Review: Helinox - Packable chair Tactical Edition

One of the things I love about doing this, is the contacts I make, and being asked for my opinions on things.

Tay Choon Mong from HorNest included this little number along with a pointy purchase and a slingy purchase I made recently (coming soon ...). I've liked working with Tay, he's reached out to a variety of vendors to import some cool items to his Singapore shop, much easier for me to get a variety of cool things that way.

One of the things that I've seen but not previously had a chance to play with is the Helinox portable chair. Ive had a variety of folding camping chairs over the years. The ones you see discarded at the end of every summer, or midway through. Tube steel and cheep nylon, plastic fittings. I've even had chairs like that break whilst sitting in them. They are disposable technology, and a product of the "weekend BBQ camping" culture.

These days I tend to sit on a log, a rock, or the ground for that very reason.

No longer!

 Before we even get tot the chair, have a look at the case: Made of 1000d Cordura type nylon, it sits at 35cm long by 10cm wide by 12cm high.

It features a 10-loop webbing ladder. which gives you a variety of attachment options. You can see here I have looped the bottom compression straps of my Platatac Bullock Echo pack, but you can also see that I have looped a couple of Grimlock clips through them as well, because I wanted to see how I could sling it differently.  

I found slinging it like this was great.  

On to the chair itself! The struts are all held together with shock-cord, and all break down to less than 35cm to fit in the case. The struts are both light and sturdy, being an aluminium TH72M alloy and the joins are exceptional well fitting. The struts all slot into the heavy-duty dense polycarbonate plastic joint pieces. In fact, combined with the shock cords, the chair practically assembles its own skeleton simply by waving it about. 

It half built itself when I pulled it out of the case. i had to stop and look at it to make sure I was doing it right, it was all happening so fast. Two pieces come together for form each of the back struts, and the single piece four rubber-footed legs slot in the bottom, with a single thicker strut joining the two halves.

When assembled, the chair measures 52cm wide by 50cm deep and is 65cm high. The back of the fabric of the chair even has instructions printed on it. Following the advice listed, after seating three of the struts into the stiff plastic cored pockets, I flipped the chair over, and this greatly assisted in seating the fourth strut. 

All up the 940g (including the case) This will support a 145 kg load. 

And then I had a chair!

 
You can also note that the chair features two side pockets, big enough to fit a cold carbonated beverage and a large illumination device at easy elbow reach.  


The  chair was really, really comfortable, and for all its small size, fit me well, and felt sturdy.

This being the Tactical Edition, it is a flat matte design, you can see that there is not only venting slots in the seat of the chair, but also the solid fabric (rather than the mesh-backed version).  

As I've said, I have used camp chairs in the past that were rickety, flimsy and in the end, disposable.
This is not that kind of chair. Its size, ease of use, weight and portability made it a real winner to my mind.

Itis definitely going in my out-and-about kit, not to mention freeing up space in my camping loads.


 

Review: Zulu Nylon Gear - CAOS Admin Pouch

A while back I saw a post by the inestimable MilSpecMonkey covering the ZuluNylonGear Mega Admin pouch and from that time I was really keen to see some Zulu products myself. Since then, several other bloggers, such as Soldier Systems with the Skeletonized Container Sling, the guys at Jerking the Trigger with the Indy Satchel and of course ZNG's design-partner ITS-Tactical with their EDC medical kit pouches. I just had to get my hands on some of this gear. As always, the biggest hold-up was shipping, Melbourne being very far away from Chicago. As luck would have it, I got in touch with the folks from HORNEST in Singapore who managed to "infest me with gear"!

Having read what MilSpecMonkey had to say about the size of the "Mega" pouch, I opted for this, the very funky Zulu Nylon Gear CAOS Admin pouch. The CAOS (Combat Application Organizer System) pouch is the result of collaboration between Zulu Nylon Gear and CDH-Tac in Finland. I love the fact that these guys do so much collaboration and can't help but wanting to be part of it in my own small way.


The pouch measures approximately 5cm (2") deep, 15.5cm (6.25") across and 15cm (6") tall. This is a MOLLE compatible pouch, but unlike most of the other pouches I have reviewed, does not come with it's own integral clips. but will attach to PALS/MOLLE with two long MALICE clips.

This pouch is made of two distinct regions; the front pocket and the main pocket. However, there are plenty of other great additions. Twin D-rings in the top of the back of the pouch offer additional attachment points, to sling more gear, dummy-cord items, clip carabiners or to use as a harness point to sling the whole pouch. You can see that I have fitted two Grimlock carabiners which is how I have been affixing the pouch to my pack. Additionally, webbing loops from the back also give dummy-cord attachment points from both top and bottom of the pouch. So many options!


A straight view of the back shows the full coverage of 5 rows and 4 channels available to run ITW MALICE clips, Maxpedition TacTies
or Blackhawk! Speed Clips
through to secure it to your pack, or the chest of your plate-carrier. Again, not having any of these to play with, I have affixed my Grimlocks. You can also see here the dummy-cord loop at the top middle, and also the two at the bottom corners.

Between the two edge channels of webbing at the bottom you can just make out the two additional loops of webbing, giving you yet another attachment option. Behind the top dummy-cord loop is a slip-pocket, for keeping a notepad, papers or other slim needfuls.

This kind of attention to detail and willingness to put extra material in, to ensure the user gets maximum configuration options rates really highly in my books. Being an unusual size and shape often leaves me out of scope for "one-size-fits-all".


The front pouch pocket, as well as featuring a wide and tall loop-field for attaching nameplates, ID patches or even a glowing logo patch like I have put on mine (thanks to Hornest).

Pulling up on the wide (but very flat and snag-free) webbing handle, reveals the inside of the pocket. A wide band of elastic is sectioned into two sides, the narrower being ideal for a mobile phone, the other, perhaps a GPS unit.

As well as these elasticized "pockets" this pouch features quite a spacious main cavity, allowing the user to stow quite a number of things, in what is essentially only the auxiliary pouch of this piece.

 Inside the main pocket, however, is where the magic really lies. There are literally dozens of different places to store and secure gear within this area, and the attention to modularity, and multiple functionality is again displayed in the design. The water-resistant material is well stitched, and has fully taped edges. This is built rugged, just the way I like, but is still light.


 The foremost interior feature is a drawstring system like that seen in the Mega Admin, which serves to keep contents from spilling out when the zipper pulls are opened. This essentially forms a drawer on your chest or pack, with cord-keeper allowing you to define how "open" the drawer can swing.

The front face has another slip pocket and a range of layered elastic and webbing "pockets" for organizing small tools, pens and the like. I really liked the layering of webbing under elastic tape. It allowed me to hold some things loosely, some firmly, and some locked right in.

The rear slip pocket is further divided with two larger, phone sized pockets, another slip pocket and elastic for securing more small items. This pouch just keeps on giving. Further dummy-cord points inside keep your needfuls from flopping into the dirt, or dropping into rivers of lava.

As I mentioned earlier, I don't have any MOLLE-clip type attachment accessories right now (soon, I hope), so I have used Grimlocks to affix this pouch to my pack, would probably to the same with my MAC plate carrier, when I go adventuring.

From this angle you can see that I have attached it to the daisy-chain webbing over the top of my Bullock Echo daypack (which just got an update, check it out! In this configuration, it acts as a "lid" over the top of the pack, the paracord zipper pulls are easily accessible and I can access all my tools,and accessories

You can see here the difference between "coyote" of the pack, and the Platatac "khaki". The colours are complementary, I think, and it certainly doesn't look out of place.

In summary this is a brilliant pouch, I can see a lot of applications, and look forwards to putting it to a lot more use in the future. the guys at Zulu Nylon Gear put in a lot of work, in design and manufacture, and it shows.

Review: Hill People Gear - Runner Bag

So, once in a while, I manage to make one of my "wish-lusts" come true. Such was the case with the Hill People Gear Runner pack.


I got in touch with Evan Hill, of Hill People Gear, because after my Wish-Lust review, I saw that they had a single photo of a bag in khaki, my preferred colour, where as the rest of their range seemed to be "coyote", "foliage", "Ranger Green" and MultiCam. Evan let me know that the khaki one was a prototype, and that apparently khaki gets a bum-rap at the moment, but that he would cut me a deal. A deal I jumped at, and a couple of weeks later.... my very own Runner Pack arrived in the mail!


I've been wanting to give it a thorough try-out, but have been struck with a nasty respiratory infection of late, and combined with my previously damaged ankle, has not given me much incentive to go running. What to do? I took it to Comic Con Oz, of course!

Without wanting to re-hash the content of my previous post about what its made of (500d Cordura) or how its all put together (well) I thought I'd just run you through my load-out, and how it handled.


Firstly, it was really comfortable to wear! I swapped out of my EDC holster harness some bare essentials: my wallet, my iPhone, my keys, and threw in a couple of extras, like my birthday Tactical Pen and my favourite personal grooming tool Because one never knows, Stan Lee might have wanted to look good for our signing and photo-op!


This left a little room for Tactical Baby snacks, and maps, tickets for the event, whilst not bulking up too much on my chest. I was curious to see if there was that feeling of compression that chest-rigs can give when laden, but I found no such dramas. 


With some quick on the spot adjustments I was able to go from riding high and tight, to dropping it to mid-thorax which gave really different access and feel to wearing the rig. OK for walking, but running I'd still wear it up high. One thing to note, I felt quite conspicuous wearing it. It really does look like a chest-rig of some kind. If I were adventuring, hiking, or running, I'd not have given it a second thought, but I couldn't help but feel slightly "half-dressed" in the cos-play crowd. Later that afternoon, I wore it slung sideways (pouch under my left arm), which looked a lot less "chest-rig" and a lot more "man-bag". Again, no real issue, and it felt great, but something to be aware of in polite company perhaps.

As I've said though, it wears like a dream. The mesh-back is soft, and breathes wonderfully. The padded back of the pouch was both soft and breathable as well. The zipper-pulls worked perfectly, although I think I need to practice the "quick-draw" of the back compartment, if I want to be able to get my comb out in a hurry... The front pockets held my wallet and phone snug and easily accessible, yet securely. The back compartment -almost- fits my iPad. I think i could probably jam it in there and man-handle the zippers closed, but not without risking popping stitches. A pity, but I doubt that Evan was thinking of how to carry his iPad around when he designed the pouch, he strikes me as more a M1911 kind of guy ... The shock-cord retention strap is brilliant, really held the bottom of the pack stable, without constricting my chest at all. A real bonus.

The only gripe I had at all was the edges of the very clever double sided Quick Clip the stabiliser shock-cord was mounted to the pack with (pictured here) were quite sharp, and jabbed me all day. A quick lick of a lighter to heat the thermo-plastic and a thumb pressed to the edges rounded off these offending edges to protect my delicate flower-like body. The Fastex clips, large and small were perfectly placed for ease of use and wear.

This is a really versatile pack, and I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it when I get ready for next years Tough Mudder, or when I go adventuring, either on its current harness, or taking advantage of the forward-thinking modularity that Hill People Gear built in, and mounting it via those GrimLock clips, as there are loops top and bottom of the pack to accomodate those.

I'm really pleased with this addition to my collection, and look forwards to going running or rollerblading with my man-bag, now in khaki!