Archive | Tactical Gear

Viking Tactics Brokos Battle Belt

The new VTAC Brokos Belt has an interesting feature that I have never seen before on a battle belt. The MOLLE webbing is broken into 2×2 panels which allows you to thread the belt under or over a panel. This allows users to mount both MOLLE and belt mounted pouches. That is some serious innovation.

It also makes more use of mesh than I have ever seen in a battle belt. The pay off is that it weighs less than 8 ounces and should breath better than any other battle belt that I have used. The use of 500 denier nylon also helps keep the weight down.

Kudos to Kyle Lamb and VTAC for bringing some truly new and exciting features to the battle belt concept.

It is available on the VTAC website for pre-order.

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ATS Low Profile Chest Harness – Compact Chest Rig Perfection?

Experience changes your perception of what works. When I first started shooting, I built a MOLLE chest rig in anticipation of my first carbine course. Nearly every column of webbing on that rig was filled with a pouch of some sort. I could cram 8 magazines into it and it looked awesome. That chest rig didn’t survive the transition from looking cool in the living room to actually being used on the range. It was bulky, heavy, and hot. It interfered with my draw stroke, my sling, hydration back pack straps, and anything close to natural movement. Lesson learned.

I am a slow learner and, while my chest rig choices have gradually gotten smaller, simpler, and lighter, I feel like I have still been trying to learn the lesson from that first chest rig… until now. Several months ago I picked up an ATS Low Profile Chest Harness. The “Low Profile” part of the name is very fitting. It is a very different rig from that first rig all those years ago.

 

 

The ATS Tactical Low Profile Chest Harness is everything you need and nothing you don't.

 

The ATS Low Profile Chest Harness (LPCH) is definitely an exercise in “everything you need, nothing you don’t”. It can hold 3 primary magazines in “shingle” style on the center of your chest. There easy to use shock cord retainers on each magazine pouch. On either side of the magazine pouches is a utility pouch that is roughly the size of a 32 ounce Nalgene bottle. These pouches can be used for your blow out kit (in fact, ATS makes a medical insert for the pouches that is sold separately), various range items, extra magazines, or what ever else you can fit. The body of the rig is made from double layer 1000 denier Cordura and the space in between the layers can be used for storage as well (small, flat items work best here). The entire rig is covered with PALs webbing so you can add additional pouches.

 

 

Note the Velcro field on the harness and the way the straps are adjusted with no loose ends.

 

The harness on the LPCH is basically perfect in my opinion. It features a non-padded “H” harness with a generous Velcro field in the center of the back for adding patches. The loose ends of the straps can be tucked into the body of the body of the chest rig which is an excellent feature. Many chest rigs have heavily padded shoulder straps or harnesses which may be necessary for an over loaded rig but they make using wearing a backpack a real pain. “X” harnesses also tend to pinch the neck, especially when you are wearing a pack so the “H” harness design of the LPCH is a welcome change. I tend to prefer flat, wide, non-padded shoulder straps, especially now that I have learned my lesson about overloading a chest rig. For those who feel that they need a padded harness, ATS makes one that can be purchased separately.

 

 

The utility pouches will nearly close on a 32oz Nalgene bottle.

 

The LPCH is lightweight and very compact. Its footprint is very small on your chest. This is what initially drew me to this chest rig. The chest rig is small enough that it doesn’t really wrap around your chest like many chest rigs. It almost fits perfectly between the straps of my backpack. That, coupled with the thin “H” harness, makes wearing a pack with the LPCH much easier than with other rigs.

The magazine pouches are well designed. They are deep enough to retain the magazine quite well (even without the shock cord retainers) but they still allow you to get a good grip on the magazine body. A good grip on the magazine is essential to a fast and sure handed reload. No one wants to be the guy who is throwing magazines down range because their magazine pouches only allow a finger tip grip. The pouches even work reasonably well with AK Magazines (though some AK mags will be a tight fit).

 

 

If you need to carry more magazines, you can easily fit 3 spares in a utility pouch.

 

I like to wear my chest rigs pretty high on my chest. This accomplishes 2 things: 1) it is more comfortable in the prone position and 2) it minimizes interference with other gear like your handgun holster. Some rigs are limited as to how how they can be run because of their padded shoulder straps or harness. This is not the case with the LPCH which can be adjusted to ride very high on the chest. The LPCH works very well with a belt rig. I find that I reload fastest from my belt, so having a chest rig that can be used effectively with my belt rig is big positive for me.

 

 

You can utilize the pocket inside the body of the chest rig for flat items like maps and field note books.

 

The ATS Low Profile Chest Rig probably won’t make your reloads any faster. It won’t make you lucky with the ladies or help you re-grow hair. It will do a very good job of carrying magazines and other essential gear on the range without over loading you or getting in the way. If you too have learned that less is more when it comes to chest rigs, then you might find it to be a good choice. I liked it so much that I bought one for my wife too. Even she likes it.

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ESEE and DPx

Jeff Randall, co-owner of ESEE Knives and Randall Adventure Training (RAT), has announced that DPx will spawn its own brand in the ESEE Family. DPx is the collaboration of renowned adventurer Robert Young Pelton and ESEE Knives. The DPx Gear H.E.S.T. was the first fruits of this joint venture and now we can look forward to many other items.

 

DPx Gear HEST

 

The new DPx line will feature items that are targeted towards adventurers and a the tactical market while ESEE Knives continues to serve the survival market. You can look forward to a H.E.S.T. Folder, DPx soft goods, and other items. There will also eventually be DPx specific training courses offered.

I am really looking forward to seeing what comes of this collaboration. I will keep you up to date as products are released.

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MagCinch Tool – Great Gear for the Range

The MagCinch Tool has many functions that Ar15 shooters will find useful even though you wouldn’t know it by its modest name. It has been an invaluable tool that I have been using for several years. I suppose that since it is made by MagCinch (Buffer Tech) that its primary function is to tighten MagCinch magazine couplers. I don’t own any magazine couplers and generally do not care for them but it is the multiple other functions of the tool that I use most often.

The MagCinch Tool has a set of screwdriver/scraper tips that I use frequently. One is angled for use with Phillips head screws or for scraping tight spaces. The other is sized to scrape the front of a AR-15 bolt. I rarely use them as scrapers but they are great for adjusting an Aimpoint or other optic. If you have to use them to turn more than a couple of screws, you will wish you had a real screwdriver, but they work quite well in a pinch.

The front sight adjustment tool works extremely well. It has a square hole that slips over the front sight and a small pin that you use to depress the front sight detent. You simply place it over the front sight, depress the pin, and twist. It is easy and it beats mauling the tip of a bullet.

There are also 2 different sizes of pin pushers. These have come in handy several times to push pins especially on new AR15s with very tight upper receiver to lower receiver fit. They can be used to push the pin just enough to get your fingers on it.

There is also a lanyard loop that can be used to dummy cord the tool to your gear. It would be a shame to lose such a useful tool in the field. I rarely use this feature but I can see the value.

The MagCinch Tool isn’t nearly as full featured as some of the “Leatherman” style tools that are coming to market for the AR-15, but it is much less expensive, much lighter in weight, and still extremely useful. I wish I had a dollar for every time I have been asked to pass the MagCinch tool down the firing line to fix some small problem. It is a worthy addition to your gear.

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Free Map Tools at MapTools.com

Recently I found myself 2 days before a hike without a map ruler for 1:24000 scale maps. I didn’t know of any retailers locally that would have what I needed and I didn’t think that an online retailer would be able to get the ruler to me in time for the hike. Sure, I could get by by just using the scale on the map, but those are often scaled in miles and I prefer to have the option to measure things out in yards or meters if possible.

MapTools.com to the rescue! I was already on their site to order some other tools (which will be reviewed in an upcoming article) when I noticed that MapTools.com has a free download section. They have a ton of great tools in .PDF format that can be downloaded for free. I downloaded a 1:24K map ruler and had several printed on overhead transperancy sheets at a local office supply chain. You may also want to consider laminating your ruler since the printing may rub a bit under field conditions. The rulers worked perfectly and I was able to share some spares with others on the hike.

Check out the free tools here.

While you are there, check out their line of unique, very useful, and not free map tools.

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