…and Your Gear Will Take Care of You!

How many times have we all heard that phrase and does it truly apply today with all the developments in the tactical industry? Suffice to say that there’s always going to be some truth in that statement, but I’d like to take a look at the down and dirty of the abuse that equipment endures.

In the Navy we were taught over and over again to constantly keep our gear PMS’d (not that kind of PMS), with the threat of inspections continuously looming over us. As mentioned, there’s always going to be a certain degree of care that must go into the equipment you trust with your life.

One item in particular that comes to mind is the UDT Vests we were issued, maintaining these lifesaving devices is something that always needs to be a priority. Maybe not inspection ready, but at least ensuring that standing salt water is removed and rinsed with fresh water to prevent deterioration. Also tending to the actuator to ensure functionality and that rust hasn’t built up to bind it.

While this is just one example of staying on top of maintenance, how about gear like nylon packs, pouches and straps? After putting a metric ton of equipment through its paces since starting ITS Tactical in 2009, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most equipment doesn’t need it and why would it? I personally love breaking in my personal gear as well as the items sent to us for review.

I’m not sadistic to where I want to see gear fail, but I look at it this way. Wouldn’t you rather know if a piece of kit is going to fail before you have to depend on it with your life? While I’m not personally in the service any longer, I take pride in truly finding out what works, what doesn’t. Whether this is during the classes I attend to better my training or at the range back at home, I have a good time doing what I do and getting to share my experiences with others that are fighting the good fight.

I think you can relate here when I say that there’s a certain amount of pride you take in your gear that’s been used and abused. It’s not sitting on a shelf in some collection, it’s being used! There’s a lot to be said about that. I love dirty, what can I say?

Quality Manufacturing

When I say that most nylon gear doesn’t need any maintenance, allow me to add a caveat. This means quality made nylon gear. Over the last few years I’ve seen my fair share of bombproof nylon goodness, as well as crap that busted at the seams after the first jump down to go prone. Hopefully most reading this can relate.

While finding out what’s quality and what’s crap can be hard before you throw down the plastic to purchase it, here are a few tips that can help you personally and to pass along your buddies.

Buy American when possible. Does this mean that anything that isn’t made in America is crap? Certainly not, but this question really comes down to how you personally feel about overseas production. From my experience it’s hit and miss. The issue here is quality control and I’ve seen much better quality control coming out of America than I have coming out of some countries, particularly China. You’re also supporting American business by buying American, if that’s important to you.

If you’re not familiar with the Berry Amendment, it essentially requires the Department of Defense (DOD) to give procurement preference to domestically produced, manufactured, or home grown products. These include food, clothing, fabrics, and specialty metals. Everything from operational rations to body armor. Suffice to say that if you see Berry Amendment Compliant it’s made in America.

Know the company. Who is the company you’re buying from? Is it a distributor? If so, do they state on their Website what the item is made from and where it’s made? More on material in a second. On the company, what’s their reputation like, do they deliver as promised? What reviews have you read about them? Today’s consumer, whether it be military, law enforcement or civilian, is relying more and more on word of mouth from their trusted network of friends and co-workers to influence their buying decisions.

The majority of this is occurring online through social media. Why? This is where the people are at. Your friends, your family and even your internet friends. Suffice to say you should do your homework, read product reviews that are out there, watch YouTube videos, listen to what people are saying.

Buy quality material. Something that everyone should learn is the difference in weights of Cordura. It’s a simple thing to learn but a sign of a good manufacturer is that they’ll state what their equipment is made from. While I’m directly talking about Cordura Nylon here, this goes for all materials too, know what you’re buying.

The most common types of Cordura you’ll see are 100o Denier, 500 Denier and 330 Denier. The word “Denier” refers to the weight of the nylon fabric, not the strength of the individual fibers. While the most common “bombproof” fabric is 1000D, a lot of tactical companies have been starting to use 500, 330 and even a hybrid combination of 500 and 330. You may be wondering why you’d want to sacrifice strength for lighter material? The idea of even using the lightweight nylon is just that, to save weight.

While most of us won’t benefit from lighter weight equipment and should probably be working out more rather than selecting lightweight material, there are certainly both benefits and drawbacks. The main drawback is durability. If you can afford to replace your high-speed lightweight gear on a regular interval, than you’re either in a unit where money isn’t an object, or you’ve got a lot of it yourself. 500D and 330D is definitely going to wear down faster than 1000D will, but that’s not to say certain low-wear items can’t benefit from that and not break the budget. It comes down to personal preference.

Attention to detail. The last thing I’ll say here as a guideline, is that sometimes it’s impossible to see how an item is sewn together until you get hands on with it. Needless to say if you can find a review that talks about this in particular, or you can get a hold of detailed photos, it will be beneficial. What you’re looking for is sloppy stitching or anything that doesn’t scream quality.

Another thing to look for is that the internal/external seams feature binding tape, or a sewn piece of fabric covering exposed seams. That’s just another mark of the attention to detail you should be looking for in all your equipment purchases.

Notes
Hopefully this article has given you some things to think about next time you’re shopping for your equipment needs. The take home message here is that taking care of your gear doesn’t necessarily mean inspection ready and buying quality in the beginning will better your chances for dependable equipment.