Sneak-Peek: ADF ration pack H

Behold the full contents of an ADF Ration pack, menu "H".

I had the good fortune to have some of these fall into my grabby hands, and I wanted to show off the contents.

This represents an entire days consumables for an Australian infantryman.

 

 

 

Bundled in a heavy plastic cover (broken, for legitimacy's sake).

Snacks, three meals, drinks, tea and coffee, a FRED eating tool, spoon, matches, wipes, Vegemite, all a fighting body needs. 

Stay tuned and I'll cover what a meal is like in more detail.

Sneak Peek! Knives Knives Knives

So, here's what I have sitting on my counter to review.

Hardcore Hardware Australia ASOT-01

Hardcore Hardware Australia CQC-01 trainer

Hardcore Hardware Australia CQC-01

ZU Bladeworks FFSK trainer and blade

and the ZU Bladeworks Mekanik

stay tuned for some very pointy reviews! 

Sneak Peek: SOG Instinct Mini Fixed Blade knife

As first seen on Breach Bang & Clear

I was sent a cool little knife by the good folks at SOG, and I wanted to get my initial thoughts on it out there. I'm a fan of little knives, because they have a lot more close in utility when doing chores and around-the-bunker tasks. You don't always need a machete to cut into your MRE's, nor a "that's not a knife, this is a knife" to get your point across. Especially if you don't want to cause a scene. Be a gray man, not a rain man .... There is plenty that a 2 inch blade can do, if you've the skill and initiative, so you don't need to feel inadequate when packing a little something. Especially if you're putting it in a boot, or a pack-strap. Save the save on your hip for a tree-chopper.

The SOG Instinct is a compact, wearable fixed blade knife that is made just for those times. This is a little skeletonised blade, that measures a mere 12.2cm (4.8") with a 4.8cm (1.9") blade, with a thickness of 0.4cm (0.16") and it weighs only 31g (1.1oz) and made from a very reliable 5Cr15MoV steel. It comes with a slight clip point, which makes for easy re-sharpening when it comes time, and a molded hard nylon sheath, which is fitted with several mounting options, including an adjustable and reversible belt clip.

This is sweet little blade, and I look forwards to giving it a more through trial in the near future.

Sneak Peek: Propper - Range Bag

Here's a First Impression post I did for Breach Bang & Clear: 

So, we're going to try to give our first impressions before launching into full reviews now. The good folks at Propper sent me their new Range Bag, along with a couple of their very slick snag-free Polos. For the time being, I'll focus on the bag.

 Almost twice the width of their Multipurpose Bags (cheers Mad Duo!), the Range Bag is a beefed up and expanded version of it. Padded on all sides for increased protection and rigidity, it holds it shape even empty.

Two stiffened internal dividers can be  adjusted or discarded, as fits your use or mission, and the whole of the internal cavity is lined in hi-contrast orange, to help you find your OD tool in its OD sheath in your bottom of your OD bag.














One side panel is fitted with a mesh pocket, and a fold-out mat to do your weapon maintenance or lay out a picnic. The Range Bag also comes with a removable hook-field backed accessory panel.

 The exterior of the mat-side pocket has two deep pockets also lined with the contrast-orange nylon. The main compartment has a lockable zipper, good enough to keep little prying hands away from dangerous things.

The off-side panel is covered in a mixture of loop-filed at the top, and two rows of seven channel MOLLE, and inside has another mesh-lined pocket, along with six pistol magazine sized pouches. The front side panel is also fitted out with more MOLLE channels, and the rear features another deep pocket.






All in all this looks like a very serviceable bag with both a lot of features, but also a significant capacity upgrade over the already-good Multipurpose Bag.
I'll use it for a while here down under and report back on how it holds up.

Sneak Peek: ExoSkel shin guards

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