When you’re at SHOT there’s a lot going on, it’s pretty hectic and a lot of stuff is changing hands all the time. You wear your badge around your neck all day and although it comes with a strap you don’t want to risk the bare cardboard getting wrecked when someone barges into you on the narrow pathways between booths, so a holder/caddy of some kind is pretty much essential to protect the badge (unless you only rock up for 2 hours, steal some shit then go home).
I tried a few of the caddies that get dished out for free and the Geissele Automatics, LLC option worked quite well, but none that I were seeing around other people’s necks appeared to have quite the features I wanted. A few companies also make and sell such items but again none quite fit exactly what I wanted myself.
A couple of years back Flimmuur Tactical had gotten hold of some Desert Night Cam fabric which at the time was absolute hens’ teeth in any form. Wanting the best production quality I went to him to have this badge holder made to my exact spec.
The neck strap is 1″ mil-spec RG webbing rather than the narrow round cord that many caddies use as those really bug me for whatever reason when worn for multiple hours. Length on the strap is adjustable via the plastic loop and tri-glide. The lid closes with velcro and there’s a little bit of loop space for patches along the top edge. The carried badge is visible through the transparency of course but there is an internal divider for quick stashing of swag behind the badge and out of view. The sides and bottom edge are also billowed to allow for expansion, so this holder is actually a box with walls versus a simple envelope with the front sewn directly to the back around the edges. On the back there is a holder perfectly sized to hold a dozen business cards for instant access when the situation calls.
The main fabrics used are perhaps the most interesting part. The edges and front are a very thin DNC fabric (50D Taffeta if memory serves) which has been laminated to 500D RG cordura for strength. The back face and business card holder are made from 80s production 50/50 NYCO that was a scrap/left-over cut from my own heavily modified US Gulf War issue parka that some of you will have seen on the blog previously. A personal touch I enjoy greatly.
I’ve been extremely happy using this over the past few shows. It looks smart with a cool, niche camo pattern that’s far more presentable than multicam, causes me no irritation when worn all day for multiple days on the expo centre floor and it carries exactly what I need with room to stash things that I’m given. Easily amongst my favourite pieces of custom made gear.
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