Review: Shemaghs and Furoshiki

I had a request from a reader to cover the myriad uses that the Arabian headcovering, the shemagh (or keffiyeh, or ghutrah as I learned the word) has. Rather than just covering the one form of "big square of fabric" I thought I would mix in the very similar, but culturally diverse Japanese multipurpose carry-cloth, the traditional Furoshiki.

 Whilst fairly divergent in purpose, each style relies on the same thing: a single, square piece of fabric.

Fabric is everywhere, and whilst patterns, weaves, materials, sizes and shapes may differ, it is a fairly simple thing to be able to put your hands on. With the increased Western military presence in the Middle East (yes, its been 22 years since the First Gulf War,) this fairly ubiquitous piece of  Arabian attire has worked its way into the mainstream western culture. I lived in Dubai between 1989 and 1991, and the red-and-white ghutrah in the middle there was from then.

Starting up kendo in 1997, I was exposed to the use of squares of fabric to bundle up our keikogi and hakama, in furoshiki style, which allowed us to keep it neat, tidy, transport it and also letting the often very sweaty clothes dry after a hard session. At least, far better that it would if stuffed into a plastic shopping bag, or gym bag.

I wont spend a lot of time on furoshiki, as it is an art all to itself, rather I will show you a couple of links. This picture was produced by the Japanese Ministry of Environment as a means of demonstrating the many ways different sized packages and items can be bundled into a square of fabric, offering stable, padded and accessible wrapping for a variety of goods.



I've mentioned shemaghs before, as I picked one up off the street her ein Melbourne as part of my eagle-eyed urban-salvage mentality, but I have quite the collection of them. Warm in winter, shady in summer, easily stowable and highly variable in wear and use, the shemagh is a versatile and essential part  of being apocalypse equipped.

There are a variety of sites that can show you "how to tie a shemagh like the military"so I'm not going to go through a step by step, rather, I will show you some of the ways that I have worn mine, and that you might find useful.

Most of these involve folding the square into a triangle, which leaves the little dangling tassels on the short edges, rather than the forwards long edge. I learned to wear min in Emirati and Bedouin style, which usually consists of a single triangular fold, and topped with the double ringed agal but any cord or banding could suffice, and keep it on your head, whilst providing much needed shade.

Even without an agal, it is possible to keep it on your head in fairly easy terms. Just flicking one of the corners around your neck and towards the back will give it enough weight to hold it down onlt your head, and less lifting surfaces to blow off as easily.

You can wear it like this to cover your nose and mouth, both as a dust/sand/debris hand smoke filter, as a sun-block, but also to obscure your identity if that kind of thing is useful to you, say if you were throwing rocks at tanks in Gaza or new York...

I've worn mine like this in the sun, rain, hail and snow, and have found that it's a very versatile piece of clothing able to be adapted to meet the ever changing Melbourne weather.

Rolled loosely, that same triangular fold gives you a long length of insulating material I wrap around your neck, whether it be to trap heat in the cold, or soaked in water to give evaporative cooling to the wearer. In this way, it acts in similar fashion to the HeadSox and HeadOver tubes, but far lower-tech.

It's worth noting that certain colour patterns may be more significant than you might think, and it is well worth looking into when you are traveling, but there isn't really a hard and fast system in place. If in doubt, ask a local, or wear something in "modern" patterns.

Pulling up the front of that self-same scarf, you have a very functional face-shield to guard against identification, sun, dust, sand and debris, even some (it has been often claimed) dispersion agents like CS gas with a vinegar treatment, apparently.

 A slight tug and it's either up or down, and you can also cover your ears with the same fabric.

I've also used mine as a sieve, putting fruit in it and washing them through it...

Having also spent a bunch of time holidaying in south east Asia, I've seen similar fabrics worn wrapped around the head in a ring, more as a sweatband than as a sunshade. Worn with the tassels on the outside you also have built in bug-bothering dangles not unlike the mythical cork-strung hat of the Australian bush.



Not just a piece of clothing, however, the shemagh can be utilized in a variety of ways  (such as in its Japanese configuration, for furoshiki) and I hope I can show you a couple of these too.

So here is me having using my shemagh as a triangular bandage to immobilize an arm, something I covered recently in my First Aid Certificate Level 2 course (yay, skills ...)

Depending on the circumstance, and the need, this can be done extremely quickly. I moved from the SE Asia head wrap to this sling in about 15-20 seconds. If you take a little more time, you can make a much neater, much more supportive sling.

Similarly, I could have rolled it into a tight rope, and used it as an emergency tourniquet, or as the binding of a splint.

Other uses that I've had for it is as a shade cloth, picnic tablecloth, as a belt, a child-toy-leash and as a mondo wet-towel-snapper.

When folded up, a cotton shemagh makes a quite reasonable bandage, either as a deep square, to stem urgent bleeding, or to hold down dressings. Filled with ice they make cold compresses, left alone they make good padding for bruises, sprains and bites.

All in all, whether it be for headware, packaging, or all manner of other applications, this simple piece of cloth, however it is names, coloured or decorated, is an essential piece of kit, that I wouldn't want to travel or adventure without, let alone survive without.

Review: Platatac - Urban Dax pants

I had very good fortune to be asked to try out some prototype pants before Giftmas, and I have to say, I really like them. I've covered a lot of Platatac's gear in the past, and for good reason. They are locally produced, excellent quality and I have a really good rapport with the guys in the shop. I'm really pleased that I get to test out their gear, and more so, that I got the chance to play with a prototype, or at least, a pre-release set ... They are in-store now, I believe, and so I had to get my act together and do some writing, after sneak-previewing them in my "No Really" post.

 These are the Platatac EDC trousers, which are probably going to be called the "Urban Dax" and here's what I can tell you about them.

Made of a cotton ploy blend ripstop fabric, these are both light and breathable. I really noticed this in recent weeks as the Australian summer rolled into full effect. What they are not is flimsy, however. This is a densely woven and almost stiff feeling fabric, but resistance free. After a bit of wearing in, they loosened up, but kept a characteristic "sail-like" feeling. I really like this, mostly because they kept looking sharp, even after some punishment. Being able to blend in to an every-day setting is of great importance to me, and this fabric really did it. It is also silicone treated, and I'll get to that later on.

A simple straight leg, relaxed fit with a reasonably high waistline makes for a comfortable hot or cool wear. My partner Omega (of Fashion Adjacent) commented how smart they looked (perhaps in contrast to the more "outdoorsy looking" cargo pants I sometime wear. That was high praise. I even wore them to Giftmas dinner, with not a second look from the family.

They certainly had the look of slacks over other cargoes. Great for blending in whilst still being very, very effective EDC wear. Lets talk about that for a minute. These are some seriously well thought out and feature rich pants!


The main hand pocket is well placed, and deep, with the opening lines being broken to a just-off-vertical  mainline, and a second , just-off-horizontal seam. This distinction gives you ample real-estate for clipping in a pen, pocket knife or flashlight, without them either sliding around, or putting a tell-tale strain on the pocket. The hem is also reinforced to reduce wear and fraying and the carogo-pocket below has a peek-a-boo gap left in its hood seam to allow cordage, and the like to feed through. At the belt-line, one both sides of the pants, is a secret pocket, about credit-card sized, sewn right up to the waistline stitching lines, very hard to pick and if lightly filled, ideal for a safe stash.

On the front of each thigh is a mobile-phone sized open-topped pocket, which I was happy to keep my iPhone in its silicone case in whilst knocking about, and didn't have any worries with it falling out.

Inside the main-hand pocket is a simple coin-catcher. I kept my ConStel Micro LED lantern in one of these, fit perfectly, and I barely noticed it. In the other set I kept a set of these rappel rings, on a loop of cordage, which I pass over to Tactical Baby when she needs a play-toy, and use as worry-beads in times of stress. Never hurts to have a set on-hand, in case of unexpected haulage needs either....

I splattered them with cooking fat, mud, chicken mess, dribbled lunch, a variety of baby-mess, silicone lube and they bore up tremendously. 

 The silicone coating will wash out eventually, I'm told, but after a week of hard wear, including Giftmas Dinner with my family, they were still looking good. I only washed them to test how they washed.


The twin cargo pockets are at once spacious and cleverly tailored to tuck away when empty. The billowed sides are sewn such they stay flat when emptied of a load, which added to their tidiness for every-day urban wear. However, make no mistake, these are built for storage! With hook-and-loop patches to close the lid of the pocket, and matching tabs inside the pocket let you stow the lid out of the way when you need free access to your pockets. An additional button closure keeps your contents secure when you expect some upside-down adventure. As well as the main cargo-pocket, twin internal pockets give you extra gear securing options.

I kept my DMT sharpening stone in one of my cargo pockets,  my OscarDelta Deep Carry tube, and a variety of work paperwork in the others, without putting a dent or sag in my day. These are some serious EDC pants.

The back sides of each cargo pocket also feature two extra sets of pockets. The larger, inner pocket is big enough to fit my Surefire 6PX on one side, and my Gerber multitool on the other.  The outer pockets are for pens, which worked really well for me. This was great, and they were well fitted, not giving me the "pocket full of junk" swinging about that it might have. I occasionally forgot they was there. 

From this angle, you can see the webbing adjustment waistband, which gives you a nice range of fits, as well as elastisised siding to keep them snug when you bend and duck (no plumbers crack full of grit, thanks). The center most belt loop at the back features the only branding, a subdued Platatac logo on its extra wide space. The two back pockets are also good and deep, like the front hand pockets,the back-right pocket also has a button closure, to secure your needfuls, and I could happily walk around with my SIGG bottle in either of them with no trouble. The seat of the pants have a extra panel sewn in for padding, and wear-control.

The crotch is also deeply gusseted, which I found really comfortable, especially when wearing knee-pads. The main closure is button and zipper, with a webbing sewn button, and a very long and solid zip, good for getting in and out, without worrying about snagging or popping buttons.

A set of double-diamond shaped sewn in panels to add to wear-resistance and a touch more padding to the knees. These were a great design, although I found that with my extra-long legs, the panels were a little higher up on my legs than I'd have liked. being more knee-thigh than shin-knee. I let the Platatac guys know, and perhaps they will adjust the placement in revisions (unless it's just my mutant legs ...)


 These are probably my favourite pants to date. More comfortable and elegant than the Blackhawk! Performace pants, and more feature rich than the 5.11 Gear TacLite Pro pants. 

I haven't quite had the opportunity to "thrash them to death" as instructed, but I'll keep giving them a good hard wear doing a variety of adventurous things, in adventurous places, with adventurous people, and see how they hold up. I think I'd have a hard time doing them much harm, without collecting some new bruises and scars myself though.

Review: Danner - Striker II GTX boots

 I had the good fortune to win some boots (by speed of clicking, ability to read and understand simple instructions and generally having the right-sized feet at the right time, and I wanted to tell you a bit about them.

Previously, I've reported on my dear departed Altama Tan Desert Boots my all-day-every-day Bates Delta-8's and the hard-core stomper HyTest boots . These however, came to me a while back, and have sat unworn except on a couple of "cant be bothered shining my other boots" occasions. Right up until I was in Hospital recently. I took the chance with some new boots for my sore feet, as the insides of the Bates were starting to get a bit ragged, and snagging my sore feet on boots from one examination to the next was getting to be a pain. These are the Daner Striker ii boots



The first thing you notice about them is they are light, at 1400g (50oz) they are 200g lighter than the Delta-8's,which is a real boon, if you want to cut down on legwork but keep the support and security of a full height 8" boot.

The outer of the boot is a mixture of a 1000d Cordura like nylon, giving a breathable, flexible and tough-wearing series of panels, which can take the punishment that is common to feet, whilst being fast-drying and tear resistant.

The lowers are a full grain leather, and are double and triple stitched throughout, which I really appreciate. I've had boots in the past pop stitches from rough use, so having multiple lines of stitching always gives you that "one is none and two is one" security to fall back on. The tongue is flared ans sewn right up to about the second last eyelet hole, to keep puddle stomping feet a little dryer. I would have liked this to go all the way up, but that's how it goes sometimes. The lacing is a mixture of eyelet and hooklet, starting at the ankle, with spacers cut into the leather to allow you to tension the foot-ankle-foreleg areas seperately.


The outsole is made of the
Danner TFX® Lite, which is to say, a oil and slip resistant plastic, with a fairly light tread pattern. I have had a couple of little skids walking on oil-patches on concrete parking lot floors.

One thing worth mentioning that you can't see is the liners on the inside. I get sweaty feet, so having full GORE-TEX® lining which is breathable and wicking is great, but on top of that, is Thinsulate™ Ultra Insulation which adds the perhaps unnecessary for me lightweight cold climate protection.Still, I'd rather have well breathing but insulated feet than cold wet feet, any day.

Inside the sole, a nylon shank lends stiffness and support, and the TERRA FORCE™ X Lite design does in fact give me good arch protection and support (much needed after my recent ankle troubles) as well as a really comfortable wear.

These are good every-day boots, and I think they will serve me well in the upcoming summer heat, and the adventuring I have planned.

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.

copyright to Supersport Images Pty Ltd  

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?

copyright to Supersport Images Pty Ltd   

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!

copyright to Supersport Images Pty Ltd 

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.

Review: Triple Aught Design - Amphibious Cargo Shorts

As it heats up, I wanted to get some shorts that would both fit (yes, I have apparently grown as I have matured and done more running) and would be able to take with me whilst camping or adventuring. One such adventure was the Stampede Mud-Run, which I will discuss in a post soon. I had been in touch with Mr Tay Choon Mong of HorNest, and he put aside a pair of the Triple Aught Design Amphibious Cargo Shorts for me.

I'd been a fan of the TAD Gear for a while, and when I saw their line of Amphibian Cargo Pants get some screen-time in the blogosphere, I kept my eyes out for what else would come from these guys. I already have a couple of little things of theirs: patches and Ranger-eyes so I was looking forwards to more. There were no exception.

Made from an "Amphibious Cloth" which is to say 100% Nylon (3.4 oz) with a DWR Finish (Durable Water Repellent), the material is silky to the touch and light. You can see a 1" loop field poking over my right thigh, with a TAD logo Ranger Eye glow in the dark patch fitted to boot (Thanks Hornest!)

Made for movement with a gusseted crotch, and clean seams, they provide unrestricted movement running or clambering, whilst still being comfortable when I am chair-bound. More importantly, they are "Engineered for Abuse" with triple needle stitching on the in- and out-seams, and the pockets and seat are also reinforced to enhance ruggedness.

What about pockets? Well let me get you going here: These shorts are constructed with five sets of pockets! From the front you can see Two Front Welt Pockets, which each having a D-ring hanging from below the belt loop, these were both deep and broad enough to take my iPhone 4s in its Opt Silicone Armor iPhone case, and the carabiner on the bottom of it clips nicely onto those D-rings. They also make good attachment points for my paracord lanyard.



Two hand pockets, come in where you might normally expect them, and also feature a deep (two knuckle) coin pocket, which is probably sufficient to hold a pistol magazine, if that's your thing.

The thigh cargo flap pockets sitting mid-thigh passed my favourite test, they fit my iPad1, but more importantly, feature with hidden dual-button closure, with drain hole grommets. I put these to a good solid test at The Stampede and can report not only did I NOT scoop up pocketfuls of mud, but the water that I took on rapidly drained away. and Thru Slot. You can see the length of fabric ending with a D-loop poking over the top of the iPad here. This sits inside the cargo pocket, letting you secure items, but it doesn't stop there. On the seam-edge of the cargo lid flap, is a cutaway gap, allowing you to feed items into, or have them slung out of the pocket! Cables, cord and tubes, oh my! I thought I had torn the stitching, and was thrilled to see it was a feature. Awesome!


On the backside, the two rear flap pockets feature the same hidden dual button closures as the thigh Cargo pockets, which not only means your gear stays in, but the wilderness stays out! I don't often use my seat-pockets, having a bony ass, so being able to button-up and forget is a great option for me.

One really exciting feature that I only noticed after washing them inside out was the two hidden passport pockets on the rear inside, hanging off the back of the flap pockets, to hold your personal documents discretely: passports, tickets, visas, whatever. They aren't waterproof , so be advised you'd need to wrap whatever you stuff in there, but a great option to have when traveling in unpleasant places.

All the buttons are affixed with nylon webbing with bartack stitching for greater staying power and quick repair out and about, rather than being sewn directly to the pants. The fittings are all plastic, making these, when combined with a nylon belt buckle seen on the 5.11 TDU belt, make these an airport safe pair of pants! I "go commando" and they are very nice to wear, the gusseted crotch, and clean seams really coming to the fore there.

Probably the best thing I can say about these shorts are how well they fared in some pretty rough conditions. The Stampede mud-run may have only lasted two hours, but I was climbing over logs, crawling through mud and rocks, running through ponds and mud-pits, and they just shook it all off.

Have a look at the picture and tell me what you think. If I hadn't wanted to wear them to work, I think I could have just hit them with a stick a few times and knocked the dust off. They dried off SO quickly, that the only reason I was damp was what I was wearing under them.



Totally worth the investment!

Review 5.11 Tactical - Taclite Pro Pants

Here are the pants I mentioned in my belt post recently, these are the 5.11 Tactical Taclite Pro pants, that I picked up form LA Police Gear, online. I got them in their mid-grey "Tundra" and the light sand "Coyote" colours. These are some pretty feature packed pants, and quite comparable with the Blackhawk Performance WarriorWear pants i reviewed not long ago. These are made of a lightweight 65% polyester and 35% poly cotton ripstop material, which have been treated with HT Teflon® Wear Resistant Finish for stain and soil resistance. Tefglon pants, how cool is that? Actually, its very cool. I've been sprayed with water and food several times thanks to the combined efforts of Tactical Baby and Triceratops Girl whilst in these pants and they have beaded and wiped clean on almost all occasions with ease. Water droplets just bead and roll off.

 Very impressive. Apparently that same Teflon® coated fabric dries 25-40% faster than untreated fabric,something I also put to the test recently as I sweated through several days of 39oC Influenza fever. These pants were actually comfortable to be in.

Lets have a look at the pocket options. On the right face, a reinforced open knife pocket graces the front of the thigh, ( keep my Gerber multitool on a lanyard in it) The left thigh features a hook-and-loop closed pocket, big enough for an iPhone or possibly a magazine. Two standard bellowsed cargo pockets sit down the thigh, also with hook-and-loop closures.

There is a brass clip D-loop on the front right belt loop, good for keys, phone or lanyards, I've found. The front hand-pockets are deep and well angled, and also feature reinforcing to protect against fraying from knife or flashlight clips that may be attached here. The pants themselves close with a press-stud snap, a hefty zipper and an internal button.

At the back you can see the hook-and-loop closing rear "slash" pockets. I'm really digging this style of pocket, over the more traditional "up and down" style. It gives me easy access for stowed items quickly and securely.Also on the back right side is the long reinforced cotton webbing utility strap, which would be a great place to sling items such as my Dead-On Super Hammer.

A couple of other really good features are the double knee and seat reinforcements. The knees have an internal inward facing pocket to allow knee pads to be added. The fully gusseted crotch is also a godsend, it allows for full range of movement, especially for us long-legged critters. Behind the belt line are a couple of built in elasticized patches on the waist, which give the pants a stretch point when bending,m kneeling or crawling, whilst not interfering with the sizing or comfort of fit. The belt loops are wide and broad, taking the 1.75" TDU Belt by 5.11 Tactical perfectly. The one problem I had with these pants were that the Coyote pair were somewhat TOO rugged on the inside seams, as I "go commando", this led to some uncomfortable chafing and me having to resort to boxers for a little while. I presume this is just due to their newness, as my other pair which I wore in a bit more, same sizing, gave me no problems.

Review: 5.11 Tactical - TDU belt 1.75"

A quick one today. I got some pants from LA Police Gear recently, and a tasty treat was thrown in with each pair, a colour matched belt! At first I was skeptical. The pants themselves were already on special, what kind of belt would just be thrown in for free. Well, let me show you the TDU Belt from 5.11 Tactical.

The belts are 1.75" (about 45mm) wide and made of a really heavy nylon webbing, stiffer and thicker than seatbelt material. A very sturdy polymer buckle sits low and flat, with only a slight tab protruding from the belt-facing side. Being a non-metalic polymer, this buckle will be metal-detector safe, meaning it's one less thing for me to take off when I visit an airport. I have yet to fully field test it with my partners, but initial studies indicate that being of a more traditional style, it not as tricky as a Cobra buckle to undo at first pass.

The webbing is triple stitched, with a broad bartack, giving it a stiff connection to the buckle, without adding any more bulk. The tongue of the belt is heat-cut at an angle, for easy feeding through the buckle, with plenty of slack at the size I have to double-back for extra security, a habit I picked up both in SCUBA and rock-climbing.

This is a lightweight but very sturdy belt, simple in the extreme and made to last. Even though I've had no problems going through metal detectors with my Ultimate Riggers Belt, the all-plastic look of this one would make it less of a drama.I'm really happy with this, and it (and its tan-coloured counterpart) give me a couple more belt options to add to my collection. Having your pants fall off at the wrong time is BAD for survival.

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

Review: Blackhawk! Engineered-Fit Shirt

Here's another great item made by Blackhawk, that the folks at LEGear sent my way. This innocuous looking shirt is in fact part of Blackhawk's "WarriorWear" Line, of engineered base-layers. I've reviewed other Blackhawk! gear before, in their knee-pad range, and I have some pants from them lined up to look at as well. You may recall that I have reviewed this kind of shirt once before, and I was pleased to be able to look at someone else's take on the design and application of technology.

Here we go: The WarriorWear Engineered-Fit shirt comes in V-neck or crew-neck, I chose crew, as I like having full closure, keeping all my cat-bell like jinglies tucked in. The shirt is actually made of three distinct regions, in two different fabrics. The torso and biceps are made of a very fine Jersey knit in 92% Nylon, 8% Spandex and the underarm strips, running mid-pectoral to mid-shoulder blade are of a 95% polyester, 5% Lycra mesh. This gives you considerable breathing through sweaty armpits, as well as being stretchy for unrestricted movement.

The seams are all extremely flat, almost inappreciably so, and better yet, are placed off the shoulders entirely, giving no pinch points for packs, harnesses or plate carriers loads to press and rub on. Being a long, tall and skinny critter, I don't have a lot of padding that I can shrug off that kind of thing with, so having the seams off my load-bearing areas was a welcome relief. The material is actually brushed on the inside, to give even better contact to the skin,as this is a wicking shirt, and designed to be held tight to the body, both to draw away moisture, but also to prevent agaisnt-the-skin friction from your load. It is also anti-microbially treated, to help prevent stinky goon syndrome.

I can attest to this, having worn it all day under my it at Manifest overnight, then all day at a kendo instructors course. Kendo is a very physical activity, under both heavy gi and armour. The material kept me dry, chaffing free, comfortable all day, and didn't smell! It's going in my running kit at work

It's important to note, that sizing is really important with these types of shirts. You need a skin-tight fit to gain the most from them. The Blackhawk range of Engineered-Fit body-sculpted shirts (in that they aren't just flat panels of fabric, but are "body-shaped") have specific measurements associated for their sizing. To move from their "Standard Fit" and full "Compression Fit" (for those who want that), all you need to do is move one "size" down. I got myself a "Large" but could have probably done better with a "Medium", as the length was more than adequate to cover my long torso, as you can see here as I demonstrate a "traditional Provencal French salute". You can see there has been no ride-up, helped in part by the soft, next-to-body, jacquard elastic waistband, and the intrinsic stretch of the materials used.

I really liked the smooth, matte-finish surface the shirt has. I've now worn it solo, and under a variety of other tops, slept in it, trained in it and have been dry, comfortable and protected from some regular wear and tear. Definitely worth getting into!