Tag Archives | Blue Force Gear

Blue Force Gear Ten-Speed Chest Rigs with MOLLE

The original Ten Speed Chest Rigs from Blue Force Gear were well known for their light weight, low profile, and versatility. However, they weren’t user configurable. Blue Force Gear went back to the drawing board and has returned with a new design for the Ten-Speeed Chest Rigs that gives the user even more flexibility.

The key to the original Ten-Speed Chest Rig’s lightweight, low profile, and versatility was the unique design of the Ten-Speed magazine pouches. This new version has the same pouches but there are fewer of them. The outer pouches have been replaced with MOLLE webbing so the user can add their own pouches like a blow out kit or admin pouch. So, the Ten-Speed Chest Rigs with MOLLE have the versatility of the Ten-Speed elastic mag pouches that can carry just about anything that you can fit into them along with the versatility of MOLLE webbing. Math isn’t my strongest subject, but I am pretty sure that equals more versatility.

Check out the Ten-Speed Chest Rigs with MOLLE on BlueForceGear.com.

BFG Helium Whisper Items Available Now

Ever since the Blue Force Gear Helium Whisper review, many of you have been asking when the pouches would be available. I have good news – the Helium Whisper pouches are available now on Blue Force Gear’s website.

The selection of Helium Whisper pouches is very good right now. All of the items from the review are available and there are many new items as well, including the very slick Admin Pouch that was making waves at the SHOT Show.

Check out the full line of Helium Whisper pouches on BlueForceGear.com.

 

Review: Blue Force Gear Dappers

Sometimes you a need a bag that has the open space to carry larger items and sometimes you need a lot of organization features to carry smaller items. Thankfully, with Blue Force Gear Dappers you don’t have to choose between wide open storage capacity and fine tuned organization. These hook and loop backed pouches can be moved easily to configure your pack exactly the way that you need it for your specific mission.

My typical Dapper layout in a BFG Skye Pack.

Blue Force Gear (BFG) has discontinued their DAP Packs this year in favor of a new direction for the DAP line in 2012. Some of the DAP packs are still available at great prices on the Blue Force Gear Last Call page). They will continue to offer the excellent Dappers that will work in any hoop and loop lined bag which are becoming more common. They have also introduced a couple of inserts that are designed to make Dappers work in just about any bag that you already own. This new approach will only add to the versatility of the Dapper line.

Blue Force Gear graciously provided me with a Wall Street Warrior Kit and Skye Pack (now discontinued) to check out. Since the pack has been discontinued, I’ll focus on several different styles of Dappers individually.

The excellent but now discontinued BFG Skye Pack

Admin Pouch Dapper

The Admin Pouch Dapper is easily my favorite pouch in the line. It has the perfect combination of small organization features and a larger storage area.

The Admin Pouch Dapper has no shortage of organizational features.

The front of the Admin Pouch Dapper has been improved for 2012. The fabric organizer loops have been replaced with the same heavy duty elastic material that is used on the Ten Speed line. The result is an organizer that can stretch to accommodate nearly any pen, flashlight, multitool, or a number of other items. There is also a small flap covered pouch on the front that can hold something as large as an Altoids tin, digital camera, compass.

Behind all of the organization features is a large zippered pouch. This pouch is large enough to hold larger and bulkier items.

The new elastic organizer is very versatile in terms of what will fit.

Mesh Pouch Dapper

The Mesh Pouch Dapper is just what it sounds like. The front of the pouch is made from heavy duty mesh which lets you see the contents. The interior back of the pouch is lined with hook material so you can add other Dappers for internal organization. The top of the pouch has a small webbing loop that makes the Mesh Pouch Dapper a great pull out type pouch that can be separated from your main pack.

The Mesh Pouch Dapper is a large pouch that can hold bulky items.

The interior of the Mesh Pouch Dapper can accept other Dappers.

I like to keep my winter hat and gloves in it since it is large enough to hold bulkier items and the mesh front allows them to dry after spending a day in the snow. If you have a BFG Skye or Overlord pack with the hook and loop lined beavertail, you can mount the Mesh Pouch Dapper to it on the outside of your pack to let wet items dry out through the mesh without getting the contents of your pack wet.

The mesh makes this Dapper great for drying items like winter hats and gloves.

Ten Speed Pistol Dapper

The Ten Speed Pistol Dapper is designed to hold pistol mags and it does that very well. However, like the rest of the Ten Speed line, it makes use of heavy duty elastic which makes it useful for holding a wide variety of items.

This versatile Dapper works for more than just handgun mags. Here it is holding a Multitasker TUBE, a large Sharpie, and 2 chemlights.

I had no problem fitting Glock 17 magazines. I could even fit Glock 21 magazines. The Ten Speed Pistol Dapper is also great for storing pens, markers, chemlights, and tools like the Multitasker TUBE.

The Ten Speed Pistol Dapper is compact enough to fit inside the Mesh Pouch Dapper. This adds some organization to an already useful pouch.

Large Laptop Sleeve Dapper

The Large Laptop Sleeve Dapper is another one of my favorite Dappers because it solves a problem for me. Backpacks that have padded laptop sleeves are great, when you are carrying a laptop. If you aren’t carrying a laptop, all of that padding is taking up useful interior space and adding weight. BFG solves that by making their laptop sleeve removable. You can simply remove it when you don’t need it.

Not carrying a laptop? The Laptop Dapper lets you remove the bulky sleeve when you don't need it.

The Large Laptop sleeve is padded all the way around. It features a large flap that secures the contents of the sleeve. My largest laptop is about 10×15 and it fits easily. The entire front and sides are covered with hook and loop so that you can add more Dappers to the exterior. I have also found that it works as a hydration pouch in a pinch.

Other Considerations

These are well made pouches as I have come to expect from Blue Force Gear. The materials are top notch and the construction is probably heavier duty than is needed for pouches that are designed to be used inside a pack, so they should last quite a long time.

It is becoming more common for packs to have interior hook and loop panels so it won’t be hard to find places that the Dappers will be useful. Makers are recognizing that hook and loop is a fairly light weight and completely customizable way to add organization to the interior of a pack. I have owned packs that have internal MOLLE webbing but that tends to be heavy and for more restrictive as to how you can layout the pouches. I hope that we will continue to see more gear makers adding internal hook and loop so that we can leverage the very complete line of organization tools that the Dappers represent.

This M4 Triple Ten Speed Dapper is being used on the front of a BCS Low Profile Plate Carrier.

Dappers aren’t just for inside a bag. I use an M4 Triple Ten Speed Dapper on the front of a low profile plate carrier that I helped design with Beez Combat Systems.

Conclusion

I have just scratched the surface of the Dapper line. There isn’t a more versatile or customizable organization system on the market. The Dappers are also easily the most complete line up of hook and loop organizers. With a nice selection of Dappers, you will never again have to choose between having enough space and having enough organization.

You can see the whole line of Dappers on BlueForceGear.com.

Blue Force Gear D.A.P. Dappers

Some backpacks have so much internal organization that it can be difficult to carry larger items and other backpacks have so little internal organization that small items can not be easily accessed. Thankfully, Blue Force Gear has the D.A.P. (Denied Area Pattern) line of backpacks and organization pouches called Dappers. The D.A.P. line represents a completely customizable approach to organizing your gear.

The D.A.P. Dappers are pouches that are backed with hook side Velcro. They can be attached to any surface that is covered with loop side Velcro, like the interior of a D.A.P. pack or other packs that are Velcro lined. The Velcro attachment system allows pouches to be mounted anywhere inside the pack and in any orientation. The possibilities are nearly infinite. While other manufacturers offer Velcro backed pouches, no one comes close to having as complete a line of pouches and organizers.

All of the D.A.P. packs including backpacks of various sizes and discreet rifle cases are being discontinued for 2012 and will be redesigned eventually. This is actually a great time to check them out since they are being closed out on the Blue Force Gear Last Call page at steep discounts. While Blue Force Gear is discontinuing the packs, they will keep producing the Dappers for 2012. They will also be introducing products that will adapt the Dappers to just about any pack.

Blue Force Britteny recently posted this video that shows the versatility of the Dappers and the D.A.P. packs:

Be sure to check out the full line of D.A.P. Dappers and the discounted D.A.P. Packs on the Blue Force Gear webpage. Stay tuned to Jerking the Trigger for a full review of the Wall Street Warrior Dapper Kit!

Review: Blue Force Gear Project Helium Whisper

Some gear makers are content to make a piece of gear the same way as everyone else. Some makers innovate small changes that tweak the functionality of a piece of gear. The best gear makers seem to be able to completely re-imagine a piece of gear from the ground up and create something that is extremely functional, very unique, and demonstrably better than anything else on the market. Blue Force Gear (BFG) is cementing themselves as one of those rare gear manufacturers that fits the last, best category.

You can look at the BFG Ten-Speed line to see a great example of the kind of innovation that I am talking about. When everyone else was making nylon box shaped magazine pouches, Blue Force Gear made theirs from heavy duty elastic. The result is a pouch that is extremely functional and completely different than anything else – not different for the sake of being different, but different with a purpose.

Now it seems that BFG might be set to turn the tactical gear market on its ear again with Project Helium Whisper. Helium Whisper is an effort to make the lightest possible load carrying gear without sacrificing durability through the use of modern technology, design, and materials. The project is getting a ton of attention (for good reason) and I am happy to have gotten my hands on a few examples from the new line to review.

Helium Whisper Overview

Project Helium Whisper represents the convergence of several factors like new light weight materials and innovative design, but the key is the entirely new way of manufacturing a MOLLE pouch’s backing. Most MOLLE pouch backings consists of several pieces of webbing, snaps, and stiffeners. The backing for the Helium Whisper line is made from a single piece of CNC laser cut laminate. This laminate is very light weight and very durable. By cutting the backing from a single piece, BFG also cuts out several manufacturing steps and eases the challenges around aligning and sewing the webbing.

There are other benefits to this new thin, flexible laminate backing. The MOLLE tabs are flexible enough to be able to fold onto itself and they are cut to be narrower where they pass through the MOLLE webbing that it is being threaded to. This allows the pouch to be attached to webbing with out-of-spec spacing like in cases where a row is cut short because of a zipper. Pouches with stiff MOLLE tabs could never be mounted in these narrow columns, but this becomes usable space with the Helium Whisper line.

An additional benefit is that the laminate material can be laser etched. This means that the additional weight and manufacturing complexity of a label is unnecessary. The manufacturer name, pouch name, NSN, etc. can all be etched directly onto the pouch. So, if you think about it, instead of adding weight with a tag, they are actually reducing the weight of the pouch when they laser etch it.

All of the above means that BFG has created a durable and versatile line of pouches, some of which weigh as little as half of what their similar current issue MOLLE pouches weigh, and they hope to be able to deliver them at around the same price or perhaps less. Amazing.

Ten-Speed Single M4 Magazine Pouch

The regular, non-Helium Whisper, Ten-Speed Single M4 Magazine Pouch is already a lightweight at around 40 grams. The Helium Whisper version of the Ten-Speed Single M4 Magazine Pouch weighs an astonishingly light 30 grams! To put that in perspective, I weighed several other manufacturers single M4 magazine pouches that I had access to and they weighed anywhere from 59 grams to 77 grams. The lightest single magazine pouch that I own weighs 1 gram short of double what the Helium Whisper pouches weighs. Two large MALICE clips weigh 28 grams. The Helium Whisper Ten-Speed Single M4 Magazine Pouch which includes MOLLE straps weighs only 2 grams more than just the mounting system of other pouches. The numbers tell the story.

I own other Ten-Speed pouches so I knew what to expect. These pouches are far different than anything else on the market. They are soft like nylon but function much like an open top kydex magazine pouch in terms of ease of access. The elastic is very heavy duty and has proven to be extremely durable. It almost has a slightly toothy texture that seems to help it grip whatever you can fit in the pouch. I have used the Ten-Speed Single M4 Magazine Pouch to carry everything from a Motorola radio, to a GPS, to a tourniquet. The unique properties of the elastic allow it to fit and retain a wide variety of items and yet still lay completely flat when not in use.

This magazine pouch has so many applications thanks to its extremely low profile and feather weight. The most obvious is to build an entire load carrying system using these pouches, but there are tons of other possibilities for those who just need to update or expand the capabilities of their current gear. Let’s say you have a 3 magazine shingle on the front of your plate carrier and want the ability to occasionally carry more than 3 magazines. Add a few of the Ten-Speed M4 Magazine Pouches and now you have the ability to carry additional mags with negligible additional weight and almost no bulk. If you aren’t using the pouch(es), you will not even notice that they are there.

If you like open top magazine pouches, you will like the Ten-Speed Single M4 Magazine Pouch. The elastic retains the magazines aggressively, almost like kydex. The pouch presents about 3″ of a 30 round PMAG above the top of the pouch so retrieving it is fast and easy. The pouch would basically swallow a 20 round magazine, but the hold is so aggressive that you can just insert the magazine part way and it works. I spent part of the testing time with this pouch on a plate carrier and part of the time with it on a MOLLE belt. It worked great in both locations, but it really shined on the belt. There might not be a faster way to reload than from the belt with a well designed open top pouch like the Ten-Speed Single M4 Magazine Pouch.

The biggest (and really only, in my experience) potential downside to the Ten-Speed line for some users is that it can be difficult to insert a magazine into the pouch with one hand. It can be done, and I do it all the time, but it does take some practice. However, I do not train to put empty or partially loaded magazines back into pouches, so it is not something that I need to do in a hurry. Insert magazines into pouches are almost entirely an administrative action. So, for me, this is a complete non-issue.

There is no lighter, lower profile, or more versatile magazine pouch on the market than this.

Ten-Speed SSE Pouch

The Ten-Speed SSE Pouch weighs in at just over 65 grams which means it is the lightest stand alone dump pouch on the market… or, at least it used to be the lightest. The Helium Whisper version of the same pouch weighs only 53 grams!

This pouch is just too cool. In its compacted state it packs into a 3×4″ package. The thin ripstop nylon bag packs into a small elastic faced pouch with only a rip tab protruding. When you need to use the dump pouch, you simply rip down on the tab to release the bag. It takes up almost no space on a belt, chest rig, or plate carrier but provides a very usable dump pouch.

I’ll take a second to say a few words about dump pouches. Many dump pouches on the market simply stink. You either have to cinch them so tight that you can’t easily drop anything into them or it looks like you are leaving a yard sale in your wake as soon as you start move. If a dump pouch is mounted to rigidly to your body, it will move with your body while the contents of the dump pouch knock around freely until they happen to find the opening and fly out. The best dump pouches, like the Helium Whisper Ten-Speed SSE Pouch are mounted only at the top of the pouch. This allows them to swing freely and move with the items that they contain. I dare you to try to get something to pop out the top of this dump pouch by jumping around or running. It just isn’t going to happen and that is a very, very good thing.

Utility Pouch, Zippered, Small

At first, I didn’t think that I would have much to write about when it comes to a simple utility pouch, but I was wrong. This pouch is actually packed with features.

The laminate material that is used for the backing is extended down to make the bottom of the pouch. The bottom of a utility pouch is going to take the brunt of the wear from shifting objects inside so having a bottom made from this durable material is a real plus. It also eliminates an entire seam which saves weight.

The Helium Whisper Utility Pouch, Zippered, Small weighs only 82 grams. A pouch with the same linear dimensions that I own from a different manufacturer weighs 101 grams. 20 grams here and 20 grams there can really add up when you have to carry several different types of pouches.

This pouch also has two interior loops made from gutted para-cord. These can be used as lash points for important items that you might store in the pouch like a compass or flashlight. The ability to dummy cord items to the pouch can be especially useful in the dark or over water to prevent loss.

The Utility Pouch, Zippered, Small also features a Multicam printed zipper. This is the first zipper with camo printing that I have seen in person and it is a really nice touch.

So, while the Utility Pouch, Zippered, Small is the most traditional of all the pouches that I received for review in terms of shape, it also one of the most feature rich. The way that the backing is extended into the bottom of the pouch makes it the perfect showcase for the weight savings and durability of this new laminate backing. BFG says that in the future, they may be able to print camo patterns onto the laminate backing which would allow them to extend it on the front of the pouch, saving even more weight.

Conclusion

If you can’t tell by now, I think these pouches are amazing and maybe even revolutionary. This blog has afforded me the privilege of being able to check out some really innovative gear and I am not sure that I have ever handled anything more innovative than these BFG Helium Whisper pouches. On one hand, they are just simple load carrying devices, but on the other, their combination of design, technology, and materials seem like the future of nylon gear.

I’ll leave you with this… Blue Force Gear has shown that the average soldier’s load carrying gear can be reduced in weight by 1-3 pounds by replacing the current issue pouches with Helium Whisper pouches. That means that an additional 1-3 30 round M4 magazines or an additional 32 ounce container of water could be carried with no weight penalty versus what is currently issued right now. Wow.

You can read more about the Helium Whisper line on the Blue Force Gear website.

Disclosure: These pouches were provided to me by Blue Force Gear, free of charge, for review.

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