We have been testing a pair of Desert TFX® GTX® Temperate
Military Boots (Style No. 26010)
Having over 40 major boot vendors in the police industry (which
can be found in the
police boot category of our website) it can be a daunting task
to find the right boot for you. Often cost, construction,
availability, and lifespan are all obvious factors when searching
for a new pair of kicks. This particular pair of boots are
indicative of Danner construction and offer a breathable, cool,
lightweight, and waterproof boot in desert tan.
Like many other tactical boots the Danner TFX fit and wear more
like a pair of lightweight hiking boots, and offers the rugged
protection law enforcement requires. One might ask why we
wanted to test a pair of boots in desert color, and if you work for
a progressive law enforcement agency you will certainly know why.
Many details require officers to be visible to the public as a
police officer, yet require a more flexible uniform. Agencies
across the country seem to be transitioning to a uniform of khaki
colored cargo pants with a black polo shirt bearing some kind of
agency identification. This allows officers to wear either tan
or black boots, and our test Danners seem to be a perfect fit.
The boots offer a great support system to your foot and have
speed laces to help get in and out of the boot in a hurry.
People often love their Danner boots so much they resole them rather
than tossing them to the trash. I'm not sure this particular
pair of boots are available for the re-sole program, but are
certainly a heavy contender for tan boots. For more
information please visit the Danner website directly at
http://www.danner.com/
In our
firearm category of manufactures you will find a specialty
company which focuses on making quality sniper rifles. Desert Tactical Arms came in with a bang when they
opened the doors to their company in May of 2007. Instantly
they came
out firing with the release of their Stealth Recon
Scout (SRS) and have now become a major player in the
Bull Pup
category. As you can see in the photo above the rifle is
shorter in length than a regular sniper rifle and is comparable to
an AR-15 (also in the photo on the bottom).
The SRS has the magazine located behind the handle
(a space typically reserved for the butt stock), which creates more
room to cheat the barrel back into the configuration of the gun.
This increases the versatility of the weapon and allows snipers to
carry the weapon much differently. From a snipers position it
opens a world of opportunity in allowing the shooter to take better
vantage points or try a maneuver that might not have been tried.
Some sniper guns are even so long it is not recommended that they be
carried in a shooters bag. The SRS not only can fit in the
shooters bag, but can practically be fit into a large ruck sack
without having special accommodations.
To add to the already impressive attributes of the
Desert Tactical SRS, it can be purchased and configured with
multiple barrels. They can be exchanged in less than a minute
and bring an added punch to the equation. Many special
operation teams and snipers are now calling on a .338 round to help
carry the distance when the conventional .308 may fall just short of
ensuring the round has the ability to travel the distance with
unwavering accuracy. Check out Desert Tactical's website at
http://www.deserttacticalarms.com/
Watch the Tactical Impact guys as they illustrate the
accuracy of the Desert Tactical SRS
In the
Knife Category
of our vendors you will find the company Ka-Bar. This is one
of their knives specifically evolved to meet the needs of law
enforcement. Almost every officer carries a knife for a number
of reasons (cutting seat belts, opening medical packaging, cutting
clothing, or just everyday needs). One need often overlooked
is the situation where the officer gets into a physical altercation
and for whatever reason cannot get to his firearm, taser, or other
weapon that might be used to de-escalate the threat.
That's where the Ka-Bar TDI and last chance knives
are working their way into the lineup of useful tools. We have
been testing the knife shown above and it has worked very well to
date. The knife comes with a small holster, and we have been
mounting the holster to the trouser belt of your pants before
putting your duty belt on. After putting the holster on your
trouser belt, you then put your duty belt on over the holster
sandwiching it between the two belts. The handle of the knife
runs parallel to your duty belt so when I looked down it ran about
2/3 of the length behind my magazine pouch and was not even
visible by other people.
I did not have to loosen or make any special
configurations to my duty belt because the holster has such a thin
profile (in fact none of the officers who tried it had t make any
adjustments). Being left handed I also was concerned about the
holster configuration but you just flip three small screws and the
holster is set up for south paws.
The knife was especially nice after a few pulls
because I typically carry my pocket knife under the flap of my cargo
pants on my gun side (left pocket), so I did not have to reach and
play with my pocket to get the knife out. I did cut a seat
belt out of an old car seat to see how quickly it performed, and I
was able to slice through the belt with ease. As a collective
group of testers we could see this knife most applicable to officers
who do not carry a back up gun on their persons. Although we
did not test the knife in a tactical configuration, it can easily be
mounted in the MOLLE setup and both vertical or horizontal.
The knife comes in both smooth and serrated, and
more information can be found at the companies website
https://www.kabar.com/index.jsp
Follow-Up Assessment
As we previously reported on our
Weekly Review of
March 29th of the Disposacone, we were hoping to get our hands
on a set to try them in inclimate weather. Well shortly after
the article was published the folks at Disposacone were gracious
enough to send out a pack for evaluation.
After 3 weeks of testing we had a chance to put the
cones down in rain, wind, and dry weather. The Disposacone
performed well, and the cones did exactly what the company set out
to do... best of luck as they get ready to launch nationwide sales.
