Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Tools and equipment to get the job done.
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Psychlonic
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Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Post by Psychlonic » Thu Mar 31, 2016 3:47 am

You're out operating in the night on a mission you know requires at least a few basic tools. You've got a flashlight, a multitool, a good defensive blade, some picks and wrenches, and a compass. How you carry these may vary. You may carry them on a large web belt, your regular pants belt, or maybe a drop leg pouch. If you really need more tools, you might even have a load bearing vest on.

Unfortunately the problem becomes obvious fast. Anything hanging off of your natural silhouette becomes a complete pain in the ass at night where mobility and silence are king. Load bearing equipment has a bad habit of rubbing and making noise, plus it will snag on everything. Fences, windows, bushes, everything and at the most inopportune time.

This is where I'd like to suggest a completely different approach. Slim down your gear and eliminate all load bearing equipment for all but the most demanding operation.

For most of your equipment, this is trivial. Generally, your pockets can be dicey because things can fall out. We can fix this. The most obvious fix here is a pair of pants with reliable zippers in the hand pockets. There are rare, but if you have them congrats you're already set. We want to avoid cargo pants pockets here for the most part because they are too loose and take you right back into the issue of your shit banging around and raising your profile.

Instead, consider putting lanyards on all equipment with a basic loop and a mini carabiner at the end of the lanyard. This will allow you to place your equipment into your pockets and secure them to belt loops via lanyard. If you invest in a good CS* megafolder - a great investment - then you can even carry one of these in your pocket with a lanyard to secure it. Unlatch the carabiner if you suspect you may need to deploy at a moment's notice. For a pick pouch, consider something close fitting that can be worn in your back pocket like a wallet and similarly secured via lanyard. With the right gear, this prevent ANY mobility loss from equipment.

You should also consider a headlamp as your light source. They output sufficient light, often have multiple lighting modes, and take up less room than a traditional flashlight. I like to wear mine around my head with balaclava OVER the lamp so I can cover the lamp up with the mask material to prevent glare when out of use and catch the lamp in the event it comes off my head. You can also just pull the lamp off through the eye hole to use hand techniques for light direction. But if you want a more powerful torch, again this is an easy lanyard carry for your pockets that won't take up much space.

Let's return to cargo pants. I general I dislike using the actual cargo pockets for anything but they do have a couple uses. The quick easy one is using them to hold thicker glove shells if you're like me an use them over thinner gloves to prevent wear. The second trick is a little more sneaky and if you want to carry something a little more potent on your operations or just don't yet want to invest in a new folding knife (which you should eventually!) then you can use cargo pants to make everything nice and invisible-like.
The idea here is simple. Cut a hole through the actual pant wall inside the pocket so that when you're wearing them, you can reach down into your cargo pocket and touch your leg through the inside. Now, you can wear whatever you want in that spot in a drop leg pouch and nobody will be the wiser.

Another concept for you guys out there with the somewhat smaller fixed daggers would be to consider a concealed carry type method. A slimmer fitting sheath that can be worn inside the belt line rather than outside. This will draw the blade in closer, prevent snagging, and make it less visible in the event you are seen.

Do you wear boots on operations? Have you considered a lower profile hiking shoe style? You can often net the same ankle support and traction with a good pair while saving weight and increasing mobility. It does make a difference! I'm a huge fan of Danner here but shop around.

Back to gloves, how well do yours fit? Do you find you need to remove yours for fine tasks? Then consider nomex flight gloves. These fit skin tight on you, weigh nothing, and will maintain your identity protection while affording you maximum precision with picks.

With a proper fit of your gear you'll find operations so much more entertaining. Nobody wants to be fighting with their own equipment, you need to be focused on remaining unseen and exploring your surroundings.

* - SOG makes a good folding Pentagon as well for you SOG fanboys!


EDIT - The picture evidence!

Code: Select all

http://imgur.com/a/KtZYR
This album shows basic gear, carabiner and lanyard cordage. Note that I used a somewhat larger carabiner and paracord, both of which are completely unnecessary. Smaller carabiners are ideal and any tough nylon cord will work just as well here. I kept the lanyard tie uncleaned to show how simple I made it, you may wish to trim the ends and melt with a lighter to tidy everything up.

Hopefully this shows how much capacity you can carry without it even being noticeable. I could EDC this stuff and you'd never know even in the daytime, and I would be comfortable. The Rajah II is pretty huge, you normally wouldn't want to carry such a large fixed blade as demonstrated down the album as that sheathe will catch on everything and the knife is not concealed at all even under my t-shirt. And forget trying to carry it on something like the pictured Uncle Mike's duty belt as it would just make everything even worse. I would lean toward something more like the Voyager XL or Recon 1 XL for this kind of carry but I showed the Rajah II just to emphasize how effective this method can be.

The flashlight as you an see came with a lanyard, it's just a cheap aluminum LED light. Carrying it in this fashion, I have it in my left pocket and can pull it out and do a quick scan down low without even having to take it off the lanyard and yes, I'm easily able to bring most of my hand down in front of the bulb to direct the light as described in my flashlight manipulation topic.

The equipment with the duty belt is what everything looks like "conventionally" if you were to carry the same capacity equipment on the belt. Way more bulk and hassle. I put the equipment I'd lanyard right next to it to pronounce the difference even more.

Hope this clears the idea up!
Last edited by Psychlonic on Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile

Post by Xanatos » Thu Mar 31, 2016 10:46 am

Surely the lanyards can get snagged on things as well, right?
Psychlonic wrote:SOG makes a good folding Pentagon as well for you SOG fanboys!
A Pentagon? With a hinge? What sort of mad scientist dreamed up that abomination?
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile

Post by Psychlonic » Thu Mar 31, 2016 11:27 pm

They're short and most of the string you want to stuff into your pocket if there's any excess. The concept is to unlatch the carabiners anytime you want to use your equipment, they exist to catch the item in the event it falls out of your pocket. Say I have a folder in my right pocket, I'd have a short lanyard running from the knife to the belt loop right above the pocket so that hardly any of the lanyard is exposed. In this way, all pockets act as a safe pouch in a way, but with a slim profile. Having your clothing act as the "case" for your equipment more importantly means that you'll glide past edges easier. Say you're climbing in through a window and you barely fit. If you have a fixed blade on your hip, it's liable to catch on the sill preventing you from moving forward without possibly losing the knife or making a lot of sound in the process. If you carried that knife in or under your clothing, however, there aren't equipment edges to catch anymore and the mini-carabiners are smooth and extremely low profile in comparison.
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile

Post by CookieThief » Sun Apr 03, 2016 3:42 am

Could you post some pictures to help explain some of the actions you are describing? Also I love the cargo drop pouch idea, I have been looking for ways to carry my gear in an more concealed way, while being able to move around well. Any more night op oriented stealth carry while on the op and for everyday carry would be awesome.
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile

Post by Psychlonic » Tue Apr 05, 2016 3:42 am

Gotta wait until tomorrow before I can snap some pics, I'll be editing this post as well as the original post as soon as I do! My apologies for the wait in the meantime.
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile

Post by Lynx » Tue Apr 05, 2016 5:58 pm

Dear Psych, is there any way of conveniently carrying a sizeable pair of bolt cutters and a flat crowbar? Both are big and bulky, and I haven't been able to strap them to MOLLE in any way.
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile

Post by Psychlonic » Wed Apr 06, 2016 12:36 am

Lynx wrote:Dear Psych, is there any way of conveniently carrying a sizeable pair of bolt cutters and a flat crowbar? Both are big and bulky, and I haven't been able to strap them to MOLLE in any way.
Dear Lynx,

Thank you for inquiring. In my operations, I prefer to carry longer items like this with no need for instantaneous deployment in a thin water bladder carrier. The CamelBak ThermoBak 2L is a fantastic example of such a carrier, but for the price you are just as well off finding a knock off brand. You'll note the measurement on this one is only 18" long, however the handles of your cutters can come out of the top where the tube could normally run through on either side, allowing you to carry either or both items. Use of cloth to create a cushioned barrier between the two will prevent them from clanking against one another, and the pack is so low-profile that you can wear it under a jacket at night if need be since I've read in previous posts you prefer an inconspicuous approach.

Sincerely,
Psychlonic
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Post by Psychlonic » Sun Apr 10, 2016 3:51 am

Pretty pictures are up.
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Post by Xanatos » Mon Apr 11, 2016 9:30 am

Ah, I get it now. Is there any concern with noise levels coming from the clips?
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Post by Psychlonic » Mon Apr 11, 2016 11:38 pm

It's light metal rubbing against fabric, so it's completely silent when moving. Opening the carabiners is likewise silent. The only risk might be banging the carabiner into the equipment on lanyard, but you'd have to be really flailing around I imagine.
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Post by Shade » Tue Apr 12, 2016 1:57 pm

How in the heck do you op in jeans? That hasn't ever worked out for me, I usually use some cargo sweats for flexibility/protection without losing pockets. I tie everything loose down, and boom.

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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Post by Psychlonic » Tue Apr 12, 2016 7:40 pm

Hah, I don't. That's just what I was wearing when I got around to taking the photos and it shows everything clearly enough. Obviously if I were on an operation I'd be wearing more appropriate clothing.
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Post by Shade » Wed Apr 13, 2016 9:32 pm

Ooh, ok. I was wondering why after years you'd still wear jeans out. XD

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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Post by Xanatos » Wed Apr 13, 2016 9:57 pm

I've opped in jeans before. They're functional enough.
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Re: Lowering Your Equipment Profile - Now with Pics!

Post by Giraffe » Thu Apr 14, 2016 11:34 am

That is a goddamn handsome folding knife Psychlonic.

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