Review : Aerial A1 suspended tent

Its no secret that I'm a fan of hammocks and if I had my way I'd never sleep on the ground, but the inevitable sag can lead to a banana shaped sleep which some can't abide.
 Options like the fabulous and fun Tensile tents provide a flat space but need three anchor points, and more traditional hammock systems like the Sierra Madre Nube are comfortable but don't resolve the sag issue. A very exciting and innovative option is the Aerial A1 by Opeongo which I backed on Kickstarter. After the usual development and manufacturing delays, I was delighted by the end product. 

The principle of  the A1 is to form a semi-rigid cot, by stretching the four corners taut via a pair of webbing loops that are strung around appropriate supports, tree trunks or beams. This forms the base ontop of which the tent component is built. Each short end is held rigid with the inclusion of a spreader bar.
A single 7000 series aluminium pole with spreader-bar held in place with clever clasps suspend the internal mesh body and give it near vertical side-walls. The base features a bath-tub bottom and is made of 210 Denier, ripstop nylon (PU 4000) and the mesh walls features full size zippered openings on both sides.

The main feature that allows the A1 to achieve its exceptional comfort and stability is the unique, slackline inspired, suspension system. By wrapping high tensile webbing straps around a tree and pulling them back from both sides of the trunk the A1 is able to achieve a four point connection system. Using this four point system, along with tension and two spreader bars at the head and feet of the base it is able to create a sturdy, flat platform that feels similar to a high quality cot. The webbing suspension (PES (Polyester) rated to  14kN /1450 kg (3200Lbs)) also provides spring like a mattress that helps absorb movement without being tippy or bouncy. 

This flat sleeping surface provides the ability to sleep in any position, back, side or even on your front.The secret to the suspension tension is the buckle system. The AustriAlpine are rated to  15kn / 1528kg (3370lbs) and are made from ultra lightweight alloy. The system works by having a simple self-locking dual-buckle at one end's corners. This lets you set up one of the webbing straps  (6m (19'8") or 8m (26'3")) straps at one end, as a static length. The dynamic end features a pair of off-set buckles. 

This enables you to take advantage of the RollerCam fitting to tension the whole system up. To do so simply feed the webbing through the first off-set buckle on the A1 and then back to the Rollercam returning back to the second off-set buckle on the A1. This simple system 3:1 purchase creates a 4:1 mechanical advantage which is more than sufficient to create a nice taut, flat surface. Each of the webbing straps has a boldly embroidered + mark in its center to assist on centering the straps which was a nice touch. 
The removable fly is lightweight, durable, made from a  premium 40 Denier nylon and has a 1500mm hydrostatic head waterproof rating. 

The fly is completely separated from the internal mesh body by the spreader bar and main ridgepole, which  prevents condensation build up, promotes good airflow and prevents contact weeping.  The base has  a footprint of 203cm x 69cm / (80” x 27”), which is plenty big enough for me to stretch out on, even when Tactical Baby joins me. It is also no coincidence that the footprint matches a large Therm-a-Rest® mattress, which would be great insulation, let alone padding, but I found the cot-like finish very comfortable on its own. The fly open on either side or can be stretched open to form 17” vestibules. guy-lines and Y-shaped stakes are included to stake out the vestibule. The clever design of the A1 also allows for it to be used as an on-ground tent, with four Shepherd Hook stakes to stake out each corner. Its peak height is 90cm (35”), which is plenty high enough to sit up in.
Inside the tent there are three well placed pockets to hold all your needfuls. Two medium size pockets on either end and one 'sky" pocket in the ceiling that is the perfect place for putting your head lamp to light up the tent at night, or an iPad to watch a movie. None of these pockets are heavy duty, and the outside attachment points work better for hanging a bottle, or your boots but for glasses, a flashlight or devices, they work perfectly. 

The system as a whole, packed down measures  67cm x 13cm (28” x 5”) in its slingable stuff case and weighs 2.70kg (5lbs 15oz) for the full system, or cut down to 2.45kg / (5lbs 6oz) for a slung trail set, or 1.86kg (4lbs 1oz) for a ground-based set up. Leaving out the stakes, straps and roller-cams cuts weight, crucial when ounces mean pounds. 
 This shelter is very easy to set up and only takes about 6 minutes. (once you get the suspension buckles sorted out. )The A1 makers state it will be stable on trees with a diameter as small as 5”, though they recommend using healthy trees with a 7” - 25” trunk. I set it up on painted 5"x5" beams with no trouble. The standard webbing provided allows the tent to be set up between two trees spaced 10’ - 25’ feet apart. For trees spaced 10’ - 16’ apart the webbing will completely encircle the tree for maximum hold. I recommend using the long webbing lengths at the Roller-cam side, for maximum cinching length. 

The A1 has a suspended capacity of 200kg (440lbs) so you probably wouldn't store your gear in there with you, but OpeonGo offer an under-slung gear hammock to keep up to 27kg (60lbs) of things off the ground, yet easy to reach (it doubles as a vestibule ground mat in the un-suspended set-up). They also recommend not setting the A1 up any higher than waist high, for ease of entry and safety. A good rule of thumb is never to sling a hammock higher than you're willing to fall. The 5" high tub walls of the base provide a good support in the event of leaning or rollovers in the night. I've found it to be very stable, even in high winds and with the fly staked/ pegged down, very rain resistant. 

The Aerial A1 can also  be pared with the A1 Underquilt to provide maximum warmth for winter camping.

This is a great system, light, comfortable and versatile. I'd highly recommend them to anyone looking for an off-ground option. Outstanding design and top notch engineering.

 

Review: Dual double mag pouch

Here's another item from my bulk load of pouches and packs like the S10 Haversack that I have been slowly rolling out. I had a windfall of a truckload of army surplus gear ages ago, which have been sitting in the bunker, being musty, but there are some real gems in there. These may not be the cutting edge of high-speed, low-drag gear, but have been mil-spec at some stage, so they're damn tough, if nothing else.

This particular pouch came from a box full of here, and I just reached in and grabbed one at random. You can see it's already had a rough life, but has held together.

This double, dual-magazine carrying set of pouches is made of a high Denier (800-1000 I'd guess, by the feel) and are built into a single backing. From the frayed stitching marks, I'd guess that they originally came with some sort of Fastex style clips to act as the primary closure points for the box-like pouches, but was probably removed to speed things up in the field.

A broad loop-field panel on the front of the outside of the pouch acts as the primary closure as a result, with a corresponding hook-field inside the box-top lid. A tongue of webbing with a hook-field can be pulled out from inside the pouch to mate with the loop-field on the front to neutralize the hook-and-loop closure entirely, which was probably useful when the original Fastex loops were still in place.

Internally, the pouches have been given a polyurethane coating for additional waterproofing, and are double stitched throughout. Drainage grommets with a wire mesh grit filter are found in the bottom of each, this would act to keep the grit and sand out of your magazines, and was a nice little feature.

The inside of the box-lid has a little pocked sewn in, big enough for a MRE packet of waterproof matches, a P-38 can opener or maybe a button compass, I found a couple of match-packets and even a couple of water purification tablets when I went through the pouches.

The back panel of the pouches have several different ways to mount, and also shows the vintage of the pouches. ALICE style brass-wire belt hooks, and no PALS-MOLLE to be seen. A pair of steel rings allows extra strapping to be attached to sling the pouches, though the angle of the two ring mountings being different suggests there is a "right way" to do this. A question for the veterans out there. What gives?

The pouches have been stamped with a NSN, but they are all so aged that I couldn't make out the cage numbers. I'd say these pouches would work well doing double duty in much the same way as any of the Platatac FUP or bigger pouches I've grown to love, but with a far older look.

 

Review: Mystery Ranch - 1Day Assault Pack

I put in just one request this Giftmas past, I saw on a Facebook group I am on (hey all you Secret Ranch folks!) one of the very limited, Singapore only release of a day pack from the inestimable Mystery Ranch. The good folks at Mystery Ranch, who have been putting together packs for Military, Fire and Rescue, Backpack Hunting and Mountaineering for 30 years, and I've been lusting after them.

I have a piece of Mystery Ranch kit already, the very cool Cinch Strap, which enables you to fit a pack over the top of a plate carriers shoulder straps and release it quickly as needed. That's the kind of forward thinking that they put into their products.

The Asia only release of this design is available through Hornest. It is very similar in design to the newly released ASAP Pack, and the more mature 3 Day Assault Pack.  This however is the Mystery Ranch 1 Day Assault Pack.

This 18.2L (1110 cu inch) pack features the iconic Mystery Ranch 3-way Y-zip which drew me to their packs in the first place, and weighs in at roughly 1.2kg (2lb 12oz) due in no small part to the tightly woven, water resistance treated 500d Cordura that makes up its walls. The bottoms of the pack is double layered and the inner layer is reported to be cut 1/2" smaller than the outer layer, placing the bulk of the load's weight on that inner layer, leaving the outer unstressed. Brilliant design.

The 1DAP is a smaller 3-zip pack with multiple pockets internally and externally. I have previously very much enjoyed the smaller packs I've used as my daily carry, with the much beloved Platatac Bullock Echo being the logical progression from my Crumpler Messenger Bag, and the MR 1DAP is a fitting successor to both of those, and my more recent every day carry bag, the rugged Propper Gen Multipurpose satchel bag. I wanted to be able to carry a bunch of my usual preparedness kit, without wanting to draw too much attention to myself, so I jumped at the chance for a "regular guy" black option, over my more usual khaki, this time.


The 1DAP features 3 rows of 3 channel PALS/MOLLE on both of the top sides, as twin 6 loop daisy-chain strips of loops running down the front of the pack. These are perfect for attaching lights, attaching carabiners, looping cord or what have you.

All the external facing zippers are reversed, and tape covered, to resist water and dust intrusion. The long stem of the Y of the zip extends from the very base of the pack all the way into three inches into body of the pack. The two arms of the Y zip all the way to the back of the pack, and each can be opened independently, to use as a flap lid for the top, a side entrance for just a hand, or opening all three, filleting the pack, for full access.



It offers several hydration configuration options, internally, there is a loop of cord at the very top of the inside of the pack for attaching a hydration bladder like the Source Storm WXP or the Platapus PIB, but more than just an attachment point, the 1DAP zippered access ports at the top corners of the pack (with some of my safety-orange paracord threaded through, to demonstrate here). Those zippers tuck well out of the way when not in use, shielded by the same reverse-cover design as the main body zippers, keeping rain and crud out.

The pale internal sleeve is made up of a backing, sewn into the top seam of the pack, and is open on the sides, with just two webbing anchors about 3/4 of the way down. This gives the internals of the pack some freedom of movement, without sacrificing stability. This allows larger items to be slipped under the front, cables and even additional hydration bladders to be fitted.

The internal sleeve also features a deep drawstring closure pocket, which can accommodate a variety of large items, like the 2L version of the Pathopak, which are 125x170mm, with ease. This is a great place to stow a hydration bladder, keeping its potential condensation off the rest of your kit, I also use it to secure larger items I don't want bouncing about the pack, or even my lunch. You could also use it as the base-cap of a longer item held secure by the drawstring, and projecting out of the top of the pack.

There are two mesh sided utility pockets with zippers against the bottom of the drawstring pocket of the sleeve, which are very useful as the rest of the packs internals are free from attachment points. Nowhere to attach pouches, which is a drawback, but the upside is that there is a lot of room to store larger items. The fact the internal sleeve is not fully attached also means you can shove it up, and out of the way, and place broader items at the base of the pack, and adjust for weight without crowding.

The top of the pack features a very clever, reverse opening and horseshoe shapes top pocket, as well as a broad patch of loop field, to attach patches and name tapes. Inside, a spacious main area, with a mesh-lining at the bottom allows storage of a variety of items. I keep a spare cap, and goggles, and a LazerBrite light in mine. The "top" of the lid features a zippered pocket, where I keep first aid kid, some gloves, a haemostat kit and the like. You may have noticed that at the tops and bottoms of each of the zipper runs, and lines of webbing, there is a loop, primarily for assisting a grip and unzip.

This is another example of the forward thinking put into the design of these bags. Another aspect, is the Futura Yoke system of shoulder straps and attachments, which allow for some really clever adjustment options.

The contoured padded components, with some built in webbing loops (you can see I've put a ITW GrimLOC on my left strap) and a pectoral strap, to secure the pack whilst you're on the bounce. These are nicely done, but pretty standard, there are tri-glide buckles with webbing feeding through from the back of the pack to the shoulder straps, and these play a really key role in adjusting the pack.

As well as the air-mesh backing of the pack, it has a built in semi-rigid packing behind that, which is how the pack manages its rather exciting transformation.

Fiberforge, a thermoplastics company Mystery Ranch has partnered with, builds their Framesheet Adjusters. These adjusters are a thermoplastic composite material created by fusing fiberglass with recycled softdrink bottles. The resulting material is apparently 60% lighter and 600% stiffer than steel, and 30% lighter than aluminium. This plate matches another one that sits inside the pack at the bottom, forming lizard like scales that give the pack a really good feel to wear. No jabs form hard-edged kit in the pack. It curves to match the natural inclines of the back, and sits nicely in the lumber region.

The back section of the pack can expand from around 40cm (16") to a whopping 60cm (22") because of the top of the back part of the pack is actually a loop backed insert,and a matching hook-field within the pack body itself. I had some trouble getting this quite right, as the broad sheets of hook and corresponding loop were only too happy to lock tight, but I managed to shoe-horn it into the best fit for me too.

This 40cm (16") part, which houses the Fiberforge insert, can be moved up and down, allowing the wearer to customise the placement of the pack, and by adjusting the webbing held by the tri-glide sliders on the shoulder straps, the perfect fit is easy to maintain.

This fits in with Mystery Ranch's resolve to solve the problem of packs not fitting properly over body armor because of the increase in relative torso size wearing armor creates. Being able to adjust the harnessing to account for this increase in size greatly enhances the stability and comfort of the pack when wearing armor.

Couple this with their Cinch Strap, and you have a pack system that will suit any body type, in or out of full kit.

I'm a chronic over-packer, so having a small capacity pack, with only two 3x3 PALS/MOLLE fields is part of my 12 step recovery process, but I like to think I am achieving my goals of remaining Equipped, without being someone who gets train services halted. I have put a few pouches on the outside of the pack, and I'm adjusting my load out in those, ad well as internally. One thing Ive noted is that even the "wings" where the shoulder straps meet the pack are padded, its a delight to wear as a result of these little thoughts, and whilst nothing from Mystery Ranch is cheep, they are made to be effective, and last.

I've found I really like the narrow silhouette of this design, being long and tall, it avoids the over-hang that other packs have given me, meaning I'm right and ready to duck and weave, getting in and out of where I need to go, be that in a busy laboratory, a crowded train, droid evasion in ventilation shafts or long forgotten command bunkers. 

Review: Benchmade - 8Med Rescue hook

Back in April I picked up a couple of Benchmade safety hooks from LEGear.com.au, one I have already discussed, and the other, I put in the MOLLE visor panel in my car and promptly forgot to cover. I knew it was there, part of my cross-check when I get in the vehicle is to check where my essential kit is, and there it was, one day when I was wondering what to cover next.

As with the 5hook, and the Gerber strap cutter I covered before it, the principle element to these tools is the safe-on-skin cutter at the business end but this particular tool has more going for it than just a blade. This is the 8Med Rescue Hook.

Made of a single piece of 440c steel, which is a pretty standard tool steel, Is made long enough to take a full knife type grip, with a ring at the far end to loop a finger through, along with a crenelated spine and three ergonomic finger notches in the leading side.

The finger grips are sufficiently widely spaced that it can be operated easily with full fingered gloves, surgical gloves or even bare handed with ease. I found that I could wield this with both my little finger in the ring, or reversed, with my index finger through the ring, not dissimilar to how I might wield my other Benchmade blade, the CQB Dagger. 

The blade has the same 0.5" "length" as is sharpened not only on the inside of the back, but also the arms of the edge, meaning that it will cut at an angle, before the main belly of the hook bites in. Especially handy if you are cutting in an awkward possition. The blades reported to have a hardness of 58-60 HRC which should not only keep the cutting hook keen (as they aren't easy to sharpen) but also to maintain the wrench slot from deforming when opening cylinders. More on that in a moment.

This model (as there are several in the Benchmark 8 range) has several additional features that the basic models lack. First up is the O2 wrench, which enables you to open compressed oxygen cylinders, it's placement means you get the whole length of the tool as a leaver to assist in this, as needed, without compromising your grip, or need to remove the tool from your hand, especially useful in a crisis when motor skills might be compromised.

It also features a notch at the tip, which Benchmade describes as a "syringe popper". I wracked my brains about this, and looked at some of my medical kit, as well as some of the lab supplies I have access to at work, and am as mystified as these guys... 

There is also a  notch inside the finger ring that should also fit an O2 regulator, but I'd be more likely to use it to keep a lanyard tape secured. 

On security, the hook comes with a soft case, which is fitted with PALS/MOLLE compatible loops on the back, which doesn't add to the profile significantly, but expands the connection options. The interesting thing about the case is the elasticised cap. With a hook-and-loop closure to begin with, this case has an additional feature, in the band of elastic wrapping around the top of the case enabling you to pop the top and the elastic snags the lid out of the way, to prevent incidental restriction to the finger loop.

I really like this hook, it fits the hand nicely, allowing a full, solid grip for rapid and continual cutting action, key when you need to rapidly strip a casualty, or in my case, might need to rescue someone in distress from a harness or bound up in rope. Having this in my car gives me a sense of security that I have an escape tool handy, for myself, my kids and other occupants of my car or those at the scene of an accident or disaster I come across. 

Review: Fishbones - Fishbone gear ties

Having covered the most excellent Piranha (which was their v2 product, but I got those first), I wanted to give the little sibling a trial before showing them to you, to get a better feel for their utility and differences.

These are the Fishbone gear ties (v1). You can see from the picture here that there are in fact three metals offered 1) 6061 T-6 Aluminum 2) 304 Stainless Steel and 3) Titanium. The aluminium and steel versions share the same exact geometry, where as the titanium is a little more "rounded".

The guys from Fisbones were good enough to send me a few of each to play with, but I've mostly focused on the steel ones. Why three options? well, in their own words:

Aluminum:

• Resists corrosion
• High strength to weight ratio
• Can be anodized in different colors
• Non-magnetic
• Nonsparking
• Light weight

Stainless steel:

• Resists corrosion
• Bright appearance
• Normally non-magnetic
• Great fatigue and impact resistance
• Durable

Titanium:

• High strength to weight ratio
• More than twice as strong as aluminum
• Almost half as light a steel
• Non-magnetic
• Excellent corrosion resistance

Measuring in at 14mm by50mm (½" x 2") and 3mm (1/8") thick, the Fishbones are smaller and thinner than their bigger siblings, weighing in at 3g  for aluminium and 9g for steel. When subjected to strain testing (by the makers), the aluminium slightly deforms at 36kg (80lbs) and has major bending at 72kg (160lbs) Note: projected total failure is only (135lbs). The stainless steel Fishbone only took a slight bend at 72kg (160lbs) in initial prototyping. Subsequesnt  That's a fairly impressive static load for a gear tie. Obviously, as with the Pirahna, these are not climbing rated, but for tying down gear, rigging tent flys or washing lines, that is heaps. 

As with the Piranha there are numerous ways to tie and apply the Fishbones. I especially like the detail given by Brent and Eldrick in their Kickstarter proposal in their examples of how to use them.

The geometry of the Fishbone lends itself to tie-downs, with a wrap and tuck type locking, using a Prusik-like friction bind on the paracord, and sharing the load between the ribs of the tool.

The eye-hole, and "gill-slot" give solid "head-forwards" ties, whilst the forwards facing pelvic-fin and ventral ribs before the tail fin give you three separate attachment points. On the dorsal side of the Fishbone, there are four shallow notches, and one deep one, all allowing purchase of your cord, and letting it bind tightly in a variety of configurations.

One of the things I really liked about these, are the clean straight lines, which enabled me to rig them to act as a zipper pull without having to worry about snagging, in such a way that I could also quickly detach them and use them to rig a line, or tie a bundle.

The stainless steel versions acted as a nice plumb-bob when rigged correctly, the nose pointing down, in a clean straight line.

I usually have a couple of lengths of 40cm paracord in my pocket, and idly fiddle with these at meetings and on the train, working out new combinations of ties and looking for new uses. Alas I had oped that the tail would fit into the A/C vents on my train, to enable me to latch myself in when there was no hand-hold but no.

I've found the Fishbones to be very handy little gadgets to have on hand, especially when, as often happens, I have had to bundle something up that I know I will need to unbundle shortly and quickly. Blankets, jackets and jumpers. Tactical Baby's favourite woobie and the like.

I think these will make a good addition to my cord and carriage kit, giving me quick-release tie options, and keep all my things snug and squared away without having to worry about knots binding up and keeping me from my fit when I need it. They make great gifts too!

Unlike the Piranha, the Fishbones didn't interlock neatly, so a 'head to head" clasp wouldn't work. No great loss though, there are plenty of other options.

The guys behind these even posted their original concept built to Instructables so you can have a go at making your own low-strength wire prototype version.

Review: Mystery Ranch - Cinch Strap

This is an awesome piece of kit that I saw from footage of the 2012 SHOT show, and when I saw that the guys at HorNest also stocked MysteryRanch gear, I was really excited. Mystery Ranch makes hardy, heavy-duty packs, accessories and other needful gear, that is specifically NOT "ultra-light". They cater for Military, Backpack hunting, Fire/Rescue and Adventure users.

They have some really innovative kit, and their pack designs really set them aside from many others, and from all accounts, you get what you pay for.
The item that caught my eye most was a piece of load-relief called the Mystery Cinch. This 60g (2oz)
strap and buckle system is designed to offer relief to one of the worst aspects of wearing a backpack, the dreaded arm-pit pinch.

This occurs when a pack's straps slip over the side of your chest, and snag the sides of your pectorals, digging and chafing, biting into the underarms. Over long exposure, this can cut, blister, bleed and could lead to chronic long term injury to serious load-luggers. 

The situation is made worse for those wearing a chest-rig, plate carriers or the like. Shoulder pads of carriers and vests alike tend to slip backpack shoulder-straps off their intended wearing locations, get them hung-up and generally leads to the arm-pit digging... The Mystery Cinch acts to alleviate this problem, and it does so in a really interesting way. You can see here where the cinch has pulled the improvised  straps of my Platatac Bullock Echo daypack out of my armpits and onto my shoulderpads, where they could do their job.

Here's where the magic is. The ends of each Cinch is a tab of rigid plastic, with a press-stud fixed to the middle, and it fits into the channel of your chest-rig's PALLS/MOLLE, between two rows, and the straps loop-end affixes around it, locking it in place. This gives a really secure attachment, using your harnesses own integral construction to give a rock-solid means of mounting this accessory.


Pack-based sternum straps don't offer nearly the same kind of functionality.

The strap closes with a powder-coated metal buckle and tongue, much like a seatbelt, with a press-stud security clip, to ensure you don't get a premature release (and no one wants that). This is really useful, because the buckle itself is a very-quick release, almost a hair-trigger, even. This is actually an advantage, because it means that if your pack is set up right with plenty of strap length, a quick pull of the release tab will let you shed the pack in a moment, no more wrestling strap over shoulder pads and harness when unpleasant things are happening to you and yours.
Here you can see the Cinch set up on my FirstSpear OAGRE tactical-vest running it under the bottom of my ZuluNylonGear CAOS admin pouch showing how the webbing of the MysteryCinch folds around to capture the strap of my pack and keep the top side of the straps vertical and out of my underarms, and the bottom side snug to my waist. The cinch straps don't take up very much room, and apart from placement right at the edge of the pectorals, but could be adjusted to suit your build and rig.


The key is that it needs to be placed to keep your straps out of your armpits and have the buckle accessible to make use of its quick-release functionality. 

Some of the other features of the MyseryCinch are the little details they have included to round off the product. The tongue-end of the buckle includes a hook-and-loop webkeeper which rolls up and secures the excess webbing included for one-size-fits-most loads and users.  All the stitching and hardware are top-notch and thoroughly dependable feeling.

When not hooked up to a pack, the Cinch can just be clipped up, and stows out of the way across your chest, not all that different to the clasps of the OAGRE or Platatac MAC front-opening panel, or on a plate carrier, just out of the way.

This is a rock-solid accessory, with some real advantages for wearers of PALS/MOLLE equipped chests who have to lug packs about. Adventure, Fire & Rescue and Military folks would be really assisted by this really simple addition to their load-out.