Drop leg holsters and pouches are an unfortunate remnant of a bygone era. The concept of dropping a holster onto your mid-thigh with a strap was designed to make clearing old, bulky body armor like the IBA, MTV, and IOTV possible. But we're not using that any more. So stop. Drop leg holsters introduce issues with your holster sliding around your thigh, throwing off your running gait, and most users wear them too close to their knees. Same goes for baffling choices like throwing pouches on drop leg platforms. Try running an 880 in that.

Here's a neat bit of science. A while back I did a test of the Cold Steel Code 4, where I soaked it in damp salt and left it in a rice cooker overnight to simulate the kind of damp, salty environment that you'd encounter near the coast or in your pocket in a hot environment. The blade damage was negligible. The S35VN steel did a great job fighting off the rust, and I figured that after a light cleaning, the anodized aluminum grips would be fine.

I was completely wrong. The steel pins, combined with the grit of the salt wearing down the anodization..

The Pale Horse Concepts Mk3 Outer belt with Tac Inner Belt: Initial impressions

Many gun belts out there are "Load rated," or tested to support your weight if you're rappelling, climbing, or hanging upside down from a helicopter while weaving through traffic like in MW2 (2). This is a super niche concern, and 75% of servicemembers and 99% of civilians will never need this, but most other belts have a critical shortcoming in that the outer belt is the load-rated part, rather than the inner belt that goes through your belt loops. Not the Mk3.

So Benchmade has developed a bit of a reputation recently for having poor quality Factory edges, and slipping a bit on fit and finish. A friend loaned me this Adamas in CPM Cruwear to test out and see if that's the case. These are obviously pre-stress testing photos General characteristics of the knife are that it is a 180 g folding pocket knife with G10 grips and a plain drop point Blade with a fuller. This one is manually opening, and the action is buttery smooth.

Defense Mechanisms MECH inner and outer belt test results

(Reusing photos because I can't take any better ones, try as I might)

Overall: Good belt for people who want rigidity above everything else, and don't mind wonky attachment types and a thick belt. The testing for this belt consisted of 5 range days with dynamic movement and use in conjunction with armor, 1 10k hike with a MALICE frame pack, and various LARP-I mean, dryfire training at home.

I've not had time to use this in the field with the Marines, so .mil use is theory

The Highcom Striker is THE bare minimum for new high cut helmets. It's a high cut ACH shell, and is fully IIIA rated from a reputable company. I've got some time with one. (Pictured) A lot of popular high cut helmets aren't rated to be IIIA, e.g. the Ops Core Fast SF, which is rated to stop 9mm and frag only. What this means is that this helmet is going to be slightly heavier than equivalently sized ops cores. It's a good analogue to the Gentex TBH IIIA.

AOR1 is a very interesting pattern, given that it's tightly controlled. Finding gear in it almost guarantees a higher buy-in. So when I thought I'd gotten a good deal on a FCPC in it, I should have been a bit more wary. Here's how to spot a fake. This plate carrier was so realistic that even representatives from Ferro Concepts were fooled at first glance until they saw macro photos. However, it's the minute details that give it away. e.g. the use of unbranded FMA plastic pull tabs on the mag pouches instead of S&S.

Yknow what? Fuck it. I'm sick today and can't produce a video where I talk, so I'll throw bombs. Here's a plate from a certain armor company (rhymes with "pot pop") where they're taking full advantage of NIJ loopholes to lighten their plates and save money. Plates are shot with test rounds, and those rounds must be shot 1.5 inches from the edge of the plate, more or less, to prevent a false negative from edge chipping.

So, they just make the first 1.25 inches out of foam and call it a protective border, since it won't get shot.

I'm taking the Crye Airlite SPC and becoming ergopilled. I'm supportmaxxing. I'm also addled by the internet, clearly. 🧵
Components:
- Crye SPC platebags: $169
- Eagle ERGO Harness: $137
- AXL Equinox : $160
- AXL SPC tubes adapter: $65

Total cost: $529 before tax and shipping Enter the Eagle Industries "Ergo" harness. A load spreading harness that works with most carriers on the market, and improves back support, comfort, and cooling. I've personally tested the Ergo with my USMC carrier at ITX in Twentynine Palms, so I can attest to its effectiveness.

Crye AVS, his arms open. 🧵
The AXL Advanced micro harness is a solution to cut down the bulk of the AVS harness while allowing the user to still reap many of the benefits. Combined with the AXL Equinox cummerbund, it brings some unique features to the table, and a few drawbacks. The micro harness attaches to the body-facing side of the cummerbund, which then attaches to the rear platebag of the carrier. The system is designed to support the JPC or SPC skeletal cummerbund, but I used the Equinox cummerbund and SPC tube adapter.

NEW CONTENT CREATOR COURTS CONTROVERSY BY SAYING "POPULAR THING BAD"

Not really. But in the video going up later today, I'm going to explain why the Ferro Concepts Bison is kinda...meh.

It's a fine belt, and being fair to Ferro, it's one of the first tegris belts out there. That being said, the tegris doesn't join in the front by the buckle, and so you don't get as much stability as you would with something like an AXL Eclipse or Defense Mechanisms MECH belt.

The @DMechanisms MECH belt is an innovative design that works great...if you use modern pouches.

AT A GLANCE:
+ Excellent weight support
+ Great pouch stability
+ Inner belt boosts almost any outer belt
- Doesn't support MOLLE The big sticking point for a lot of people is going to be the fact that this belt doesn't easily support older MOLLE pouches, but curiously enough works fine with ALICE clips.

Don't buy a 5.11 TacTec.

The 5.11 Tactec is a crossfit plate carrier. Even brovet fitness (Rogue) knows it, and 5.11s only able to sell it at the PX as "sporting goods" because they can't be sold there as tactical gear, and yet people still try to run them in tactical situations Despite this, this plate carrier keeps appearing in media due to sponsorship deals. For example, Billy Russo and his too-large 5.11 TacTec with no plates in it in the final battle of Season 1 of the Punisher. So, it's often the first non-issued plate carrier that people see.