Maglites

The Iconic Maglite 3D Cell police torch hanging from the belt of a US TV cop is a bit of a Hollywood myth these days.  Sadly maglite fell behind in technology and performance in the torch "arms race" over the last decade and their price tag for the brand name could no long be justified.  Don't get me wrong, maglites are a classic bit of kit, solid reliable torches made to take a beating, BUT the reality is they are kind of bulky, the battery life isn't great.and the lumen out put is again short of other newer brands out there.

Maglite have tried to improve the situation with a new range of LED torches to complement their traditional xenon bulbs , which have brought them back into the game, but they still don't lead the pack in the same way they used to.  For a limited time maglite also offered LED upgrades (which were pretty expensive - almost as much as replacing your original torch, but just slightly cheaper than buying the new LED version!!!) however Maglite have since pulled the official upgrades from their range although there are still plenty of third party companies offering their own brand parts, which although not supported by Maglite seem to work just fine.  I did manage to pick up an official upgrade module when they were available for my 3D cell and it really took my sad old maglite up to a whole new level.  No longer the dull orange glow and 30min battery life, instead a piercing white beam that lasts for hours and is still fully focusable (something some unofficial led upgrades loose).  Of course the only downside is that you cant use LED torches with IR filters, but luckily Maglite is one of the few manufacturers to still produce their filament range so you can revert to one of those if necessary.

Another plus side of the Maglite range is the reliability issue, these torches are still pretty bomb proof, something that Maglite still very much prides it self on and has been the bedrock of its brand reputation.

A quick synopsys of the core range is:

• Solitaire (keyring torch)
• Mini Maglite AA (LED and Filament)
• 2D Cell (LED and Filament)
• 3D Cell (LED and Filament)
• 4D Cell (Filament Only)

But there are also some re chargable and multimode maglite models like the XL200, ML125 and the Mag Charger System which round out the range as well as complimentary Maglite Holders Pouches

Clip on Tie : Essential!

Now a clip on tie isn't normally the kind of Gucci kit that needs a review, but a clip on tie will set you back ~£5, you will use it whenever you are in a suit and it will make your life a hell of a lot safer!

There is a mix op opinion with door supervisors as to whether a clip on tie or a "Dickie" bow tie is the way forward...... Personally I can't see any advantage of the Bow tie over the clip on variety.  Bow ties tend look peculiar, unless you are James bond sporting a tux, and the one thing you don't want to do it draw attention to yourself when working the doors.  Anything that invites ridicule or singles you out is simply increasing your chances of trouble.  From a safety perspective, a bow tie does fasten around the neck, either the clip round variety or the proper tie up kind and so offer a ligature hand hold to any would be assailant all be it a much smaller one than a traditional tie.

The clip on tie fastens to the buttons on the front of the collar and pops off with not very much force at all so you cant be strangled or pulled about by it in any way.  In fact if someone does try and grab it and it comes away in their hand you will gain yourself a couple of seconds as they react to the unexpected result (especially if they a a couple of drinks for the worse) and those couple of seconds will give you a chance to take the upper hand in the situation.  Add to that the fact that a plain black clip on tie will look ok with any shirt or suit colour or style and I can't see why you would choose anything else!

Viper are probably the most well known brand in the security industry for this kind of product and their items are usually pretty reasonably priced.  If you are buying security equipment online it's probably worth buying a couple to save on postage as you will get drinks etc spilled down you at some point and want to give one a wash while you wear you other tie, and one will eventually get broken as you struggle to maintain order and safety with the forces of drunken disorder!

Police Uniform Suppliers

These days cops are issued less and less police uniform, having in general to purchase their own boots, additional pouches and even vests unless you have a medical complaint!   Long gone are the days of the bobby in blue with his white pressed shirt and tie with bash hat and Dr Martens Shoes.  These days police uniforms are a bit more "Tacti-cool" with officers sporting combats, light weight patrol boots a moisture wicking polo shirt (worn under an anything BUT wicking stab vest) and an assortment of belt kit normally heavily customised by the individual officer to suit their uniform needs depending on their specific duties.

Basic police uniform issue will normally include a couple of pairs of pants, a few shirts, 3 types of earpieces, a belt and 2-3 pouches, baton, spray, cuffs and stabby....but getting replacements for lost, stolen or broken kit is always a nightmare.  Unless you are a special constable you will be expected to buy your own footwear at your own expense (specials get a uniform allowance specifically for boots but they have to hand in their dead boots and provide the new invoice and are normally allowed to claim up to £50 per year or £12 per quarter).

At the moment police uniforms are regional, certain neighbouring forces might share specific elements under certain frameworks, but there are no centralised purchasing agreements.  However this is changing and in an effort to cut police uniform costs procurement is being moved to a more centralised national level tender business in an effort to benefit from economies of scale.  It is worth noting however that this was the previous model and it was decided that regional force level purchasing would work out cheaper so this is a bit of a policy flip flop and given the costs of changing the model, will probably end up costing more again than it they left it well enough alone.

In general, despite the more "combative" apperance of the new style uniforms, most officers seem happier with the move to more practical, functional police uniforms than the old suit and clip on tie approach, and the issue of Goretex high viz jackets, fleece tops and heavy weight winter trousers have certainly made life more comfortable than the old capes ever would.

Police Vests Review

Police vests are a great way to keep the weight off your hips and reduce back fatigue.  Police vests differ from combat or assault vests in that whilst they both perform the same basic function of allowing kit and equipment to be mounted conveniently on the body, the police and combat vests are required to carry completely different products and give a completely different appearance.

Police vests are normally designed to be worn over a stab vest.  Some stab vests carriers also have a selection of pockets but they normally fall well short of the form and function of a proper vest for the variety and positioning of the pockets and pouches.

A typical design for a police vest would be two airwaves docs on the left and right breast to allow a radio to be mounted on either side, and on the opposite side it is not uncommon for a torch or Peli versabrite to be mounted in a specially designed adapter.  There would also be a baton holder and a CS spray holder.  If the vest is a cross draw the baton holder is on the opposite side the the hand denomination of the wearer, designed to be drawn across the body, and the CS Spray holder then on the opposite side.  Other common Police Vest pouches would be a cuff holder, small torch holder and a couple of general purpose pouches which you can cram an AtoZ, some sandwiches, spare nitrile gloves, pnb, any other docs etc etc.

The most popular brands of Police Vests include Arktis, MCP. 5.11 and Op. Zulu.  Arktis were made popular for their quality but only a few officers can afford one, let alone justify the expense!!! 5.11 are a bit US centric in their design, much more overt "combat" style looks and more focused on firearms uses so magazine pouches etc.  If you are looking for a high quality, reasonably priced, very thoughtfully designed vest I would recommend the Op. Zulu Police Vest without a shadow of a doubt.  Some real thought has been put into the design of this vest with the positioning of the pockets, and the extra features, including pen holders, hidden key keeper, D rings, independent nitrile glove pocket, rear "stash" pocket, light weight mesh shoulders, velcro patch holders etc etc. make Op. Zulu police vests a stand out winner!!!

Military Gloves

When discussing Tactical Glove the difference between a military glove and a police glove is reflected in the requirements that the different users need.  Police gloves are designed to deal with knife threats and needle threats offering various levels of "Slash" and "Puncture" resistance whilst maintaining a uniform appearance.  Military gloves on the other hand are designed for; flash/heat resistance, knuckle protection, trigger finger tactile sensitivity, abrasion and tear resistance and of course camouflage!

Probably the best known brands of in the military glove market are Oakley (probably the dominant glove brand) and Wiley X.  Both companies backgrounds are not in military gloves but extreme sports products, mountain biking etc.  There is not really a lot to differentiate the gloves to be honest, Oakley being a bit more expensive than Wiley X in general, mainly due to the fashion appeal of the brand rather than anything more substantial.  Similarities on both military gloves include, cut and heat and flame resistant kevlar/nomex blend for the backing material, flame and abrasion resistant leather palm (I believe both use Goat Skin though I am not sure), velcro closure, knuckle protection (polymer plastic on the Wileyx Military Gloves, Carbon Fibre on the Oakley Gloves) and both come in black and desert, with Wiley X also being available in Olive Drab.

Personally I have an older version of the Wiley X military gloves which included additional hard knuckle protection on the secondary knuckle of the pointer, index and ring finger plus they were slightly cheaper than Oakley!

There are plenty of other military glove brands out on the market from Viper and Web-tex to real budget brands that would suffice for a bit or airsoft or paintball but I really value a quality pair of gloves for being able to handle weapons and equipment easily and the protection they offer your hands is invaluable if you are trying to exit a burning vehicle for example.

Tactical Shirts

These days Tactical Shirts come in many different forms using many different technical fabrics and clever design ideas.  The traditional tactical shirt is still a button down collared shirt, with a few enhancements like epaulets for a "security" badge, company logo or rank insignia, concealed pistol holder pockets or an access flap to a covert pistol harness is not un common in a tactical shirt, collar stays to prevent curling after prolonged use (or even abuse) in harsh environments, radio loops for an earpiece to be fed through and kept secure, and normally a few extra pockets as well for ID, money/card stash/maps or other documents.

The traditional style tactical shirt is normally available in a heavy duty cotton version, or a light weight "rip-stop" poly cotton blend.  Personally I prefer the cotton the majority of the time, despite some of the technical advantages of the poly cotton (faster drying, supposedly more breathable, and as the name implies "rip stop") purley from a comfort perspective as I don't really get on with synthetic fibres so well.  This problem with a synthetic tactical shirt is often worsened when worn under body armour, or a backpack when the rubbing and sweat buildup is worst, especially on the nipples and under the arms.  Cotton is just more comfortable for me.

There are more modern "polo shirt" styles which are becoming popular in the tactical arena, from your basic black security polo shirt....a black polo with "Security" in big white letters on the back shoulders and left breast, to the more Gucci "professional" polos from brands Blackhawk or 5.11 which retail at about 3 times the price!!!  The more up market tactical polo shirts offer some of the features of their traditional shirt counterparts, extra pen pockets, collar stays, radio and sun-glass loops etc. and also a better build quality; heavier weight material and re enforced stitching.  These styles of shirts have become very popular with maritime security tactical users and are normally available in a cotton or synthetic moisture wicking material.  Again, personally I prefer the cotton tactical shirts as I find the moisture wicking versions tend to suffer from odour build-up, though a colleague has suggest that this doesn't happen if you use a detergent without any fabric softener component.....I have yet to test this theory tho!

Gun Holsters (Mainly Pistol Holders)

When picking a gun holster it is not an item you want to make a snap decision on, and price really isn't something to scrimp on!

For the purpose of this article I will be focusing mainly on pistol holders when I am referring to gun holsters, with my experiences being Glock and Sig based ( I know the Baretta 92F is quite a common CP side arm but I haven't used one since I had a plastic BB Gun when I was 12).  My personal preference is for a drop leg holster not having much demand for concealment I don't really know why anyone would choose a hip mounted gun holster unless that was what you were issued and you were not allowed to change it.

I know that both Web-Tex and Viper make popular gun holsters available at very reasonable price points and these are popular with airsoft players and paint ball players, but I am not so confident I would want to trust my life with one...well not for a long period anyway! Whilst they will function perfectly well as a pretty "universal" gun holster, holding most pistols, it is more the build quality and longevity of the product that concerns me, on a 6 month deployment, re stocking can be an issue and you don't want to be heading into a hostile environment with your holster taped up and held together with zip ties!

Even cheaper than the drop leg versions MOLLE pistol holsters from viper cost less than £10 in most online stores....but remember you will need a leg platform if you want to use it as a drop leg, which will cost about another £10, but you can mount a MOLLE pistol holder on your belt, body armour, kit bag or any other MOLLE surface.

Both the drop leg and MOLLE holsters are available in Black, OD, Digi-DPM and US Multicam, unfortunately I have not been able to find any pistol holders in UK Multi Terrain Pattern.

Both Blachawk and 5.11 make holsters for guns that I would be a lot more comfortable trusting my life with, but of course that comes at a price.  5.11 are cheaper than Blackhawk, and while a few die hards might say that that makes them better I cam confident that 5.11 are good enough.  Personally I prefer the material holsters over the polymer versions, but that is of course personal preference....A polymer gun holster will of course only fit a very limited range of guns so you are potentially forking out every time you get a new issued weapon!  I would instead opt for the 5.11 LBE Holster for most situations, personally I would have it on a leg platform (I also fit a strap butter to my platform).