When your dad is a gear maker, these kind of things happen…
The image above is a MOLLE compatible skate deck carrier that Dave at Fight and Flight Tactical whipped up for his son. The wrap design is adjustable for width via 2 side release buckles (SRB) and straps. You simply release the SRBs to remove the deck.
If you are interested in purchasing something like this, let Fight and Flight Tactical know.
The Snake Eater Tactical War Belt (SET War Belt) doesn’t look much like most “war belts” and as far as I can tell after spending several months with it… that’s a good thing.
The SET War Belt consists of three separate components that can be mixed and matched. Some of them can even be used as stand-alone items. Those items are an inner belt, a belt pad, and the outer “duty” style belt.
The inner belt is made from 1.75″ wide hypalon with loop Velcro sewn over its entire outer surface. It features a unique fold over Velcro closure. It can accept the belt pad or the duty belt directly if you do not wish to use the belt pad.
The belt pad is made from 4mm closed cell foam encased in heavy duty mesh. This makes the pad extremely thin and relatively lightweight. It has Velcro sewn to both sides so that it can be sandwiched between the inner and outer belt.
The 1.75″ outer belt is made similarly to Snake Eater Tactical’s EDC/gun belts. It has two layers of webbing sewn together and is closed with a Cobra buckle. It is not as stiff as scuba webbing belts but offers more than enough structure to use with holsters and subloads. The inside of the belt is lined with hook Velcro which is sewn at intervals to create a MOLLE like structure for attaching gear to the belt to ensure it stays where you want it. This belt also makes a very good stand alone gun belt as long as your holster loops can accommodate the slight extra thickness from the Velcro lining.
All three parts of the SET War Belt are solid. The inner belt and belt pad in particular are the best of anything similar that I have ever tried.
The inner belt benefits greatly from the properties of the hypalon material from which it is made. It is extremely thin, light weight, and its rubbery texture helps prevent the belt from moving. The fold over closure is very clever. It provides a secure closure so you can really synch the belt without fear of slipping and it is much thinner and more flexible than a buckle. This means it won’t create a hot spot after several hours of wearing it under a weight bearing belt. It is very, very clever and it is no wonder that Snake Eater Tactical now offers it for purchase separately.
The belt pad is equally as excellent. It is very thin compared to many belt pads but it offers more than enough padding to prevent the hotspots created when a stiff, weight bearing belt is pressed into your hips for a few hours. It breathes well. It is flexible enough to stay out of your way when you do things like drop into squatting shooting positions. I keep trying to convince them to offer the belt pad for purchase separately since it would work with many inner/outer belt combos. I think they would (or should) sell a million of them.
The out duty belt component will be very familiar to those who have tried Snake Eater Tactical’s excellent riggers belts. It is stiff enough to handle anything you want to mount on it without buckling and yet still more flexible than most duty belts.
The duty belt’s inside lining of hook Velcro locks it to the inner belt or belt pad. The lining is sewn at regular intervals which create channels that can be used to trap MOLLE accessories that are hung on the belt so that they do not move around on the belt. The channels are wide enough to accept the vertical strap of a subload or drop holster. Belt mounted accessories can be threaded on as normal. It is a very flexible system.
I should also note that this belt works extremely well with Snake Eater Tactical’s excellent Burro Magazine Pouches. They are ideal for belt use and make an already versatile belt, even more versatile since they will tenaciously hold just about anything. As an example, the Burros sized for AR-15 magazines will hold a Bic pen tight enough that you can turn it upside down and shake without losing the pen. In spite of the retention, you can still easily insert and remove magazines. It all works because of a symbiotic relationship between hypalon, curved Kydex tensioners, and heavy duty elastic.
The quality and durability of this belt are top notch. There is plenty of stitching to reinforce stress points. The materials are all top notch. The workmanship is typical of Snake Eater Tactical which is to say it is very good. It is just solid.
While the concept of inner/outer belts with pads is not new, the SET War Belt feels like a new idea. The inner belt is original and innovative in how it leverages smart design and new materials to make it better. The pad uses thinner padding and mesh to make something more comfortable than you would bet it could be. The duty belt offers the typical quality you have come to expect from Snake Eater Tactical belts. Together, they all work to create a flexible and very functional piece of gear.
The SET War Belt has replaced my bulkier, padded belt set up. It is more trim, more comfortable, and it stays in place better. This is a great piece of gear that I highly recommend.
Disclosure: The SET War Belt was provided to me by Snake Eater Tactical for review, free of charge.
Katylist has OSS IIIA Plates in stock and ready to ship. These plates are very thin at .3″ thick and very light at .85 lb each. They are NIJ rated to protect to level IIIA (various handgun and stabbing threats). Check them out at Katylist.com.
The Low Profile Slick Plate Carrier (LPSPC) from Perroz Designs is exactly what you would think from its name. It’s a plate carrier that designed to be low-profile and slick – meaning that it isn’t covered with PALS webbing from top to bottom. You shouldn’t let that “slick” moniker or the lack of PALS webbing fool you into thinking the LPSPC lacks modularity. The fact is, this plate carrier (PC) scales up from slick to jocked up in no time flat.
The structure of the LPSPC is made mostly from 3 materials. The fronts of the plate pockets are constructed from 500D Cordura Nylon. The backs of the plate pockets – the parts that contact the wearer – are made from spacer mesh. The shoulder straps and cummerbund are made from Hypalon which is part of the secret to the success of this design.
The LPSPC features a compact design that really hugs standard 10″x12″ plates. The Hypalon shoulder straps are easily adjusted via hook and loop. The front plate pockets features a small admin pocket on the upper front, tons of loop Velcro surface to ID, patches, and securing items like chest rigs or placards. The front also features vertically mounted QASM buckles so that compatible chest rigs may be mounted.
The rear plate pocket is available in the user’s choice of configurations. It can be ordered completely slick, with a large area of loop Velcro, or covered with PALS webbing. Depending on your use for the LPSPC, you may actually want to order multiple rear plate pockets.
The cummerbund features elastic sections on both sides to provide some stretch and is closed via Velcro. My version of the LPSPC has a solid Hypalon cummerbund but the current version ships with a skeletonized cummerbund that is MOLLE compatible, saves weight, and increases breathability.
Removable shoulder pads are available but I found that the LPSPC carries quite well without them. If you are planning on carrying more than a few mags on it for more than a few hours, you will want the shoulder pads though.
The price of the LPSPC varies based on the options that you choose.
This style of plate carrier is among the most practical for a regular guy like me. I don’t have to wear armor all day. It mostly only comes out in training environments where it is required. I also keep it because it seems prudent to have some armor for uncertain times. This carrier allows me to keep it slick and low profile when it is prudent to do so and still scale it up easily to meet the demands of keeping a carbine running during a training course.
Perroz Designs makes good use of Hypalon in the PC. The shoulder straps are very thin thanks to their buckle-less, Hypalon construction. The cummerbund is also quite thin due to its Hypalon construction. The shoulder straps and cummerbund, especially where it meets the plate pocket, are often some of the bulkiest parts of a PC so the use of a thin, durable material really mitigates some issues common to low profile, “concealment” carriers.
The shoulder straps are one of my favorite features of this PC. They are thin and comfortable. The Velcro closure allows them to be adjusted without buckles. I can even adjust them while I am wearing the PC which is nice when the clothing beneath your PC has to change with the temperature.
Perroz Designs sized the plate pockets for standard 10×12 SAPI plates. It fits the plates like a glove. There is no movement whatsoever of the plates in the plate pockets. In fact, you will have to work a bit to close the plate pockets over some 10×12 plates because they fit so well.
For a slick carrier, there is really a lot going on these plate pockets. The front plate pocket has removable QASM buckles which is the key to adding compatible chest rigs. It also has a very functional admin slip pocket which, like most of them, can be tricky to access since it is so tight but makes a great place to store pens and such in its internal elastic loops. The One-Wrap rolls that are sewn into the sides of the plate pocket are perfect for routing wires or hydration tubes.
The front plate pocket has two large areas of loop Velcro. The upper one can be used for patches and ID while the lower one plays a major role in how the LPSPC can be scaled up from slick to load bearing. It can be used to help secure compatible chest rigs or you can stick Velcro backed magazine carriers to it which is what I did for most of my testing. A Blue Force Gear Ten-Speed Dapper makes a thin, lightweight way to stow three AR-15 magazines or a couple of mags and a tourniquet. Perroz Designs thoughtfully covered the ends of the cummerbund with loop Velcro so it doesn’t interrupt the loop surface when using pouches like this.
The spacer mesh on the back of the plate pockets provides a small amount of cushioning from the plates but not much. Such is the case with most plate carriers of this size. It certainly feels cooler against your body than PCs that are lined with Cordura nylon.
If you want to be able to use the LPSPC with chest rigs like those from Mayflower R&C, EGL, or HSP, I suggest that you order the MOLLE back panel. It doesn’t add much bulk and will make it much easier to anchor the sides of your chest rig with SwiftClips or similar.
There have been zero concerns with durability through several months of use on the range. It has seen snow, mud, dust, dirt, and all other manner of conditions that you face on a rustic outdoor range. The workmanship is very, very clean and Perroz Designs is so concerned about the details, that they actually covered the hook Velcro surfaces of my plate carrier with masking tape so it would catch and pull the other materials during transit. That is attention to detail.
This carrier uses modern materials to great effect. The choice of Hypalon for the shoulder straps and cummerbund is perfect and really reduces bulk. The workmanship is very clean and I expect that this carrier will last a long time.
If you are a regular guy like me who sees the need to own armor but only needs it in limited roles, you will find that this is a very practical set up due to its ability to go from low profile to load bearing by simply clicking in a chest rig. It can likely be used for anything the regular guy might need.
Check out the LPSPC at Perroz Designs.
Disclosure: The LPSPC was provided to me by Perroz Designs for review, free of charge.
RE Factor Tactical’s new Delta Trauma Kit is individual first aid pouch that is designed to be compact and accessible. It has a sleeve and pull-out tray design. The sleeve is mounted to the user’s belt where it contains and protects the pull-out tray. The tray can be quickly removed from the sleeve by pulling the grab handle with either hand.
The sleeve portion of the kit allows the user to mount a tourniquet via elastic straps and a set of trauma shears in a sleeve on the back. It also features a loop Velcro panel for adding medic tabs to indicate the pouch’s contents.
The tray is designed to hold life saving items like hemostatic gauze, chest seals, airways, control wraps, gauze, decompression needles, and more. It also features a vinyl window that can be used to store reference material or a 9 line MEDEVAC.
The Delta Trauma Kit is available as a pouch or complete with contents. Check it out at RE Factor Tactical.
