Review: Propper - STL II pants

As first seen on BreachBangClear ..... I really love being able to write for these guys, and upcoming articles for RecoilWeb too!


Here's another great piece from Propper's new line-up, the redoubtable  STL II pants, that came in my haul of Propper loot, along with a Liberty Bottle , the ICE polo shirt, (http://www.epropper.com/p-105-ice-mens-performance-polo-short-sleeve.aspx), their Gen Multipurpose Bag (http://www.epropper.com/p-217-gen-multipurpose-bag.aspx) and a 720 Belt (http://www.epropper.com/p-225-720-belt.aspx) all of which have reviews pending. Watch this space.

Here is what I can tell you about the STL II pants. I've reviewed some Propper pants before and appreciated the comfort and wearability of their design, construction and durability. The STL II's are no different. Made from a 97% nylon and 3% spandex, it has a generous cut and all the hard wearing seams are reinforced, and flat-finished, giving these pants a very comfortable fit. http://www.epropper.com/p-148-stl-ii-pant.aspx

The fabric is soft, breathes nicely and light, a far cry from my old canvas type cargo pants of yesteryear. I wonder how hard-wearing they will be in the long term, and whether they need to fall in the "slacks vs overalls" category of rough-use. I have a feeling running through acacia thorns wouldn't be a lot of fun in these.

On the upside, they feature gusseted crotch allows greater range of motion as well as giving pinch free fit for those of us who go-commando or even sport some jewelry ...

An interesting feature is that the bottom of the legs have a zippered expandable opening, for fitting over boots, as well as a reinforced "kick-panel"  to take some of the brunt for those who punish their back hems a fair bit.

The front pockets feature a reinforcing strip, for belt-clips of knives or key-holders, and are both deep and well lined. No holes poking through or awkward bulges with these. The thigh-pockets are zippered and discreet, as are the rear-pockets. A pair of looped fabric bands on the front two belt-loops

You might notice that I have stuffed my iPad Air into the thigh-pocket. A tight fit, but I'd call that a success, in my "can I pocket my iPad" criteria. This also further demonstrated the clean and subtle lines of these pants. When closed off, there are no bulging baffles or overtly "cool-guy" flaps on these pants. Perfect for blending in with the regular folks out and about, in the office, or in my day-to-day case, in hospitals and giving presentations in board-rooms, without making security nervous.

As Propper themselves state, you'd have to look twice at these pants to spot their tactical features.

Speaking of which, there is even a secret 12cm x 10cm pocket, in the back waistband seam.  Its big enough for me to stash my passports, or a phone, and when coupled with a pair of belt-pouches, is pretty much invisible.

For pants as cleanly cut as these, I like that they still have the "secret-squirrel" feel of their tactical ancestry.  As previously mentioned, they feel more like slacks than combat-pants, that is a plus and a minus, depending on how you look at it.

Update: 5.11 Tactical - TDU Kilt re-release

The good folks over at Soldier Systems have reminded me (and now from me, to you) that 5.11 Tactical have re-released their Tactical Kilt.

I love mine, in fact, I'm wearing one right now. I brave both weather and the harassment of the ignorant (and actual Scots) to be comfortable and bad-ass. Pants are tyranny and I love freedom. Don't you?

Check them out at:
http://www.511tactical.com/kiltoff
http://www.511tactical.com/tactical-duty-kilt-134360.html
and hopefully on http://www.511tactical.com.au/ soon

Available with the following colors: Khaki (a greenish brown), Coyote (a tan brown), TDU Green, Tundra (a deep green), Charcoal, Dark Navy, Black, original MultiCam, and Realtree Xtra and in sizes 28-54.

If that wasn't cool enough, 5.11 are also donating $10 from every kilt sold to FBINAA and We Salute You Veterans.

Review: Platatac Bongo modular battle belt

It's been a while since I've covered a belt, and I picked up this piece recently, and gave it a good workout over the weekend, so wanted to tell you about it.

I've covered a number of belts before, from the surreptitiously tricky PM Leather Hobble Belt, to the hardworking 215 Gear Ultimate Rigger Belt, and the airport friendly 5.11 TDU belts as well as the very capable Young Guns Battle Belt by Platatac, so I wanted to show you this platform as well. This is the Bongo Modular padded belt (Mk2)


With 22 rows of PALS/MOLLE looping, 18 of which are 3 row, with the two channels beside the buckle being only double channel sets. This gives both a lot of real-estate to work with, but also narrows the form around the front, giving the wearer unrestricted motion when sitting, squatting or kneeling.

Designed to be ALICE compatible the belt includes 8 loops for direct attachment to harness or other vest system, such as my MAC armour carrier or the First Spear OAGRE.


It also sports 4 D-ring lash loops along the bottom, which could well be used for leg-straps too, if that's the way your mind works. The principle buckle is a large ITW buckle, as features on many of Platatac's gear. Twin webbing sliders allows you to adjust the belt from either side.

For my skinny (size 32) waist, I needed to cinch it all the way in on both sides, even when wearing it over belted pants and tucked in shirt. The up side of this is that if you have layered clothes, you will have no problem fitting it as an outer-wear layer.

I wore this out to an event, where is was doing First-Aid type monitoring, so fitted it out with my Half Med pack, a set of twin 40mm grenade pouches (they work really well as disposable glove/ mask storage, for quick access). I also fitted one of my SR25 pouches to hold my wallet, a Blackhawk removable side-plate carrier as a mini-dump-pouch, FUP pouch holding my Fenix TK-51 light, and also the SORD 870 Back sleeve, which I'm sneak previewing here. I didn't run it with a sword in it for the event I was at, actually had it filled with big cable-ties, but that's how I would like to roll... A set of CountyComm Premium EMT safety shears rounded it off.

Thankfully none of this kit was needed at the event, but the belt served me really well. The padding is mesh lined, giving it great weight bearing, as well as moisture management capacity.


I wore this rig just on my hips, no strapping, or braces, for 6 hours or so, including some running up and down stairs, with zero dramas. I would wear almost all the pouches identically, other then perhaps moving the 870 pouch to sit higher, if it was bearing more load, just to take advantage of the PALS/MOLLE attachments, but all in all, I was really happy with the belt. The webbing used for the buckles is sewn right into the body of the belt, wrapping the whole way around, and sits under the top. This made feeding the attaching straps of the pouches, both the Platatac-type integrated straps, and the Blackhawk STRIKE Speed Clips I use, a little tricky, but once in, they were rock solid. The overlap of the belt webbing and the middle row of channels makes it LOOK like its a staggered set of loops, but it isn't. Still, this adds to the stability and security of the belt! I might consider swapping out the ITW buckle for a Austrail Cobra buckle at some stage for climb-rating security, but otherwise this is an awesome addition to my load-out options.

Here's some obligatory tacticool shots of my load-out.

Review: Loop Alien cord attachment devices

I just can't get enough of these shiny titanium cord-attachment devices.
I've already shown you the Piranha and Fishbone, both by Fishbones which are both awesome, and I have them on my person almost every day.

Whilst they were underway on Kickstarter, another kind of device came up, and I jumped on that as well. I have neglected to cover them until now, but have been spurred on by progress (and another Kickstarter by the same folks. From Canny Designs, comes the Loop Alien Original (small) and Loop Alien Ultra Fast Attatchment (large)

The original Loop Alien (small) is only 33mm x 22mm x 3mm (1.25" x 0.9" x 0.125") in size, I was surprised at just how small they were, but there is a lot of grunt in a little package. Made of Grade 5 titanium, these weigh only 4g. Canny Designs offer these in 6061-T6 aluminium (2.6g) , and 316L stainless steel. Three different metals to suit your different needs and budgets.

The smallest hole of the two "eyestalks" will -just- take paracord, if the end is finished to a point, but bear in mind the stresses this tight fit will put on the cord. Canny Designs recommends 1.75mm Dyneema (400lbs test) cord. Great stuff.

The NEW large LoopAlien UFA is 49mm x 32mm x 5.2mm (1.93" x 1.26" x 0.1875") in size and weighs 16g. It is about 1.5x larger in length and width and twice as thick as the small version. It's paracord friendly too!


The main difference in the UFA versions are the hole cut in the "body" of the device. This means that cord need not be threaded through the hole in the "body" as in the originals, but can rather be slipped through the gap, and over either of the "eyestalk".

Here is one of the UFA's, with paracord lashed through its large eyestalk, and looped through the body as a tensioned slider. Through the little eye, I had fed one of the lengths of 7/64 (2.5mm) silver Amsteel rope through the small eye, giving you an indication of the dynamics you can achieve with these little guys.

There are lots of ways you can fit the cords, either with knots, or self-knitting, in the same styles as those seen on the Fishbones. These however, lend themselves to doing guy-wire securing, and adjustable tensioning of loads of up to 45kg (100lbs).
Here's the small Original, also lashed with paracord, the slant of the eyestalks snags the cord nicely, securing the loop neatly, and with enough room to allow it to slide without rubbing on the opposing line.

I have not used the small Originals as much as I might have liked, not being fully paracord friendly limited my imagination a little, but I have been thinking of using them with shock-cord, to rig things to my kayak.

The larger ones the newer UFA's, which I got through Kickstarter as "super fast early delivery" are likely to go in my car with a spool of paracord, for emergency lashing options

These are very cool pieces of kit, and well worth a look in, especially if you are looking to replace your existing tensioning devices for camping or rigging.

I have been wondering if I could set up shade cloth over the whole of my backyard, (which is concreted over, and radiated heat like no ones business) to help with this summers heatwave.

These might just do the trick in adjusting the sails, to stand up to the hot winds.

Check these out, they are elegant and beautifully designed, as well as being very for for purpose.

Here's just a comparison with the two kinds of Loop Alien, and the two kinds of Fishbones

Lastly, to reiterate the manufacturers warnings:

*** The LoopAlien(TM) and LoopAlien UFA are not designed to support human weight. They must not be used as life saving devices, fall protection or in any manner where failure could cause property damage, injury or loss of life. ***

Posted with Blogsy

Review: SAR GlobalTool - ODDjob knife

My buddy Spencer of SAR Global Tool has been busy grinding away at his workbench, adding to his collection of edged tools. Check out his Facebook page, to see the amazing reclaimed file and rasp Bowie knives project, and the ever lustful Inglorious Basterds blades.

You may well remember the SAR Global Tool Micro Elite signal disks, the ever popular Moon-Glow signal disks (I have worn mine around my neck for so long the SOLAS tape has worn off, that's saying something!), the fabulous and devilishly popular with the ladies Dead Ringer Ti comb, and the Dog-Tag Eclipse signal system and the even sneakier bladed version.

Now I have one of his awesome pointies.

This is the ODDjob knife, a 1" x 5" little blade made of  1/4" thick CPMD2 steel. This exotic steel has been treated to HRc 59-60 and stone tumbled to give a beautiful satin finish.

Usually featuring a drop point, simple edge,  but Spencer picked out this very nice recurved one for me, because he knows me well. The thinned down blade makes for an excellent pairing knife, just my style.The edge is keen, and easily controlled, even with its unusual curves.

Along with the individually fitted Kydex scabbard, with its six eyelets for lanyard or screw fitting to gear, this little knife was fitted with a really clever para-cord "Always Open" lanyard loop, a particular invention of Spencer's which utilises heat-shrink tubing to pinch the paracord into a loop, giving a pinkie-hooking structure to grip and deply the blade with a quick tug, whilst remaining unobtrusive.

If I wear this knife behind my ID badge lanyard right, only the loop pokes out. Ready for all those odd jobs. The handle features brown canvas micarta scales, cross cut to show off that spectacular grain. and with inlaid signalling mirrors. This was a delightful extra Spencer threw in for me, as the regular ODDjob's are just naked steel.

With the finger notches textured scale and the finger loop, this little knife fits nicely in my hands, aided by the light crenelations on the spine.

I really like the blade geometry, and the uniqueness of the whole piece. If you can score one, when Spencer (and now Scott, too) are at the grinders, they' be well suited to adding to your utility collection.

Review: AquaYak - Aqua II tandem kayak

A little while ago, I showed you all the AquaYak Snapper-Pro, that was loaned to me by the good folks at AquaYak Kayaks. A couple of months ago, I saw that there was a sale going on at AquaYak, and we took the plunge (so to speak) and went out to check out the showroom. It was the tandem's that had caught my eye, both for load-hauling, but also for family-moving purposes. We settled on a Aqua II tandem, in their Granite Spa colour, with a full load of accessories.

Tactical Baby promptly claimed is as "MY BOAT"

The kayak is a direct extension from the Snapper Pro, just bigger.

It features the same scupper hole and circular storage hatch system as the Snapper Pro, giving self-draining capacity to each of the two, deeply molded seats which as well as adding stability, and having their own mounting points for the padded fabric comfort seats, also feature the molded foot rests, drink holding wells (between the thighs) and anchor point for lashing dummy-cords (between the calves).

The central storage hatches had bags fitted, so your personal items don't get lost in the hull-void.

Fore and aft hatches, are the main structural difference between the Snapper Pro and the Aqua II. These hatches are held in place with a clever shock-cord mechanism, and can be unstrapped and opened with minimal effort, without being a loose or an accidental release risk. These open directly into the hull-space, and afford a very spacious cargo storage area, if you first consider the width of the openings. Stuffable packs and items will work well, but larger items might need to ride on top.

I found that I made use of the Grab Lines, which are mounted by brackets running all around the hull, for both maneuvering the kayak about on the land, as well as for giving Tactical Baby and Triceratops Girl places to hold onto when they were riding with us. As part of our deal, we bought a family's worth of life-vests including a red and black and  coyote/OD Stormrider YAK PFD for the adults as well as lurid red and yellow kid and toddler sized ones (which I will cover later). I also got several 10L dry-bags to go in the hull, and scupper plugs, to reduce incidental water splashes. 

You can get an idea of the depth and size of the two fore and aft hatches with this shot of my arm, along with the padded seal that makes up the inside of those hatches.

The same propriety 'alkatuff polyethylene' material, which holds a UV certification for maritime plastics, is used to make up all the AquaYak hulls, and whilst I have noted that my dragging, and beaching has scored the keel and sides of the hull, its all cosmetic, and a very tough, resilient material. 



At 3.8m (12.5") long and 0.9m (just under 3") wide at the beam, and weighing in at 30kg, it is quite a bit larger than the Snapper Pro, and harder to man-handle when out of the water.

At 30kg it is not all that to lift, but the size of it makes it awkward. The two sizable heavy-duty handles at the bow and stern make for easy lifting and hauling, even when fully laden with safety gear, seats, paddles and even the occasional squealing child. I've dragged it up a grassy hill by looping some webbing through the front handle. Wheels might well be in order (and AquaYak offer them)

In the water, It handles really well, thanks in part to having two sets of paddlers but is very operable with only one, even being quite maneuverable when solo.

We've it out on The Bay a number of times, and whilst its bulk means loading it onto and off my vehicle can be a pain, once its in the water , it is a lot of fun.

With a stated carrying capacity of 200kg, even with two adults, and two kids riding, unencumbered by gear, we've ridden very high in the water, and have had little trouble staying course, and upright, even on our first trips, are probably largely due tot he great design, including this tri-keel, which helps with tracking and stability, even in the moderate swells we've encountered.

I feel that if we needed to get off-shore, as simply as possible, this is a real option for us, both is speed, and limited cost. Get it on the vehicle, get to the beach, onto the water, and away ... Load it up with MALICE 2 pack, a Platatac Light Field Pack, and supplies in Dead People Jars, we could have quite the getaway. 


We put the kids in their Mudlarks All-In-One suits, to keep them warm and dry, with the PVD vests over the top, and went for a paddle one sunny spring afternoon, having been visiting with friends.

You can see that there is quite a bit of room the in the kayak, and we have found that the kids can site between our knees as we paddle, but that space could just as easily be full of packs and supplies. This is the saem beach as I reviewed the Snapper Pro, with a high grassy hill from the carpark to the beach. The weight of the fully laden kayak, over grass, down a hill was no issue at all. It even maneuvered well.

Once down at the waters edge, it was a simple matter to alight and shove off.

You can see here how high on the water we were, and whilst heading right into waves gave us some spray, we were a long way off ever taking water over the side and into the cockpit. I think we could have laden the hull with a lot more kit, and still have been positively buoyant and dry.

All in all, I am really pleased with this acquisition, and plan to spend a bunch of time on The Bay over the summer, as well as trips to local lakes and rivers.

I heard recently that AquaYak are going to stock a Windpaddle sail for their kayaks, and that is a great idea...

Review: Fenix - TK-51 light

I had the good fortune to be introduced to Braent Hong,
Asia Pacific Sales Manager for Fenixlight Limited at the SSAA SHOT Expo by my friends at LEGear Australia and made an impression about my love of all things lighting.

He recommended I contact their marketing department, and sign up to be a beta-tester, and after many month of negotiations, I received this pre-release TK-51 model light. This is a BIG light, and it certainly performs.Here it is stacked against the HexBright crowd-funded light, I have covered previously.

Let me tell you about the TK-51 ....
At 18.8cm (7.4") long and having a grip diameter of 4.8 cm (1.9"), and weighing 430g without the batteries, this is quite a serious hand held light. At the buisness end, it features two  Cree XM-L 2 (U2) LED's, in a tear-drop configuration of reflectors.

The body of the light is made of machined aircraft alumiunium, Type III hard-anodized and features a toughened and anti-reflective coated glass facing. The two Cree LED's sit in differing reflectors, one large and deep, the other quite shallow. Both reflectors were mirror finished. The glass was in-set from a smooth lip.

The tail-cap was crenelated, and two of the opposing crenelations feature a strap hole for securing a lanyard. The tail cap unscrews to expose the battery holder, which is well labeled to ensure that not only the battery holder, but the batteries themselves are properly loaded, avoiding any misloads.

Speaking of batteries, it is designed to take three 3.7V Li-ion 18650 batteries, which for those who don't know are the big-brother of the CR-123A batteries becoming so prevalent in the resilient gear market. It will also take six of the CR123A's in place of the 18650's, and even the 3.2V 16340. In the absence of a full load, it will even operate with one or two batteries alone, but at much reduced performance.


the TK-51 has some interesting controls, with individual controls for the spot and flood LED's, which ramp up from Low, to Medium, Medium-high and High modes, each accessible by a tap of the appropriate control. It also features a memory, such that the on/off button will recall the previous settings for both LED's. Momentary Strobe can be produced at any time by holding either LED controller, and cycles between two distinct flash frequencies. Momentary "TURBO" mode is achieved by depressing the on/off button, and gives full power to both LED's. Which is a LOT.

Each LED has a Lumen output of 10, 150, 400 and 900. This effectively ramps up with a button press for each LED control, offering considerable control of light output for the user, given their need. with a Single LED runtime, running from 420h at Low for a single LED, to 1h 45min for both LED on high, there is also considerable operational variety. I found that the buttons were perhaps -too- easy to press, being raised from the surface, and had a very light pressure needed to activate.

Fenix state the beam distance is effective to 425m, with a peak beam intensity of 45200 cd. Put simply, it packs a whole lot of light, and can throw it a long way.

This shot is of the TK-51 with both LED's at high, in TURBO mode, putting out 1800 lumen, and lighting up my whole street. I angled the spot down, so as not to side-blind passing cars at the end of the road.

Low Flood

Low Spot

The low flood and spot were hard to catch on my iPhone 5s, but the reflective paint of my old car glinted well enough, remember, this is 10 lumen

Medium Flood

Medium Spot

The medium options, at 150 lumen match most over the counter service station and supermarket lights that I've had. My trusty "household blackout light", the 5.11 ATAC-A1 is only 103 lumen (but off a single AA) .

Medium High Flood

Medium High Spot

At Medium High, the TK-51 is putting out 400 lumen from each LED, doubling that of my CR123A powered Surefire 6pX.

High Flood

High Spot

At High, the LED's are outputting 900 lumen, which even outstrips my HexBright FLEX, and is just shy of my new car headlights. On top of that, the built in circuitry has both output lock-out, meaning that it will produce the same light output for as long as the charge allows, then drop to the next level, and so on, rather than dimming gradually. At the lowest power levels, the light will blink its LED's three times as a last-ditch indicator of power loss. There is also overheat protection, which down-shifts the output until the light cools. During my use if the light, the finely machined texture on the grip was good in the hand, and the light had surprisingly good balance. I hate to think what it would feel like wielded in anger.

Combined with the mass of the light, its 1m shock resistance, and IPX-8 (2m) water resistance, this is a serious light, for serious use. I bought rechargeable batteries for it, and a charger, which comes wit ha car-adapter, which I think will greatly expand the use I get from this light. Now to find a pouch for it!

Review: Hazard4 - Ventrapack

I've been really pleased with the Hazard4 LaunchPad iPad case, and the Loader RG holster harness that I have covered previously. The Loader RG harness is part of my EDC, I don't feel dressed without it. 

 When I placed my last order with Hazard4, I picked up a couple of items, and this was one of them. I have covered a couple of admin pouches before, and am a big fan of my ZuluNylonGear CAOS pouch, as well as my really good Hill People Gear Runner Bag.

This is the Hazard5 low-profile chest rig, the Ventrapack.
The first thing I found was that it was considerably bigger than I had expected, at 31 x 26.5 x 3 cm (12.2" x 10.4" x 1.2"), if I had checked their website or even counted PALS/ MOLLE strips, I would have worked this out. However, size is not a concern for me. Sure, it matters, but I like variety! 

With 6 channels and 4 rows of PALS/MOLLE, and two rows of loop-field, you get an idea of the size here. A Faastex style clip on the front gives a quick secure option, as well as the twin zipper releases around the perimeter. This then reveals the interior, which is really very cool. 

Webbing retainers hold the "front" of the platform, to make a shelf, with an included clear document/map window with a stiffened and quilted padded micro-suede backing (much like in the LaunchPad) with two little hook and loop tabs which fits and secures an iPad nicely. A cable feed port is a really nice addition.

That shelf also acts as a work-space, which is matched by a tool shop's worth of storage on the "back" of the platform. Three pen holders, Two multi-tool sized pockets, twin elasticised cylyme/small tool holders on top of a wide but shallow pocket make the first row of pockets, with a second layer with two PDA sized pockets, and a wide and tall, hook-and-loop closed pocket. behind all of these is a full document sized panel, with a dummy-cord'ing loop. 

I filled out my pockets with a collection of little tools; my Spyderco Harp tool, one of my WTF multi-tools, a set of lock-picks, and several practice locks. I also have my APOC Geiger counter. Because I'm awesome.

The back of the pack shows off its attachment options. Four sets of webbing, attached to each of the four corners of the pack enable the wearer to lash it to the straps and body of a backpack. Fastex buckles provide quick attachment and removal of the Ventrapack, as well as ease of fitting.

Each of the four sets of webbing are terminated with a hook-and-loop strip, which enables you to both bundle loose webbing, but also attache the strap to other straps, without the need of an additional buckle. 

There are D-loops fitted to the top two straps, as well as the front Fastex clasp, all of which can be used for additional attachment. I found that my Portuguese sinnet paracord lanyard for my multitool, which I attach to both belt and tool with a small carabiner, perfect placement for this pack, making a very effective hip-bag for hands free courier-style. 

You could just as easily throw a shoulder strap through those D-loops and wear it as a messenger-bag.

 I really like the variety that this pack offers me, especially for times where I know I will be needing to carry a bunch of hand tools, but also needing my hands free. Roof crawlspaces, zombie-choked freeway, half-way up a power-pole, having your tools to hand and your movement unrestricted is a real boon, and this is certainly one way of ensuring it. 

The Invista® 1000D Cordura makes for a rugged and sturdy pack, which is good for both your tools and your body, and I especially liked that the bottom of the pack had a toughened strip, to further guard against abrasions. 
 
The fact that the back of the pack is lined with a breath-ability enhancing mesh, forming an additional document pouch as well as having bottom pockets to stow the straps when not in use, when the pack is attached by D-loops, or carabiners off a hip, or the like.

As you can see, it does have a big foot print when worn on the chest (although I'm a skinny fella), it doesn't restrict arm movement overly, and sits very securely. All in all I am very pleased with this additional to my technical loadout. Next time I have to fix something in a hard to reach area, this is coming out to play!