Memorial Day: Two for One

Troy Yocum, an Iraq-war veteran is hiking 7,000 miles across America to raise money for struggling military families. Starting NOW and lasting through MIDNIGHT TOMORROW NIGHT, Green Beans will match your "Cup Of Joe" purchase dollar for dollar with a donation to Troy’s organization, Hike For Our Heroes. To send a COJ to our Troops and help Hike For Our Heroes, click: http://www.greenbeanscoffee.co

m/coj/faq.php

Coming soon: Woolrich Elite Discreet Carry Twill Jacket

We got a close look at this new piece from Woolrich Elite Series Tactical at the SHOT Show this year, and I'm glad to hear that it will be available in June! Based on one of Woolrich’s most popular traditional jackets, the Dorrington, the Elite Discreet Carry Twill Jacket has a number of tactical features built in.

Large, reinforced inner pockets feature integrated holster loops to accommodate concealed carry handguns with up to a 6″ barrel. A unique double angle on the inner pocket provides ready access to gear, but prevents the pocket from flaring open and exposing the contents.

The rear locker loop conceals the entrance to a hidden accessory tunnel, which allows for convenient yet discreet carry of plastic restraints as well as providing routing for electronic wires.

Front hand warmer pockets contain internal accessory loops, perfect for carrying spare magazines, flashlights, batons or chemical sprays. These elastic loops are set at a 45-degree angle for optimized access and keep the items secure and in a consistent orientation for rapid deployment.

The hip-length waistband and cuffs are fully adjustable and the jacket features a boulder-washed finish for a broken-in feel. The shell is made of 11.5 oz. cotton twill and is lined with a polyester Sherpa liner. Sleeves are insulated with diamond-quilted 60-gram Arctic Insulation®.

MSRP: S-XXL, $129.99; XXXL, $149.99

Of course we will gladly be taking pre-orders. Just contact sales@darkthreads.com for more info!

Watching: Dual Survival on Discovery

(photo from Discovery Channel)

This series has been really interesting, offering two different perspectives on survival skills in different situations. In each episode, the hosts of the show - Cody Lundin and David Canterbury - find themselves in the midst of a survival scenario, in a different climate, different terrain, and different resources available. They each have different skill sets that compliment one another: Lundin's expertise is in primitive skills, Canterbury is an army trained scout and hunter.

I've read Lundin's best selling books on survival: 98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive and When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need to Survive When Disaster Strikes. Both were very down-to-earth, no-nonsense guides to surviving situations that anyone could very well find themselves in (i.e. hurrican Katrina).

Canterbury has also published a book that I will have to check out: The Pathfinder System: A Common Man's Survival Guide - another no-nonsense guide to survival skills.

One thing that I particularly like about Dual Survival is how in each episode, they demonstrate a different technique for starting a fire (some methods look a lot easier than others). In the last episode (Out of Africa), they actually made fire with a hand drill - probably the hardest way, but the only tool they had for that scenario was a machete, so that's what they had to work with. You can't know too many ways to start a fire...and you also can't know too many ways to sanitize water.

The dynamic between Lundin and Canterbury is also interesting. They often work as a team to figure out how to deal with each situation, but they sometimes disagree, which makes the show more realistic, especially since we are talking about life or death situations.

I recommend checking out the tv series or picking up any of these books as an introduction to basic survival.

Just Added: Gear Care Kit, and TUF Cloth

It only makes sense. If you spend a lot of money on your gear, you want to protect your investment. That's why we just added a new line of products specifically designed to maintain and protect knives, tools, and guns.

The Sentry Solutions TUF Cloth is a lint-free replacement for oil and silicone rags. It applies a water-displacing, micro-bonded crystal barrier to protect against rust, friction, and wear in any condition, for all of your firearms and metal equipment. TUF-Cloth provides superior protection compared to any oil or silicone based products against moisture; including extreme conditions and environments. It can be used hundreds of times, and stores in its own foil pouch.

The Gear Care Kit Field Grade Tin includes a Tuf Cloth, a GATCO Super Micro X Ceramic Four-Rod Sharpener, a TUF-Glide lubricating pen, and tools for getting into those hard-to-reach mechanisms. It all fits into a neat little tin, making it very easy to pack in your gear bag. Everyone here at DarkThreads HQ has one of these kits, and they are now available to purchase from our web store. Please check it out!

Upcoming MGP Event: Shattered Silence, June 11

Shattered Silence

June 11, 2011

CSENTRI Facility, Orlando, FL

$50 per person

Register here!
America breathes a sigh of relief as the world's most notorious terrorist is eliminated... but what happens now?

Although the serpent's head is severed, like a Hydra, many fierce heads sprout anew. As the United States races to take advantage of intelligence captured from Pakistan, terrorist cells scramble to evade capture and strike back against the West as one fanatic's death spawns a martyr.

Join us at the CSENTRI training facility in Orlando, Florida on June 11 for more CQB excitement as US Special Operations Teams battle terrorist cells from across the globe.

US Force Options:
MultiCam
Black
Olive Drab

Terrorist Options:
Civilian
Mixed Paramilitary (no complete uniform)

Standard MGP Rules in effect. Full face protection and red-chem light or red flashlight required safety items for this site.

Also at June event...

The Arms Market!

Bring your old weapons, uniforms, gear and other items to the Arms Market! Have some old equipment you want to sell? Need to make room for new toys? Tags will be available to tag your items with your name, asking price and other details. Items will be on display and watched over throughout the day, as a courtesy of Toy Soldier Sports, with a nominal 5% consignment of sales... no cost if items do not sell.

The Unsung Four-Legged Hero

Clipped from Fast Company: The Bulletproof Dog That Stormed Bin Laden's Lair


[Image courtesy K9 Storm]

Pretty spiffy, eh? And the article is well worth a read.

Decoding the CRKT M16 Zytel EDC Family of Knives

Kit Carson's M16 designs are the most popular series of CRKT's knives, and the Every Day Carry (EDC) family is their answer to an affordable work knife that can take hard use, but give good value. They feature the Zytel® InterFrame; Zytel is a fiberglass-filled nylon that offers excellent toughness and resistance to solvents, and the blades are 8Cr15MoV high-carbon stainless steel which gives an ideal combination of toughness and edge-holding ability in a work knife.

The M16®-01Z has spear point slim profile blade with a Razor-Sharp edge. It is ideal for fine cutting and carving tasks.

The M16®-01KZ is the same design as above, but with a black EDP blade, black frame and hardware.

The M16®-10Z features a dual hollow grind Tanto-style blade with Combined Razor-Sharp and Triple-Point™ Serrated edges similar to the “Big Dog” M16 models. The result is maximum blade strength and ability to saw through cord, webbing, nets or vegetation quickly.

The M16®-10KZ is again the same design with black EDP blade, black frame and hardware.

Of course, all models feature the Carson Flipper, which speeds opening of the blade and acts as a blade guard when the blade is open. Available now in our web store, and don't forget to use the code:

NRAFREESHIP

to get free shipping on your order, until end of May 2011!

NOTE: All CRKT knives are protected by the CRKT Limited Lifetime Warranty.

Item of the Day: CRKT M16 Zytel Law Enforcement (ZLEK) Series

CRKT took their popular M16 knives and added some features for first responders/professional use: they’ve added a seat belt cutter to the Carson Flipper, and a tungsten carbide window breaker at the butt. Automobile side windows shatter with one quick whack from the butt of the knife. They're built on CRKT's very successful InterFrame construction, with tough, textured Zytel® scales over a 420J2 stainless steel liner InterFrame and solid Zytel back spacers.

M16-12ZLEK

M16-13ZLEK

M16-14ZLEK

It comes in three sizes; all have a tough black coating and premium AUS 8 high-carbon stainless steel for the blades, which have Combined Razor-Sharp and Triple-Point™ Serrated edges to easily cut rope, cord, canvas, and vegetation. All three models are fitted with our exclusive patented* AutoLAWKS™ safety, which automatically makes them into virtual fixed blades when the blade is opened and locked.

Available now in our web store! Please check it out...and use this discount code in the shopping cart to get free shipping on your order:

NRAFREESHIP

Offer expires end of this month (last day of May 2011).

Just Added: CRKT Veff Sharpener

Ever try to sharpen a knife with serrations? Not the easiest thing in the world to do, but the Veff Sharp™ was designed to be the ultimate portable multi-purpose field and bench sharpener. It's effective on most serrations and doesn't create egg-shaped serrations as tapered sharpeners do. It also works well on gut hook knives and seatbelt cutters.

The system includes an anodized knurled aluminum handle and two threaded 600-grit diamond-coated sharpening rods. The smaller rod has three 2” straight sections in sizes 3/32”, 3/16”, and 1/4”. The larger rod has three straight sections in sizes 11/32”, 1/2” and 5/8”. The larger rod also has a 6” flat side. The handle and rods fit neatly into a nylon storage pouch (included). Available now in our web store. Please check it out! Thanks.

*Tom Veff is well known as the preeminent professional knife sharpener in the Pacific Northwest, and also as the designer of the CRKT patented* Veff™ Serrations.

Just Added: CRKT ExiTool

Imagine that you've been in an accident and you are trapped in your vehicle. First, there is the worry about being unable to release a seat belt because it is jammed or if the release is inaccessible. Second, there are the difficulties of escaping a vehicle that has been submerged in water. Water pressure may make it difficult or impossible to open doors or lower windows until water has seeped in and the internal pressure is equalized.

This is something that everyone should have in their vehicle. The CRKT ExiTool is a seatbelt cutter, window breaker, and has a built-in flashlight. It clips to your seatbelt, so it's right there where you need it, and the blade on the seat belt cutter is designed so that there is no way for small fingers to reach it. Don't delay - get one for you and your loved ones. Now available in our Web store. Please check it out!

Just Added: CRKT Tao Pen

Elishewitz Tao® Pen

In Chinese philosophy, Tao means “the way,” the fundamental or true nature of the world. And appropriately, these pens reflect the current state of today’s world, in which a sudden, unforeseen physical attack can come at any time.

Award-winning knife designer Allen Elishewitz has lived in the Far East and has practiced martial arts over the past 30 years, including Okinawan Te, Thai Boxing, Northern Shaolin and Kali. This training, along with his experience as a Recon Marine, gave Allen the perfect background to design these defensive writing instruments, Columbia River Knife & Tool® (CRKT®) Tao® Pens.

This item was really popular at the NRA show. The pens are made of 6061 aluminum, precision-machined and hard anodized. The heavy cap is threaded so that it will not pull off in use, and castellated for greater impact. The flutes and grooves on the pen, combined with the pewter-toned stainless steel pocket clip, provide a secure grip. They use the Fisher® Space Pen ball point cartridge, a pressurized design developed for NASA. It has a tungsten carbide ball point and thixotropic ink which will write in freezing cold, boiling heat, underwater and at any angle—even upside down. Please check it out in our web store! Thanks.

Just in case you missed us at the NRA show, you can use the following discount code in our web store to get free shipping on any order of $50 or more:

NRAFREESHIP

Offer expires end of this month (last day of May 2011).

Upcoming MGP Event: Deadliest Warrior

Deadliest Warrior

May 7, 2011

CSENTRI Facility, Orlando, FL

$50 per person (organized as 5-6 person teams)

Just a week remaining until SFOD-D, SEALs, US Special Forces, Blackwater, US Coast Guard, CTU and other square off to determine who is is the Deadliest Warrior! Is your team represented? Sign up now! Registration closes late Thursday night, May 5th!

Players will be organized in 5-6 man teams. Pick who you are representing and pick your uniforms. We ask that all team members wear the same uniform. Consult the MGP forums to see who's coming and what uniforms are already being worn. While one team wearing a uniform doesn't preclude another from wearing the same, we'd like to try to have some sort of visual distinction. (ie. Multicam w/ mulitcam gear vs. Multicam w/ black gear)

The event includes team on team combat, working to achieve specific mission goals as well as a series of timed and scored tactical exercises.

The day will be organized into five main areas. Each team will have time to set up , get some pointers and practice with UAL staff and than compete. You will be Timed and scored on Hits and Kills, after each round , you will have time to go through and see for your self how you did. Each team will have there own color and will be able to see the hits and kills. The 5 events will be the fallowing ;

1. Pistol Comp
2. CQB / CQC Comp.
3. Hostage Rescue
4. Security Detail
5. Team VS Team - CTF (mulitple team v. team rounds)

Each event will be held simultaneously in different parts of the building to minimize down-time. Your teams will each have there own staging place to set up and reload for the next Competition. You will get extra point's for your team's load out at the start of the day.

You will need to have at least one hand gun per-team as the pistol competion runs each team member through solo. Ideally everyone has their own handgun and is familiar with it, but it can be shared and passed to other team members if someone doesn't have a sidearm. The rest of the time you will be fighting as a team and demonstrating why you are THE DEADLIEST WARRIORS...

Don't delay! Sign up this weekend!