The Crye Precision AirFrame Helmet made its public debut at the 2010 SHOT Show in Las Vegas. It was back this year at the 2011 SHOT Show; available for purchase but not heavily advertised to the public. In typical Crye fashion, Crye took a different approach when designing the AirFrame from the ground up, with its separate front and rear ballistic shells.
When 215Gear came out with their Bended Operators Hat, which has mesh side panels for ventilation, I thought “It’d be great if they made an ALL-mesh hat” and suggested that back in December ’08 in the Blended Operators hat writeup. Well, they’ve finally come out with one. It’s called the Operators Hat, ELW (Extremely Light Weight) and promises to be most breathable tactical hat yet.
The NRL (NOD Retention Lanyard) from Down Range Gear is a simple, effective and inexpensive way to ensure that your expensive night vision goggles don’t end up on the ground if they come off your helmet. Shown here are a couple of variants of the NRL, including the new one for the Ops-Core VAS shroud. It requires no specialized tools to install nor interferes with the operation of the optic.
S.O.D. (Special Operation Department) is an Italian manufacturer of military clothing that collaborates with and produces clothing and equipment that is used by Italian and allied military units in a variety of theatres. Shown here is their Boonie Hat in their proprietary colour, HCS (Hybrid Coyote Sage), as well as Desertico CB62.
When discussing night vision goggle/device helmet mounting systems, you can bet that the name ‘Wilcox’ will be brought up sooner than later. No wonder, as Wilcox Industries Inc. is an industry leader in the design and manufacture of high-end tactical equipment used by our Special Operations Forces. They manufacture a comprehensive list of night vision mounting systems, including the new L4 G24 Breakaway Lever Mount shown here, which is compatible with the standard USGI helmet shroud and Ops-Core VAS.
When Ops-Core introduced their Head-Loc retention system for the ACH/MICH; they set the standard for helmet stability when used as a platform for NVGs and other helmet mounted equipment. Ops-Core is now offering a new helmet retention system for the ACH/MICH, based on the liner and pad system used on their FAST helmet. It’s called the ACH Occ-Dial Liner kit, and it’s available in Urban Tan, Foliage Green and Black.
If you want to shade your eyes from the sun with a hat, but don’t really want to cover your entire head, then 215Gear might have just the product for you. 215Gear has introduced a Visor for the tactical crowd.
Back at the 2008 SHOT Show (I missed the 2009 one), prototypes of Ops-Core’s new helmets were on display, along with their Head-Loc Retention System. The FAST (Future Assault Shell Technology) helmet prototypes caught everyone’s attention, as they incorporated a lot of new features and modularity no other helmet offered. Well, the FAST Helmets are finally available, and if I had to pick one word to describe them, it’d be ‘WOW!’. The FAST Helmets take helmet technology to whole different level and have set the bar at a new high.
The Sawfly-TX Tactical Eyewear System from Revision Eyewear is the next generation ballistic spectacle that is designed to provide superior communications and headset capability with two custom lens shapes for enhanced mission performance.
Tactical hats have flooded the market over the past few years. It seems like just about everyone offers their own tactical hats, which are basically unstructured ballcaps with the top button removed and some velcro ID patches sewn onto it. Most are variations of the same hat, but once in a while, someone comes up with something a bit different from the rest. The Blended Operators Hat from 215 Gear is one of those.
