Tasmanian Tiger Tac Safety Panel

Tasmanian Tiger Tac Marker Safety Signal 

•  Cost: ££ (£10.80) 
•  Value for Money: 4 
•  Ease of use: 5 
•  Construction: 4 
•  Alliness: 3 

This is another really simple bit of kit that is actually really useful. This is useful to soldier, contractors and outdoorsmen. I originally got hold of this for using when I took my Scouts out on hikes. If we have to go on a road we put leaders front and rear in Hi-Viz vests to warn off oncoming traffic. The drama with this is that when I was at the rear my daysack covered my vest. So I had a look around for a solution to the problem. 

 I eventually found this little gem. I liked it because it was compact, neat and I could leave it attached to my daysack when I wasn’t using it. What you get is a long narrow pouch you can attach easily to MOLLE or numerous other attachment points. The attachment points on the pouch are both vertical and horizontal. When it is rolled up the panel fits very snugly inside the low-profile pouch which is secured full length with Velcro. Unroll it and you have a very bright orange marker panel about the size of a piece of A4 paper. 

 The construction is good with nice straight stitching. Colour wise it is billed as Khaki which is a little lighter than Coyote Brown, but isn’t bright by any means. The opening also has a tab so you can find it with gloves. 

 It could do with a couple of improvements to my mind. Firstly, some reflective tape on the marker panel would be good as this would make it more obvious on say for example a road march. Secondly, it comes with two paracord loops on the bottom edge of the panel but nothing to attach them to. A couple of small carabiners would easily solve this issue, or like me you could attach a couple of Grimlocks onto your bag. 

 In Summary this is a great bit of kit. You could put it on a daysack as an air marker panel a safety marker or to identify a casualty, on the back of a bergan for tabbing or to mark a harbour entrance. I think the price is fair and you will definitely find it is value for money. They can be purchased here.

 This Kit Pest Review was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

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Team Medic Niceties

Team Medic Accessories 

 Medic training in the army is going back to self aid. Makes sense; win the firefight, close in and kill the enemy, and if you're unlucky enough to be a casualty, well,  I've been looking at a few items that might make your self aid easier. 

 I hasten to add I've only ever been 'team medic' trained and none of these opinions reflect those of Army Medical Doctrine. 

 To start off with I checked out the 'FRV tailoring' CAT holder. This basic little addition can be slotted into your MOLLE loops holding your tourniquet for rapid use. If your wearing Osprey or Virtus body armor. It can be ripped of your armor giving you a few more vital seconds to get that tourniquet deployed. 

 FRV tailoring is a small operation run by a serving guardsman and is available on eBay, (hopefully GKE in the future). Whilst he is not creating large scale, items like Battle Belts, Pouches, the small bits and pieces are solidly constructed, made with genuine multicam and MTP compatible materials. 

 I picked up the CAT holder on eBay for £6 and I'm going to buy another. So if your SOP's are flexible regarding CAT placement give this a thought. 

 Right, now onto the second item. This is a tear away RIP Away MOLLE Panel. Made by Bulldog Tactical from UKMC in Portsmouth. Another simple idea that would go great to help self aid or tactical casualty care. 

 Again this can be a good attachment to your body armor, it features a two piece system, one panel attaches to your pouch and and the other to your vest. The tear of part features a large red handle that can help you grab it when wearing gloves or with a loss of fine motor skills in a firefight. As useful as this is, I will pick it up on the fact that it's bright red and not very camouflaged. 

 Materials wise, the stitching is good. However, Bulldog Tactical's Multicam material tends to be a cheap Chinese knock off and it pushed me towards buying a coyote tan panel. Truthfully it's functionality over looks the only con with this bit of kit and if it buys you or whoever is treating you in a casualty care under fire situation it's well worth a investment. 

 I picked this up in the portsmouth UKMC store for £14.99. Check out the shop as it's got a good range of kit, knives, tactical and firearms accessories.

This Kit Pest Review was written by Callum J Bickerton. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment!

Buy cheap, buy twice.

Buy cheap, buy twice.

 Picture it this way... A new guy, fresh out of training, has been with his/her unit for a few months and is considering getting some decent kit. He/she looks at the senior toms and his screws for a bit of inspiration as the kit they use comes through experience, on tour or on exercise. 

 One small problem. Upon hitting the unit, costs go up. You might have a car now, a new expensive TV and console to go in your 'Z' type wanking palace. Let's not forget that drinking habit that you've picked up along with the twenty tabs you've started smoking out of sheer boredom outside the Company/Battery/Squadron lines.

 So, funds are somewhat tight....

 Usually, most Garrison towns will have a kit retailer on 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 it. I have bought kit from them in the past and although it does have some great stuff, such as their 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. 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. The 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. The stitching is poor as hell and looks like a poor sweatshop worker was forced to produce it wearing boxing gloves. I wouldn't take disciple kit anywhere arduous in my lifetime. I also acknowledge that by writing this article I may have shot myself in the foot in regards to getting some kit to review or general relations 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 and of course you're free to spend you hard earned beer tokens on whatever you like.

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

 This Kit Pest Review article was written by Callum J Bickerton. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment!

 I'd just like to add that the reviews and articles published on KPR are the reviews of that particular individual. I also understand that these are not rigorous, scientifically presented reviews and are not supposed to be. They aim to be the honest, down to earth views of the people that use the kit in everyday life to let similar people know what to look out for when purchasing kit. If there are any opposing views then please don't hesitate to mention them in the comments section for a decent discussion. Stay Frosty - Alex

Mora Frost Kitmonster Sheath

Kitmonster Sheath, Slip, Knife, MOLLE, Mora Frost Companion 

•  Cost: ££ (£15) 
•  Value for Money: 3 
•  Ease of use: 5 
•  Construction: 4 
•  Alliness: 3 

 Like a lot of outdoorsmen, I carry a decent fixed-blade knife for day to day tasks. My knife of choice is a Mora Frost Companion. Now I’m not the biggest fan of the sheath that comes with the knife. 
 Firstly, I’m left-handed and you can only get right-handed sheaths. Secondly I don’t think that the retention offered by the sheath is particularly great. Finally, you can’t attach the sheath to MOLLE.

 Enter the Kitmonster Mora sheath made for them by Vanguard. This is a very simple solution to the above issues. The pouch is designed to work with the plastic sheath that comes with the knife. As with any of Vanguard’s kit it is well made. The stitching is all high quality so you won’t have to worry about it falling apart. 

 The design is very simple. The pouch has a loop inside that the plastic sheath clips onto, making sure that it cannot come out when you pull the knife out and it has a generous flap which secures the knife into the pouch. The flap has a decent pull tag on it so you can open it with gloves on. The pouch is secured by a full length MOLLE fastener which is only one column wide. This is great because it stops the knife taking up too much real estate on your kit and as it is a full length fastener the pouch doesn’t flap about or get caught up on stuff. 

 You can buy this in either multicam or coyote so it will suit soldier, contractor or outdoorsman. 
To sum up, Kitmonster has found a really simple solution to attaching a Mora to MOLLE kit. I think this is a great little pouch and has great utility. My only gripe is that I think it is a little overpriced. I know UK made kit is more expensive, but this costs more than the knife that goes in it. That said it really is the only solution as nobody else makes a sheath like this, and I have been very happy with mine. 

 It can be purchased here.

This Kit Pest Review article was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment!

Mechanix - Love or Hate?

Mechanix - Love or Hate?

 I'm a firm believer that if a company says that it's line of gloves is (sic) "devoted to protecting the hands of military, police and SWAT professionals... designed to perform in a range of high-risk scenarios and environments" then you should be able to hold them to account for this. 

 I'm not a Mechanix hater. I was given a pair of the Original gloves on Herrick 15 by a friendly US civilian Mechanic who was maintaining the Estonians MRAP fleet. I had a pair of generic gloves that went man down fairly fast (buy cheap, buy twice) and he helped me out. That pair of Originals lasted 5+ months, and then some time on PDT for the next BG as an OM. So began my love affair with Mechanix. 

 I had a pair of M-Pact gloves that lasted the best part of two years. It was abused in those two years too. Exercises, courses, battle PT. They were bomb-proof. Razor wire finally claimed them, and I had no hesitation in replacing them like for like. However, all an unnamed store in Tidworth had were the new TrekDry ones in Multicam. A week later they were gone. Bearing in mind I was an instructor at an ATR at this point, and was hardly demanding the world from them! Another pair of original construction M-Pacts I found on Amazon lasted a long time, including PSBC and Ex WESSEX STORM and it was time to retire them. 

 You guessed it, cotton-wool construction is all that is left. They lasted 3 days. On a teaching exercise in CHDV. I literally opened a few ammunition containers, pointed at defences and used them to keep my hands warm. They disintegrated.

 It appears Mechanix have gone for the 'TrekDry is life' approach, unless you go for full leather M-Pact, which seem to only be available in the states. I could be cynical and say that they've made it big so why should they care? I mean, my pair of M-Pacts on Tom Clancy's: The Division have lasted me ages, and my character on BF4 took on Russia and China in full comfort. Or maybe their TAA compliance has opened them up to US Government departments, and we all know that so long as it's cheap enough then they've got guaranteed business from the Big Man.  Maybe they genuinely feel that the TrekDry material is the best option for its customers but have dropped a bollock in testing. Maybe I, and my peers, are using them wrong? 

 Regardless of the reasons 90% of the dedicated Mechanix wearers in my Battalion have moved away from them. Why would I want to pay the better part of £30 for tissue paper gloves? 

 So Mechanix, we've seen you can offer a variety of different products, your M-Pact gloves alone come in 23 different versions, before we start messing about with colour options (from http://www.mechanix.com/search?keywords=M-Pact), how about give us the 24th option. Proper, oldschool, robust construction. Charge me the full £30, not £25.99. If they're worth it, I'll buy them. The largest consumer base you have is not the SF/Operator community. It's lowly grunts like me, and the majority of the people reading this. We don't have the luxury of 'in and out' jobs or a kit allowance, we buy this stuff out of our own pockets and need it to last us a decent amount of time and take a lot of punishment. Which is exactly why you managed to capture the majority of the British Infantry. Don't forget that "Hand protection is our mission. Feel confident knowing when orders come down, your Mechanix tactical gloves are on duty" and maybe you won't lose us all to the up and coming suppliers. 

 This Kit Pest Review article was written by Samlongshankswatt. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment!

Kit for Kit Pests

Kit conversations for Kit Pests

Energizer Tan Helmet Torch (IR)

ENERGIZER 'HARD CASE TANGO TACTICAL HELMET LIGHT'

•  Cost: ££££ (£84.95) 
•  Value for Money: 5 
•  Ease of use: 5 
•  Construction: 4 
•  Alliness: 5 

I’ve had one of these lights for a while now and it is quite simply awesome! It costs a few quid but you really do get your moneys worth. So what do you get with it? 

 First up it has multiple light sources. In the visible spectrum it has white and red light in variable brightness and flashing. In the non-visible spectrum, it has an infra-red illuminator to augment your NVGs and it has an IR IFF beacon with three different patterns. The design is such that you can easily identify the right switch for each option in the dark and wearing gloves. 

 Next it is an extremely rugged construction. It is made of a lightweight polymer so it is strong as well as light. The light sources are all LEDs so you don’t need to worry about a bulb going. If you do get a failure it has a lifetime warranty. It has been drop tested to 3 metres and it is waterproof to 1 metre for 30 minutes. It also runs off of a single AA battery. 

 But there’s more! It also comes with several attachment options. Firstly, there is an elasticated strap so that you can use it as a headtorch. It feels a bit weird to use as the light is to one side, rather than in the middle of your forehead like most lights, but the fitting for the light is adjustable through 360 degrees so you can wear it on either side and angle it to suit. Next there is a helmet mount. This fits the light onto a standard set of side rails. Like the elasticated strap it is fully rotatable. The next is a Picatinny rail fitting. This lets you mount the light onto a rifle. This has good utility as you can use it as a light source for room clearing, a red light source to examine something in low light without NVGs. Of course you also have the infrared light source to augment your NVGs inside buildings. Then there is a MOLLE/vest mount so you can mount it on your body armour or vest. This mount is hinged so you can adjust the angle for map reading etc. Finally, there is a mount to attach it to a cap. I have an older version of the light and it did not come with this accessory so I cannot directly comment on its utility. 

 The light comes in a hard carry case, about half the size of a packet of cigarettes, that takes the light and a battery. It is available in black or sand. 
I rate this as a seriously good bit of kit. I have used it extensively in hostile environments and simply out camping. 

 Now for the cons... The light can easily switch on if it is loose in a pouch or a pocket. You could carry it in its case, but this is too bulky. I normally just turn the battery around the other way. Next up is the retention system. With the exception of the helmet mount the light just slides into place rather than locking into position. I sometimes have mine mounted on the front of my vest and I worry about it coming off if I go prone or climb over an obstacle, so I tie it on to me. Clearly this isn’t a big drawback as I have managed not to lose the light over the last 5 years I’ve had it. That said Infanteers should be a little more wary. The final con is that when you use the visible lights you have to cycle through all of the different modes, including flashing, to turn off the light. Not a deal breaker but a simple on off functionality would have been better I think. 

 To sum up, this is a great bit of kit which comes with a good number of actually useful accessories. It is pricey but you do get what you pay for. I consider it to be a well worthwhile purchase. 

 You can find it here

 This Kit Pest Review was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any questions or feedback don't forget to leave a comment!

 Kit for Kit Pests

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Coffee, a squaddies mukka.

Coffee, a squaddies mukka

 How do you make it in the field?

 Everyone loves coffee right? Who doesn't enjoy the morale boost it gives you when your chin strapped in some dump like Brecon or Lydd ranges. Despite the love of tea here in the UK and its rich history with the British army, I find it just doesn't cut it for me. 

 When I was a teenager at college I used to work at a coffee shop in the high street and have since that day become an addict to the sweet nectar. 

 As my taste for coffee has progressed over the years, my ability to stomach Nescafé sachets has disappeared. Well, unless it's an absolutely dire situation. On my last excercise I was vehicle mounted so I had the ability to carry a few extra items. I took my little Italian stove top boiler and a bag of Monsoon Malabar, because if you're gonna have coffee, you might as well go all out. 

 Using the pan adapter for my Jetboil, my coffee maker slotted perfectly in place and in two minutes I had a cup that could keep me going 'till lunch. When I was on tour many years ago all that was available were the giant tins of Nescafé we stole from the FOB. Despite how dire this coffee was, drinking a hot coffee and sparking up a Marlboro gold was one of those little pleasures that make the tour a little more bearable. 

Next payday I'm going get some of that Veteran made coffee from either Contact Coffee Co or maybe some from the guys at Black Rifle Coffee as those guys have the right idea about coffee. Plus, it's always good to support veteran owned businesses. 

 Look out for a review on different methods of preparing your get-up-and-go juice very shortly!

This Kit Pest Review article was written by Callum J Bickerton. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this review then leave a comment!

 Kit for Kit Pests

 Kit conversations for Kit Pests

 I'd like to add that after receiving a bag of 'Battle Prep' from Contact Coffee Co, it is one of the nicest tasting coffee i've had for a long while. Luckily it's also on GKE and you can get it HERE - Alex

U.K. Made veteran coffee available from - www.contactcoffeeco.co.uk

Black rifle coffee available from - www.blackriflecoffee.com as well as The Hereford Kit Company - www.hr4k.co.uk