New Takes On Load Bearing Equipment

Lighten you combat load with ultralight offerings from Blue Force Gear and First Spear.

Both of these companies have taken a unique approach to the evolution of the MOLLE platform. Let's take a look at Rlue Force Gear's Helium Whisper design.  They have chosen to lighten the weight of the traditional MOLLE pouch system by eliminating all the excessive materials used in the construction of the attachment system. The Natick Snap system, the most common MOLLE attachment backing found on issue pouches, consists of 27 parts at roughly 84 grams or 3 ounces. 

Helium Whisper reduces just the backing down to 6 parts at almost half the weight of roughly 44 grams. Additionally, the attachment straps are integral to the pouch and not sewn on, eliminating the possibility of stitching failure.

FirstSpear has taken a somewhat similar but even more evolutionary approach. FirstSpear 6/12 technology eliminates all major components of MOLLE on both the pouch and vest which achieves a 20%-40% reduction in weight. The FirstSpear team invested more than a year developing and testing the FirstSpear 6/12 Pocket Attachment System. 

It utilizes state of the art fabric technologies to deliver a completely modular system. From adhesive heat-set backing to laser cut precision attachment points, the 6/12 system provides greater fabric flexibility on unarmored platforms. and tighter mounting of pockets to create a cleaner silhouette that aides in enhanced signature management and mobility. 

The 6/12 platform face is completely slick when pockets are removed and allows for easy management of communications cables and wires. FirstSpear's Modular Pockets use micro hook and loop tabs to lock the pouches into the face fabric of the platform through the laser cut slots.

The interlocking of tabs ensures a solid pouch placement with the most minimal weight and bulk.

While both of these systems are state-of-the-art for the modern fighter you may be wondering how these technologies can integrate with your current kit. Well, the Blue Force gear's more traditional design allows their pouches to be mounted on any MOLLE compatible vest as well as their carriers to accept any traditional MOLLE pouches. So with Blue Force you can start upgrading your kit with whatever gear you're needing to replace. 

First Spear's pouches are proprietary to their carriers, but the trade off you'll gain with this system is that you'll have the slickest, fastest and most maneuverable kit out there. So you'll have to start our with a carrier form First Spear, well first. However, the good news though is that the laser cuts in First Spear's carriers are completely compatible with existing MOLLE pouches, so you can still use pouches from your current kit. 

Both companies offer pouches vests and plate carriers in various solid colors as well as multicam. Find the system that fits your needs at uscav.com today.

"MultiCam was the clear winner"

Photo courtesy of Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte, U.S. Army.

So it is official now. Secretary of the Army John McHugh announced that Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan will get MultiCam uniforms.

According to Col. Bill Cole, project manager for Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment, MultiCam was “21 percent less detectable than UCP,” the pattern used in ACUs.

Army to Adopt MULTICAM for Afghanistan Mission

If you were left scratching your head over the decision to field the Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP). You weren't alone.

Heck, everybody knows there is no such thing as a universal camo. Right? Is there really a pattern that can work in all environments?

Umm...not really, but with our current level of technology, MultiCam is perhaps the best. And by all indications that the Army is actually going to field it... sort of.

After a recent round of tests, the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. George Casey has recommended that the Army adopt MultiCam. For the time being, only for those serving in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and only after the Secretary of the Army gives final approval, which is expected soon.

So how did this happen? What is MultiCam? How is it so good?

Well dear reader, follow along and we'll give you the overview, pointing you to some great folks that have already done a lot reporting on this subject.

What is MultiCam? Back when the Army was developing the next generation uniform, the successor to the BDU, the army was also trying to come up with a solution to a huge logistical problem: fielding different sets of uniforms every time our forces deployed to a combat zone. Now in the field of new camo, our neighbors to the north were actually leading the pack. Through research the Canadian military had discovered several key things: Black in a camo was bad (it attracts the eye) and digital was good (it helps break up the human figure). So combine a digital camo pattern with some colors that individually work in the desert, woodland and urban areas, throw in some angled pockets and you've got the new ACU.

So wait, what about MultiCam? Oh yeah. The Army actually conducted tests pitting their UCP pattern against a new design by Crye Associates. These guys did their homework, they did all these photographic measurements of environments in different lighting, the whole nine yards. Basically Crye used Photoshop to build a color palette that worked with the majority of their environments and MultiCam was born.

After the tests, the Crye pattern along with along with two others (Desert All Over Brush and Woodland Track Mod) came out ahead of UCP in the Army tests.

So how come the Army went with UCP? No freaking idea. Guess it was the home team advantage. Money. Family ties. Who knows.

So fast forward to 2009. The recently departed Rep. John Murtha actually had a hand in all of this because he pressured the Army to conduct another camo trial based on the feedback coming from Afghanistan. The ACU sucked in Iraq and it really sucks here!

Late last year, the Army took samples of the available camo patterns and actually sent a team to Afghanistan to the do the light test thing again. After that, MultiCam and UCP, now with a fourth color (Coyote) would battle one more round. This time the two camo patterns would actually be fielded by two battalions, each with a different pattern.

Not much was known about this part of the test. Those following along would come across photos on the web, but no details have come out. One can only guess that MultiCam is finally getting the credit it's due and it's creators, hopefully, some measure of accomplishment.

So what makes MultiCam so good? Check this out.