Reblogging: Improvised Tanks for Tank Week

Here's a piece I wrote for Breach Bang & Clear

“Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” ― H.L. Mencken, Prejudices: First Series

... and at times you want more than just a mean look and the occasional sandbag to be between you and harms way. Sometimes you want to call on the thunder of armour. However, you might not have the power of the military-industrial complex behind you. You might only have the local scrapyard, oxy-torches, sheet metal, and an innovative spirit.

Currently the world's undersupplied warfighters are inventing all kinds of home-brew armour options, and we've been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them over the last few years. And I must say, we're lucky to have only been catching glimpses and not rolling into battle in them. Let's check a few out.

 

This is the SHAM II, a proudly "100 percent made in Syria" improvised armored vehicle. Put together by Syrian rebels of the Al-Ansar brigade, in Bishqatin, four kms west of Aleppo, it came to the world's attention on December 8, 2012.

Built on an old car chassis and covered in 25mm thick steel walls, it was reportedly able to resist up to 23mm cannon fire. At only 2m wide and 4m long, this is no Abrams. It is, however, fitted with a remote-operated (by a hotwired Playstation remote of all things) 7.62mm machine gun on top. It also has five cameras that give the humans inside a view from all angles.

In one of the original interviews, its primary operator said ‘This is my brother, a trained engineer, who got the idea, we got a car, left its diesel motor on the chassis and built the engine. Not including from the gun, the vehicle costs about £6,200($10,000)." This gives you an understanding of what these folks are doing with their spare time.

Read the rest here at Breach Bang & Clear:

Viking Hardware piece

Raiding season is fast approaching, and many of you are yearning for adventure, salt-spray on your faces and the chance to prove your honor and win glory such that your forefathers and old-fathers  will sing your name and your children will ask to hear the stories again in the long winter of next winter.

But where you might find yourself loading up with kevlar and lead-spitting black rifles, and hopping in and out of HUVEE or MRAP, crossing seas aboard a C-130 or C-5, I thought I might cast your minds back some 1000 years to another group of hard-handed and steely eyed warriors plying their trade, by blood, fire and steel, as well as actual tradeable goods, the Vikings. I wanted to tell you a little about their wargear, and why it worked so well for them.


Read the rest on Breach Bang & Clear ...

Wish Lust: Devtac Ronin mask

I saw some really cool masks in my thread and I got in touch with the owners, and got the low down on their line.

DEVTAC co. inc. Japan started in 2010 and was a subsidiary of R&D Trading and consulting company. Devtac stands for developing tactics specialized in Business consulting and strategies. They have recently expanded their business to industrial designing concepts and manufacturing.
Their location is in Japan, Shizuoka ken Hamamatsu Shi Enshuhama Kenei jutaku 3 chome 2-22-204 if you wanted to visit a storefront, but otherwise they can only be reached online.

Their masks are not commercially made, but rather are individually crafted.  That have some very special capabilities. These are carefully handcrafted pieces customized to fit your needs.

Firstly, the masks are only ordered directly from them through Facebook, Youtube or email.

The main frame of the masks are fiberglass, with hardpoints for adding both bolt-on armour, and accessories. For those in need of Prescription glasses you can order one here. The offer several different versions, starting with the kevlar lined versions:

DEVTAC KEVLAR LEVEL 2A

Kevlar set is $1350USD ballistics tested up to level 2a(unofficial).

DEVTAC BALLISTICS KEVLAR PLATES MATERIAL TEST

DEVTAC TESTS 1 Super 38 1400fps 100gr NIJ Level 3a rating, 9mm on mp5 1200fps and 45acp 980fps

DEVTAC KEVLAR LEVEL 3A 

$1480USD Ronin mask Kevlar level 3a with 7mm plates. The Kevlar back plate to make a wrap-around helmet is $485USD and separately sold. 

DEVTAC RONIN KEVLAR LEVEL 3A TACTICAL BALLISTIC HELMET! BULLET PROOF

The main mask has an ultralight nylon fiber mesh that is reinforced with special resin and is very flexible, it can withstand strong impacts. The open cheeks are designed for easier aiming with scope or iron sights without putting undue strain on your neck. The cheek has 3 built in neodymium N52 magnets on each corner on both sides so it is absolutely hassle free when you want to put on or remove the cheek plates as quickly as possible.

DevTac masks come in the following sizes:

regular long- men 180-195cm tall 95 kg in weight

Regular short - men 158-175cm tall , 60-80kg in weight

Wide long- men 180-200cm tall 90-220kg 

Wide short- men 158-179cm 90kg-220kg

All the lens frames are ventilated by built in AA battery driven micro fan and a speed dial down by the cheek, and by some very clever design to both vent, and circulate air, they offer fog-free vision, with around a 120 degree arc of vision. The polycarbonate lenses fit into a removable frame and can be popped out to replace scratched or damaged units.

A cover is available for paintball users to stop paint getting blown into the mask from eye-hits.

For those of you who don't tend to face ballistic threats,  DEVTAC RONIN MASK(fiberglass) with  7mm fiberglass plates are $ 480USD comes with 2 pairs of lens, clear and amber or your choice. Without the plates is $350USD. including everything. 

BACK HELMET with extender and plates is $195USD and $145USD without  plates, (as an add on), as with the kevlar version, this offers fully-wrapping head cover, and an enclosed shell, held in place with straps and magnets.

Additional options are things like a built in NVG PLATE with shroud: ($75USD-Fiberglass $135USD-kevlar) and even a MOHAWK helmet decoration for $69USD.

N50 Neodymium magnets spaced around the back of the mask, and the front of the back plate to hold it in place. Each magnet has a 1.2kg pulling capacity, so are very sturdy. The cheek plates are also held in place by magnets, allowing the user to remove them in the field to give you a cheek-weld to a rifle stock or to improve venting. The crown, mouth and ear plates are bolted on, for stability, but have venting ports, with heavy mesh below that, to give venting access for when you need.

All parts are replaceable. The mask has 1 year warranty on electronics and 2 years on the frames.

Paint options depend on the availability of the paint for DecTac at the time. They also offer water transfer prints with Multicam and ATACS now available for $80USD per frame.


DevTac aims to provide Airsoft and Paintball PPE but their venture into kevlar lining might well make them a player in designing armour or use in more dangerous fields.

They offer the Ronin helmets in a variety of colours, with the flexible polymer base and nylon mesh inner, the plates and eye lenses, along with all the straps you need for a front-facing mask, or the magnet attaching options for the back-plate if you choose to go that route. One thing you'll need to keep in mind is that manufacturing is only done every 3-4 months or so, and slots are limited so DevTac ask that interested people make a reservation.

Payments are through wire transfer, and Western Union and pre-order needs a down payment of $200USD for airsoft version and $500USD for ballistic version. Shipping is 45.00$USD (kevlar version is 65$USD) Japan Post, EMS or SAL worldwide flat rate. Extra pair of lenses are $27USD.

--------------------------------

SAMURAI MENPO MASK 

Basic price is $115USD it includes magnets and garter straps and triglides with no metal bolts.

$145USD will include the metal bolts and holders and leather straps. 2 years warranty.

Shipping is $35USD, and is sent via EMS Japan Post and takes 4-7days

They ask for a downpayment of 50$USD for the menpo.

The DevTac masks are most excellent to look at, and if the field-footage is to be believed, they do the trick. I'd love to get my hands on one, for shear bad-assery, let alone armoring my head.

Review: Condor - MPC Modular Plate Carrier

I added a new plate carrier to my collection earlier is year. I've loved my Platatac MAC for years, but it is getting dated. It's not like I even really NEED a plate carrier, personal ballistic body armour is a restricted item in Australia, requiring all kinds of licencing and legal requirements to own, (for civilians, at least) so it is a pretty specialty item.

That said, I fill my plate carrier's pouches with polyethylene plastic cutting boards.  This fills it put and gives it body and structure, (for costuming purposes), but also serves as blunt-trauma and edged weapon armour. Ballistic armour is restricted in Australia, so even if I wanted to fill it with proper plates or soft-armour inserts, I couldn't. I still like to put plates in however, any armour is better than no armour. I should do a test-video some time I guess.


The Condor Modular Plate Carrier is designed with heavy webbing on all sides for any PALS/MOLLE compatible gear and accessories.

The MPC also features an integral cummerbund and padded shoulders support and comfort. If you are in a country that allows it, or just want to know the vitals,  the accepts up to 25x33cm (10" x 13") plate and "Large" SPEAR/BALC cut soft armour front and back. It comes with padded foam liners taking the place of the soft armour.

One of the first things I liked about this carrier, was that once I fitted it with my mock-plates, I found it stood up all on its own, brilliant for storage and airing after a sweaty day out adventuring. A couple of bands of loop-field on the back give you attachment options, and also tie down what appear to be drag-strap retainers. These seemed superfluous, but I guess some folks want to be as snag-free as possible. Twin metal D-rings on the shoulders give hydration and cabling tie-down options. 7 channel x 8 row PALS/MOLLE on the black offer plenty of pouch, pack or accessory options.

The built in cummerbund system wraps from back to front, and I found that that really added to the overall comfort and stability of the rig. You can see from this shot that the back-piece also maintains the shoulder-straps, with feed over and across the body, to affix via hook-and-loop to the front piece, before being held secure by Fastex style buckles and sewn-in webbing.

You can also see the but in mesh inner-liner on the back panel, this helps add a little bit of a breathing gap, but in all honesty, I can't say that I noticed much difference from front to back.

You can also see the two M4 magazine pouches built into to the cummerbund  here, with the webbing looped shock-cord retention cords that are on both sides. I was a bit disappointed with these, as only the front set appeared to be big enough to actually fit a magazine. I didn't find much else I could store in these, except perhaps some emergency SERE gear like a spare compass or fire-starters.The 6x4 PALS/MOLLE loops give ample attachment for external pouches.

 You can see from this internal view, the cummerbund is actually two parts, an elasticized belt with hook-and-loop inside and out, that holds the back piece snugly in place. This waist band in turn helps hold the front piece in place, via hook-and-loop, to let you fir the side panels firmly.

 A nice extra feature of the elastic waistband component is that there is a zippered pocket fitted inside it. Good for personal keep-sakes, or small sensitive items, this is the kind of thing I'd normally see on a travelers belt, rather than inside a military style plate carrier, but hey, just because your loaded out for battle doesn't mean you aren't immune to pickpockets, does it?

The ealastic waistband helped keep the weight of the whole rig off my shoulders a little bit, and was a very nice addition to the setup, without compromising the fit of the side panels.

The side panels attached via broad hook-and-loop patches, before being held in place securely, as with the shoulder straps, by Fastex style buckles.

The front panel itself features a mighty  8 row, seven channel spread of PALS/MOLLE, to allow all manner of pouch and accessories to be fitted. It also has a very high on the throat, and low to the belly coverage, something that I like very much, being quite a long bodied creature myself.  This combination oflong construction, and broad carriage options makes this a really appealing carrier for me, and one of the reasons it has overtaken my Platatac MAC as my chest-rig of preference.

The front panel has two bands of loop-field along the top, straddling the top PALS/MOLLE row. Along with the the shoulder strapping webbing, and the cummerbund webbing there are a couple of extra things about the front panel.

It features two broad hook-field patches, for the cummerbund to lock onto,  these suffer the difficulty all big patches of hook-field do, they are crud-magnets. I found that the wrap-forwards and buckle tight option was pretty good, and gave good coverage as well as leaving me room to breathe (never good to be in too-tight armour, especially, when you have to shoulder a pack, climb up somewhere, or run).

One thing I found that it took a little bit of doing to get the side flaps to sit right, and flush. Each side has a grab-loop, to assist in bringing it into place, but some incremental adjustment may be required to get it sitting right.

Donning and doffing the MPC was pretty easy. It was simply a matter of undoing the side panels both in buckle and hook-and-loop, and throwing the whole lot over my head, and doing up the elastic belt component.

Then it is just a matter of fixing the front piece to the belt gently, and strapping down the side panels.

The plate pockets are secured by internal hook-and-loop closing flaps at the bottom of the front and back panels, and the side plates are fitted through the back plate slots. This took a little fiddling to get the side plates into place but they seemed to stay once fitted. It would be interesting to see if they sat as well with steel plates.

Again, the hook-and-loop attachment of the side plates, even with the Fastex-buckles were probably my least favorite part of this carrier, as they took some fiddling to get to sit right, and to fully lay flat. I can see them coming open at inopportune times when you're trying to be quiet with that "sckreeeet" sound if they got hung up on something. That said, I spent some good time running about in it, weaving through the bush, and in some urbanised areas, whilst at the After The Fall: New Hill City event.

I got this second hand, and it was in good shape when I got it, and has held up to the pretty mild punishment I have given it, (including two weeks spread out in the cooken-yard, as torture testing) so I'm pretty happy with how its turned out.

I'm slowly getting with the times as far as camo-patterns go, and am slowly building to my MultiCam collection, this was a great piece to do so. The webbing is still khaki, so it's still a blend, but I'm getting here. 

Review: Exoskel shin guards

I love armour. I love scrambling and climbing. I love not bashing my body to pieces or exhausting myself.

So when I saw these awesome pieces on SoldierSystems I knew I had to see if I could get some too. Stephen Guiney of ExoSkel was kind enough to get back in touch with me and as it happened was traveling on my side of the planet, and hooked me up with a pair. I've worn a variety of shin-guards in the past, through both my LRP days, roller-blading and when I've been doing a variety of adventurous things I'd rather not crack a shin whilst doing. I've worn several different kinds of knee-pads in the past, but these are something entirely different.

These are the Exoskel X1's (X2 being the production model on sale now).

Constructed from an advanced polymer, with closed cell foam backing and heavy duty stirrup strap, buckles and webbing and Fastex-type calf straps, these are some very rugged and rigid shin pads, which come in at only 500g (1.1lbs) apiece. They come with Self Extinguishing Fire Resistance, which is UL94 VO rating.

The most striking aspect of the guards is of course the five rows of teeth that make up the face of the guards. These are sculpted directly into the face of the guard, each with a downwards facing slope and butted tip, these are designed to grab and hold any surface that you happen to be scrambling over.

Where in regular climbing situations the usual rule is "3 points of contact; feet and hands only" in practice, and in stressful situations this goes right out the window. When going through a window, up a ravine, over a wreck or refuse, knees, shins and elbows all come into play. That is when something like the Exoskel's come into their own.

The guards (teeth, buckle, stirrups) hold in excess of 450 kg (1000lbs) when vertically loaded, which is equivalent to a drop of 150kg (330lbs) from 50cm (19"). The good folks at Exoskel went as far as to explain these figures as the following: "The measured strength of the dynamically loaded Exoskel products tested was higher than the maximum dynamic load estimated for an assumed in-field loading scenario with a 330 lb (150 kg) user and a 19 in (50 cm) drop onto a hard object."

A 50cm drop is a long way to expect any wearable piece of retention gear to take when that laden. My 215Gear Retention Lanyard is 17" long and stretches to 26" meaning you are limited to a maximum of a 26" drop, and that is a dedicated safety line. These are not designed for that kind of thing.This is a climbing aid, not a safety tool.


In fact, Exoskel stress their product is to be used for stabilization assistance and lower limb protection only. It is not a climbing safety device or harness.

That said, I was quite happy with dangling myself off a packing crate with a shin on each rung, no problems. I have tried them on a variety of surfaces and materials now, and have been really pleased with both the bite and stability of those teeth. Where normally I've felt the need to kneel up onto a surface, committing that much of a lunge to my ascent, being able to go "half-way" with a shin gave me a lot more scope to choose how I ascend, and potentially limit my exposure in doing so.

I took this shot to show the tooth-marks the Exoskel's put into the hardwood packing crate I posed these pictures on. You can clearly see the three splintered spots where I moved up and down, and also the two divots in the corner where I dangled.

Very impressive, I must say.

Some of the excellent additional features they come with, such as the emergency stirrup replacement and calf-strap holes, which enable the user to use up to 12mm (½") rope / cord to tie the guards back on in the case of breakage. There are also guide-holes divoted into the perimeter of the guard to enable drilling and sewing of the guard directly to pants.


The channeled foam lining not only helped with the breathability issues often found with form-fitting guards, but the design, and thickness as well as the exterior shell itself added considerable impact protection. I'm no kick-boxer, nor did I take a sledge-hammer to my legs, but I kicked a few trees, and clubbed myself a few times to gauge the kinds of impacts I might expect to take and resist, and didn't come close to bothering myself. I'm pretty sure I'd have lost footing before the guard broke. You can even wear them over existing knee-guards, depending on the fits.

As a Close Quarter Battle tool, or restrain device, I can only imagine how unpleasant it would be to be on the receiving end of a kick with one of these, or to be knelt on, but I have little doubt as to their effectiveness as a compliance tool, if needed.

They were quick to fit and remove, whilst being comfortable and stable for day-to-day wear, and low profile enough that I didn't find myself snagging on anything. This is a really great innovation and I'll be adding them to my adventuring kit, for sure!

Sneak Peek: ExoSkel shin guards

Just a sneak peek .... holy crappola Batman, check out these shin-guards!

Review: Arena FlackJak goggles

I picked up a set of goggles a while back which I have added to my gardening, crafting and disaster preparedness kit. It's been a whiles since I have had a big set of goggles, my last set being a paintball mask, as I've made do with safety glasses or my much loved (and currently broken) Barz Optics goggles glasses to protect my eyeballs, in a way that my slim glasses just don't.

High speed fragments, harsh chemicals, dust and smoke in the eyeballs are just no fun and will ruin both your day and survival odds, which is why I look for ways to protect mine.



These are the Arena Flakjak goggles as seen under my Ops-Core style bump helmet This is the kind of setting they are specifically designed for, and you can see by the sleek fit, they really marry nicely with the brim of the helmet. They even fit my glasses reasonably well, although there is always a little skew one way or another when nose piece shares space with nose frame.

Arena state that their goggles feature what they call Razorback technology, which deals with fogging, particulate and moisture, by providing the a good airflow rate with a really interesting ridged vented filtration to create non-fogging conditions behind the lens while preventing debris like sand, moisture, and flying debris to enter the goggles.


The lens itself as well as the anti-fogging coatings, features OptiWide geometry which really makes for some really good optical clarity and distortion free peripheral vision to at least as far as I can see clearly with my glasses on, and only reduces my overall angle of vision by about 2cm or so at each side.

The lens material is ballistically designed for maximal eye safety exceeds Z87.1 - 2003 Plus standard and meets MIL-STD-662F (as related to .22 caliber, 17 grain, Type 2 fragment simulating projectile) standards. Which means my assertion for using it for for yard and craft work is probably spot on. Power tool fragments are not your friend.

One really nice feature of the goggles are the Buckle Management Retention Fastener (BMRF). This system allows for both quick and easy strap replacement, but also sturdy fitting both over a helmet, and against your bare head. The fits are quite different, and the rotating fastener really allows for this.

The modular buckle system also provides the goggles to integrate with a variety of helmet platforms, I tried it with my bump helmet, but also my Pro-tec Classic helmet and a couple of the hard-hats I have laying around.


One really important feature of any goggle is the lining and seal. The lining of these are made of the VS Foam, which is a proprietary goggle foam designed to wick moisture away from your face. The surface is comfortable, and the body both compressed enough to make for a good seal, but also not so soft as to over-compress.

I recently took them out for a running test which gave them a pretty good test of the fogging as well as the fit.

The certainly fit very nicely, were stable and very comfortable, but after about a km in, at 12kph, they began to fog up, and stayed that way, on or off, for the duration of the run.


I suspect that in a dry environment, they would probably work out pretty well, or perhaps if there had been more of a breeze, and a third party de-fogging treatment might well prove effective. It was a shame to find how fogged they became, as I can imagine in a hostile environment, or undergoing other strenuous activity (as I'd also found this to happen whilst doing some grinding and drilling and home) that this could be quite a risk to be aware of.

Still, I'd rather have some goggles than NOT have some goggles, and these will certainly have their place in my preparedness kit, to be sure. 

Review: Tactical BBQ apron

I've been holding off posting on this one till an appropriate juncture, and I think this day has arrived.

This is the Tactical Chef Apron by ThinkGeek, and I just had to tell you about it today.

I'm all for being equipped, and being caught out at the fire-line without the right loadout can mean the difference between slabs of hot steaming, bleeding meat, and charred inedible ruination.  That is when having this kind of kit is essential, if not life-saving.

Made of 100% cotton, you can expect the apron to protect your thorax and groin from all but the worst boiling-oil splashbacks, and flare-ups, and perhaps even the exploding kernels of maize.

Featuring a top section of 6 rows of MOLLE loops, with 6 usable channels in the mid chest, and 10 channels at the rib-line, and a further three rows of 10 at the bottom of the apron, this is a modular combat chef's dream.
Twin sets of triple D-rings, mounted  at the upper regions allow for a variety of hung items, and twin snap-clasps at the the waist line give direct attachment and retention options. Three PALS/MOLLE compatible hook-hand-loop fastening pouches, one triple set and two larger sets, one with a look-filed for ID, unit or morale patches offer a variety of mission specific load-outs.

The lower section of the apron features three dump-pouch pockets, for a variety of accessory and brain-grenade carriage capacity.  Watch out for the pocket stitching cutting through MOLLE loops though.

The wide shoulder straps are not adjustable, but come "hero-sized". Fastex style clasps secure front and back, with webbing sliders expanding to allow for the more substantially proportioned combat-chefs.

The back features even more MOLLE loops as well as a broad loop-field for further ID and insignia.

 

Click the picture to be taken to ThinkGeek to buy one!

This is a fun piece, which I enjoy throwing on whenever I face flames, steaming flesh and the wailing of mouths, screaming for blood.

Review: GoST Barefoots - BAMANOS Paws

Here's an interesting twist on regular gloves, and the astute amongst you might recognize the lineage of these, to that of the PaleoBarefoots PRONATIV and ANTERRA that I have covered previously. You would be right, and these are indeed the glove versions of those barefoot running shoes.  These are the BAMANOS from GoST. I had been lusting after these for some time, as I am forever dinging, cutting and scratching myself when gardening, adventuring and clambering, especially in wet environments and regular gloves sometimes wont cut it. 

Even my tried and tested Ironclad Landscaper gloves which I've worn lazertagging and in Mud Runs   but also with the Condor Combat Nomex gloves  there have been troubles with waterlogging and becoming wrecked with wear. That's where the durable chainmail links made of 0.55 mm gauge (1.4404") stainless steel  with a 4mm external diameter chain and an internal diameter of 2.9 mm, same as in the shoes. The most exciting innovation, is the cuff links, with two sets of  steel clips with hooks that feed into a slightly larger set of rings, one from under, then another wrapping over and hooking down, giving a really secure fitting. Being fingerless gloves, the armour only protects the hand, and a little past the first knuckle and down to the beginning of the wrist. That protection however, is tremendous. I had no trouble gripping tools, and manipulating debris in them, although, being fingerless, you still need to be mindful of that, but for gripping wear, you're covered. The addition of the new PAWS grip-spots means that the otherwise slick steel of the rings has even better traction on smooth or polished surfaces. One thing I found, wearing rings under them was uncomfortable ... Jewelry off when you are battling the hordes!

I look forwards to trying these out on the upcoming Tough Mudder, and we'll see how well they perform in some really adverse conditions. Conditions that so many other gloves have failed under. 

Wish Lust: GUTS HM1 helmet mount

I stumbled across a very cool Kickstarter project, which marries three of my most favourite things: Helmets, lights and preparedness!

This one comes from a Firefighting crew, rather than my more usual geeky or tacticool sources, and I have to hand it to them, when it comes to getting it done, on very little, our First Responders are often at the pointy end of state and federal budgets. I'm very happy to promote this really cool idea, and hopefully get a very cool looking tool into their hands (and mine). Or rather, our of their heads, and hands, and ONTO their heads!

This is the GUTS HM1 fully adjustable helmet mount for lights and tools, by Kris Nagy, Ed Machen & 3LS

 It is a bolt on bracket, that non-invasively mounts to the side or front, above or below the rim, of standard fire helmets as well as hard-hats, but probably also to bump helmets without rails, or even sporting helmets....



The GUTS HM1 is designed to accommodate AA, AAA or CR-123, sized flashlights, small tools or video cameras. Essentially any item that that range in size from ¼ to 1 ½ inches in diameter. and allows the easy fitting and removal without tools, in the field.The body of the bracket is made from aircraft grade aluminum, with two stainless steel ¼ inch set screws to secure the platform to the helmets front or side brim. The strapping is the really exciting part.

The QuickStrap™ is made from ARA- Shield and fire retardant Hook & Loop both are NFPA rated materials. These are the same NFPA fire retardant materials used in firefighting bunker gear. The rubbery property of ARA-shield® grips and keeps your equipment secure even when it gets wet. The strap anchor point is reversible. This feature allows the user decide the best way for them how to tighten the strap, by pulling up, or downwards, whichever suits the user.

3LS are offering the GUTS HM1 in either "clear" silver or anodized in red or black.  The entire system weighs 70g (2.5oz) so would be no burden to most helmets, especially if you're already used to fitting lights or cameras to your head.

I really hope these guys make their funding goal, and perhaps some of YOU out there can help ...

Review: Tough Hooks

I've been remiss, and failed to give you all a review of some really great kit I've just taken for granted! (That's praise and an apology in one).

I backed the Tough Hook Kickstarter by Tarik Lazri after browsing across it looking for new cool things. Tarik has used his experiences "in the field" to find and fill a gap in the market, for people who wear a lot of gear.

This is a coathanger ... no, really, a coathanger, but one that can take over 65kg of load (150lbs) of hung gear without even sweating. Who in their right mind has that much gear?
 Well, actually a lot of people in a lot of roles might.

I have three of the Tough Hooks, and have swapped them into carry several sets of my own exciting collection, that have till now had makeshift hangers of lumps of wood, and pipe.

First up is my o-yoroi, the Japanese armour I made from 7mm belt leather, on a 16th century pattern. Its a full body set, (kabuto-helmet is off-screen) and without a great deal of floor space at my place, (so much gear) I've needed to hang it. This has been problematic! Until now! The broad shoulders of the Tough Hook both accommodated the shoulder straps, but the flying hooks at the edges of the Tough Hook captured the various extra parts, like the waist band, the thigh plates, wrist and shin guards. These were forever slipping and falling off, every time i picked it up to move it (or don it).

You can see that even under a load, the hanger just hangs! No buckling, swaying or listing. It is a rock solid hanger, even under this bulk (if not weight).

You can also see here that there are various accessories sling over the main hanger hook, and again, this has been a problem in past, but the wide and long neck simply carries it, without struggle or tangle.
The awesome folks at ITS Tactical did a great demonstration of just how much of a load you can put these through, which they posted here: I recommend you check it out for a better idea of how tough these things really are.

How does it manage to take all this load and battle on? Good design and materials.


Starting from a pretty basic 2D design (ignoring the awesome winged hooks at the edges for a moment) Tarik took a leaf from structural engineering books, included an I-beam philosophy. This massively increases the bending and shearing stresses, with the flanges adding a real buffer to what ever is being stowed on it, as an added side note.

This translates to less compression for those padded shoulders and spreads out the weight over stitches or seams that might be under it.

My second Tough Hook  bears up smashingly under my small collection of ring-mail for when I need to let off some steam but also carries my spurs, and other boot-type accessories. Again, this is a pretty heavy standing load, and again, makes for a great display.

You can see more clearly how the wings snag and retain gear, and are mirrored, such that no matter how the hook is oriented (hook up or handle up) your gear is held fast.

Handle side? oh yes!

As well as a traditional coat-hanger hook, the Tough Hook features
a built in handle grip for easily transporting your gear! This features ergonomic finger grips as well as plenty of clearance for even the meatiest of gloved hands.

Made of a GP22 high impact ABS plastic, the Tough Hook site suggests that whilst designed for a 55kg (120lbs) load, they have had (informal) tests of up to 90 kg (200lbs), that is a whole lot of gear.

So, Samurai and silly Medieval-esque armour aside .... Who else might use it?

There are loads of people who as part of work or play have heavy, bulky kit.

I've done S.CU.B.A. diving, and can tell you, BDC, regulators, wetsuit, goggles, and fins are big heavy and bulky.

Firefighters, with their heavy jackets, pants, gloves and other kit, including breathing gear, especially when wet.

Then there is the tactical gear for LEO or Military users (or like me, enthusiasts): plate carriers, load bearing vests, battle belts, drop legs, slings, all that kit. All fits perfectly on the Tough Hook, as you can see here on my black one.


The last thing I felt I needed to say, is that the hook and handle can be swapped from one to the other, rotating around to go from "hanging" to "carrying" without dropping your items, because of those winks on the edges of the Tough Hook.

If you have heavy loads to hang up, be they work or play related, I really suggest you look these up, they are fully worth the investment, all but indestructible and ready for anything!