military gear

[oruoja]

I agree that quite a bit of military gear is overkill for regular hiking, but over the last year I have been impressed with some of the new issue we have getting in preparation for an upcoming OEF deployment. Quite a bit is now actually direct purchase gear from outfits like Outdoor Research,MSR, and others. I also like the new Gen III layering system and use quite a bit of it for multi day trips.

[SGT Rock]

It is getting better. One of the things that has improved is the way stuff is purchased. Back in the day if you wanted a new magaizine pouch you had to get the Army interested in the idea. Then they appointed a comitte to write the specifications. Then the specs went out to interested manufacturers. Those folks made their version. Then there was a evaluation phase where the gear was tested by a group that only tested gear. Then the different versions went to bid. Then that gear was given a test fielding. Then finally if it made it through a test fielding - then it was put on a phased force fielding plan.

The new way is more rapid - hence it being called rapid fielding initiative. This lets the branch look for something it needs - in this case we will say an ammo pouch. They figure what it needs to do, then they look and see if someone is already making something that they can use. If they find what they need - they buy it and give it to soldiers. This is good in two ways: the soldiers are not stuck for decades with the stuff that made it through the last fielding. Chances are by the time the old system ended, the gear was already outdated and the process had to start out again already. Wastes money and time. And the soldiers test the gear in actual field conditions. If the new CamelBak pack is a POS, then it will come out quickly and the Army can just stop buying those and find a new one - or the CamelBak company can redesign on the fly.