Review: Camoflague in an Aussie setting

A while ago I had the thought to take a bunch of my camo gear out into the bush and do a compare and contrast of several different colour and pattern schemes. I also wanted to do so to show off the kinds of terrain I can expect to encounter in my local region and showcase that for you all.

In my collection I have the following,
3-Colour Desert Cam
Arid AUSCAM DCPU
AUSCAM DCPU hearts and bunnies
British Woodland DPM
US Woodland
ATACS-AU
MultiCam

All laid out, they make a pretty discordant pile ...

Read the rest of my findings on Breach Bang & Clear



Brown in the Scrub

3-Colour Desert Cam in the Scrub

Arid AUSCAM DCPU in Scrub

AUSCAM DCPU in the Scrub

Woodland DPM in the Scrub

Woodland in the Bush

Multicam in the Scrub

ATACS-AU in the Scrub

Brown in the bush

3-Colour Desert Cam in the Bush

Arid AUSCAM DCPU in the Bush

AUSCAM DCPU in the Bush

Woodland DPM in the Bush

Woodland in the Bush

ATACS-AU in the Bush

Multicam in the Bush

 

Review: colours, cams and gear

A little while ago, I mentioned I might do a review of my variety of cams and colours. Here goes I suppose! I gathered my collection of kit and clothes, and made a pile, sorting out the different cam patterns and this is what I came up with. I have placed them against each other so you can get an idea of what works with what, and where one might wear them.

(1) Desert AUSCAM/ DPCU "bunnies behind a rock" shirt.
(2) Desert Camouflage Uniform "coffee stain cam" shirt
(3) AUSCAM/DPCU "hearts and bunnies" Raven pack accessory bag
(4) M81 Woodland on my Stargate LRP pants
(5) Multicam "scorpion cam" on my Half-Med kit

I was gifted both the desert patten shirts, and don't have matching pants. Would love to get some in DCU, nostalgic to my years living in Dubai.



Then I noticed that my Woodland pattern things were slightly different, notably the pants I wear at Stargate LRP lasertag(4) were different to the (6) 3x30rdn Mag Pouch I reviewed, which is again different to the (7) Lazy Patch Duvet suit I have. I don't know how much of a difference this would make in effect, I suspect the differences are slight enough not to matter.
My colour preference for kit is khaki, because being a soft green, and not "camouflage", I feel I can wear it in social and urban settings without standing out too badly like a mall-ninja, but I have a collection so here is some more to compare and contrast....

(8) Platatac CSI folder in their Khaki
(9) AUSCAM pistol holster, appears to be "larger" print than the pack or jacket.
(10) Hill People Runner Bag prototype in Khaki
(11)  BlackHawk! Advanced Kneepads in Coyote Tan
(12) SCAR mini chest rig (review pending)in Tan
(13) my Drop-leg holster in Woodland
(14) my fathers OD boonie-hat from Vietnam (1969-1970)

As you can see, the differences between khakis/tans/ODs  and how each of them sit against the cammo patterns can be quite striking. Having made the choice to wear the once-common and standard Woodland to fit in with the Stargate LRP idea I've been running with, it would still be easy to transition to the now popular and apparently very effective Multicam, which is probably much more suitable to the Australian scrub, whilst still sensibly utilising my extensive khaki kit.

Review: Drop Leg Holster

A while back I attended a comic convention, Armageddon at which there were a number of stalls selling a variety of costume pieces, including a bunch of military looking kit. There was a considerable military cos-play contingent, so it was a good opportunity for me to see how other people wore their costume. Almost all of the costume pieces I saw were just that, poorly put-together costume pieces with bad stitching, un-taped seams, cheep light nylon and flimsy plastic hardware.  I did find one piece that I wanted to add to my collection: This no-name drop leg holster. The material is a stiff quilted nylon, in woodland, my most populous kind of cam. It is a highly adjustable "universal" holster, and to keep the "I don't own any firearms" tradition going, I have it holding one of my Nerf Scout pistols.

As far as a piece of rig goes, its a pretty standard setup as far as I can tell. It follows the same pattern as my 1/2 Leg rig in that it has a vertical belt strap and two thigh straps. A magazine pouch sits just at the forward facing edge of the holster, with a hook-and-loop closure flap.

In this rig, all the key components are adjustable. The top of the belt strap ends in a broad 50mm hook and loop belt-loop, with a hoop of  elastic webbing to give some shock absorption and give for the wearer. A wide Fastex type buckle about half way down gives a fast-on/fast-off option for those times where you need to shake a leg, so to speak, and a thigh-rig gets in the way. At the bottom of the belt-strap is another adjustable hook and loop closing webbing section, which is fixed to the main body of the holster by a plastic hardware loop, again adjustable by hook-and-loop.

Two thigh straps are sewn-in to the back of the holster directly, and following the same pattern as the belt-strap, and features an elastic webbing section, at the body of the holster, with a Fastex style clip. The webbing strap is adjustable with a plastic slide. I found, even with my fairly slim thighs, this was a tight fit. Someone with larger thighs would have considerable trouble wearing this particular model.




The holster section itself is also highly adjustable: Internally there are two strips of hook-and loop, one of which makes up one half of the closure system, the other is positioned such that the loose webbing strip (somewhat obscured by my fingers here) can be affixed to it to cradle the barrel of the holstered pistol. At the top of the holster you can see the webbing tabs with a press stud, for securing the carried pistol. Mine is faulty, and will not "snap" closed. Sign of the low-quality knock-off that this piece is. It also seemed a little "small" and may not accommodate a real pistol, or at least not one with a lighting system.

The holster closes with a three-piece hook-and-loop seam, in which a middle layer (the left side) loops around to the right, and is covered by the long strip of hook-and-loop held out in this picture. This gives a very secure and form-fitting carriage, and the holster is complete.

From this position you can also see that the security-snaps are also adjustable.

All in all, I was happy with this addition to my collection, for what it cost me and what I will be using it for, I will get my money's worth. I would not recommend it however for someone who was going to stake their life on their equipment however. It may well have been made off a good pattern and I like the functionality, the ability to widely adjust its layout and "fit", but this is a theatrical quality piece at best. 

Review: 3x30 M16 magazine pouch

Following on from my review of a "vintage" butt-pack I did a little while back, here is another piece of old kit that still serves really well. This is a 3x30 M16 magazine pouch, which I collected from a disposal store a few years ago. These are based on a Vietnam era pattern, and the ones I have are made of a woodland camouflage pattern nylon and it seems these had a NSN of 8465-00-001-6482. It is designed to hold three 30 round M16 magazines, and has two "wings", one on each side which after doing some research I see are for hanging grenades.

So, what can I tell you about them? They are constructed of a light nylon, with tape sewn around the edges to contain any fraying. The front and back panels also feature a stiff plastic plate, sewn onto the nylon, which gives the pouch some rigidity and presumably protected against the material  tearing and the strain put on it by the hard magazines.  Internally the pouches originally had two strips of nylon tape dividing the mouth of the pouch into three, one for each magazine.

The lid has a plastic clip, the teeth of which are pinched to release. As you can see, I stuffed this one open with a ubiquitous Nerf magazine which is a bit too long for the width of the pouch. but you get the idea. This is an ALICE pouch, and has two clips at the back for attachment. The grenade clips are press studs (although one of mine has torn through the nylon). I also cut one of the internal straps, so that I can fill this particular pouch with larger items, such as the electronics pouch for my Stargate laser tag kit.

These are cheap, light and fairly sturdy pouches. They are quite easy to come by and with a few modifications (cutting the internal straps) give quite a large storage capacity, as well as the two wing pouches on the sides, even if they are oddly shaped and open.

Review: Lazy Patch Duvet Suit

Winter is Coming. I am really not fond of the cold. I have lived in Denver in the US, Surrey in the UK and Calgary in Canada, so I am no stranger to "proper" winters, with snow, sleet, black ice and exploding water pipe misery. That's one of the reasons I am so pleased to be living in Melbourne, all in all, we have very mild winters here. The temperature rarely drops below freezing. The weather is however, very changable and the butt of many jokes....

Either way, I dont enjoy being cold. I'm usually happy to put layers on, with a t-shirt, a vest, a polar fleese jumper like the ones I have reviewed, and the like, but there are times where I just want to rug up, sit at my computer and watch hilarious people hurt themselves whilst family records it for YouTube. Thats where the Lazy Patch Duvet Suit comes in perfectly. They also get called Doona Suits, but thats a cultural thing I think :)

I  got mine a few years ago, a gift after spotting them online, these are in fact made by a Melbourne based comapny, which pleased me to no end. What they are is a set of pants and jacket, made of fluffy doona material, with a cotton inner and outer laer, stuffed with 100% polyester. The great thing is that they are made as an "all over" outfit, being extra long in both wrist and ankle length, which is especially good for a long limbed critter such as myself, regular pajamas usually leave me with bare chilly skin.The Lazy Patch suit jacket also is cut long to ensure you have good coverage and no sneaky drafts stealing away your precious body heat. The jacket features a large pectoral pocket, and two good-sized hand pockets as well as a very high collar, giving you doona all the way up to the cheeks for that all-over body warm feeling.

The zipper on the jacket is double ended, so you can regulate your airflow, for when things start to warm up. The pants have a drawstring closure, which normally would perturb me as I don't have much in the way of hips, but tying them up , combined with the squishy nature of the doona-pants, have never given me pause to worry about loosing them. They also feature a set of pockets, which is great. Lazy Patch have recently started shipping their suits with a clip on hood to reduce the loss of heat from the head (but please note the old "75% of your heat loss is through your head" myth was busted). My suit pre-dates this however, so I can only guess at their awesomeness. They also make booties of the same material to complete the all-over body cocoon of warmth. Now, obviously, my suit is in Woodland Cam, but they offer a variety of other colours, mens/womens/kids cuts and the like. These aren't weatherproof, being cotton based but for those times when you are going to be cold but dry, they are really exceptional for keeping you warm, not weighed down with layers and layers. Purpose built to keep you snug, indoors. That said, I've taken these camping frequently, great for those nights around the campfire and the early morning dashes to the calls of nature.

They have a new product, an all encompassing suit they call the Pouch Suit. This looks a bit more rugged,
outdoors capable. I'd love to give one a try. However, till then, I will be spending more evenings in my Duvet Suit, trying to remember not to wander to the shops in it, more for the cammo than anything else.

So, come the storms, snow-drifts, blackouts, I'll be ready. And warm.