Sneak Preview: Apocalypse Equipped Morale Patch

I have engaged the Platatac embroidery team to design a merch patch for the blog, looking at about $5 a pop.

Tell me what you think.... first five comments wins a free patch once they have been made!

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: Platatac - MAC Mesh Back Pack

This unusual piece is a now discontinued line from Platatac, something of an experiment of theirs that didn't pan out commercially as well as hoped. I however, think they are a great idea. The concept is that a daypack has been mated with the Medium Armour Carrier back-piece.

You'll remember from recent posts that I got this particular piece of gear as part of a deal along with the Front Opening Panel which I reviewed not too long ago, but this is interchangeable with that as well as the closed front MAC plate carrier that makes up the front of my usual rig.

The ability to chop and change these pieces gives the wearer the ability to have a permanently mounted pack, integral ballistic plating carriage and modularity to connect it to an existing front piece.

As with all Platatac's main-line gear, I chose khaki, to suit my aesthetic, and is made of the same 1000d Cordura material I've come to expect from their gear.




As well as two spacious "most of the way to the bottom" unzipping side-pocket, each with a set of 3 row, 2 column PALS/MOLLE, but also with a large  "1/3 of the way opening" main compartment. Inside the main compartment there is an elasticized internal pocket, up against the back wall, suitable for a hydration bladder, or soft-storage. At the top of the pack there is a vent, cut and covered to prevent the casual ingress of water and dirt, which would allow a hydration tube and/or cables to exit the pack.

The pack also has a beaver-tail flap, which is fitted with multiple cinch straps, two fastex-style clips, one on each side, and a criss-cross of shock-cord running through D-loops to give additional storage. The beaver-tail will fit most ballistic helmets, I read, but for my purposes, it fits my Pro Tec Classic skate helmet just nicely.  For all my brain-bashing adventure needs!





























The "inside" of the pack shows off its plate-carrying nature, with a heavy hook-and-loop closing pouch, allowing your vitals to have that much needed protection. Below this, you can see here the belt-pouch, where it is possible to run a waist belt, or the strapping needed to secure the bottom of this piece to the bottom of one of the front components of the MAC family.


The inside of the belt-pocket has another patch of hook-and-loop, to secure any strapping you use to prevent it sliding one way or another. You can also see some additional loops and attachment points. These came in very handy when I rigged this pack for solo-wear, by running two meter-long lengths of webbing from the bottom, up to the fastex-style clips at the shoulders. There are also two sets of wide elastic cable/tube keepers sewn into the shoulders, and additional d-rings for further attachment options.

Underneath the beaver-tail helmet carrier, there is extensive PALS/MOLLE real-estate, with 6 rows of 7 channels, the top one being hook-and-loop loop field, with an additional band of MOLLE-spaced loop-field below that for unit, name or morale patches.

The pack was just big enough to fit my ubiquitous CSI folder and most of my daily needs. I also fitted my bottle-carrying FUP pouch, and my half-med pouch, as well as some other needfuls, as you can see here.

All in all this is a very interesting hybrid. I would have made some further adjustments and recommendations if Platatac were looking to continue the lin, namely to the placement of some of the loops and attachment options, but all in all, it was a worthy investment. Now i can kit out another member of my household, and put a pack on them that cant be lost or forgotten!

Good thinking, and staying prepared!












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Review: Platatac Microfleece Half Zip Jacket

Winter is coming! which is the kind of natural disaster I am always fond of being ready for. I've lived in both the Middle East and West Africa, and much preferred that to my time in Calgary or England, especially the winters. I am not ford of being cold, so any opportunity to rug up is a good one.I happened to be trolling the Specials on the Platatac webpage
when I saw that there were microfleece jackets on sale. I'm a big fan of this kind of material, not only because it is light, and soft, but also quick drying and warm.

I also have fairly mutant-long arms, so generally end up with cold wrists and hands as they poke out the end of shirts and jackets that would otherwise fit my body. this means that it's rare for me to find something that fits me all over. I took a risk with the Microfleece Half Zip Jacket and have been really pleased with the results.

Made from 100 weight Highland fleece, the jacket is rather surprisingly thin to feel, but are really warm and cut the wind. The collar is high and I generally wear it up  to protect from wind chill but it can also be rolled down like a skivvy to trap heat escaping from the neckline. Each bicep has a big patch of hook-and-loop for attaching  patches, here I am sporting two from Triple Aught Design.


The extra long body of the jacket (admittedly this was the XXL) means that I am shielded from the deathly fingers of chill on my kidneys as I am adventuring. An especially awesome feature are the thumb-loops that sit unobtrusively just inside the wrist seam, and allow the wearer to hook their thumbs through to ensure the sleeves don't ride up, and keeping the hands and wrists snug and warm. I was so pleased that these fit my otherwise mutant-long 196cm arm-span. Great for cold mornings trudging, keeping your wrists warm at full-draw with your re-curve bow or going full mall-ninja tactical on someone. It keeps my paws warm. I like it. I bought a second one, in the "full-zip" in black, because, well, Winter IS Coming.


It pleases my Scandi heritage to no end that this top has evolved from the famous Norwegian army shirt or ‘Norge’. That's two kinds of win, to my mind.