NEW AMERICAN TRUTH: October 2007

A Brigade Quartermaster Wish List
Kevin Miller

So it’s only October. So What! We all know that we’ve already seen ads counting down shopping days left until Christmas. Here… let me save you some time and trouble for the soldier, cop or outdoorsman (or outdoorswoman) in your life. The following is my Christmas Wish List for 2007 compiled out of my favorite catalog from Brigade Quartermaster. I’m providing this list to my wife simply because I like to hear her laugh so long and hard…

The BQ catalog being used to compile this list is one we received in mid-August with Key # GR2A on the back.

Let’s start off with the BQ Exclusive 5.11 Tactical Holster Pants. Much like the well known 5.11 Tactical pants or “Royal Robbins”, these pants are available in black or khaki with waists running 28 – 44” and inseams in 30, 32 or 34”. On this new line of pants 5.11 Tactical has added some pockets: a slash pocket at the top of each of the deep back pockets. This allows for carrying wallets and such higher and closer to the body with less chance of them falling out during energetic activities. The other added pockets are built into the outside gusset of the cargo pockets and are ideally sized to hold rifle magazines; specifically AR-style magazines holding .223 / 5.56mm ammo. These are cool pants for cops, soldiers and/or contract security operators to have. They also provide six more pockets (compared to standard 5.11 Tactical pants) for the outdoorsman who likes to carry snack bars, etc.

For the hunters in our reading audience I’d like to add the multi-cam uniforms in both the ACU and BDU patterns from Tru-Spec. The multi-cam pattern is probably the best camouflage around for use in multiple environments such as woods, fields, scrub, etc. For warmer climates I think the BDU style would be best while the ACU might be better for colder areas – simply because you can close up the collar. Two sets of BDUs in the multi-cam pattern will hook your hunter right up for the season.

I don’t usually talk about underwear, but those multi-cam ACUs or BDUs are more comfortable if the right undergarments are worn. For my money – and comfort – the best thing you can get is Under Armour. On page 37 of the catalog specified you can find your choice in men’s and women’s undergarments. The heatgear long boxer jock is quite comfortable and I’ve never had the discomfort of a wedgy while wearing them. The material feels like a second skin and almost caresses you while you’re wearing it. I’ll leave that alone. Check them out. You’ll like them.

When I was in a light infantry National Guard unit I was issued two poncho liners and two ponchos. Those took the place of a tent. Now you can get a poncho liner conversion kit (Pg 47) that converts your poncho liner into a lightweight sleeping bag. Very cool idea. Combined with a good condition poncho liner, the conversion kit adds versatility to your kit without necessarily adding significant weight.

On page 48 is an inexpensive but completely worthwhile item: the ITW Nexus bootlace cordlocs. Cord locks have been found on different types of shoes for a long time, but for some reason they took awhile to catch on when it came to military, law enforcement or field boots. Now you can order these and put them on your boots or gift them to your boot wearer. When you pull on your boots you just have to grab the top of the laces and pull while you push the cordloc down against the boot. The cordloc holds the laces snug and you can tuck them away in the top of your boot. We don’t want to have any unsightly laces dangling.

Page 95 has a really cool item at the top: From Lightsaver comes tail caps for your tactical flashlight that increases performance versatility. The IQ Switch replaces the normal tailcap on your light and changes the possible functions. Rather than just on or off you can have a flashing feature by holding the button down. That’s using the Tactical Blitzer. If you get the Multi-Function Battery Miser instead, you have the option of three different levels of light and two flashing speeds. Talk about versatility. You can add such function to your light for less than $30.

How many of you grew up watching movies with ninjas that snuck up to buildings, pulled out their collapsible grappling hook, gave it a throw and then were climbing up the unsuspecting occupant’s wall? Now you can do that too… provided you’re strong enough to scale the rope. On page 121 I found the Grabber Folding Grappling Hook. Mil-Spec rated at 1650 pounds the thing collapses down to 8.5” by 4” – or small enough to fit into a standard canteen pouch. It also fits into a cargo pocket on BDU pants (or Royal Robbins). I don’t know how much use hunters or fishermen might find for it, but it’s really cool just the same and I want one. I’ll put it in my Bug Out Bag… yeah, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Speaking of a Bug Out Bag, I didn’t know that there is a company actually named that: Bugout Gear. They make a three-day pack that looks like it would serve well for exactly that purpose. Sporting 2215 cubic inches of cargo space this pack is available in black, tan, brown or the Army’s digital ACU pattern. I have a preference (for now) for tan but would take one in any color my wife chose to buy me. I don’t think I’ll hold my breath. Bugout Gear also makes what they call a Breakway Bag. It’s a two-piece backpack that joins together through the use of fastex buckles. Combined the two sections offer 2,050 cubic inches of space. The design increases versatility and you can have it in any color you want as long as it’s black.

Oooh, a couple of page turns takes me into the section on watches. Now you have to understand that I have somewhat of a watch fetish. I like watches. I can come up with excuses to wear a different watch every day of the week – and probably more. Some of the watches available today do really neat things – even if I don’t have any practical use for them.

The Suunto X9M1 Military 100M GPS Watch is an updated version of their X9 GPS watch. I tested one of those previously and it’s very useful. It has a wonderful function that tracks your path of travel so that if you end up someplace you didn’t mean to (you get lost) you can simply follow your reverse route back to where you started. For those of us who are challenged when it comes to land navigation, this is a GREAT function for a wrist-worn GPS unit to have.

In the past I’ve seen reviews about the Bertucci A-2T watches. These cost-effective watches are available with two different color bands and four different color faces. The two that have khaki or gray colored faces are backlit for easy reading in low light conditions. All four have luminescent hands and hour markers. The cases are solid titanium and the watches are water resistant to 100 meters (333 feet – none of us are diving that deep). One of the best features for a watch that is meant to take abuse is that there are no pins to hold on the band. The watch case itself is milled to have the band grooves built in. No pins to lose. Even though they are analog watches they still support 12 and 24 hour time displays. Simplicity, function and ruggedness. Not bad for the published $100 price tag.

For you hunters who like long distance precision shooting, or for you campers who just want a little notice about what the weather is doing, BQ sells Pocket Weather Trackers from Kestrel. I’ve purchased two of these in the past and wouldn’t consider going out in the field without one. Ranging in price from as low as $130 to as high as $240 you can get them to perform a variety of functions, giving you information you need to be a weather man – that means you can try to guess what the weather is going to be based on the info you get too! But at a bare minimum you can be properly informed of current temperatures, wind chill, humidity, dew point, altitude and wind speed. Under the wrong conditions that’s some of the best information you can have to prepare for weather you don’t want to be exposed to.

And then came the knives... can I just have one of each? For any field outing you should make sure that you have at least one quality fixed blade knife and one decent folding blade. For general all around use the Ka-Bar USMC issue blade is hard to beat. On the folding side, the Masters of Defense CQD line is excellent. That’s not to say that you wouldn’t be well served by any of the SOG fixed blades, or the CRKT folders. There are several pages of knives to choose from and since BQ doesn’t sell junk (in my experience) you can’t go wrong.

All right. That’s my list from that catalog. Be sure to send me an email and let me know what piece of that list YOU’RE sending!! Thanks for reading my wish list. Pick something for your special soldier, cop or outdoorsperson.

Stay Safe!