>>16980

>Anyone here have any ideas on why it seems to be a .mil only thing?

Because they're stupid unless you're wearing bulky armor that restricts access to your waist, or would get in the way of you having to quickly don the armor on or off (if you're wounded, or it's time to suit up and get moving quick)

Go run with one on, go walk through doorways, go try to draw while seated in a vehicle. A proper holster and belt that supports the weapon (especially a heavier fully loaded double stack, 1911, big wheel gun) you will notice the weight very quickly. I usually notice a thigh rig/drop leg is either too tight and gets fatiguing/annoying, or too loose where it flops around and gets annoying.

Well, at least you can think on the bright side, they make an awesome tourniquet if you get shot in that leg, as they tend to cut off circulation anyway! And they make you look like a huge mallninja faggot.

What Revived says is exactly right and especially with my limited experience, I don't have anything to add to it.

I can offer an alternative, though. I run a Safariland holster on my battle belt, and it's attached to my belt using the low ride Universal Belt Loop (UBL) option. It doesn't ride as low as a thigh holster, but it puts it (for me) at a level that offers most of the same benefits. Comfortable and out of the way for the most part and should clear anything your shoulders clear, stays very stable at all times. The downside is it doesn't necessarily work great when you're sitting in a chair with arms or a car seat. It's not terrible but not great either. But, like I said, it's the best alternative I've found to a thigh rig. Clears waist length jackets, backpacks, armor carriers (not an issue for me anyway), stuff like that.

You were effectively working statically with wear of that holster. You weren't patrolling, you had a workspace that was the size of what, a 20 foot conex? Try doing a walk/run for 12 miles with one.

The only reason to use a dropleg is if you have mandatory equipment requirements that preclude being able to access effectively with a low-ride hip holster, or absolutely no other option.

They're awkward, they're unwieldly, and they're horrible for real field use as a general rule.

Low crawling, they're in the dirt where/when a hip holster isn't.

If you have to RUN with them, they're even worse. They're horrible if you cinch them down to where they don't move, because now you're restricting circulation on that leg. They make your uniform bunch up and pinch. They are absolutely despicable for long distance wear, as they're going to literally wear a hole in your leg.

They are also a safety hazard as they can get hung up easier than anything else other than a slung rifle if you happen to have a shit hover and can't rotate fully on the rope due to the airframe shifting when fastroping, and they can cause issues parachuting.

For civilian use, they're even worse due to the fact that you can't draw seated if you're driving.

The draw is slower. Significantly, actually.

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>>16980
>Pic is what I would one day like for my BHP but the guy who made it seems to be out of business.

If you ever had to run with that thing that 1911 would come flying out just like the spaghetti would come flying out of your pockets as you have to explain to your buddies why you need them to help you look for your obsolete "pistol."

Goggles for dogs --doggles?
http://www.operatorchan.org/g/res/14200.html#14246

>>16942
In retrospect that particular jacket is probably not optimal for OP's needs and he would probably be best sticking to specialized Mountain Hardwear/Outdoor Research etc, but their stuff is reallllly nice in general.

Not to derail the thread, but I'm not sure if their patterns are most comparable to multicam/kryptek/ for use involving people or if it's more in line with Gore's Optifade patterns designed around how deer and ducks and shit see. Would be kind of interesting to see some testing.

It's all elitist goatee dudebro hunting gear, but God it is nice to wear/pack if you get discounts on it.
>tfw I can get just about anything BUT Kuiu "cheap". Not like First Lite and Sitka are bad at all, but...

>>16943

Yea, the things that would prevent me from getting it are the price and the fact that ordering clothes online you can't try out beforehand is a bad idea. Especially when combined with the first issue.

Reminder if you've been divorced and decided to assault Sealand in one last desperate gamble, then you might be interested in the S.P.E.A.R. LBE system with integral flotation padding.

  If OPERATORchan tried some to get froggy with Sealand, we'd get our collective shit pushed in. It would be a disasterous rout.

  Sealand https://youtu.be/m6OisB56whg
A riveting tale of disaster and heroism. Russian mafia posing as Sealand diplomats, running illegal guns. Mass hysteria!

Finally found some HR photos of Rob MacPherson's black and gold English-style armor.

>>16901
Das shit, SHIT! Almain rivets have much more of the PMC flair that OPchan stands for.

>>16905
Found the appropriate car for that guy to drive to tournaments in.

>>16918
Last I checked, opchan didn't stand for being flatly inferior.

There were some brave men, back then.

German WW1 'Infanterie-Panzer, 1918' sentry armor & Stirnpanzer helmet armor attachment.

An aircrewman with the 743rd Bomb Group standing in front of B-24H Liberator ‘TePee Time Gal’ wearing typical protective clothing, San Giovanni Airfield, Foggia, Italy, 1944-45.

The airgunner on the picture is Major David G. Bellemere and behind him is the B-24 Liberator heavy bomber ‘Tepee Time Gal’. He’s wearing the typical flight clothing: M4 flak helmet with Polaroid B-8 goggles, flak jacket, F-2 electrical flying suit with B-3 jacket, A-14 oxygen mask, the gloves and ugg airmen boots. http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/airgunner-b24-bomber-1944/

>>16951

My guess would be that he caught a burst from a Suomi M31. Though it's claimed the SN-42 will stop rifle and machinegun rounds past 300 meters I'm a bit skeptical.

Have some experimental Canadian armor.

>>16750
> Quick question from me - why exactly are these headphones mounted on the helmet rails

To echo what BTDT and OPERATOR mentioned, They're super comfy and help to keep your helmet on.

I have to wear a hard hat at work most of the time, and I've got ear muffs like pic related. I also have a head light strapped to my hat, so it's my ear pro, dome pro, and my light source all in one.

>>16937

Exactly the same thing I did when I worked at the mine, except that I doubled up on earpro in the mill as it was loud as shit, and jacked my active muffs into my radio so I could hear all traffic as necessary.

The mill maintenance folks always loved when I would come around, because they were dealing with shit D-cell flashlights or small Petzl style headlamps on their helmets.

I had a Princeton Tec Apex I had mounted on my dome. That fucker was daylight compared to the shit they were having to deal with, and it just made things easier to get done. Also was brighter for going downhole (Underground mine) and I'd bring with me a mining lamp, but I'd use mine as it was worlds better.

>>16939
> Princeton Tec Apex
275 lumens? Git some.

I've got a Fenix HL50 strapped to my hard hat. It works great when it's got a fresh battery, but when the batt gets low, there's a random time delay as it tries to build voltage. I've had it come on minutes later while I'm talking to someone, and have it shine right in their face.

Everyone looks at me weird, until the power goes out and I'm the only one with two flashlights. (Which happens a lot... at power plants...)

I've found that the 60 lumen medium setting is just a bit much when working with your hands. 50 would be dead on. My buddy bought a XTAR H1 Commander which also works well, and has a very nice neutral white LED.

>>16944

Yeah, that thing's getting towards silly bright. There's a reason it has a fuckhuge radiator built onto the backside... and needs a 4 AA battery pack offsetting it with 2 band strap (round the head and over the nugget).

It does have low power options both for the primary spot beam as well as the 4 area lights, so you're not on AGHMYEYES mode the whole time, although it's fun since it kicks on in death star mode. It would be cooler if it had a Pthewwwwwww sound when it turned on like an energy rifle having a magazine slapped in it or something.

Regarding the batteries for yours, the Apex is nice in that it has a low battery warning, but between different intensity for the spot as well as the floods it has lower voltage failover modes so you can milk those batteries till they're totally done, or you don't need a light anymore because you're done.

I also still really like Streamlight Sidewinders, as the combination of multiple colors (white spot, red/green/blue floods all by physical toggle)as well as intensity levels by holding down the switch, plus a rotation capable head and a clip that allows hands-free either by tossing it on an epaulet/hat brim/helmet bolt/MOLLE/whatever or setting it down with it rotated where you need light.

Then there's my Final Solution of my Fire Vulcan LED. Yeah, it's only 160ish lumens, but it's a tight as fuck beam that cuts through airborne contaminants, has a really nice charging base, and the rear LED's are nice for using it as a stroll-about light. Plus a seatbelt buckled shoulderstrap since it's intended as a grab off the truck firefighter's light.

When I still wore turnouts, I had a Fire Vulcan on my side, Survivor LED on my chest, and a Vantage mounted on my helmet. I looked like a zombie apoc rave with all my lights on, but at least I could find my way to victims and/or the fuck out of a building if I needed to bail out. Yeah, I like my streamlights. Still need a new battery for my Stinger LED, and I'd like to get some Ultrastinger LED's. Rechargeable lights are just fucking handy, especially since I hardmounted chargers in each vehicle we have had. That way, I always knew beyond the wally world floodish/laser cheapo lights I keep in each vehicle, I also had a Mean Beam onboard if I needed it.

>>16946
Yeah. Just for the hell of it I bought a thousand lumen flashlight the other day. Out in the woods or for some X-FILEs shit, it'd be great, but it's actually utility is pretty low, as you can't point it at anything reflective. Even if you hold out your hand on in front of it it'll reflect enough that your eyes won't like it.

I am not a big comic book guy but the bad guy in Hellboy's mask was awesome looking

>>16804
>>16809
So, is Kanye West just wearing modern polycarbonate versions of these? Is he just a retro futuristic operator?

>>16823
Well, I mean, Inuit people have been using the same idea for millennia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit_snow_goggles

>>16825
Why you did not include this fantastic picture is beyond me.
- Inuit goggles made from caribou antler with caribou sinew for a strap.
Joking aside, snow blindness is a serious hazard when out in the snow and the bright sun is reflecting off it in an intensely bright way.

Wooden snow goggles and case, Inuit, North America, 1801-190

Snow blindness is caused by sunlight reflecting off white snow and ice. This painful condition causes temporary loss of vision. The Inuit people in North America wore goggles to shield their eyes from such glare. These goggles are made from pine and rawhide. Slits in the rawhide eye pieces let the wearer see. They are kept in a wooden case decorated with hunting scenes.

>>16190
>>16191
>>16192
Never thought about how easy it is to do Han Solo costume (see pic)


>>16241
Here you go

http://feminism.meetup.com/

>>16242

Were going to need a bigger starship.

>>16188
I would be lying if I said I didn't want it.

I've looked into them. They're not just AR's that just so happen to be rigged up crossbows. They are actually pretty good crossbows. Very accurate and hits hard as fuck. (very pricey though)

>Heckler & Koch, AR500 Armor, SOG Knives & Tools SureFire, LLC Team Wendy Armasight, Inc.., Trijicon, Inc.. TEA Headsets Wilcox Industries Corp. Metalhead Photography

http://www.galac-tac.com/home.html

>>16193
No, there is only one logical option for luke.

I've been using a Hennesy for many years; it's pretty much replaced ground tents for me maybe 99% of the time. In fact, the only time I break out the old ground tent is if I'm camping with someone else.

General pros:

Lighter. #1 reason I started camping in one. My prior ground tent was a lightweight Nemo with air tubes so it wasn't like it was a yurt... aaaaand the hammock I have *with* everything I keep with it is still half the weight at just over a kilo. With snakeskins (just waterproof tubes/stuff sacks) it collapses down in a couple seconds and can be hastily tied like a fat rope to gear.

Versatile. You're not limited to trees, either. They work as a bivvy sack and lots of other things only limited by imagination. Rain flys can double as (or just BE) a poncho and all the other tarp like things, while saving you the weight of whatever you would've brought there.

Comfy. Personal opinion but after decades of trying to scrape a spot outta the ground like a cat, rocking back and forth in the air while all toasty is too much luxury to go back. On cold winter days, you can tend a low fire down to hot coals and then carefully adjust the hammock height so you're sleeping over all that radiant heat.

General cons:

Not many I can honestly think of. The first one is siting: you don't *have* to have two trees but it helps. You can use it as a ground tent of course if you run out of trees... but what are you doing running out of trees oh god get back below treeline you're going to die.

It's also really a solo deal unless you're cuddly enough with your partner they literally are you. It's impossible, of course, to not effect the other person with the slightest movement. Some chicks dig it. Some think they do until reality kicks in and after the second night you're sleeping in a lean-to built next to the hammock.

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>>16746

+10000000 on using a carabiner and two rap rings/side.

I can't even begin to calculate the hours I've saved over the years between that set up and having snakeskins.

>get to camp site
>oh look two trees
>already have a bonfire going and half a log cabin built by the time the first ground tent is getting poles strung.

ENO Doublenest with Atlas straps. Is the best place to while away a hot summer afternoon with a good book.

Biggest con is that they get cold. If you hang there long enough it's quite possible to start feeling chilly even in 90° weather. Needs lots of padding to counteract. Another potential issue is that they don't offer much privacy, even with a tarp drawn way down over it if you're at a popular camping ground, festival or what-have-you. Drunken/stoned concert/festival goers seem to like to stare at people napping in hammocks. Especially when it's night and you left a light on in your campsite so your companions can find their way back.

I gotta support ENO hammocks, they're quality gear and very lightweight.

I use a Hennessy hammock for camping, it's really the lightest way to go.

Pros: Light, quick to set up, comfy as fuck once you get settled in. Keeps you off the ground where critters like to scurry.

Cons: You need to find a relatively ideal place to set up. If you're in the woods, chances are you can find a good spot. Even "two person" hammocks are not really for two people. If you fuck up your setup you may fall out of your trees.

Temperature control is not really a con. You have the same problems in a tent, and cold ground will suck the heat out of you faster than cold (still) air under a hammock. Wind though under your hammock will fuck you up - but all you need is a little know how to prevent that. Essentially, if it's cold you are building yourself a cocoon, which means a water and wind barrier ie garden variety tarp and some insulation, usually in the form of an underquilt. A hammock + underquilt + rainfly or tarp is still less bulky than a similar tent outlay. If you're very worried or delicate, you can use a pad in your hammock too, I recommend an inflatable one. You can bring a sleeping bag, but remember that your underquilt essentially makes the entire hammock a sleeping bag.

Honestly, there is a lot of shit you learn just by going and trying it once, but I haven't met anyone who doesn't prefer it to tents if there are sufficient things to hang from.

Pic related, steady downpour overnight, ground was moderately flooded when I woke up but I was dry because I was 3 feet in the air. A tent situation would have been much different.