As we know, you always use the casualties medical kit on them, but you can’t exactly do that if you’ve no idea which of their 57 multicam pouches contains said medical kit now can you? So if you need red markers, blood type or allergy patches for velcro mounting, check out Mil-Spec Monkey. Not their ‘headline act’ as far as patches go, but definitely a good way to spend a few £/$.
Part 2 of the arrivals from this past week. Mostly what you’re seeing was ordered from Mil-Spec Monkey and SKD Tactical.
Previously when I’ve been on courses, exercises, dets and other miscellaneous excursions with work I’ve used whatever crap I can scrounge as far as a notepad and head torch go; similar story (I’m rather ashamed to admit) with med kit. But after many years of buying nothing but gucci camo, pouches and chest rigs I’ve finally got a bit sensible and ordered some stuff that’s actually important.
I’ve still got a fair few things from previous orders to post here, but as with yesterday’s layout, everything seen here will be detailed in coming months.
This is just the initial overview of the majority of the stuff I picked up from Go Outdoors. Pretty solid service from them and after spending a good while comparing prices they pretty much always came out on top.
Initially this stuff will be tested out playing some ‘milsim’ airsoft but a few items are upgrades on things I’ve been issued and would use on exercise or deployment (as with a lot of my airsoft purchases). Obviously they all pull extra duty for general outdoor usage going hiking etc or on certain training courses within my work life. The FAK will live in my car for the most part, along with the other medical items I already have in there to help cover some of the real basics in terms of what I might encounter at a road collision, or just when travelling generally.
Some of the more complex items I will write up in to individual posts to go in to more detail later down the line, so keep your eyes peeled if you see anything of interest and feel free to ask any questions in the comments here or over on the facebook page.
Link from SIOFREP – http://sofrep.com/43831/raytheon-releases-first-ever-rifle-mounted-precision-missile/
A while back on the facebook page I shared some video of guided .50 cal bullets, so even though my initial reaction to this new annoucement was “got to be a joke” I realised shortly after, that actually, this shouldn’t be so surprising. These missiles launch from currently available 40mm weapons such as the M320 that replaced the M203 in US service in recent years (itself another variation on the HK AG36 that we’ve been using as the L123 ‘UGL’ on the L85A2 for some time).
Conventional 40mm projectiles currently in service are heavily dependant on the skill, training and amount of practice undertaken by the firer in order to hit targets and only contain a comparatively very small amount of explosive, so require an accurate shot to actually have an effect on target (or to pass through narrow door/window openings). Also, regardless of skill, the currently deployed HE munitions can only push out to ranges of around 400m in the 40x46mm low velocity format. This new design, which presumably has a built in propulsion system, can reportedly fly out to 1.5 miles and with laser guidance should be able to hit exactly where it’s needed without much trouble in the slightest.
MoraleMondays again coming from Tactical Outfitters. This is definitely a favourite of mine right now.
When we switched from the Browning Hi-Power and Sig P226 in service to the G17 Gen4, it was certainly a step in the right direction as I found the issued BHP to be a fairly awful handgun to shoot by modern standards, given the terrible way the trigger works with the magazine disconnect safety. Luckily the G17 is a significant improvement and this replica from Stark Arms/VFC is also a noticeable improvement from their own previous offerings in the Glock department.
I’m not going to recommend the SA GBB pistols to all airsoft players, because frankly their reputation as far as reliability goes is very spotty to say the least. What they do well is look great and come in at a low price point. Personally I already have a few TM sidearms that I use when I need reliability, range and accuracy. But when I’m playing a simple walk-on day at some really cramped ‘CQB’ airsoft sites and don’t need much range, the Stark guns certainly do look, sound and more importantly feel, extremely nice.
This is the standard version of the G17 Gen4 with your usual airsoft-metal slide (there is a more premium version out there with a steel slide and co2 mag) and the trades are without doubt the best of any airsoft Glock I’ve seen. Very close indeed to the real pistols we have in work that this replica emulates.
I’ve added the included +2 base plate to this magazine, which doesn’t add any more bullet or propellant capacity, but it does give the shooter something large on the end of the mag to grip on to and that certainly doesn’t hurt when it comes to those emergency reloads.
When the announcement broke regarding these midcap magazines, I was surprised in a very positive way. The airsoft market these days cares little for the RS-faithfulness that prompted me to get in to the sport in the first place back in 2006 and these were a very welcome return to form. The 30 round 5.56mm Hexmags have received generally very positive reviews across the board. They look super-fly, perform very well indeed in the ergonomics department and seem to be managing pretty well in terms of providing a competitor to the Magpul gold standard option as far as the shooting market in the US goes.
Given the entirely fictional nature of so many products released to the airsoft world these days, I had a to snap up a 4 set (personally, I’ll generally go in to a skirmish with 1 in the gun and 3 spares on my gear as a base level) and construction quality wise they don’t disappoint. They’re not quite up there with the old PTS PMAGs or their new EPMs, but these are the closest alternative I’ve come across so far and I own a lot of 30 rounder/standard capacity/military issue 556 style plastic midcaps.
They’re available in the classic tactical trifecta of course – black, olive drab and tan/FDE. There’s also a myriad of replacement kits to swap the hexagonal base plate retention detent and the internal followers to pretty much any colour you could want and make certain these are unique to you if you drop one on the field, but the stock orange they provide is already pretty awesome in my book.
So far I’ve only tried fitment in my Avalon (VFC) rifle and sadly they don’t do so well; they wobble a lot and I can pull some of them out fairly easily without actuating the mag release. However, this is only one AEG and mag wells on 556 rifles vary a lot in the airsoft world, so I’ll report again once I’ve tried the fitment and feeding in more replicas.
Well, that’s the most I’ve ever spent on a video game in my entire life.
I was seriously obsessed with the Wing Commander games as a young kid (those cutscenes must look *painfully* 90s now), similar story with X-Wing and TIE fighter. Played Freelancer to absolute death in my teens. EVE online is rather too complex and hardcore for my liking as far as a space MMOs go, I can’t say I got in to X2 either; but I think Star Citizen has a real shot at being initially accessible and fun, while still having the depth required to give longevity and make for some properly epic large-scale star wars between the clans and factions setup by players within the universe. I’m also really, really hoping that a good 3D headset will emerge in 2016 that’ll add to the immersion of the game in a meaningful fashion.
I’m probably hyping myself up too much, but what can I say, the detail displayed on the ships that RSI showed off in the first trailers it released definitely reeled me in (I’ll certainly be pissed off if a similar standard isn’t maintained throughout the rest of the title). I believe given the money they’ve received and the credentials of the team, this game does have the potential to be of incredibly high quality as well as being hugely popular for many years. Now we sit for another year or two, or three, while they actually finish it all.
#MoraleMondays supplied by SKD Tactical (on the Griffon Industries muff sack).
Patrol Incident Gear (a sub-division of the gear retailer SKD Tactical) has long been a very innovative manufacturer within the market place, I really love pretty much every design they’ve come out with. So when I was looking for a small pack just to carry the basics when I’m driving from base to home/short trips out around town, I figured I’d give the RUNT a go.
It did surprise me at how small it actually was upon arrival, I was expecting something more along the lines of the TT/Grey Ghost/MSM packs, but it actually worked out rather well in the end. You’ll have to pack stuff in tight if you want to carry outer layers along with other bits, but it’ll certainly do the job it was designed for.
I have a Google tablet that’s a few years old and didn’t see much use for a couple of those years, but my recent delve in to Fallout: Shelter has seen me take it wherever I go lately and the loop lined pocket within the base of the main section of this bag carries said tablet perfectly. The standardised double water bottle pockets work well being made entirely of elastic, but they’re not stitched closed at their bases, so don’t store anything small in them or you might leave it behind you when it slips out the very bottom of the bag.
There’s some non-PALS spec webbing on the outside for carabiners and the like, organisation loops in the 2 small outer pockets, a good space in the medium outer pocket and the mesh zippered stashes on the front face of the main pocket. Nice folded webbing carry handle on top for grabbing it up off the floor or carrying short distances. The hi-vis lining is absolutely amazing and I cannot understand why every single pack in the world doesn’t use it; this should be a mandatory feature.
I’ve taken this out on a few runs when I’ve needed my phone on me and the padded mesh pontoons on the back are extremely comfortable – literally zero rubbing. Same story with the shoulder straps. Also glad they’ve got rid of the metal zip pulls on the outside and swapped in paracord, saved me the job. Be nice if they’d done it on the inside to stop rattling, but then this isn’t a tactical bag.
Comes in all black but I opted for the grey accent as even pure black can end up looking tactical. If you’re able to ‘get away with it’ where you are, the bag can be purchased having the centre column in US Woodland, Multicam, MC Tropic, MC Arid or MC Black. I feel the grey version does a great job of not giving away its’ origins given that there’s no PALS and no velcro; which is exactly what I needed in a pack, but of course didn’t want to compromise at all on build quality.
Really good straps, simple and effective layout that sorts your shit out nicely, made in the USA. Good times.