Solo international long range patrol cold weather smock reviewed by @samlongshankswatt

Solo Internationional  Long Range Patrol Cold Weather Smock

BLUF: the fact that 1/3 of my January PSBC course werewearing them at the end of FINAL EX says it all.

Solo International don’t seem to scream about their kit too often,  however their clothing systems, much like their MOLLE kit is starting to become more and more prevalent. Maybe it’s a certain shop on a certain Battle School supplying a lot of kit or people struggling to justify obscure Crye kit, it doesn’t matter because SOLO make some fantastic stuff.

The LRP smock is one of those. It promises quite a few things, and actually manages to deliver on them. The waterproofing is sufficient that I can honestly say there was no requirement for Gore-tex throughout TAC (although it was more snow than driving rain) and was breathable enough to be worn on both GREEN DRAGON and up the Fan without too much degradation in performance. 

Depending on what size you order, and what generation of smock you’ll either have one or two 5.56mm pouch sewn on to each side of the smock. At a stretch you can get 2x 5.56mm magazines into each, which makes this smock fantastic when conducting OBUA/Trench clearing operations as you can literally rock up with a CamelBak, your ammunition and a pocket full of grenades. The rear pouch is advertised as a map pocket, but it is more than capable of holding a bandolier or some more grenades/smokes. 

The top and bottom bellow pockets are of a decent size, however be aware of over stuffing them, the tops won’t close properly unlike a G10 smock. You’ll be pushed with more than a Rite In The Rain sized notebook and your crib cards per pocket. The bottom ones are the same size, however if you’re using them as dump pouches be aware that any more than 3 magazines per pocket are a rattling, falling out nightmare (in my opinion).   The hand warmer pockets are secured with zips, and do what they say on the tin. Unlike the G10 option, they’re not fleece lined. That’s a bonus as far as I’m concerned. 

At the bottom sides of the smock are further zips that allow easy access to a pistol were you to have it covertly concealed on a belt. If you’re not ally enough to have a pistol then it allows you access to your trouser pockets too, so that’s a bonus!

The quality of materials is top notch,  it survived all that Brecon could throw at it with only minor fading to colour which in all honesty may have been down to an accidental boil wash. The zips, buttons et al are robust and didn’t fail at any point.  It’s also one of the few items that come with built in elbow pads where they do the job well without hindering movement (think the first run of issued PCS UBACS for a neoprene nightmare).  I wear 180/96 PCS shirts and the Medium fit me fantastically, even over ECBA.

As with all items there have to be some downsides, but these are rather minor. Firstly, the cord for tightening the bottom of the smock can hinder drawing a pistol from under the smock. Easily remedied by getting rid of this bit of cord. It doesn’t bring much to the party. Secondly, the magazine pouches only fold away so much (you can turn them into an open topped pouch through the marvels of Velcro), so be aware that your battlebelt/webbing will need to be a little but looser than usual when wearing this smock to compensate. Thirdly, the Velcro that secures the cuffs doesn’t last that long when it is constantly wet. Again, not particularly difficult to fix, just something to be aware of.

At £180 full price, or currently £120 (05 Jun 16) its not a cheap piece of kit, but if you want cheap, buy Webtex and buy every time you deploy. For the amount of money you’re paying you get a piece of kit that in my opinion surpasses the Level Peaks offering.

1157 tactical PRC 354 pouch, the best on the market.

Radio carrying is a bloody nightmare when it comes to carrying the prc 354 (thanks bowman). The radio ancils come with a god awful box like pouch that attaches to PLCE. But what if your not wearing PLCE and have a molle system? What if your embracing fight light and leaving the daysack in the harbor area? Well I present  a possible solution. 

The 1157 tactical 354 pouch has been in my collection for about two years and I love it. The thing is pretty bloody bomb proof and for a small manufacturer of tactical gear I highly recommend them as the kit is totally UK forces focused in its design. The company makes there equipment in the usual multicam but also offer EREBIS which is a MTP pattern clone which pretty much looks like the real thing. 

For carrying the 354 the pouch has plenty of space and the antenna feeds out of a top flap. The only problem with this top flap is you have to detach the antenna and KDU every time you need to take the radio out. 

However the inbuilt KDU pouch on the front is a great idea that keeps the KDU in reach especially when you have to do stuff such as frequency changes etc. 

So in conclusion I find this pouch to be the best one I've found on the market for carrying the bloody huge 354, the material and stitching are robust and hold up well after many years of ownership.

 The only flaws I could see is that the molle poppers are rather easy to open when moving. Perhaps replacing them with the thicker and more robust poppers found on osprey pouches would be a better option? 

But for anyone whose taking requires carrying a radio I recommend this pouch. It sure as Shit beats having to carry your daysack everywhere. And the quality construction will ensure its place on your beltkit for years. 

For more information check out 

www.1157tactical.com 

The offer a wide range of bespoke tactical equipment that is made with the guy or girl in the field in mind. 

The SA80 carbine....and other SA80 rambling.

When the SA80 came to design in the seventies,it was envisioned that it would be a single caliber family of weapons that would replace the multitude of different weapons in a infantry platoon. As well as easing the logistical nightmare of the platoon Sargent by tying all platoon weapons under one caliber. 

Don't ask me what there plan for the beloved gimpy was because I've no idea. 

So initially the SA80 was not a great weapon. But that's another story. With the increase of operations in the post gulf war era several capbadges were reporting that the rifle variant of the SA80 wasn't ideal for their role. In the past three previous attempts had been made to create a carbine SA80 but all three had been shelved in the post options for change military. 

So when the demand for carbines reached Whitehall the army created the initial weapons from surplus LSW's while choosing the 1989 carbine concept seen below. 

Initial fielding was primarily with tank crews and pilots for out of wagon contacts. Price harry himself carried one on his second tour due to his role as a army aviator in a Apache. 

However the carbine has found its way into the hands of dog handlers and combat camera teams on operation HERRICK. And most notably 43 commando RM formerly the fleet protection group. The size was judged to be ideal for boarding operation and the increased caliber of 5.56 offered the added stopping power. However it should be noted 43 commando have been recently seen carrying diemaco C8 carbines recently.

To finish the SA80 carbine is a unique addition to the family of weapons as it dispels the myths that the SA80 family lacks modularity. With the evolution of the weapon systems through internal improvements to the A2 and A3 variants as well as new sights, magazines and hand guards the SA80 is finally beginning to shake of the negative image created by keyboard commandos and pissed of crusty Cold War warriors pining for their SLR's. I've used this weapon for seven years and I like it. But haters gonna hate. 

And furthermore maybe a dog handler attatched to Hereford will do a bit for the carbines reputation. 

Buy cheap. Buy twice

Ok so picture it this way. A new guy fresh out of training has been with there unit for a few months and is considering getting some decent kit. He looks at the senior toms and hiss full screws for a bit of inspiration as the kit they carries comes through experience on tour or on excercise. 

One small problem. Upon hitting the unit costs go up. You might have a car, a new expensive TV and console to go in your Z type wanking palace and let's not forget that drinking habbit you've picked up and the twenty lamberts you've started smoking out of sheer boredom. 

So funds are some what tight....

Usually most garrison towns will have a kit retailer in the high street. The one that seems to be everywhere is HM supplies. This shop is kind of the marks and spencer of military retailers. Great for a few odds and ends but you know you shouldn't buy everything from that place. I have bought kit from that shop in the past and it does have some great stuff such as their command kit RA protractors and Garmin GPS's etc. But to be frank I found the webbing pretty damn flimsy, furthermore they seem to have not embraced the MOLLE revolution and are somewhat behind on what other manufacturers make today. However there is a silver lining. The tailoring services most of the HM supplies shops provide are pretty damn good. And in the end at least it's not webtex. 

Another company who make kit that seems to turn up in most garrison towns is disciple. There kit seems to be in every drop zone supplies. If there ever is a more websters and overpriced kit manufacturer I think disciple is the leader in that field. 

The cost of what it would take to buy a decent fight light MOLLE battle belt out of disciple products could get you a ton of decent warrior assault systems kit. The MTP material used by them seems like the pattern was drawn in crayon by Johnny aged five. And the stitching is poor as hell and looks like a poor sweatshop worker was forced to do the stitches while wearing boxing gloves. I wouldn't take disciple kit anywhere arduous in my lifetime. And I know by writing this post I may have shot myself in the foot by getting some kit to review but I owe it to anyone who reads this blog and follows my Instagram to only bring you something that will last you a lifetime when you buy it and won't disintegrate on your insertion tab. 

These are just my thoughts your free to spend you hard earned beer tokens on what you want. 

Just remember the army is the biggest catwalk and Guuci kit doesn't make you a better soldier but it can deflect some shit off you, Oh and to that one bloke obsessed with issue tissue kit. Fuck off! 

Review: Odin systems command panel.

As a commander your going to be carrying a fair few extra items. Compass, lumi pens and maps etc. there are several solution to carrying all your extra items, but what if your carrying them whilst wearing osprey body armour? Some may argue that the issued command pouch that comes with the osprey pouch set may be good enough. I disagree. I personally feel that extra space is needed for this mission essential kit, this is stuff you can't sling in your daysack and fanny around getting later. It need to be front and centre at less than a arms reach. That's why I feel the Odin systems command panel offers you the best solution for keeping that kit right where it needs to be.

First of all lets talk about the pouch itself. The material is military spec genuine Crye multicam fabric  and is berry compliant. The outside of the pouch includes a large multicam Velcro part that gives you ample room for placing your patches on. Furthermore there is three rows of MOLLE for mounting any patches you want on the exterior. On the rear the MOLLE loops are secured by Velcro tabs that folds back on the final loop on the patch, totally getting rid of the nightmare or poppers coming undone when your moving.

 When you open the command panel I'm sure like myself you will be astounded by the sheer amount of real estate on offer internally. Inside you'll find a series of MOLLE rows sewn in for organising such things as your pens and keeping secure and kit you need to tie down. Behind those there is a large open pocket against the rear, I find this a great solution for where to store my haribo and cigarettes! But it has more than enough space to hold your notebooks and crib cards and TAMs.

One of the unique aspects of this command panel is the Inbuilt waterproof map case. The laminate on it is totally waterproof and can hold a small tactical or a well folded map. Underneath the map case you'll find a small waterproof pouch that I've used to contain my section ORBAT within, these are very simple ideas that the guys and girls at Odin tactical have refined and perfected to give the soldier in the field just what they need to keep what they need secure and in the right place.

My final thoughts on this command panel are that I'm happy as hell to be using this! It's construction is solid and robust and the use of actual multicam fabrics will stop you looking chippy and will last a long time regardless of where you take it and what you put it through. If your thinking of buying a command panel I highly recommend this one, this one can't be beaten on price right now! It works perfectly with osprey and you'll be future proofing yourself when VIRTUS comes into service. So go check out the guys at Odin tactical I'll leave the website below. And if your at otterburn camp go check out there shop. 

www.odintactical.co.uk

Blog update.

Hey one and all just a quick post to keep you updated on what's going on. I know I've promised a few reviews on kit that hasn't nesscicarily been forthcoming. I apologize for this its for two main reasons. 

Firstly I suffered a pretty bad knee injury recently that's stopped me from doing any form of excercise. Which leads into my second point that I haven't had the ability to field test much of the gear because of this and the fact my abilities to test are few as my current unit is pretty static. 

I'm going to try and remedy this ASAP God willing I'll have the reviews I promised plus a few more in a week or two. 

Knives: a personal thing, but essential kit.

Weather you are camping,fishing or soldiering in the field or on operations a decent knife is a must have. This isn't really a article about what's best for a fighting knife. It's more of a personal insight into a specific knife I have used in the past that I see as a good all rounder. 

The knife in question is the Glock fighting knife. This knife for a fixed blade is in my humble opinion is the Rolls Royce of knives. Let's start with the price I bought it four years ago from UKMC in Portsmouth for £24.99 and that's still the price today! The handle and case are of polymer construction and come in tan, black and green. The blade is adonized in black and has two options for having a saw on the blade or not. I chose the saw feature as I was planning to use this in Kenya a few weeks later. Furthermore a handy little feature is a bottle opener in the hand guard which is useful for the pop sold in the CSM's clacky wagon. There has only been one down side to this knife and that's the scabbard. Fixing it to a beltkit or a MOLLE system is pretty hard. But I'm sure if you find a MOLLE knife sleeve from a other maker it will fit like a dream. 

In conclusion I feel if your looking for that good all round field knife for a decent price, you should consider the Glock combat knife. Get it from UKMC in Portsmouth as I haven't found a cheaper one online. And if this isn't the knife for you they have a ton of others that may pick your interest. 

Gladius actual out.