear, not just a "house-on fire, leave for mum's" and I would strive to abide by the laws on my land wherever needed. Wearing swords and the like "without reasonable cause" is frowned on here. In fact, the whole get-up would arouse considerable consternation for LEO's.

That said .... here is a break down of my "end of the world", kit, because I want to be Apocalypse Equipped.....

and that's on my top half, and not even what IN those pouches and bags....

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Events: Stampede Run

I've talked quite a bit about my training and get-up for Tough Mudder that I ran in May 2012, and I think I got the bug. I also challenged myself to the Stampede.

The course was divided into a 5km run, and a 10km version (splitting off at the 5km mark, and rejoining for the final few obstacles.

The Melbourne 2012 run was held at the the Glenbrae Equestrian Centre in Wandin, and made good use of the site and facilities.

Under and Overs - log crawl and climb
Rope Tango - mud crawl whilst pinned down by a cargo net
Human Window - climb though odd shaped holes
Wrecking Yard - crawl through, over and on top of wrecked cars
Ice Bath - wade through and dunk in an ice filled pool
Bus Stop - climb over cargo netting up and over a bus
King King - big pile of tyres
Spiders Web - climb through a stand of trees wired with bungy-cord
Giant Slip and Slide - a long, long water slide into a pond
Trauma Tunnels - Crawl through piping and squirm through flat plastic sheeting
Sand Blast - do a circuit with a sandbag
Quick Step - run through flat tyres
Hay Stack - climb over giant rolled hay bales
Devils Cave - a darkened shed with falling water, and hay bales
Cable Chaos - climb over a series of stacked cable spools
Gladiators - run past a gauntlet of pugil-stick and boxing pad armed opponents
Tunnel Under - climb through tunnels
Dumpster Jump - climb in and out of a set of dumpsters (one with apples)
Half-Pipe - Scale a high sloped ramp
Sunday Roast - run over fire
Mud Buffet - crawl under barbed wire through mud
Bug Zapper - dangly cable filled hall some of which running with 10,000V!
As well as these, there were numerous stretches of thick, gluggy mud. and wading through murky ponds, and the occasional equestrian hurdle.

This is my taking a leap over the bonnet of the last car of the Wrecking Yard. It was obstacles like this, and the crawling ones, that made me choose to wear my BlackHawk! Advanced Tactical Knee Pads v2.0 I've had these for a while, and they have done good service, although I have skinny legs, and found that they did slide a little being on bare skin, when I was crawling through mud-filled tunnels. I wouldn't have wanted to go without them though. Wearing suggestions anyone?

This is me wading through the barrel filled dam, I wanted to give some of my other kit a good solid workout, and opted to go with my First Spear OAGRE vest, that I got from the folks at LEGear. As well as being well fitting, and totally as rugged as I have previously reported, I found that the belt-ties ensured that I didn't have to worry about my shorts coming off, and gave me some significant rash-protection when rolling over and crawling through obstacles. I also ran with some patches: A TAD logo Ranger-eye, I also wore my Stargate LRP nametape, to see how that held up and my ITS "Crew Leader" Tab. I pinned the Stampede ID number to the MOLLE, rather than using the sticky label, knowing the challenges it would be facing. On the back of the OAGRE I laced my "Zombie Control Officer" laminate, for a bit of fun, which got a lot of cheers as I passed folks, and the Tough Mudder patch on the back, under the drag handle. The 3L Source bladder that came with my Platatac Bravo pack fitted pretty well inside the OAGRE.

I also changed what I wore on my hips. Lesson learned from Tough Mudder earlier in the year. As awesome as my Survival Utilikilt is, it is not optimal attire for an endurance obstacle course like this, which is why I was so pleased with the new addition to my clothes-pile, in the TAD Gear Amphibious Cargo Shorts. As they were new, I didn't want to risk running-rash, and wore some boxers under them. Useless, they waterlogged and sagged. I would have been better off going my usual commando. Great shorts, fast drying and mud-shedding, comfortable and good for adventure!

I opted for a hat over sunscreen, which gave me somewhere to mount my Contour GPS, in its waterproof casing, as well as keeping my hair out of the way. I wore my Platatac Tactical cap, which also somewhere to out my MSM "Zombie Hunter" patch. The Contour in its case assed quite a bit of asymmetric weight to one side of my head, I think mounting to a chin-strapped bump-helmet will be my next option. I also wore my Headsox scarf-tube, which helped keep the sun off my neck, keep the vest from chafing and also as a smoke filter.

I wore my Platatac Punisher-Skull logo CUS shirt which was a dramatic improvement in comfort over the Jackeroo safari shirt I wore for Tough Mudder. It dried, it breathed, it wicked, and was pretty bad-assed to boot!

I kept my delicate hands safe from harm with my trusty Ironclad Landscaper gloves.

So here I am at the end of the race, having crawled under barbed wire covered mud and been shocked by electricity over and over. I wore my much abused Altama Tan Desert Mil Spec boots, veterans of years of summertime wear, Stargate LRP and the Tough Mudder. This may have been their swan-song.

I did the 10km course in just under 2 hours, keeping a pretty constant pace. I'm not fond of running, it hurts, but I managed to jog pretty much the entire course, giving aid to people who needed it, and taking my time. I loved the obstacles, was happy with my effort, and the little preparation I did to be ready for it. Since May, I've gone for perhaps 4, 8km runs at lunchtimes at work. I feel that I am able to get from A to B in good time, regardless of the obstacles in my path.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Review: Blackhawk! Performance Cotton Pants

Here's a set of pants that I acquired from LEGear, which I must say, I have been slack in reviewing, which says more about my laundry-duties than the pants themselves. I gave this set a fairly reasonable workout, a weeks worth of wear and adventure, and they came up for more.

With both Tactical Baby almost walking and scooting EVERYWHERE, and Triceratops Girl being the most on-the-bounce 4 year old I know, I certainly spent some time crawling through pipes, clambering over logs and obstacles, digging in the veggie garden, chasing chickens as well as looking tidy and professional whilst wandering the server-rooms, labs and corridors of the hospital I work in.

These are some feature packed pants, which were a delight to get into, and find all the options available to me. Here are some of the pockets and what they are good for, and what I used them for.

The main "Angle-cut" hand pockets are deep, and well placed, with flat-seamed edges, to hook and clip pens, money clips and pocket knives to. The right hand side also features a hidden, zippered pocket built into the seam. Good for stowing valuables, papers and the like. The supporting internal stitching keeps it sag-free, which is a great addition.

The front of the top of each thigh has an easy-access, top opening mag pouch, with a hook-and-loop closure. Not humping ammunition around myself, I nevertheless found that they fit an iPhone nicely, or a set of precision screwdrivers, snugly and securely.

The main back pockets are also deep, and sloped to afford easy access and storage, scalloped at an angle rather than vertically as in Levi's. the back right pocket also features a zipperable pocket, to keep your wallet stowed and secure (I still keep mine in my EDC harness but as the weather heats up, I may take this option up.)

The big cargo-pockets at the bottom of the thigh on each leg also hook-and-loop secure, with two patches on each flap. Each of these pockets feature three wide elastic webbing loops, inside to keep all your needfuls secure and properly oriented. They will fit two TV/DVD remote controls and my Trophy Master skinning knife (just in case, you know?) without even showing a significant bulge. I believe they would suit the designed mag-holding purpose very nicely. As well as the big pocket, the cargo-pockets each also feature a zippered pocket on the inside leg seam, for extra storage, as you can never have too many options. A lanyard loop at the belt loops is another aspect of that.

The pants close with a press-stud and zipper, with secondary botton inside, to give you that extra level of anti-dacking security. A cool feature inside the pants is the silicone grip strip inside the waistband which kept my shirts tucked in during baby-chasing maneuvers. You can also see here the hidden, elastic waistband slides which kept the pants snug, but gave them some play when bending and kneeling. I really liked this feature. No more pinching!

The pants themselves are made of a rugged wrinkle / fade resistant 8.5 oz cotton canvas, which was double layered in the butt and knees for increased wear and protection. I just threw out a set of pants for tearing through the knee, something I hate. I hate it almost as much as I hate tearing out the crotch, which I do with alarming regularity. The Blackhawk! Performance Pants, however, anticipated this, with their broad crotch gusset, which allows increased movement, less pinching and no snagging of my bling. The belt loops are also generous, being 1.75" wide, to allow easy of feed for rigger belts such as my 215Gear Ultimate Riggers belt. The leg cuffs are also reinforced, which usually isnt an issue for me, being a long-legged as I am, but the 32waist/36leg was a really good fir for me, and when barefoot, the cuffs do actually touch ground, a rare surprise for me.

The only issue I found with these pants is that they seemed to pick up every piece of fluff or dust that I came into contact with. I had thoguht this might have just been because they were fresh out of the bag, and would die off after a wash, but post-laundry (where I remind you again of my general lack of care whilst doing this chore) they seem to have the same issue. Hopefully in a few more washes this will soften up the cotton until it no longer collects crud, and they will look as snappy as they aught to. Rock solid adventure-wear, great storage options, and rugged as all get up. These are pants to see you through some tough times

ApocalypseEquipped

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Review: Fenix - LD60 flashlinght

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Home Front: LEGear - 5.11 concept store

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Events: SSAA SHOT Expo 2013

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Review: Benchmade - Figure 5 cutter

Monday, April 15, 2013

Upcoming Events: Convertions/Expos

Friday, December 21, 2012

Apocalypse Equipped, no, really.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Events: Stampede Run

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Review: Blackhawk! Performance Cotton Pants

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