I was certainly happy with my first experience of Blauer products with the Clash Boot, so quickly took them up on the offer to try more items like this Strike shoe. Keeping the awesome feature of using the BOA lacing system, there is no slacking on the rest of the shoe details to make a great 4" tall design.
With all the fancy belt options out there, sometimes you just need something to hold your pants up and the First Tactical BDU BELT is a great execution of this concept while offering attention to detail and being affordable.
As expected First Tactical is doing a good job filling out their tactical product line including some nice packs and bags. To get a starting taste of their design style I got a chance to try out the Tactix 1-day Plus Backpack and was certainly pleasantly surprised.
I had a chance to check out First Tactical's main Tactical pants, the Tactix series and hence the dirty presentation on the pics, I've been putting them to good use. The full name is a bit ridiculous being First Tactical Men's Tactix Tactical Pants, but I'll forgive them for being a solid product. After a little research it appears First Tactical is a new gear company comprised of some folks that used to be at 5.11 and some solid new personnel from tactical occupations. The first wave of items seem to be aimed at law enforcement, but one of the big changes is that First Tactical plans to emphasize direct sales to keep final retail prices low.
Still catching up with my review backlog, I'm fortunate the Team Wendy EXFIL LTP HELMET continues to hold up as a solid modern full featured bump helmet. Tactical Cool guys have been using skateboard type helmets for a while now and the EXFIL is a great example of taking that idea to create a tactical version from the ground up rather than a make do compromise.
The Dragon Egg is the first item I've gotten to check out from Direct Action and it is nice to see an ally country also making good kit with modern features. Direct Action started out in Poland, but now has distribution in the USA making it easier for us to get.
Being around a 25+ liter sized pack, most would call the Dragon Egg a medium size pack at around the 2 day loadout zone. This makes it a pretty versatile size fitting the needs of tactical folks and EDC crowd alike. Out of the box the pack comes in a bonus Direct Action bag that resembles a reusable grocery bag these days. The main pack material being 500D Cordura and how it is constructed gives a good durable first impression feel. As the egg name implies, the pack has a lot of gradual curves to the shape which helps with smooth zipper functionality and how items fit on the inside.
Haix is already a big dog in Europe, but is just now getting around to trying to get more into the North American market. As a part of that I got the chance to check out their Mission boots in Desert Tan, the main series in their military line. The pricepoint likely has been one thing to slow the penetration to us cheapos here in the US, but Haix is a great example of no compromises and getting what you pay for.
I recently had the luck to meet ILE - Inside Line Equipment and was happy to see other good local gear folks working on cool things. Although specializing in hard use bicycle pack and bag designs, this MOLLE Organizer is a great example of civilian and military ideas coming together to combine pros from both worlds.
Simple large capacity modular pouches are still a bit on the rare side these days so it was refreshing to see a whole line from Dunamis Gear. Although a small company, one can tell a lot of care goes into these pouches with attention to detail and use of quality materials. They take the end result quality very seriously by guaranteeing Duramis Gear products for life.
Footwear typically doesn't change too much these days so it was a treat to checkout something truly different with the Blauer Clash series. The main stand out is certainly the BOA lacing system used which uses a steel cable and rotating cinch concept instead of laces you tie. Originally the BOA system was for snowboard boots and has since been applied to all kinds of boots and other footwear.
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