Review: Platatac SUP pouch

Here's a very useful pouch that has gone un-sung for a while, but I wear one every day. This is the Platatac SUP II Small Utility Pouch.

It was primarily designed as a pistol magazine pouch, which I got to model with one of the Glock style iCombat CO2 training magazines the SUP mk II can carry a range of items including pistol magazines, multitools or knives, flashlights of up to 1” diameter bezel, flexicuffs and even OC spray if that's your thing.

The pouch has a hook-and-loop removable lid can be adjusted to securely fit items varying in length. There is an internal hard plastic plating within the flap, for one handed operation during the reload or access to your needfuls. Internal elastic retention on the sides allows the SUP mk II to act as a shingle for CQB application. Might not be as tacticool as a TACO pouch but they fully work. I have my second-hand Gerber multitool in one of mine, which lives in the small of my back on one of my rigger belts, everywhere I go.

These low profile pouches are great for storage of quick access items and are small enough to be placed anywhere on your rig without hindrance to your freedom of movement.

The pouch is fitted with PALS/MOLLE attachment system, with a single channel of two rows, one after another (no gape) so you can loop it a couple of ways. Instead of a press-stud closure it has a fiddly hook-field sewn into the bottom webbing loop, and the stiff plastic reinforced tongue has a corresponding field-loop, and a tab of webbing to use as a draw pull. I found this really difficult to set up right, as it was on the opposite side of the tab than I would have expected. This means that to fasten it it has to be doubled over, which made me pretty nervous about how well it attaches.

It's never come loose, even when I have had it rigged for a belt loop, rather than fed through other PALS/MOLLE but I'm just hesitant.

The drainage grommet in the bottom of the pouch nicely frames the needle-nose Gerber pliers, and seats them nicely, and having a good pouch for my multitool has been a crucial part of my EDC. 

Review: Platatac - Cool Under Tactical Shirt

Here's an item I had completely overlooked in the back of Tactical Baby's wardrobe (where I've taken to storing my less-often worn gear, as she hasn't yet accumulated a whole lot of outfits, and only the one camo vets ...) I pulled it out as part of a upcoming post detailing different camo in an Australian setting. I wanted to test out DPM pattern and remembered I had a shirt to go with my pants. It turns out that shirt was one of the very cool 

Platatac’s CUTS (Cool Under Tactical Shirt) and I wanted to tell you a thing to two about the CUTS design.

The CUTS Special Projects is Platatac's next generation in under armour tactical uniform shirts.

The CUTS are specifically designed as an improvement over standard BDU shirts, with lightweight, moisture wicking fabric in areas where body armour contacts the body. This aims to promote cooling when using body armour in hot environments.

The shoulders are constructed from 3D air mesh giving padding for both comfort when using load bearing equipment and airflow.

The sleeves are constructed from a heavy 100% Cotton ripstop fabric which is built to last. The sleeves also feature upper arm pockets with two sets of loop-fields each allowing the attachment of multiple patches and also include a webbing flap allowing the wearer to secret a IR Square with minimal effort.

On the version I have, there is also a axillary pocket on the left forearm for use as a map panel, much like the wrist mounted Recce wrist pouch , as well as twin elbow patches, which will take elbow pads, and are held in place by hook-and-loop tabs.

The cuffs are able to be cinched in with hook-and-loop straps to eliminate drafts and cover up exposed skin.  The neckline has a half-zip, to give you good venting when you need, and also features a hook-and-loop fixing mandarin high-collar, which keeps stray brass, grit and bugs out.

It has a really good, long fit, something I really look for in a shirt, as I have a long body, and even longer arms so having a full length shirt keeps my shirt tails tucked in, and my wrists covered up.

The material on the torso is very comfortable, especially under load, and whilst the cotton of the sleeves is fairly heavy, they bear up to rough use really well. I've crawled around in the scrub and run through brush with this, and had not had any trouble.

These are a pretty technical garment, but if you find yourself in rough environments, wearing packs or chest-rigs this is the kind of shirt you'll want to have.

Wish Lust: Platatac - BF pack

Early last year I popped into Platatac HQ in Hallam and shot the breeze with BDC himself. He took me through the warehouse, and the factory, where all their in-house kit is constructed.

One of the things he showed me was the then as-yet unreleased BF Pack,
and I was pretty impressed. I then saw them again having been given prominent display at the SSAA SHOT Show this year, and whilst I haven;t managed to pick one up myself, I wanted to get a bit of a Wish-Lust review out there for you all, as they look like a really innovative pack.

The BF pack is designed as a short patrol pack, with key features to cover a variety of soldiering needs.

It would provides every soldier with a personal TACEVAC litter, SSE bag and room to enhance mission capability as needed, according to Platatac.

The main feature that sets this pack apart form anything I've seen previously is a lightweight TACEVAC litter, capable of carrying a soldier and his equipment, out of harms way for further treatment, built right into the pack.

Pic swiped from Platatac

The pack itself is comparable to that of other short patrol packs like the Propper UC pack I recently covered , measuring 46cm (18") x 27cm (10") x 9cm (3.5") internally but encompassing an expanding  SSE pocket allowing quick stowage of documents or extra equipment to further your load capacity. This is stored away behind zippered flaps, and cinching compression straps and topped with a hook-and-loop cover flap to keep it secure.

Pic swiped from Platatac

When those straps are unhooked, I wonder how well the fabric of the SSE pocket holds up against the load of the front of the pack, but with it, I've no doubts.

An ADDITIONAL kangaroo pouch beneath the external cover flap will take a triple shingle or insert for extra mags/medic supplies or other similarly sized kit for even more sustainment in the field.

Clever design also adds a pocket for hydration bladders to be stored behind the cord-locked SSE pocket.

Pic swiped from Platatac

The pack also features a small 3 row, 5 channel PALS-MOLLE covered external admin pouch with a two internal mesh pocket allows you to store and have easy access to essential documents, gadgets, spare batteries, cyalume or whatever kit you need to have on-hand when out and about. There is no shortage of storage in this pack, and that's even before you look at the main compartment.

Pic swiped from Platatac

Internally the main compartment is fitted with full PALS-MOLLE webbing, all of which is also loop-field for taking either permanently attached pouches, or "tear-away" ones. the "back" is fitted with 7 rows of 6 channels, and the front lip has 8 rows of 6 channels. The whole thing clam-shells for ease of access to everything stored.

I must say I really prefer this over the all-loop/no MOLLE lining of the Propper UC pack, as most of my internal carriage would be permanent pouches. There are three zippered off internal pockets, one on the back, and two on the front the back one being big enough to take a 3L hydration bladder. Two ports give hydration tube / antenna access points.

Another cool feature is the wire fed Quick Release System (QRS) built right in. Feeding the included wire through the built in loops, and the back of a plate-carrier, or a larger pack, you have the option to with a yank of the top handle, release the back and have full access to its features. 

This makes utilizing the built in and lightweight TACEVAC litter, which is designed to be capable of carrying a soldier and his kit,out of danger. I checked, and Platatac don't recommend using it as a hammock, it's not designed for that. The two sides of the litter stow away into hook-and-loop closed inset pockets, and are accessed by simply pulling away at the tabs. The pack straps can even be stowed away in the top pocket when the QRS is employed.

All in all, from the twin side carry handles, to the use of the same quality materials and hardware I've come to expect from Platatac to the level of detail given to not only carry capacity, but also clever storage options for all the loads, the BF pack would be a good step up from my old favorite the Bulloch Echo even before the addition of the litter feature.

I really hope this kind of system makes it's way into regular use, I can only imagine the benefits to those putting themselves in harms way to have a fast and effective way to deploy a TACEVAC system like this.

Review: Propper - U.C. (User Configurable) pack

As first seen on BreachBangClear, where they make fun o' me accent, mate!

Inspired by the Marine Corps Assault Back, the Propper U.C. (User Configurable) Pack keeps you prepared, which is just the kind o lineage I like to have in a bag. I have a load of respect for the Gyrenes, my cousin had several long stays somewhere rocky and unpleasant serving in OEF, and if the design is tough enough for those lads, I couldn't ask for more. It’s designed to be customizable inside and out, allowing you to add the additional pouches and accessories you need when you’re on the move, depending on your requirements.

Made from 1000D Cordura nylonand wrapped pretty extensively in MOLLE webbing to accept whatever additional pouches you might require, the simple straight lines of this pack make it well suited to a variety of loadouts. No tight curved corners to try to jam kit into.


The pack measures 50cm (20") x 35cm (13") x 16cm ( 6.5", so you've got a lot of capacity to play with.

Hook-and-loop pass through openings on either side of the carry handle on the top of the pack offer hydration tube or cable pass-through porting, they are X-cut to keep dirt and other crud from making its way into your delicates.

The pack is wrapped in seven rows of six-channel MOLLE on the front, six rows of four channels on both sides and even two rows of nine channels on the bottom of the pack. That's a lot of coverage, especially if you have a variety of pouches you can load it up with.

Internally, all four sides are lined with soft-touch loop, to accept any hook-field accessories, be they holsters, tear-away medical pouches or any number of hook-field backed kit you might have ready to go. Propper were kind enough to send me a few different items to test out, and they seemed to really work well.

Both the inside back and front panel also featured deep zippered pockets running the whole length of the pack to give you a little additional storage, which is good because the inside is otherwise devoid of built-in compartmentalization. You NEED hook-backed accessories to have any fixed storage in this pack, internally.

Here's the inside of the front panel, showing off both the loop-field real-estate, but also the zippered pocket.

The back panel of the pack was fitted out with a stiff plastic board, to give the pack some structure when standing up. It didn't get in the way at all, but if you were really keen on shedding weight, you might pull it, if rigidity wasn't essential for you.

Similarly, the front panel featured a thin closed cell foam panel, to add some padding to the front of the pack. I didn't feel it ate a lot of real-estate, it added a little body to the flap, but if you wanted to shed weight and bulk, its removable.

 

On one side of the pack on the outside, above the MOLLE, a small, hook-and-loop fixed pocket, big enough for a phone, GPS or other small item is fitted. It wasn't super secure, being quite shallow, but certainly good enough for dummy-corded gear you need to access easily and often.

The top of the pack, just below the carry handle also has a small pocket, big enough for folded maps, small items like a compass or a flashlight, and other small kit you might want to have access to, outside of the pack. It's a slightly awkward size for other things, but snacks, maps and meds might well suit it.

One thing I found that the external zipper-pulls, which have these rubber grip-toggles fitted (which are good) come tied in a double overhand knot (which is bad). I pulled the knot right through the grip-tobble on one of them opening the pack, and immediately set-to retying them all with double figure-eight's. The pulls are easy to grip, and quiet, but the cord used isn't great, and I may well replace them with paracord entirely.

One of the things I really liked about the pack is that there are a pair of cinch straps on the bottom for securing gear. I often find myself with extra gear, or loot, to lug back home, and having a set of cinch straps built in can make all the difference. These, like all the main straps, have hook-and-loop strap-savers attached, to secure the excess webbing away when not needed. No more messy tape wrapping.

Inside the bottom of the pack is an isolated storage pocket, fitted with mesh-lined eyelets, top and bottom, which gives you a place to secure away wet, mucky or otherwise unpalatable gear and items away from your main pack. Perfect for a sodden poncho, or even a mess-kit. This is both zippered and also covered by the cinch straps that wrap from the back of the pack to Fastex buckles on the front.

Padded adjustable shoulder straps, broad, slightly curved and simple, secure the pack to the user,  and feature an adjustable sternum strap on sliders on the sewn-in webbing. Three additional cross-bands of webbing on either side give you mounting and cable or hydration tune feed points. Fastex buckles on the straps give you quick release options, and a wider webbing belly-strap is included for secure carriage of the pack.

One thing I really liked was that there are twin padding channels on the back of the pack, giving room for your spine to site between them, and offering some air passage to the fit for those long hot rangings.

One last feature, which I'm happy to see on this pack, and many others these days, is the triangular strap attachment flap, that gives the webbing and Codura of the pack a good purchase, taking the angular strain off the seams. Packs lacking this seem to always come apart here under heavy loads, so it's good to see Propper have taken this little bit of extra thought into their pack design.

This is a very utilitarian pack. Boxy but solid. You need to be aware that the internals are dependent on that hook-field backing to add any additional functionality, but other than that, this would fit in well with almost anyone's light to medium pack needs.

Review: Platatac WUP

It seems I'm running behind the times, gear-wise with some of my collection, with finances being what they are, and being the primary income earner of a large household, but I snap up bargains and good kit where ever I can. This is one of those items I found being sold second hand, having missed their retail release. It is the Platatac WUP (Water Utility Pouch). I believe it has been superseded by the Accessories Small Flask pouch,which fills a very similar role, and has very similar dimensions

Sitting at 20cm (7.8") tall, and roughly 10cm x 10cm (4"x4") around, the WUP is the perfect size to take a 1L Nalgene bottle, as well as a variety of other kit, like night-vision scopes, bundles of cord, magazines or what-have-you. Think of the WUP as an oversized FUP, and you can see where my affection comes from.

Fitted with a big oversized top flap, that has a long double-tailed webbing strap that comes over the top, and feeds through a webbing loop, before terminating in a big Fastex-type clip.

The twin straps do a good job in securing the cover in place, which might seem redundant, given that as well as the straps and buckle, the flap also features a broad hook and loop fixture.  Stripped from the lid flap, the straps can be used free-style over whatever you have sowed in the pouch too.


The WUP also has a shock-cord and cord-lock drawstring closure around the lip of the pouch, which allows you to cinch it in to grip the top of your bottle, or whatever else you have in the pouch. An internal loop field allows you to secure the lid flap inside the pouch, the give you a rapid access option.


The WUP features two columns of three rows of PALS/MOLLE on either side, giving ample real-estate for fitting it with other pouches, if you really need, but more useful I've found for slipping a glow-stick or a pen through.

The pouch is fitted with the usual Platatac semi-rigid and press-stud MOLLE strips, and will feed through four rows of MOLLE, offering a very solid attachment. Something to consider when attaching a liter's worth of hydration, or however much the other kit you store in it weighs.

A grommet in the bottom of the pouch stops you hauling a liter's worth of pond-water should you take a dump,  but this is where that shock-cord cinch comes in very handy for keeping a tight seal and keeping the outside, out.




I have really enjoyed having added a slightly larger pouch to my repertoire. Larger than the FUP, but not as big as either my dump pouches or the MEOP I also often wear, the WUP has given me somewhere to conveniently carry my watter bottle, but also keep a bigger range of items closer to hand than the FUP. Sometimes a bit bigger is just better.

So, if you find yourself browsing second hand pouches, and come across a serviceable WUP, I heartily recommend adding it to your collection, they work well on a Battle Belt or on the side of a pack.

Review: Condor - MPC Modular Plate Carrier

I added a new plate carrier to my collection earlier is year. I've loved my Platatac MAC for years, but it is getting dated. It's not like I even really NEED a plate carrier, personal ballistic body armour is a restricted item in Australia, requiring all kinds of licencing and legal requirements to own, (for civilians, at least) so it is a pretty specialty item.

That said, I fill my plate carrier's pouches with polyethylene plastic cutting boards.  This fills it put and gives it body and structure, (for costuming purposes), but also serves as blunt-trauma and edged weapon armour. Ballistic armour is restricted in Australia, so even if I wanted to fill it with proper plates or soft-armour inserts, I couldn't. I still like to put plates in however, any armour is better than no armour. I should do a test-video some time I guess.


The Condor Modular Plate Carrier is designed with heavy webbing on all sides for any PALS/MOLLE compatible gear and accessories.

The MPC also features an integral cummerbund and padded shoulders support and comfort. If you are in a country that allows it, or just want to know the vitals,  the accepts up to 25x33cm (10" x 13") plate and "Large" SPEAR/BALC cut soft armour front and back. It comes with padded foam liners taking the place of the soft armour.

One of the first things I liked about this carrier, was that once I fitted it with my mock-plates, I found it stood up all on its own, brilliant for storage and airing after a sweaty day out adventuring. A couple of bands of loop-field on the back give you attachment options, and also tie down what appear to be drag-strap retainers. These seemed superfluous, but I guess some folks want to be as snag-free as possible. Twin metal D-rings on the shoulders give hydration and cabling tie-down options. 7 channel x 8 row PALS/MOLLE on the black offer plenty of pouch, pack or accessory options.

The built in cummerbund system wraps from back to front, and I found that that really added to the overall comfort and stability of the rig. You can see from this shot that the back-piece also maintains the shoulder-straps, with feed over and across the body, to affix via hook-and-loop to the front piece, before being held secure by Fastex style buckles and sewn-in webbing.

You can also see the but in mesh inner-liner on the back panel, this helps add a little bit of a breathing gap, but in all honesty, I can't say that I noticed much difference from front to back.

You can also see the two M4 magazine pouches built into to the cummerbund  here, with the webbing looped shock-cord retention cords that are on both sides. I was a bit disappointed with these, as only the front set appeared to be big enough to actually fit a magazine. I didn't find much else I could store in these, except perhaps some emergency SERE gear like a spare compass or fire-starters.The 6x4 PALS/MOLLE loops give ample attachment for external pouches.

 You can see from this internal view, the cummerbund is actually two parts, an elasticized belt with hook-and-loop inside and out, that holds the back piece snugly in place. This waist band in turn helps hold the front piece in place, via hook-and-loop, to let you fir the side panels firmly.

 A nice extra feature of the elastic waistband component is that there is a zippered pocket fitted inside it. Good for personal keep-sakes, or small sensitive items, this is the kind of thing I'd normally see on a travelers belt, rather than inside a military style plate carrier, but hey, just because your loaded out for battle doesn't mean you aren't immune to pickpockets, does it?

The ealastic waistband helped keep the weight of the whole rig off my shoulders a little bit, and was a very nice addition to the setup, without compromising the fit of the side panels.

The side panels attached via broad hook-and-loop patches, before being held in place securely, as with the shoulder straps, by Fastex style buckles.

The front panel itself features a mighty  8 row, seven channel spread of PALS/MOLLE, to allow all manner of pouch and accessories to be fitted. It also has a very high on the throat, and low to the belly coverage, something that I like very much, being quite a long bodied creature myself.  This combination oflong construction, and broad carriage options makes this a really appealing carrier for me, and one of the reasons it has overtaken my Platatac MAC as my chest-rig of preference.

The front panel has two bands of loop-field along the top, straddling the top PALS/MOLLE row. Along with the the shoulder strapping webbing, and the cummerbund webbing there are a couple of extra things about the front panel.

It features two broad hook-field patches, for the cummerbund to lock onto,  these suffer the difficulty all big patches of hook-field do, they are crud-magnets. I found that the wrap-forwards and buckle tight option was pretty good, and gave good coverage as well as leaving me room to breathe (never good to be in too-tight armour, especially, when you have to shoulder a pack, climb up somewhere, or run).

One thing I found that it took a little bit of doing to get the side flaps to sit right, and flush. Each side has a grab-loop, to assist in bringing it into place, but some incremental adjustment may be required to get it sitting right.

Donning and doffing the MPC was pretty easy. It was simply a matter of undoing the side panels both in buckle and hook-and-loop, and throwing the whole lot over my head, and doing up the elastic belt component.

Then it is just a matter of fixing the front piece to the belt gently, and strapping down the side panels.

The plate pockets are secured by internal hook-and-loop closing flaps at the bottom of the front and back panels, and the side plates are fitted through the back plate slots. This took a little fiddling to get the side plates into place but they seemed to stay once fitted. It would be interesting to see if they sat as well with steel plates.

Again, the hook-and-loop attachment of the side plates, even with the Fastex-buckles were probably my least favorite part of this carrier, as they took some fiddling to get to sit right, and to fully lay flat. I can see them coming open at inopportune times when you're trying to be quiet with that "sckreeeet" sound if they got hung up on something. That said, I spent some good time running about in it, weaving through the bush, and in some urbanised areas, whilst at the After The Fall: New Hill City event.

I got this second hand, and it was in good shape when I got it, and has held up tot the pretty mild punishment I have given it, (including two weeks spread out in the cooken-yard, as torture testing) so I'm pretty happy with how its turned out.

I'm slowly getting with the times as far as camo-patterns go, and am slowly building to my MultiCam collection, this was a great piece to do so. The webbing is still khaki, so it's still a blend, but I'm getting here. 

Review: SORD - Specialist Insertion Platform

In my growing collection of SORD Australia product, which includes their 870 scabbard, the covert tactical hoodie and the finger-warming StormTrooper tactical muff, I also have been making good use of their low profile chest rig, for those times where I just want a couple of things on me, in cases where I'm either going to be moving fast and light, like running and scouting, or having to get into hard to reach places, like caving, climbing or tree-work, but I still want to have one or two needfuls on my person.


The SIP (Specialist Insertion Platform) is a light weight, low profile chest rig designed to fit under or with insertion equipment, be it under a reserve parachute, swimmer scout valise or worn as a standalone rig for TAG drivers or reconnaissance teams.

Weighing in at only 360g (12.6oz) it utilises 330D Cordura construction for minimal weight with full MultiCam tape webbing and ITW hardware at multiple points. 

Through some clever design, you have complete side release at the waist in one buckle for fast transition between the SIP to an Assault rig worn underneath, or just to strip it away entirely as needed. Additional buckles at the collarbone and for the kidney stability strap give you options for adjustments and adds to the don and doff design. 

This makes it quick and simple to get in and out of as you transition between mission phases, as the situation requires. 

The SIP is faced with three rows of four channel PALS/MOLLE, with a single horizontal column of three loos, giving you a single column of sideways attachment. Perfect for a cyclume stick, or a single stack pouch. 

At the top of the vertical PALS/MOLLE , a sleeve pocket, fixed with hook-and-loop closure allows access to a small area, big enough to fit a HAPO NAV BOARD or even a compact pistol holster, I have fitted mine with a map and compass, ID and the like. The inside of this sleeve is also lined with a strip of  loop-file, to ensure that whatever you can fix, is fixed, especially important for holsters, obviously. I would have liked to see a cord-loop in there, for dummy-cording, as I have in my Hill People Gear Runners Rig but I could always add this myself. 

The bottom of the SIP also features a standard hook-and-loop sandwich, which hinges up between the second and third rows for attaching dump pouches, the SORD StormTrooper or other pouches with sandwich fittings, such as the Platatac gasmask pouch.

The shoulder straps can be configured in both X or H style with removable cross bar to give you adjustment and wearing options.

Elastic cable retention on the shoulder straps offers even more stability, giving you a very stable, snug and secure platform to run those few needful items that you've loaded it with. I've done a couple of cross country jaunts with it, along with the StormTrooper, and a dump pouch, and had no troubles with it either chafing or bouncing. I was happy with the fit and the quick release, when it came time to dump it.

The MultiCam is spot on, (unlike that used in the Headsox I'm wearing here) and the fit to purpose is great. It is usually less carriage than I would want, but for those times where I want to run light, it's superb.

Review: SORD - StormTrooper hand warmer

I got in touch with the good folks over at SORD Australia who had previously fixed me up with the long 870 scabbard pouch and a very clever covert-use hoodie. I had seen they had put out a couple of new items, and managed to secure some, just in time to take out camping and adventuring st s Post-Apocalyptic simulation weekend I was attending.

The first item I want to cover was their very fancy StormTrooper Hand Warmer. Available following a three year development development cycle in which it was put through high altitude parachute descents from around 7600m (25,000ft), and resisting wind speeds in excess of 250kph (135knots/155mph) as well as extended periods in mountain / cold weather environments in multiple countries. That was sales pitch enough for me. I've lived in Calgary, and a couple of other places which have snow, I've even taken a few pieces of kit to the limited snow we get here in Melbourne to trail. I hate the snow, generally, and being cold. Sometimes "hands-in-pockets" is not an option and I like to have options.

Check out that spacious muff!

This is where the StormTrooper comes in. Made from an outer shell fabric of Duro Industries LiteLok  (with a 500D Cordura option in Kryptek Yeti also available), the StormTrooper is filled with 40gsm Prima Loft fill (in double/triple layers), and is lined with the same lightweight lining as used in SORD's jackets.

It attaches in a variety of ways;  with three ITW Web Dominators on shock-cord loops, for attachment to a PLAS/MOLLE platform like a plate carrier or chest rig. There is also a broad hook-and-loop sandwich panel for attachment to platforms with a corresponding hook-and-loop bottom, like the Platatac MAC, I already have as it happens (loop-field faces forward).

Rear view showing belt loops, D-rings and storage cords

The back face is fitted with three belt loops wide enough to take 50mm belts (and feed over riggers belt buckles and Cobra buckles alike). It is also fitted with two D-rings for fitting a neck-strap to sling it around your shoulders.

Zippered blow-out section on the belly of the StormTrooper

The StormTrooper is fitted with 2 separate internal pockets with weather resistant zips for heater packs, or small items, one larger external front zippered pocket for small easily accessible items, like a compass, a light or other small tools and a lower zippered blow out section that increases internal capacity for large hands, especially useful if you have bulky gloves, a mounted GPS or altimeter or a map pouch on your wrist.

Second internal hand-warmer pocket, under recess to stow hook-and-loop flap

Elasticized, adjustable wrist cuffs, let you hunker the muff section down to fir your hands, without leading to a snag-risk in case you need to respond quickly. I found that the muff was perfectly shaped to hold my hands, and let me drop my shoulders, giving me a really relaxed posture, without having my hands stuck in pants-pockets, especially useful when my top was covered in a vest, or obscured by pack-straps.

The internal pockets gave a a couple of places to stash more needfuls, and certainly fit the hand-warmers I have. I also found that the Web Dominators allowed be to quickly roll it up, and stow it away, rolling down to almost nothing thanks to the LiteLok fabric and light down used, and its built in stash sack packs the muff down to almost nothing.

The internally secured storage baggie

Thankfully it's not yet been could enough to -need- the StormTrooper here yet, although it did rain rather miserably on the first night of my last camping trip, and the long walks around the site make for a good chance to stow my hands away. I also found it was a pretty good place to stash some small, light and often used items.

The multiple attachment options, multiple pockets as well as the spacious and comfortable muff section make this an excellent addition to anyone's kit, especially if you are going to find yourself in a cold and miserable place or two. It stayed out of the way when I wasn't using it, and even acted as a quick dump-pouch when I had to stow a long item and keep my hands free.

Post-Apocalyptic Roleplay, with the SORD Stormtrooper at my belly band

You might find that all the accessory shock-cord gets in the way, but they're all removable, and you can set it up as low-drag as you need it.

Next winter, I have a feeling I will be keeping this in my pack, to whip out  when the weather does a Melbourne on us. I look forwards to again being the guy people look at thinking "why didn't I think of that?"