Down Range Gear

Sooner or later everyone acquires that piece of gear; the one item they can’t find the right pouch for. And it’s different for every user.

Having a customer bring a problem like this is invaluable because it identifies market niches. From a designer’s point of view, it’s also really fun to work on projects that aren’t a part of the scheduled production pipeline and a great learning opportunity.

Case in point: this Surefire light pouch.

A light configured this way can’t be bought from Surefire; it’s been pieced together by the end user. Little wonder a pouch solution doesn’t exist. These were the requirements as communicated by the customer: securely holds light bezel up, sides of pouch extend to just under lamp assembly, removable/adjustable lid flap, secures with hook and loop, section of loop sewn onto the lid flap.

The pictures speak for themselves. It’s a minimalist pouch with very clean lines.

While the customer communicates what he wants, there’s usually room for the designer to exercise some creativity. Having someone who knows how to really build gear is a good starting point. Having someone with extensive end user experience is better.

Structure is everything in this pouch design and it shows in all the ways corners weren’t cut. This wasn’t a generic pouch. It was exactingly sized and cut to a very specific profile. The contour had to fit the light perfectly; too tight it’s worthless to the user and too loose, it’s an inefficient design with wasted space. The backing is doubled over 1.5″ webbing, the body is two layers of laminated 1000D Cordura with an HDPE plastic insert to ensure the pouch keeps it’s shape.

A lot of pouch designs use pleated ends. That’s where the bottom of the pouch is folded and sewn down against the backing while the pouch billows out as it extends upwards. It’s a relatively easy way to build a pouch but doesn’t necessarily make the most efficient use of available space. Depending on the size and shape of the contents, the item may never actually bottom out on a pleated pouch. That’s because the pouch gets progressively narrower the lower it goes. At some point, the width of the item won’t fit any deeper into the pouch and there is wasted space at the bottom. Down Range Gear doesn’t build pouches like that unless there is a specific reason. Creating a pouch with boxed corners can be both time consuming and more complicated to design. If a corner is properly boxed and the internal volume is a rectangle, all of the space and the entire footprint of the pouch is used. That’s a Down Range Gear design signature.

This pouch was designed to be PALS (MOLLE) compatible with the use of Tactical Tailor MALICE Clips. This is the preferred method of attachment at Down Range Gear, even for belt pouches. Why? It allows the user to attach the pouch on multiple platforms. The MALICE Clip also makes an incredibly secure and durable plastic belt loop. That said, the MALICE Clip is not inherently stable on a belt without an adapter. Combined with an item like the MALICE Clip Belt Stabilizer or PALS Belt Platform, both of which are built with either Velcro or high friction, nonslip liners, the pouch is superior in the belt mounted role to any purpose built belt loop design on the market today.

We really love working on gear. Take a look at the pictures. Imagination precedes design made real with nylon and thread. We lavish a lot of time on the photography. The picture files are huge and detailed. Zoom in close and you’ll see the weave of the fabric and minutiae like obsessive attention to symmetry and stitch lines. Can you tell we’re having fun? Does it come through in the pictures? Building cool gear never gets old.

There’s a small batch of Drop Rig Belt Hangers (Direct Mount, Safariland compatible, high ride) in coyote brown with black Swivi-Lockster buckles available. One of the changes instituted before the recent design update was to color match hardware. Down Range Gear is offering free shipping on the limited quantity of coyote brown system built with black buckles still in inventory. That’s a $35 flat fee, out the door, strictly limited to stock on hand. These are not available anywhere else in coyote brown and the next batch won’t come on line until mid October.

To order, request a quote or verify availability, contact Down Range Gear via email at downrangegear@gmail.com

This entry is from a job a couple of months old. The requirement was to integrate a Camelbak hydration carrier directly to a P2Sys armor system yet still allow the hydration carrier to be used as a standalone pack. Familiar territory for Down Range Gear.

The P2Sys armor system secures over the wearer’s shoulders with a layered hook and loop closure. This turned out to be convenient for the necessary vertical attachment points. A compatible hook and loop strip was assembled to support a side release buckle latch (male end) Velcroed into the shoulder portion of the vest. Low profile ITW QASM buckles were also easily integrated onto the shoulder straps of the hydration carrier. These stay flat and out of the way when the Camelbak is worn without armor.

Ease of use, low profile and leaving the Camelbak as close to it’s original form as possible were key design considerations second only to adding functional armor integration.

There were many easy options to accomplish horizontal attachment. Since the weight of the hydration system is largely borne on the vertical axis, the horizontal attachments serve more as stabilization than a load bearing mechanism. Shock cord was used to keep the hydration system under constant elastic tension against the vest. Tethered to ITW G-hooks (which attach directly onto PALS/MOLLE webbing,) they eliminate the need for a two piece buckle set. When not attached to the armor system, the shock cord pulls the G-hooks out of the way, tight against the sides of the hydration carrier.

Customer photos:

Order 201108111448.

This is a current issue IOTV Side SAPI Plate Pocket (KDH Defense Systems) rebuilt and extensively modified to customer specifications. Although the current design had some interesting characteristics, it is clear that it has been largely optimized for mass production and has limited functionality outside of it’s intended purpose. The customer wanted these shortcomings addressed with three modifications:

1. Push MOLLE straps closer to the edges of the pouch in order to optimize the load on the PALS grid. The current MOLLE straps on the back of the plate pocket are narrowly set at nearly 2″ from the edges. With the weight of a SAPI plate, this makes for an attachment point with a relatively narrow center of gravity. The load is better balanced if the straps are spaced widely apart, as close to the edges of the pouch as possible.

Relocating the straps was a straightforward process. First they had to be separated from the pouch by carefully cutting the seam away. Care was taken not to damage the pouch. The straps were moved as close to the edge as possible and robustly stitched down. Displacing the snaps took more effort. These literally have to be destroyed in place and removal leaves holes in the pouch. After they were extracted, a webbing backer was sewn into place to reinforce the fabric under the new snaps. The entire bottom section of the pouch was covered with a second layer of 500D Cordura fabric, identical to the base material. This had the added benefit of reinforcing the parts of the pouch that tend to take some of the most severe abuse when worn on armor in field conditions. The new snaps were punched to line up with the displaced strap system and aside from the unauthorized redesign, the whole thing looks factory new.

2. Add 3 row PALS grid to front face of pouch. The original pouch design does not anticipate the end user’s need for a modular system. The customer was very specific about spacing and PALS column alignment. The stitching is robust with multiple passes and lines that go past the webbing to preclude failure under load.

3. Reinforce construction throughout the structure at critical load bearing seams and stress points. For a piece of equipment that is typically attached on the outside of an armor system and takes substantial punishment in field conditions, the issued plate pocket is severely under built. The two seams that hold together the sides of the pouch were only single stitched (though properly secured at both ends.) Worse still, there was no reinforcement of the PALS webbing sewn into those seams. Needless to say, this was rectified and critical seams have been reinforced.

Because this is issued gear, care was taken to remain true to the original design, at least from an outwardly visible standpoint. That requires a critical eye when fully disassembling the pouch and a professional finish as it is rebuilt. We don’t just slap these together. Everything is done right. Things like straight stitch lines, properly folded seams, careful alignment and assembly are critical to the professional end result. It’s what our customers expect and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Side SAPI plate pouches are a fairly boring, largely under appreciated piece of gear, but it is very clear that the end users need issued equipment to do more, perform better.