Missed part 1? View it here:
Spiritus Mixed Tactics Prototypes – Part 1
For the most part the carrier featured in this post is of the same design as the carrier covered in part 1, so to save on redundancy I won’t be repeating the basics of the design.
Following on from the all Black pattern prototype in part 1, we have what is mostly an alteration in materials this time around. Where the first iteration used only a single layer of light cordura despite being designed for a laminate (just to embody the basic shape), this next iteration in Multicam is in fact constructed from that laminate fabric and is tough enough to have been well used in testing and evaluation.
On the outside of the rear bag, where there were 4 slits above the loop field there are now only 2 and the slits in the flap at the base have changed position slightly. Other than that though, the design is essentially exactly the same as before.
A few hit marks from training rounds such as the Sim FX or UTM are visible from various courses where this particular prototype was put through it’s paces by the staff at Spiritus.
The one really significant feature change here is to the shoulder straps. This setup is very close to the commercial LV-119, with both the front and rear bags having straps attached at their tops, which cross over the very top of the wearers’ shoulders and join up with velcro.
By comparison to the earlier prototype this is a much better design and one of the notoriously weak aspects of the Ferro Slickster. This system is both more secure in terms of velcro surface area contact vs the pattern prototype and also much quicker and easier to adjust to fit a person, or to tweak when layering up and down. That said, on this very early iteration the hook and loop contact surfaces are a little on the small side and perhaps not spaced in quite the ideal fashion, so some hockey tape is assisting the join.
A pair of sleeves made of a softshell type fabric are also present around the shoulder straps this time. These are basically identical to the Low Profile Shoulder Covers that Spiritus initially sold alongside the Tri-Fold Covers for the LV-119, though those are now discontinued.
Visible above is the inside of the rear plate bag, and more specifically the plain black rear facing fabric used in the laminate material from which this carrier is built (the outer being standard tactical gear camo cordura). While cordura is of course made of nylon which is a plastic, we don’t tend to view cordura as being ‘plastic-like’ due to the way it is woven. The inner fabric on this particular laminate however very much looks and feels like a plastic sheet.
In the end however Spiritus did extensive testing on kit items such as this using this same material and ran in to a lot of instances of delamination i.e. the black inner fabric separating from the outer cordura layer. This meant that the production 119 did not use a laminate and nor did any Spiritus products for a few years, until eventually different and better cordura laminate fabrics became available which lead to the release of laser cut products such as the MkV Chassis, Expander Wing Mk2 and Spud pouch with the Pangolin flap.
https://www.honeywell.com/us/en/industries/products#industrial-chemicals-and-material
The gentleman who did spend some time working at Spiritus and kindly sent me these prototype carriers, mentioned the name Honeywell with relation to the laminate fabric that was used for various prototypes prior to the eventual final design of the LV-119. Above, in the ‘Cur resistant fibers and materials’ section is some information on possible materials that may have been used on this carrier.
Attachment for the cummerbund on this model is the same as on the original pattern prototype and suffers from the same slight issues, but that would of course all be rectified for the production design, and indeed on the next version of prototype that I’ll be showcasing in another post.
If you would like to see the next prototype Mixed Tactics PC that bridges that gap between the example shown above and the design that would be decided upon as the production LV-119, be sure to bookmark TheFull9.net and check back periodically. Also use the links on the top right of each page to find my social media outlets for daily updates (especially on Instagram) and a high quality community of folks interested in military equipment.
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