Author Archive | Matt

Customize Your Kits

The compact size of the nanoSTRIKER makes it a good choice for compact kits.

Buying an off the shelf survival or first aid kit can be very convenient. Purchasing one of these kits can also save you money since they are often less expensive than buying all of the individual components separately. However, once you have a kit, you aren’t necessarily as ready as you can be. These kits can almost always benefit from customization by adding, removing, or replacing various components.

There are a number of reasons to customize a kit. The two reasons that I customize a kit most often are to make it more complete or to make it more specific to me, my location, or my activities. Off the shelf kits are the kit designer’s idea of a good kit. It may be that their kit will work for you, but it is more likely that you will need to add or remove items to better reflect your idea of a complete kit based on your training and personally tested techniques.

You can add functionality without adding weight. Look for compact, multi-functional tools like the SAR Global Tool ECLIPSE Signal System.

If you purchase a blowout kit and find that it contains a bandage that you may not be familiar with in your training. It would make sense to replace that bandage with a similar product with which you are familiar. Maybe the kit lacks a tourniquet or extra gloves. Survival kits can be enhanced by adding gear and information that is specific to your location like a small map and magnetic declination statistics. You may want to add redundancy by including another fire starting method. The scenarios are nearly endless.

Don’t be afraid to tear that newly purchased kit down and rebuild it with different items. Your end goal is to make the kit work better for YOU.

Triton from X-Concealment

X-Concealment is a relatively new Kydex bender. I am thoroughly impressed with their “C” Series Holster which I reviewed recently. They recently introduced a new modular magazine/flashlight pouch called the Triton.

The Triton pouch is modular so that the user can configure it to carry as many as 3 Glock magazines or 2 magazines and a flashlight. The backing plate is what actually attaches to your belt and the the pouches are attached to the backing plate with 4 screws per pouch. Since the pouches are modular, you can decide how to position them. That means that you can run your magazines and flashlight in any position on the backing plate.

The magazine pouches are only available for 9mm/40SW/357SIG/45GAP Glocks at this time. They have adjustable tension. Their design allows them to be completely ambidextrous.

The flashlight pouch is designed to hold any 1″ diameter light (Surefire G2, G2L, G2X, etc) in the bezel up position. It has a self-tensioning design with a relief cut that should allow it to be a bit forgiving of lights that are slightly larger than 1″.

The spacing between the pouches is fairly generous. In fact, it may be too generous for some but it should make the magazines very easy to grasp.

You can check out the new Triton Triple Magazine Pouch on the X-Concealment website.

Give Terror the Axe Patches and Wrist Bands

You may remember the Give Terror the Axe Foundation that I profiled recently on this blog. You can read more at the link but basically, Give Terror the Axe is a foundation that raises the funds necessary to provide the axes and tomahawks that our Special Forces groups want and need. Now in an effort to raise funds, they have released a limited edition patch and a silicone wrist band. Purchasing these items not only raises funds for the foundation but awareness as well.

The patch is limited to 100 pieces. It features an ACU gray and black flag design with an axe graphic and the words “Give Terror the Axe”. 100% of the profits will go into the foundation. The patches cost $15 and are available through the Usual Suspect Network (This link requires a premium membership on the USN.

The silicone wrist band is made from 100% recycled silicone. It features a foliage green and black swirl color scheme and the words “Give Terror the Axe” embossed on the band. The wrist bands cost $10 and are available through the Usual Suspect Network (This link requires a premium membership on the USN).

If you are not a premium member of the Usual Suspect Network, you can get in touch with Give Terror the Axe on their new Facebook page. Go to the “Info” page to find Shawn’s email address (he is the founder of the foundation).

 

TAREINCO CSK (Compact Surival Kit)

It seems like everyone and their brother offer a pre-assembled survival kit. It takes a really good idea to set your kit apart from the crowd. The TAREINCO CSK has that really good idea.

The CSK uses many of the same off the shelf components that other high end survival kits use. You will recognize many of the items like Wetfire Tinder and Aquamira water purification tabs. This isn’t a bad thing. It can often be cheaper to purchase these kits as a starter for your own custom kit than it is to purchase all of the items separately. Many of these items are used in kit, after kit, after kit, for good reason – they work.

What really sets the CSK apart is the way three simple elements are brought together to make a really well thought out case.  Para-cord, an ITW Whisteloc, and an Otter Box case used together to make a case that can be attached to just about anything, can be used to signal help, and can provide cordage for survival tasks like shelter building. Three elements that are common in just about every kit (signalling, waterproof storage, and cordage) are melded together into something that is more functional than just the three items separately. That is pretty clever.

You can read more about the CSK on the TAREINCO website.

Review: OSOE AK/M4 Micro Rig

The best chest rigs are small chest rigs and the Original SOE (OSOE) AK/M4 Micro Rig is certainly small. Lets take a look.

OSOE AK/M4 Micro Rig

My Chest Rig Theory

For me, chest rigs are a necessary evil. What I mean is that I would rather not wear one but they are times when I really can’t do without them. For instance, many instructors are going to expect you to be able to step to the firing line with a minimum of 5 loaded rifle magazines on your person in an organized fashion. This ensures that you can concentrate on the instruction instead of stopping to reload your magazines. I can’t carry 5 magazines on a belt rig (I guess I could but it would be far from ideal), so I use a chest rig. However, this doesn’t let me off the hook in terms of “train like you fight.”

In my world, as a civilian shooter, I am far more likely to be reloading from a belt pouch or even a cargo pocket than I am from a chest rig. That is why when I train, I use the chest rig to reinforce my belt. What does that look like? Well, when it time to reload, I reload from the belt. When I have a moment when the drill is complete, I refill my belt pouch(es) from the hardest to reach part of my chest rig. This leaves the easiest to reach magazines handy just in case I use up what is on my belt and I have to reload from the chest rig. Learning how to rotate and manage ammo and magazines is a vital part of training.

All of what I just wrote above just means this: my chest rig is secondary to my belt which is my primary magazine carriage method. Because the chest rig is secondary, there is no reason to use a large one with a ton magazine capacity. The best chest rig for my purposes will be compact enough to stay out of my way so that I can train the way that I am most likely to fight – without a chest rig.

OSOE AK/M4 Micro Rig Details

I’ll jump right into the dimensions, since as you can guess by the name, the main feature of this chest rig is its compact size. The body of the AK/M4 Micro Rig is about 7″ tall which is fairly standard for many chest rigs. It is the width that sets this rig apart. It is only 14″ wide. That is 3″ narrower than my next most compact chest rig. Those 3″ really make a difference in how the chest rig feels and performs in certain situations.

The magazine pouches will fit 2 AK or 2 M4 magazines.

I suppose that it doesn’t really matter how small your chest rig is if it doesn’t carry what you need. The AK/M4 Micro Rig carries an impressive amount of gear thanks to its pouch layout. It features two magazine pouches that are sized to carry 2 AK magazines or 2 M4 (AR-15) magazines and a 6″x6″ general purpose pouch. There is also a large admin pouch inside the body of the rig (behind the magazine pouches). The interior of the 6×6 pouch and the admin pouch are lined with hook and loop material so you can add accessory organizers. The exterior of the general purpose pouch also has a generous hook and loop field for adding name tapes and patches. The flaps on the magazine pouches are generously sized and adjustable for length.

The general purpose pouch is lined with hook and loop material...

The interior of the internal admin pouch is also lined with hook and loop.

The AK/M4 Micro Rig comes standard with a typical x-harness made from 1.5″ webbing. It also has a waist belt made from 1″ webbing. The x-harness actually does a very good job of carrying the relatively light loads of such a compact chest rig but many users find the Slim Padded H-Harness to be a worthwhile upgrade. This harness is very comfortable and provides a means for mounting the OSOE Hydration Carrier.

The Slim Padded H-Harness is an upgrade in terms of comfort.

The sides of the magazine pouches and the general purpose pouch have MOLLE webbing that allows you to attach a single pistol magazine pouch or flashlight pouch. The bottoms of the pouches feature heavy duty elastic loops that are designed to hold pocket smoke grenades, tourniquets, or whatever else you need. I tested the loops with C-A-T and SOF-T tourniquets and they worked perfectly. The tourniquet is held in a very out of the way location that is still very easy to access.

Quality

If you haven’t handled an OSOE product, you won’t really be able to appreciate how over built they are. I can’t tell for sure but it seems like every surface is made from 2 layers of 1000D Cordura nylon (certainly most of them are). There are no raw edges. All of the edges have either been taped or meticulously folded and sewn down. The tops of the magazine pouches of have been reinforced with heavy webbing. The pouches are quadruple stitched to the body of the chest rig and even quintuple stitched in some places. There are actually very few seams that are only single stitched. Suffice it to say, this rig is built to last.

I dare you to wear out this rig.

Versatility

One of the things that drew me to this rig is its versatility. It can be used with multiple weapon types. The magazine pouches are sized to allow 2 AK or 2 M4 magazines. This is very unusual and it just works. In fact, if OSOE made stand alone pouches just like the ones on this rig, I would have 2 of them on order for a plate carrier right now. The AK mags are tight but they do fit and they can be removed easily.

It can also be used as a bandolier. Lets say you want to keep this in your trunk with your “truck gun” and you may have to access it quickly. Rather than taking the time to put on the chest rig, you can configure the straps so that the AK/M4 Micro Rig can be worn like an over the shoulder bandolier. It is very clever and very handy.

The 6×6 general purpose pouch also adds versatility. The flap on this pouch has quite a bit of leeway with how loosely it can be closed. This allows this pouch to carry any number of items. It can carry common range items like earplugs, a pen, a notebook, gloves, or other common items. It can carry a very complete blow out kit. Some users will even insert a hook and loop holster and use it as a rig mounted flap holster for their handgun.

In Use

Reloading from this rig is easy. An open top pouch will always be faster than pouches with flaps like the ones on the AK/M4 Micro Rig, but I am willing to give up some speed for the extra options and retention that flaps provide. I also do my speed reloads from the belt when possible so flaps on the chest rig don’t bother me. The flaps allow me to run my AK mags with the bullets up. This makes the AK mags much easier and faster to access and manipulate.

The pouches are tight on 2 AK magazines but they appear to be breaking in a bit with use. This doesn’t make the magazines hard to remove, but they can be somewhat tough to insert. This is a small gripe. The pouches really do work as designed. There is plenty of space for two M4 magazines.

2 AK mags make for a tight fit at first but the pouch will break in with some use.

There are no seams or folds on the interior of the pouches. This is especially important for AK users. There is nothing for the locking tabs on AK magazines to catch on when they are being retrieved from the pouch.

The original x-harness is more than sufficient for this rig, but the Slim Padded H-Harness takes the comfort to the next level. I am very impressed with it. User who intend to use the rig as a bandolier will need to stick with the original x-harness.

The 1.5″ side release buckles (SRB) on the top of the rig can be a little annoying when you are shouldering the rifle. I had the rig adjusted to ride very high on my chest and found that I was frequently hitting the buckles with the buttstock of my rifle. Because of the slim nature of this rig, these buckles can end up right over the part of your shoulder that you would hold the buttstock of your rifle in a more squared up shooting stance. This was solved by simply adjusting it to ride lower (it is still quite high).

I really like how this rig carries a tourniquet. Tourniquets are central to my gunshot wound care preparation and training. It is vitally important they are are able to carried in such a way that they are accessible with one hand from a variety of positions and the elastic loops on the bottom of this rig accomplish this nicely.

These loops keep the TQ out of the way and easy to access.

This rig wears very well with a backpack. It is narrow enough to fit in between the straps of the pack. It also wears nicely over a plate carrier.

The only real annoyance that I have with this rig is that my sling tends to catch on the bottom of the Slim Padded H-Harness. This could probably be solved by moving the “cross-member” portion of the rig all the way to the bottom of the shoulder pads. As it is now, there are some corners that the sling tends to slip under. Then, when I bring the rifle up, it pulls against the rig and I have to fight against it a bit. It is annoying but it never prevented me from shouldering the rifle.

Conclusion

I really, really like this rig. It is very small and very versatile. The mag pouches are so well proportioned that it makse me wish they were offered separately. It is completely over built and should last a good long time. Most importantly, it fits perfectly with my idea of what I need a chest rig to do – carry what I can’t carry on my belt and stay out of the way.

Check out the AK/M4 Micro Rig on the OSOE website.

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