This is kinda old news, but then again its been months since I last blogged. Anyway…

On my last search and rescue outing, my sog sword met its match. Admittedly its was kinda my fault. I was standing there looking at this 1.5″ tree thinking, “I wonder if I could take this down in one hit.” Answer: No. I swung and was left holding a stump. The other two pieces were laying on the ground, right on top of each other at the base of the tree.

I have since replaced it with a Kabar Kukri. However i have not had much time to play with my know hacking implement. So far I can say it does not eat random blackberry vines as well, but it flies through anything remotely rigid.

My Search and Rescue kit is an elaborate mess of zipties, nylon, carabiners and molle.

Molle is great as a customizable system but lacks the ability to quickly drop pouches. Which is important. For example: I have a butt pack on my vest that contains spare clothes and other bits of gear that would be needed for an overnight mission. Now If I know that I will not be in the field that long, I drop that pouch. With traditional molle, dropping the pack would be a short job, putting it back on a major pain.

Enter Blackhawk speed clips. These things make attaching and removing molle packs and pouches a snap. Here is how I think they stack up against compete molle systems:

1. BlackHawk Speed Clips: By far the best. Buy them and never look back
2. 5.11: Most molle 5.11 gear comes with their molle attachment system built in. Its pretty good. Good enough that I would not replace it. And just fine if you are not going to be doing a lot of reconfiguring.
3. Maxpidition Tac-ties: Junk. They work ok, but its way over complicating the whole process. plus they never take all of the slack out of the system, leaving a minor bit of space between the pouch and the vest.

Note: the general messiness compared to the image up top of the BlackHawk speed clips in action.
4. Condor Things: Condor gear is questionable to begin with. Its molle attachment system is just lame. If you have to use condor gear, cut those nylon strip off and use the BlackHawk Speed clips.

Anyway, there is my thought for the day.

I have been editing the 24 hour pack page. If you are interested in Search and Rescue, you should check it out.

Its around $20 and makes a great sound as it blows though blackberries. What else do you want?

Downside: its got a saw thing which I think will be useless.

Eventually I would like to get one with a curve as to ass more weight toward the tip.