USSF Engagement (MSOT/ODA/82nd Airborne) Afghanistan 2010

US Non-MOLLE(ish) Load Bearing Gear

So, a while back I bought an olive drab Tokyo Marui M14. As with moving to any new gun platform, it comes with the dilemma of more magazines, more batteries, more load bearing gear to suit the size of magazines etc. etc.

As the M14 is more of an old school battle rifle, I decided to go with belt kit for it and, to cut a long story short, decided on an ALICE-style setup (most of which I had knocking around in the cupboard) and some new Tactical Tailor 308 pouches to go with the US woodland BDUs, boonie and jungle boots for a sort of late 80s/early 90s style SEAL greenside look. Obviously, this was the start of yet another slippery slope of getting the look and functionality of the belt absolutely right, going through several iterations until you get to the (possible) end result of what you see here. I dare say there will be a few changes when I start using it, but it looks good to go.

The reason for two sets is pretty simple. I was looking for a Blackhawk belt pad to finish off the belt kit. Someone was selling a Blackhawk belt, belt pad and H-harness on one of the forums, so I bought it. He very kindly threw in the rest of the kit he was selling so I effectively had two sets of belt kit, neither of which was ideal for what I wanted so last night I sat down with my new Blu-Ray copy of Act of Valour to sort out this big bag of olive green and US woodland camouflage.

As mentioned above, I bought an entire new ALICE rig from a UK airsoft forum. This consisted of two ALICE magazine pouches, two water bottle pouches, Blackhawk belt, pad and harness and a USGI buttpack. In the gear cupboard, there was already a 308 belt kit built on an ALICE belt and LC-2 suspenders, as well as an old LBV, some more water bottle pouches, another butt pack and some other odds and ends. All of this lot was immediately dismantled and scattered around the living room floor.

Without going into too much boring detail, the end result can be seen in the pictures below. I got the 308 ALICE-style belt that I was after in the first place, and had more than enough bits left over for an M4/M16 riflemans LBV as well.

The US load-bearing vest setup consists of 2 ALICE 5.56mm ammo pouches, 2 water bottle pouches, buttpack, first aid kit and a High Speed Gear Inc dropleg holster (for a Colt 1911).







The belt kit is built on a Blackhawk belt, belt pad and harness and features a Tactical Tailor triple pistol pouch, 4 Tactical Tailor .308/7.62 pouches, 2 water bottle pouches, buttpack, Bianchi M12 holster and a compass/dressing pouch.

Plus the kitchen sink

...is the title of this excellent article on an excellent blog. The article, by a guy called Eric Pfleger, a staff instructor at Suarez International, covers the kit required by a 'guerilla fighter'. It is basically a discourse on what you need to carry to fight and survive for an extended period of time. The rest of the Warrior Talk forum is equally worth checking out.

Over to Eric's article.

Travis Haley Talks About Dropleg Holsters

Some good ideas here, even if it is focused on the 6004 that he carries.

War Songs: 'Drive On' by Johnny Cash

I don't think I've ever posted a song about war on this blog. I was just listening to Johnny Cash's 'American I: American Recordings' album and this is track 4. It's called 'Drive On'. Johnny Cash explains the story behind the song at the beginning of the video so I won't bother.



Lyrics

I got a friend named Whiskey Sam
He was my boonierat buddy for a year in Nam
He said is my country just a little off track
Took 'em twenty-five years to welcome me back
But, it's better than not coming back at all
Many a good man I saw fall
And even now, every time I dream
I hear the men and the monkeys in the jungle scream

Drive on, it don't mean nothin'
My children love me , but they don't understand
And I got a woman who knows her man
Drive on, don't mean nothin', drive on

I remember one night, Tex and me
Rappelled in on a hot L.Z
We had our 16's on rock and roll
But, with all that fire, I was scared and cold
We were crazy, we were wild
And I have seen the tiger smile
I spit in a bamboo viper's face
And I'd be dead , but by God's grace

Drive on, it don't mean nothin'
My children love me , but they don't understand
And I got a woman who knows her man
Drive on, don't mean nothin', drive on

It was a real slow walk in a real sad rain
And nobody tried to be John Wayne
I came home, but Tex did not
And I can't talk about the hit he got
I got a little limp now when I walk
Got a little tremolo when I talk
But my letter read from Whiskey Sam
You're a walkin' talkin' miracle from Vietnam

Drive on, it don't mean nothin'
My children love me , but they don't understand
And I got a woman who knows her man
Drive on, don't mean nothin', drive on

HK417 Review by Land Warrior Airsoft

Here's a video review of the new Umarex/VFC HK417. Wasn't sold on this but having watched the video I might have changed my mind. Only thing that puts me off is the size of the magazines and having to buy another load of load bearing gear and extra magazines, ultimately turning a £400 gun into more like a six or seven hundred pound gun. A mate has one on pre-order so I'll reserve judgment until I've seen one in the flesh.

Warbelt. Now with Added Tacos

As mentioned previously on this blog, I've upgraded a bunch of ammo pouches to HSGI Tacos. Two of the double-decker Tacos, along with an HSGI Bleeder Blowout pouch have gone on my warbelt. The current incarnation of this belt (which will inevitably change again in the near future) consists of (from left to right): TAG Padded Patrol Belt, HSGI Double-Decker Tacox2, Warrior Assault Systems torch pouch, Maxpedition medium Roly-Poly, Warrior medium utility pouch, HSGI bleeder blowout pouch, CAT tourniquet and Blackhawk SERPA with SIG Sauer 226 (Tokyo Marui). I can see this changing again in the near future, still not 100% perfect. The two taco pouches have been moved so they're right next to each other. I'd like to change the torch pouch for an OD one and the belt may change for something like the Tactical Tailor Fight-Light belt. I'd also like a different pouch to replace the utility pouch, but haven't found one more suitable yet. The holster may also get replaced with a kydex holster, but I have to settle on which handgun will be carried on this belt, if I find a nice railed 1911, that may go on in place of the SIG. The hunt goes on.

Blogger to Facebook (via Twitter)

This all used to work. In days gone by, when I posted on Blogger, it would automatically publish to Twitter and Facebook. Since the Facebook TImeline appeared, this all stopped working and I never looked into why. Now I've looked into it and guess what? It's as easy as pie. My posts here now appear in Twitter and in turn get Tweeted to Facebook. All is well in the world again*. *Hopefully. This post is to see if this is in fact the case. What could possibly go wrong.

Haley Strategic Disruptive Environment Course

Some excerpts from the Haley Strategic Disruptive Environments: Handgun / Darkness / Vehicle class. Live rounds and SIMS/Airsoft guns in use.

Review: HSGI AO Chest Rig, Bleeder Blowout Pouch and Tacos

I had long had my eye on some HSGI Tacos. The modularity and capacity for carrying pretty much any magazines in the same rig really appealed to me; a single taco being able to hold M16, AK and .308 (M14/SCAR-H/G3) magazines without the need for much adjustment other than perhaps loosening or tightening the shock cord that runs aroung the outside of the pouch.

When I play airsoft, I usually run an Armalite-style rifle or an M14 and the complications involved around all the gear needed in taking them both airsofting on the same day can be a pain in the ass. I usually run a Molle belt and some sort of chest rig when using an AR-style rifle, and a load-bearing style belt kit (either ALICE or M-56) for the M14. Until recently, the 5.11 mini chest rig fulfilled this role, assuming I just wanted to use my AR. If I decided to switch to the M14, I would have to take another load carrying solution (one of the two aforementioned belt-and-suspender affairs) involving 7.62 magazine pouches. This had the added problem of requiring duplicate pieces of ancilliary gear such as dump pouch, torch pouch, canteen pouch, utility pouch IFAK etc on each of the belts. Using a single chest rig and belt kit equipped with Tacos would prevent the need for this duplication of equipment, would cut down the bare minimum of gear I would need to take with me for a days skirmishing (unless I chose otherwise) and would also take away the need to familiarise oneself with pouch layout for more than one weapons platform, in other words, running two dramatically different rifles, all the pouches would be in the same place for both.


First off, HSGI gear is not cheap. When deciding on which rig to buy, I looked at a few other manufacturers: Mayflower, Blue Force Gear and Tyr Tactical being the main competitors, with Warrior Assault Systems also in the running (Warrior DCS Plate Carrier review to follow in the near future, but that's another story). The price of all of the above manufacturers are comparitive with that of HSGI, but my experience with other High Speed Gear products (I've had one of their drop leg holsters for years now) has convinced me of the quality and value for money, not to mention workmanship and sheer rock-solidness of the HSGI brand. Having decided on HSGI gear, I ordered the Double Decker Value Combo which consists of the AO chest rig, a bleeder blowout pouch and three double-decker tacos. The AO double decker combo retails at $195. Buying the chest rig, bleeder pouch and 3 double decker tacos seperately would cost you $219 so you're saving a few quid buy getting the whole lot. In addition, to give my belt rig 'cross-platform support', I went with an extra two X2R double rifle tacos with the intention of mounting them, the bleeder pouch and a double-decker pistol/pouch on the chest rig and a pair of the double decker pistol/rifle pouches on my belt. Ultimately, this would allow me to carry seven rifle magazines and three pistol magazines (or a combination of pistol mag/multitool/torch) in total. More than enough for a few hours running round Peterborough's Urban Assault site.

Trying to put together the Tacos with the AO rig and my existing TAG patrol belt was not a lot of fun. I spent around four hours on a Sunday afternoon mounting these damn things to the belt and building the chest rig. As I mentioned before, HSGI gear is rock solid, tough as old boots and built to last. It took some work threading the malice clips through the Tacos themselves, let alone threading them through the rig or belt AND the pouch. When I tell you that blood, sweat and skin went into this new gear, please don't think I'm talking metaphorically. There is an instructional video on the HSGI site explaining how to mount tacos, it suggests using pliers and a bunch of other tools. You will need them. I recently moved one of the double-decker tacos to a slightly different position on my belt. Now that the mounting straps on the back of the pouch have had a chance to stretch a bit, it was much easier, but still quite tricky to engage the clips on the Malice clips again. Definitely not for the faint-hearted or impatient. I would also recommend planning carefully before mounting the pouches. Having attached them, you won't want to have to move them again in a hurry.


I decided on getting the whole lot in Smoke Green to make it as generic as possible, ensuring it would match up more or less with the existing kit, and wouldn't look out of place with any of the clothing I wear. If old-school green isn't entirely your bag, you can also get all of the HSGI gear mentioned here in Multicam, Khaki, Black, Coyote and ATACS (no word yet on ATACS forest green). I've yet to try out this gear in anger, but in the comfort of my own home, the ergonomics and layout feel great. The Tacos are still pretty stiff and hold magazines well, but do not make them difficult to draw in a hurry. Getting them back in is another matter and can be a bit fiddly, but this is not something you are likely to need to be able to do with any degree of urgency.


Moving on to the bleeder pouch, this represents a simple IFAK style system. It is only big enough to hold the essential items. I have an Israeli bandage and a ziplock bag with some basic first aid items in (wipes, plasters, safety pins etc). To give some idea of the size, it is around the same size as a double magazine pouch (and could quite easily duplicate as one). It features a red strap with a d-ring on the end that sits inside the pouch that can be used to quickly eject the contents of the pouch should the need arise. I have mounted a CAT tourniquet to the side of the pouch purely for cosmetic reasons.

Fox Airsoft LLC

Just got a really nice email from Frank Scharnell at Fox Airsoft in the US asking if I could add a link to his store here on my blog. It's always nice to hear from people who actually read (and in this case, even enjoy) my blog, and great to help out fellow airsofters. The link can be found in the sidebar or can be followed from here. Enjoy.

Ghost Recon Future Soldier Trailer

The latest installment in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon series. Not sure about this though, looks a bit too much like a John Cena movie. The game looks pretty good though, check out some multi-player footage at Ubi.com.

Hatin' on Glocks

Just for laughs, here's some Glock hating images I found on zombiehunters.org.

The Wasteland Crow Project

Nothing at all gun related or tactical here, just some old-fashioned, post-apocalyptic, zombie-killing blades and leatherwork. Beautiful craftsmanship on both parts from the Wasteland Crow Project.

.950 JDJ - Not Sure That's Entirely Necessary...

According to Wikipedia, the .950 JDJ round is

"The .950 JDJ is the world's largest, and most powerful caliber rifle cartridge.[citation needed] Loaded .950 JDJ cartridges are approximately the length of an empty .50 BMG casing (i.e., 4"), and are based on a 20x102mm case shortened and necked up to accept the .950" bullet. Projectiles are custom-made and most commonly weigh 3,600 grains (230 g) which is 8.2 ounces or over half a pound."

These guns are too heavy for anything useful, cost upwards of $8000 and rounds are $40 a pop. My favourite factoid about this beast is "The muzzle energy of the .950 JDJ is comparable to the kinetic energy of a 2,800 lb (1,300 kg) automobile traveling at 20 mph (32 km/h).". Errrmmm...

Skirmish Airsoft Mansfield

Great news for Nottinghamshire airsofters, Skirmish Airsoft near Mansfield is reopening. It will be great to have a site less than an hour from my house for a change.

Offensive Morale Patches

I don't think I've said this before, at least not in print. I have voiced my thoughts on this to a few people, but have never written it down.

Morale patches are not really my thing. I've just recently bought a Tactical Beard Owner's Club patch from the guys at TBOC, and subsequently, a Mil-Spec Monkey hat from Fire Support to mount it on but apart from that and the Bravo Company team patches I have from the now almost defunct airsoft team I used to play with, I've never worn patches on my gear.

Having said that, they don't bother me. Some of them are pretty cool and/or amusing, but they don't really do it for me. What does offend me massively are the 'Pork Eating Crusader' and 'Infidel' style patches that have been going around for the last few years. The pages of Wikipedia describe the term Infidel as:

"An infidel (literally "one without faith") is one who has no religious beliefs, or who doubts or rejects the central tenets of a particular religion – especially in reference to Christianity or Islam.

Infidel is an ecclesiastical term in Christianity around which the Church developed a body of theology that deals with the concept of infidelity; which makes a clear differentiation between those who were baptized and followed the teachings of the Church vs. those who are outside the faith. The term infidel was used by Christians to describe non-Christians or those perceived as the enemies of Christianity. The usage of the term for non-Christian monotheists distinguishes the term from heathen or pagan. As such, the term infidel has often been applied to atheists, whose disbelief is viewed negatively by both Christianity and Islam."

Are these patches specifically designed to offend and alienate an entire culture? If they offend me, then surely the Muslim population as a whole must be horrified, not least when they see it written in their own language on someone that is supposed to be helping their country. This strikes me as counter-productive and distasteful at best and behaving like a naiive and immature wanker at worst. If someone from another country walked down the street outside your house armed and in full combat geat with a patch on their arm that said 'Satanist' or 'Church Burner' or the like, I'm pretty sure a great many people would be offended, not least members of the conservative Christian republican persuasion (who, by definition, should also be deeply offended by the term Infidel). In the eyes of extreme fundamentalists, I would imagine a violent reaction might ensue, presumably something that would be actively discouraged rather than provoked. If, however, someone can provide me with a valid reason as to why these patches are a good idea and not just ill-advised and in bad taste then I'd be prepared to listen and reconsider, but I think this is unlikely.

I'm not going to link to any specific manufacturer or retailer as there are a great many producing these items and I wouldn't want to pick out individuals, needless to say, I consider the manufacture, retail and use of these to be pretty irresponsible. I don't know how prevalent the use of these patches is in the current middle eastern conflict areas, but they are pretty popular in the airsoft community and, to summarise, I don't like it.

The MagBus

This thing is badass. Magpul's promotional Unimog, which can currently be seen cruising the strip in Vegas for the SHOT Show.





Here's another short video of another Magpul-sponsored Unimog traversing some pretty deep water on the Couch Offroad Engineering website. Read all about this 'mog, christened 'Bam Bam', on the Couch Uniblog.

SIG Carbine Conversion

There's already been one for Glocks, now here's a gay carbine conversion from SIG Sauer. info care of SoldierSystems.net.

In all fairness, this one does look pretty cool, but even so. What's wrong with just using the handgun on its own?

This Week's Project...

I have a (potentially) small project for this week. Last time I visited Urban Assault I took my G&P Stoner. When I got it chrono'd, it fired at 349 feet per second. Four feet per second over the site limit. FOUR FEET PER SECOND OVER!

Having still not used this gun (story of my life) I have bought a Systema M100 spring to replace the stock, and slightly hot G&P one. Now all to do is to figure out how to get the beast apart.

Pics and swearing will follow shortly.