UTE - Consultant Apparel Designers & Manufacturing

UTE Modular Nav Board

2012-02-12T02:09:00.000Z

UTE Modular Navigation Board

As part of our reorganization we decided to move away from mainstream products and focus on value added products to our core customers.

One of the products we developed late last year was our Modular Navigation Board (MNB). The MNB is a product that, depending on configuration, can be used in sub surface and airborne activities. It offers a three part modular design with several variations to enable maximum flexibility.

The Main Board
The main board is the central part of the system. It can be used on it's own or in conjunction with the other add on components.

As A Stand Alone Main Board

It can be constructed using lightweight, low observable composites or other high density polymers depending on the end use. It is a balanced design in that it can be used through 360 degrees depending on equipment and task. Facilities are available for attachment of equipment and tethers at several locations. In standard form the MNB will accept a Ritchie compass. Equipment slots can be used to fix ancilliary equipment like GPS or dive computers i.e. Cochran or UWATEC

Main Board With Utility Centre Panel

The MNB Utility Centre Panel enhances and extends the functionality of the main board. The Utility Centre Panel is designed to be inserted into the main board and provides several benefits:

In orientation #1 it provides a flat surface for the attachment of dive notes, bearings/headings or other information and equipment.
In orientation #2 it provides an elevated plinth for the mounting of gimbal type compasses for example the SK7 or FS2, though these do need an additional housing.
The Utility Centre Panel can also be customised by the user to accept other equipment and devices.

The Modular Leading Edge

Arguably the key feature of the MNB system. The Modular Leading Edge allows the user to extend the utility of the MNB. It can be used as a mini nav board in its own right or attached to the main board for added functionality whether it is extra equipment carriage or reduced fluid drag. Several Modular Leading Edge options are available depending on requirement that include positively buoyant, ballast adjustable, DPV attachment and reduced drag.

We're pleased to discuss the application and utilisation of the UTE Modular Navigation Board with appropriate organisations. If there is enough interest we may develop a model for the civilian market, you just need to let us know.

Team UTE

We really are insignificant

2012-02-09T15:12:00.001Z

How often do you take the time to look around you and assess your place in the world and the Universe beyond? Does our small blue planet and our day to day attempts at life actually mean anything on the grand scale of the cosmos?

To get an idea of our place in the Universe take 10 minutes out of your busy day and have a look at Scale of the Universe. It's an interactive slide show that takes you from the tiniest known matter all the way out to the edges of the known Universe.

Not a bad way to put us in our place!

South Atlantic Sabre Rattling

2012-02-08T19:29:00.000Z

So Argentina are taking the bold action of reporting the UK to the United Nations due to our "posing a grave danger to international security".

This struck me as kinda funny on a couple of points.

Under Maritime Law, a vessel has a right of passage on the high seas.

To put is simply, a boat with no intention to engage in armed conflict with another nation can go pretty much where it likes providing it doesn't trespass on the territory of another nation., which includes the Falkland Islands. The grave danger doesn't come from one ship toward Argentina, but there is a grave and historical danger from Argentina to the Falkland Islanders. More than a little disingenuous given Argentina's recent history.

Doesn't "reporting the UK to the UN" sound just a little immature, not to mention pointless?

The people of the Falkland Islands are not occupied, they choose, for the time being, to be British Citizens. Until that changes it is their right to be protected from foreign aggressors. That apart, what teeth does the UN actually have to do anything about anything? Send a few observers from some tin-pot committee. They'd be better engaged in several hot spots around the world where real issues are needing addressed.

One thing is for certain, if this goes beyond political sabre rattling, there is the distinct possibility that old ground will be covered again. However, this time around it will be a force that has been battle hardened over the past ten years that will come knocking.

Let's hope for everyone's sake that common sense prevails.

UTE

Moriarty Bros. Criminal Consulting Agency tee's

2012-01-26T18:50:00.000Z

Just seen the new "Moriarty Bros." shirts by GWorx today.

Designed to commemorate the formation of the James & James Moriarty Criminal Consulting Agency in 1890, the shirts are looking very cool. GWorx are only doing a limited production run so note your interest as soon as you can. When they're gone, they're gone.

We liked the gas mask graphic at the bottom of the crest.

Have a looksee here before they are uploaded to the Gworx Store.

And we're back

2012-01-25T23:14:00.000Z

Following a period of restructuring, reorganising and other words beginning with "re", we're pleased to announce that we're back.

Since our last post, we've trimmed back the group, relocated (another 're' word). It's taken some time and a fair amount of pain, but we're back stronger than ever with a new business model that focuses on our core competencies in technical textiles and apparel. We have, what we're sure will be, some interesting news to announce in the coming days.

Additionally, we launched our own line of limited edition urban casual wear "Guerrilla Design Worx". If you have a spare few minutes drop by the store and have a looksee.

In the meantime, we hope you all had a great New Year and we look forward to working with you in the not too distant future.

Regards,

Team UTE

What to do when it's +35 Deg C in Bavaria

2011-08-23T13:04:00.000+01:00

Today we shall be mostly jumping off high things into water

The "New" Sukhoi T-50

2011-08-20T14:42:00.002+01:00

First test flown back in 2009, the Sukhoi T-50 or Prospective Airborne Complex of Frontline Aviation (PAK-FA) was given it first public Showing at an airshow in Russia recently. Allegedly it is more agile than the F-22 which wouldn't be hard given that every F-22 is currently grounded due to a mechanical issue.

The PAK-FA, built in partnership with India, is visually very similar to the F-22 and is expected to be deployed in 2014-2015. The really interesting aspect of the aircraft is the price. Estimates put the price at about $50 million a piece. Quite the bargain when you consider you can get three T-50's for the asking price of a F-22. On the subject of the F-22, it's been estimated that the F-22 has been out of service for so long that all pilots run the risk of becoming de-certified.

It still remains to be seen if the T-50 is indeed a fifth generation fighter jet. One of the fundamentals of a fifth generation system is that it must have certain stealth characteristics, something the design engineers have chosen to sacrifice over maneuverability.

Have look for yourself.

The Office - Afghanistan Style

2011-07-27T20:25:00.000+01:00

Popular TV series "The Office" has now made it to the most unexpected corner of the world...

Welcome to "The Afghanistan Office". Cant wait to see The Minister doing his dance for Comic Relief...

Airships Are Back In Fashion

2011-07-27T11:43:00.000+01:00

While were at the recent Outdoor Show in Germany, we took some time out to visit the Zeppelin Museum. Here you can see 1:1 partial model of the Hindenburg as well as several other exhibits and collections from this period.

The scale, design and craftsmanship have to be seen to be believed. For example the engine nacelles were made from aluminium while machinists working in shifts would scale a ladder into the nacelle to perform maintenance during flights. The interior wouldn't have looked too out of place even today with use of plastics and other "modern" materials of the time.

Jump forward to the present day and Lighter Than Air vehicles are making a come back courtesy of US Air & Missile Defence Command (USAMDC) and Lockheed Martin. The High Altitude Airship (HAA) is an unmanned, untethered airship that provides, through its on board and mission configurable suite, geostationery monitoring capability.

Designed to operate above the jet stream, the long endurance platform uses thin film solar arrays for power and propulsion providing coverage through it's mission defined sensors to an area in the region of 600 sq miles. The cool thing is that when the mission is over, you bring at back and re-deploy for another task. According to Lockheed Martin the saving as a package is in the order of magnitudes lower compared to satellite technology.

The image below, shows the High Altitude Long Endurance Demonstrator (HALE-D). What is interesting is the size of the building that has been constructed for the project. Clearly designed to provide the facilitation of a much larger piece of equipment!

Team UTE

Pictures courtesy of Lockheed Martin & NY Daily News

Outdoor Show 2011

2011-07-20T14:46:00.000+01:00

Last week, we were fortunate to attend the Outdoor Show 2011 in Friedrichshafen, Germany. This exhibition allows brands to showcase new products for the upcoming 2012 season and is similar in format to the OR Show held in Salt Lake City.

Best viewed full screen & 720p

It's been a few years since we were last at the show and it came as quite a surprise just how much marketing investment brands put into these events. We asked several "marketeers" on various stands how they measure the benefit or return on investment. None of them could give us a clear figure, but the general consensus is that they need to do it because....they were expected to do it!

Products that made us stop in our tracks were fairly thin on the ground. Nearly every major brand had some flavour of GORE-TEX* on show with Active Shell being the chicken soup for the light and fast outdoors person for the coming season(s). The drive for the coming season appears to be less is more. By that we mean less material for more money.

The personality of the show was on the Fjallraven stand. Waxing and ironing Fjallraven products all day for four days can't be the most glamorous of jobs, but the girl on the stand did it with good spirit and promoted the features and benefits of the brand extremely well. For that she gets the UTE Award for Indomitable Spirit..she even quipped that she'd do our shirts for us...if they were Fjallraven. Good effoert and great personality.

Our "Sour Face Of The Show" went to the (non) personality on the Kuhl stand. Dude, seriously, get a f*ckin job you like if you can't straighten your face. Or visit Fjallraven and see how customer interaction should be done.

Slack lining was very popular with the youth at the show. If ever they make Top Gun II expect the beach volleyball scene to be replaced with Mavrick and his and his Number 2 to be bouncing around on a tight piece of webbing tied between two trees. Our newly created "Slackline Shitbag" award goes to the guy in the picture. After getting himself organised and building expectation with the crowd, he promptly flipped through 180 and had to be rescued by the cherry picker.

The highlight of the show was by Mammut who were celebrating 150 years of Absolute Alpinism. The Mammut Eiger Jacket featuring NeoShell* by POLARTEC was, in our opinion, an awesome piece of work. Design intent, execution of manufacture and quality of finish were gold standard. In an industry that is constantly talking about "Technology" it was great to see NeoShell actually delivering a technology that benefits the user while allowing brands to create products like this. We can't speak highly enough about what has been achieved in this garment.

Location Specific Camouflage

2011-07-18T15:35:00.003+01:00

"Ye cannae change the laws of physics"...so says curmudgeonly Chief Engineer, Montgomery (Scotty) Scott of the USS Enterprise when asked for "all he's got" by Kirk.

Well some folks would have you believe that you can. We, on the other hand live in the world of Scotty with all it's limitations. We spent some time last year looking at location specific camouflage.

The premise is that you obtain intel on a target of interest and then adapt your concealment for that specific job. The downside is that the supply chain for this can run to many weeks or months and would be hugely expensive.

So we set about developing a solution whereby terrain or environment specific camouflage could be turned around and shipped to the organisation within days. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

To test our theory, we sent one of our guys to the West coast of Scotland and asked him to recce a site that we would then develop a camouflage for and send it to him. Within 8 days we had the 3ft x 3ft sample with him for the picture below. The only adjustments to the picture (apart from fizzling out the face) were to clean up and blur the edges of the sample as it detracted from the overall effect.

We would add that four of the eight days were added due to the regular postal service taking that amount of time to get it to our tester. We're fairly confident that scaling up the process to conceal larger pieces of hardware would be relatively straightforward. If you're interested in this, let us know, we're only too happy to help.

Ye cannae change the laws of physics, but you can give them a hard time!

Kill That Damn Porsche

2011-06-27T08:51:00.002+01:00

You've really got to have reached the end of your tether or have more money than sense ...or both to do this to a $90,000 car.

The owner of this Porsche 996 was so annoyed with his car and customer service, he decided to offer it to a local gun club. Quite what "shooters" got out of the process is unclear, but given the amount of lead that was sent downrange, the lack of precision and general range discipline (check out the guy at the end of the line when he has a stoppage) we're amazed that it was just the Porsche that got drilled.

Hopefully when the lead stopped flying someone did the decent thing and took a knife to the Porsche :-)

The "Business Grey Man"

2011-06-23T01:32:00.001+01:00

Like most people these days, we spend a fair amount of time in airports, train stations and various other transport hubs. When I get the opportunity, I like to people watch and play a game of " I wonder what he/she does?". Especially good fun when you have some creative friends and a few beers to add to the creativity. However, after a couple of incidents today, I felt a word of warning was in order.

Time was a few years back you could park your butt in a departure lounge in the airport of almost any country and easily identify security contractors from what was affectionately refered to as the 5.11 Tuxedo. The "Tux" was made up of a certain cut and colour of shirt, pants and boots. Fashionably supported by some desert boots and a day sack (hero patches were optional. Over time it became clear that this Tux was a dead giveaway (no pun intended) as to the wearers way of making a living. Effectively blowing their personal security (PerSec), that of their team, the client etc etc etc.

The smarter contractor recognised this very early on and adapted themselves to become grey men. Not literally in grey, but dressed in such a way as to not draw attention to themselves as they went about their business. Kinda makes sense doesn't it?

Pity that sense, hasn't made it's way to the commercial/business community...!!!

So here I am wandering around a small international airport earlier today and decide to take a look in the tax free. Really wanting, but not being able to justify the cost of an iPad 2 I decide to try out the Motorola equivalent. Lo and behold, the first thing I see after sparking up the browser is that some fool has logged into their email and Facebook account...! Not only was it possible to view all his personal mail, photo's, but also his cloud stored docs, which included his MBA course material.

So, I did the decent and proper thing. Yip I sent a mail to his entire address book telling them that this c*ck had not only compromised the personal security of himself, but that of his (ex)friends, then I logged him out and informed the store staff. "Yeah mate, happens all the time", was the response.

Having did my good (ish) deed for the day, it was time to relax on the flight. Well it would've been relaxing if I didn't have to sit through two hours of complete disregard for Commercial Security by a person seated diagonally across from me.

In that two hours,

I knew the guys name and that of the colleague who were presenting the data
The subject matter of the data
The agenda
Extensive technical aspects of the data being presented
Could have taken photo's of the presentation
Could have videoed the slide show

As if that wasn't enough the guy represented a company that is a direct competitor to UTE and are involved with government contracts globally. Now, I ask you this, if this was your employee would you want them running around presenting your hard earned data and intellectual property to anyone that cares to open their eyes?

The moral of this story is that personal security and commercial security are not something that you switch off and on. It is fundamental to a companies growth and future that these activities are embedded in the psyche and are part of day to day business.

It is estimated that countries and businesses lose hundreds of billions of Dollars, Pounds and Euros per year to industrial espionage. After witnessing first hand the behavior of two individuals in a few hours in one it's hardly surprising.

Personal & Commercial Security Are Not Optional:

DO NOT ATTRACT UNDUE ATTENTION
DO NOT DISPLAY ANY COMPANY INFORMATION IN PUBLIC
BE AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS
NEVER ENTER PERSONAL OR SECURITY INFORMATION INTO PUBLIC, DEMONSTRATION OR TRIAL EQUIPMENT
DON'T BE A C*CK or COCK-ESS

Antitrust Complaint Filed Against GORE-TEX* Manufacturer

2011-06-15T00:42:00.004+01:00

Columbia Sportswear Company have filed a complaint with the Commission of the European Union alleging that the owners of the GORE-TEX* brand W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. have abused their dominant position in the outdoor textiles market.

This recent complaint comes on the back of news that, following its own investigation in March this year, the United States Federal Trade Commission issued a subpoena to W.L. Gore & Associates Inc. for unfair practices related to contracts, exclusionary practices and other conduct related to its outdoor textiles and related products.

If true, this is a contradiction of one of the tenets that the organisation was built on. Fairness, has been central to the Gore organisations beliefs since its formation. These recent allegations will put W.L Gore & Associates Inc's culture under the spotlight and if proven should provoke some soul searching within the organisation and also see some very hefty financial penalties being brought to bear.

Certainly there appears to be a case to answer. Stories abound in the industry of manufacturers and brands being constrained to use materials and equipment supplied by the company. In addition, procedures and products are required to be verified and validated before a manufacturing or trademark license is issued. Failure to adhere to this can result in the loss of licenses and lucrative marketing support.

For too long a premium has been placed on a product that for the most part hasn't changed in over twenty years. Through skillful marketing the brand has grown to the point where it is almost impossible to find an alternative in the stores. Should the allegations be realised (which won't be any time soon), the winner of all this should be the consumer. There are many alternative and better products including components like seam tapes that are offer better performance or are less expensive, but are avoided by manufacturers, brands and retailers for fear of falling foul of unavoidable agreements.

This is an unfortunate turn of events given the work that the company did in enhancing and developing the outdoor apparel markets and professional protection. Hopefully, the situation can be resolved and the market can bounce back without too much damage being done.

*GORE-TEX is a trademark of W.L. Gore & Associates Inc.

Updated 15/06/2011 - Gore petitions to limit or quash the FTC subpoena

Gore Petitions To Quash Subpoena

Gore Subpoena Exhibits

Bold Monarch 2011

2011-06-08T09:57:00.000+01:00

Over the past few days Exercise "Bold Monarch" has been taking place off the coast of Spain. The 12 day exercise is held every three years and is the worlds largest submarine rescue exercise.

Conducted off Spain's Cartagena coast, the exercise will involve over 2000 military and civilian personnel from over twenty countries. For the first time Russia will be taking part in the exercise with the submarine Alrosa of the Black Sea Fleet based at Sevastopol. During the exercise, submarines will be "bottomed" after which a serialised set of drills ans scenarios will be executed to "rescue" stricken submariners.

The exercise will culminate with a 48hr rescue of 150 survivors, including casualties, from a disabled submarine. Emphasis for the exercise is to test NATO procedures and command & control procedures in the event of an incident like this happening.

New Product Annoucement

2011-05-24T08:32:00.000+01:00

Unleashed Tactical Equipment pleased to announce the release of their latest product line at Techtextil 2011 in Frankfurt on the 24 May 2011.

FGM4 Advanced Textile & Apparel Technology

FGM4 is the first multispectral textile for use in textiles and apparel by military, law enforcement and security specialists.

Further details regarding this unique technology can be found at our website page

Cruella De Vil Tactical High Heels

2011-05-14T01:49:00.000+01:00

This just in from the interweb. Following the recent announcement that the Disney Corporation have trademarked the phrase "SEAL Team Six" we are in a position to exclusively inform our readers that the forthcoming "101 Dalmations - Revenge of The Wonky Ear" will feature the first of Disney Seal Team Six® products.

Codenamed the Cruella De Vil, this fashionable high, heel designed by Manolo Blahnik features everyones favourite camo pattern and ejector stilleto heel. Rumour has it that all SF selection henceforth will be carried out wearing the "De Vil". Expect much dancing around hand bags and question along the lines of "does this camo make my arse look big?"

Expect other patterns and ninja options to appear soon.

Planform Aligned Rotary Winged Assets or Stealth Helicopters

2011-05-05T11:12:00.002+01:00

So, it appears that JSOC used a rotary winged asset utilising low observability technology. Given that the general public were first exposed to this technology with the F117 back in the early 80's is it that surprising that elements of stealth have been incorporated into rotary wing assets? Indeed it makes complete sense to use low observable assets given the situation between Pakistan and India and the heightened state of readiness that both countries maintain. You really don't want to accidentally kick off a conflict in the region by mistake.

Planform alignment is one of the techniques used to reduce the probability of detection by, for example, RADAR systems. By carefully aligning the surfaces of objects it is possible to reflect the electromagnetic energy in a direction away from the the object but not back to the receiver or detector. Combined with RADAR absorbing materials this renders the asset much less likely to be detected by these detectors.

Anyone with access to MathCAD can also have some fun with sine waves and phase shifting in developing ideas about reducing rotor vortex noise. Something that it is understood was used back in the day of raids into the Beqa'a Valley

Stealth technology was famously brought back to earth in 1999 war in the former Yugoslavia when an F117 was hit by a SAM. Various rumours abound regarding how the F117 was detected visually by spotters, by the enemy forces using unusually long wavelengths in their RADAR systems (though how this is done on the fly beats me) or that mobile phone networks were used to create a cloud of energy that was disrupted as the F117 flew through it (a kind of bistatic RADAR). We'll probably never get the whole story, but it does serve to demonstrate that stealth technology does have its weaknesses.

Was the stealth technology the reason for the asset failure during the OBL mission as some commentators have mentioned? Who knows, but it's fair to say that the mission would have been much more risky without it.

Good effort by JSOC and the supporting services that made this mission a success.

This short video provides a reasonable explanation of stealth technology.

UTE Visits Bayerische Armeemuseum

2011-05-01T16:04:00.000+01:00

The German town of Ingolstadt is probably most famous for the being the home of the car manufacturer Audi. What many people don't realise is that it is also the home of the Bayerische Armeemuseum. For anyone remotely interested in history, warfare or a combination of both, this is a must visit attraction.

It is all the more attractive when you consider that the entry price of under €5 per person allows entry to both the Neues Schloss which covers the 15th to 19th centuries and the permanent First World War exhibition across the Dornau river at Reduit Tilly.

You can easily fill a day between the two and there is the bonus of a beer garden in the grounds of Neues Schloss.

Still not convinced? Then have a peek at a few of the pictures we took on our visit.

Easter Equipment Test

2011-05-01T15:08:00.000+01:00

Join us on a short tour of our Easter 2011 gear test to the Zugspitz in the German Alps. On test were several new products we anticipate launching later this year along with some tried and tested old friends.

Year To Date Civil Unrest Map

2011-04-28T11:59:00.000+01:00

As we approach 1/3rd into 2011 and with some of us planning summer vacation, we wanted to get a snap shot on places that have made the news for the wrong reasons. Believe it or not there are 22 civil unrest hotspots that won't be making it onto our short list.

We've mapped these for your holiday planning reference.

View Civil Unrest Map To April 2011 in a larger map

Easter Discount On UTE Tactical Eyewear

2011-04-21T11:52:00.000+01:00

Set yourself out from the crowd with some of our range of tactical eyewear. Created by celebrity international designer Gok Heston-Cumquat McKeith, the range has something for the enlisted ranks as well as toff officers. To celebrate our launch we're offering great discounts on the entire range.

Get some before the tacti-cool brigade clean out our stocks.

From all at UTE, stay safe and have as good an Easter as you can.

Save over $1000, Develop New Skills & Improve Your Planning..No shit!

2011-04-15T15:48:00.000+01:00

Yip, you read that correctly! You can do all that AND save over a $1000 and that's without mentioning improving your personal marketability. Want to know more? Then read on...

Here at UTE we use quite a large and varied collection of tools in the development of our products. The tools range from the trusted paper, pencil and set squares through to parametric three dimensional (3D) software that incorporates finite element analysis. In between, there's the usual graphics and illustration packages. We also still do quite a bit of our work using two dimensional (2D) drafting packages.

Just recently we had to upgrade our computer hardware and by coincidence our maintenance was due for renewal on several seats of our 2D drafting software. When we looked at what we were paying per seat (both new purchases and maintenance) for software that whose functionality really hasn't changed that much in the past 5-10 years, you could hear the sharp intake of breath all the way from the CFO's office.

However, we heard that there was a 2D package that offered almost all the functionality of our "industry benchmark" software and it only cost...nothing. That's right, a full blown 2D drafting package for free. We were sceptical to say the least. But we've been using it now on various hardware and it's proving very hard to find fault. Not to say that it's impossible to break, we have had a few head scratching moments and unexpected crashes. But this was during looong design sessions with many thousands of edits and changes and was no worse that our current software. Simpler designs like our Apache helicopter below, presented it with no problems in opening, editing or saving.

Yeah, so what does that mean for me? I'm a door gunner on the Hogwarts Express and I've got the daysack and ballcap to prove it.

Well, stop and think for a moment!

What do you do when it comes time to hang up the spurs and gun belt. Not everyone is going to fall into that $100,000 a year day job, there just aren't the openings. Having the industrial/commercial skills to be able to contribute to design projects, manipulate and manage data using industry standard tools immediately differentiates you from your peers in the CQB Ninja Club.

...well this software can let you develop these skills

When you're preparing your next PDT package would it be useful to have an idea in advance of the area layout, plan arcs of fire, direction and range to features? Of course it would, and with this software you can do it. Using the KASOTC and Google Maps, we used the software to measure road distances, range lengths, distance to features and RF coverage.

... again, this software can let you prepare detailed plans with accurate data.

When you consider that the package is free, runs on PC's and Mac's (we can comment how well on Mac's) and does almost everything that you would pay over $1000/seat for from other vendors...and to top it all, it's backed by the same company that supplies the design software used in car, ship and military products globally, they have a lot to lose if it goes wrong... you really shouldn't hesitate in adding this package to your software skill set.

The software can be downloaded from the vendors website here: DraftSight

We'd like to point out that we have no affiliation to the supplier of this software or receive any benefit from the vendor in posting this article. We just think that it is too good an opportunity for our readers to develop some new skills.

Good luck in your design endeavors.

Team UTE Systems.

A New Sheriff In Town - NeoShell* Beats Gore-Tex*

2011-04-11T19:18:00.002+01:00

We mentioned that something special in the form of NeoShell was on its way. Well, in the May issue of Popular Science magazine, the top breathable fabrics from both brands were put to the test and Polartec came out on top.

“For 35 years, Gore-Tex has dominated the market for waterproof, breathable fabrics, but this spring it has some competition. Textile maker, Polartec, has developed its own waterproof, breathable fabric that threatens to trump Gore-Tex’s latest. We put both through the wringer to see which stands out."

"All four testers consistently felt more comfortable in the Polartec shell. Testers had to physically air out the Gore-Tex jacket by unzipping its armit vents, whereas sweat evaporated quickly out of the ventless Polartec.”

On The Front Line With Denmark

2011-04-11T13:27:00.000+01:00

Armadillo is a movie/documentary made by a director & cinematographer combination of Janus Metz and Lars Skree that were embedded for a six month period with a Danish soldiers.

The result is in a similar vein as Restrepo, though both pieces of work offer different perspectives of life fighting the same enemy. What was interesting was the public outrage in the soldiers Danish homeland regarding a particular scene . It seems that like many countries the general public are cocooned from the reality of war. It's only when works like this presents the reality of going into combat that the public eye is opened.

This type of film making is critical in showing that the decisions made by our politicians have a very real human effect.

Let's hope this type of work continues to educate and raise awareness.

Armadillo The Movie - Trailer - UK subs from Fridthjof Film on Vimeo.

Lasers Come To The High Seas

2011-04-10T13:11:00.001+01:00

"Do you expect me to talk? No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die". So says Auric Goldfinger as his "laser" makes its way towards Bonds meat and two veg. Just demonstrated this past week is the US Office of Naval Research's Maritime Laser.

Things have come a long way since the 1964 Bond movie Goldfinger introduced us to the effects of lasers. This is borne out by various projects like the THEL and other laser systems. These programs have now been joined by Northtrop Grummans Maritime Laser Demonstrator (MLD).

The MLD is a 15kw solid state laser designed for ship mounted, maritime use. The targeting system appears also to use a laser designator that allows continuous adjustment while lasing for pitch, roll, heave and other sea borne dynamics.

The video below demonstrates the effect of the MLD on the engines of a small target draft. What is of particular interest is what appears to be a relatively narrow beam width at what has been noted as a 1NM range to target. Why is this of interest?

During lasing, the air surrounding the beam is heated. Adding moisture from the sea into this equation, the laser beam has to burn or "tunnel" through this hot air/moisture using more energy the further it goes from the laser device. Apart from the increased power requirement, precision is also lost. So rather than have a narrow accurate beam of laser energy, what reaches the target is a much larger thermal blast. While you might still disable the target, detection of the lasing source is increased and interception using thermally guided weapons becomes a new threat.

Watch the video and make up your own mind.

DARPA - Do It Yourself Anti Submarine Warfare

2011-04-08T13:05:00.000+01:00

The Hunt For Red Oktober comes to your desktop courtesy of the organisation that doesn't exist. Now you can become Bart Mancuso and hunt your own Red Oktober with the DARPA ACTUV Anti Submarine Warfare Simulator.

Put yourself in the drivers seat of various configurations of ASW in a virtual environment. Complete each stage/phase and have the option to upload your gameplay for analysis. Personal details aren't collected, but you can probably expect a call from the MIB if you're a ASW whizz.

Download the simulator here... ACTUV Tactics Simulator Page

Worrying Developments in Southern Libya

2011-04-08T10:33:00.000+01:00

While the public eye has been turned to the fighting in Northern Libya, the aftermath of the tsunami in Japan and fighting in Cote d'Ivoire something equally as worrying is going on in the cross border regions of Libya, Chad, Niger and Mali. This short report from our man on the ground.

Reports are coming in that several convoys of weapons have been lifted from damaged weapons by smugglers and spirited across borders. The intended recipients of the smuggled weapons are allegedly al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM).

MANPAD Launch

Apart from the usual range of AK's and RPG there are also reports that more advanced heavy machine guns and most worryingly MANPAD weapons systems. With this type of hardware in the wrong hands it's not just military targets that are threatened, but also civilian equipment.

Effects Of SAM/MANPAD Strike

While the situation is being monitored, it appears that the genie may already be out the lamp. and if care isn't taken more of this type of equipment will get into the worn hands. Only last week an air strike in the Libyan town of Sebha resulted in ammunition cooking off for three days, but still left large amounts of unprotected and salvageable weaponry fro anyone that wanted it.

Need A New Business Laptop?

2011-04-07T14:30:00.000+01:00

It's getting close to the time when our group wide computers are due for replacement. At UTE Towers, we're more interested in reliability followed by the ability to run our many and various applications at a reasonable speed. We're definitely not looking for out and out power or the latest gee-gaw or widget.

With that in mind we set about trying to find the manufacturer that offered the most reliable hardware in the various configurations we require. Actually getting this data proved to be quite trick, but we found a useful report that give at least a starting point. We've pulled the graphs from the report, but the whole text can be found at the bottom of this entry.

Laptop 3 Year Failure Rates

Failure Rates Netbooks -vs- Laptops

Malfunction Rates By Manufacturer

The full report can be viewed here

Our next task is to find workstations to run our various parametric, design, analysis and other specialised software we use. What is clear is that the price of this equipment has tumbled in the past two or three years. Let's hope that quality hasn't suffered in the process.

UTE Systems Admin

Constable Ronan Kerr, PSNI, Buried Today

2011-04-06T14:29:00.000+01:00

We'd like to join others in offering our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Constable Ronan Kerr, Police Service Northern Ireland (PSNI) who was buried today in Beragh, County Tyrone.

Constable Kerr (25) who joined the service in May 2010 was killed by a bomb placed under his car in Omagh on Saturday. Constable Kerr is survived by his mother, two brothers and a sister.

Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

Something Special Coming This Way

2011-03-29T00:02:00.000+01:00

Get ready folks, there's a revolution about to hit the outdoor market....Prepare to be Liberated By NeoShell* by POLARTEC*.

This exciting new development combines extreme waterproofness with air permeability to bring an new standard in outdoor performance textiles.

LIBERATED BY NEOSHELL*

Yato By Unleashed Tactical Equipment

2011-03-26T13:05:00.000Z

Our Yato Technology was featured on Soldier Systems Daily today. Thanks to the Solsys team for providing this coverage. Yato Technology provides the military equipment designer and manufacturer with the ability to add functional features in the area of temperature/thermal management. By reducing thermal loading, the user of Yato Techology will experience less fatigue, improved cognitive response and physical performance.

More information can be obtained from our website, UTE Yato.

Field Density Altitude Compensator (FDAC)

2011-03-24T15:54:00.001Z

This piece of equipment was covered in Soldier Systems Daily recently and prompted one of our team to go misty eyed while regaling tales of when he was a young shooter learning his craft.

Background
Unless you've actually spent time learning the art of long distance shooting, you may not be aware that of the various factors involved in "one shot, one kill". Contrary to the image portrayed by Hollywood of long range shooting, the marksman requires the patience of a saint and the ability to manipulate multiple factors to achieve his objective. The FDAC allows the marksman to compensate for the effect of air density on bullet flight adjusting for windage and drop.

But I Have A Ballistic Computer For That
Good for you, now go to the back of the class. The number of times that electronic equipment or their power supplies fail, just when you need them most is just one reason why the marksman should have the basic skills to cover this eventuality.

How Is It Used?

A different FDAC card is required for each rounds muzzle velocity
Insure the card colour matches the sleeve colour (MOA or 0.1 MRAD)
Measuring YOUR density altitude and temperature greatly increases the accuracy of the FDAC solution. We recommend the Kestrel 4500
If you do not have a Kestrel 4500 or similar, your density altitude can be estimated using an estimation table
Locate the density altitude that closely matches that you measured or estimated
Find the Drop & Windage firing solution that corresponds with the range to target
Apply the firing solution to the scopes turrets
Engage the target

German Surprises #26

2011-03-24T10:17:00.000Z

Spending more and more time in Germany these days I've come to appreciate some of the finer details of the Teutonic mentality. I'm not just talking about their fine ability to not only make great beer AND have outlets for the same in various remote locations. Or some of their festivals like Carnival time where it's not unusual to get felt up by the women as you walk along the street.

I'm referring to the German passion for engineering. The more time I spend there, the more surprises that pop up and none more so than the SCHIENENZEPPELIN.

The Schienenzeppelin was an aluminium bodied, propeller driven train developed by the Reichsbahn in 1930. The 46 litre BMW V12 engine, could power its two axle lightweight body to a speed of 120mph (193kph) and topped out at 140mph (225kph). So fast and light, the propeller drive had to be tilted to provide downforce.

Call me an old fashioned cynic, but it would also make a fine test bed for the development of airplane engines, which had been banned under the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

Still, when you look at the design and materials used, it's an incredible piece of engineering that even today, some 80+ years later looks futuristic.

The UTE Mobile Training Team

The New UTE Shooter Jacket

2011-03-17T20:56:00.000Z

The UTE Shooter Jacket, where function, performance and safety come together. Using the UTE Cilahc Technology, the Shooter Jacket offers the modern marksman a new level of protection.

Launched at the recent IWA Show, our Shooter Jacket using Cilahc Technology is a new concept for law enforcement firearms officers. Civilian enough not to stand out from the crowd, smart enough to keep the head shed happy. The Shooter Jacket is packed full of innovative features to insure that when the order comes to "send it" down range the modern police marksman has a new friend on his side.

For more information visit the Cilahc page on our website: Cilahc

Bullied Kid Dishes Out Some MMA Medicine

2011-03-17T13:23:00.001Z

Just listened to some earth biscuit saying on the radio that the kid in the video below should have just cried and this would have sorted out the bully?

Can you believe that this fucking idiot child psychologist recommends keeping a diary about how the bullied kid feels and then confront the bully with a something along the lines "you make me feel bad when you bully me".

There comes a time when a bloke has to say enough and delivers some justice. And that's just what happens to the weedy creep

We say hats of to the Casey Haynes, a future in MMA awaits you brother.

Good effort

Update: The mother of the kid who was doing the bullying has demanded an apology from Grappler Haynes. She would do better to forcibly insert the toe of her shoe into the arsehole of her offspring at a ferocious rate of knots.

Happy St. Paddy's Day

2011-03-17T11:11:00.000Z

Have A Happy St. Patrick's Day

From All At Unleashed Tactical Equipment

A Weeks A Long Time In Politics

2011-03-16T11:52:00.000Z

Remember that mad guy who runs Libya? The one who was globally condemned for atrocities carried out by his security forces against his own people over the past few weeks? It looks like the "developed" countries don't have the minerals to do what everyone knows is the right thing!

Today the G8 agreed that the only steps the UN should take in supporting the uprising in Libya is "to increase pressure on Col. Gaddafi to leave". This after:

The Arab League gave its support for a no fly zone over Libya
The uprising requesting outside support
The Gaddafi regime with multiple breaches of existing UN resolutions
The same regime that ordered the attack on Pan Am Flight 103

How many times in recent years have politicians and world leaders and the UN stood by while numerous atrocities have taken place? It wasn't so long ago the world was horrified by events in Burma, DR Congo, Kosovo/Serbia, Sudan, Rwanda.

If the West and the UN in particular are to have any credibility they need to do more than just increasr pressure. If they don't, the estimated 500,000 lives that will be lost will be at their hand.

Suunto Vector Battery Replacement - Get The Official Suunto Kit

2011-03-15T17:12:00.000Z

After two years of fault free use, it was time to change the battery in my Suunto Vector. Replacing a watch battery should he a straightforward 5 minute job right?

At this point I have to 'fess up and say that the replacement battery was from a local jingly store. However, it had the right part number (CR2430) and measured exactly the same as the OEM battery it was replacing. It wasn't until the watch started resetting itself several times a day that I thought things were buggered up and the Vector was heading for the trash.

Jump forward three weeks and while shopping for some cooking gas, I saw official Suunto replacement battery kits for watches. Still having the old Suunto in my backpack, I thought what's to lose other than £6 if it gets the Vector up and running again I'm a happy camper? The official battery kit comes with a new battery cover, 'o' ring seal and the battery. Fitting required a coin and a thin blade to prise out the old cover. Fitting the new battery was a reversal of removing the old item with one exception. I applied a very light smear of petroleum jelly to aid fitting.

That was four weeks ago and I'm pleased the old Vector hasn't missed a beat. Whether it was the cheap battery, the new battery cover or some combination of the two, before junking your Suunto Vector this simple solution may save you a couple of hundred bucks on a new timepiece.

When it comes to equipment that we depend on, it's false economy and I for one will never skimp when it comes to running maintenance. Lesson learned!

Cilahc By Unleashed Tactical Equipment

2011-03-10T13:14:00.000Z

It's big and it's here.

Get the Cilahc story here in this interview with industry insider Soldier Systems Daily

Fairly Close To The Frontline in Libya

2011-03-10T11:50:00.000Z

Hunting Specific Camouflage - Does It Work

2011-02-24T20:09:00.000Z

For some time we've had our suspicions that "hunting specific" camouflages are, for the most part, the figment of a marketing departments imagination. During our recent field trial we put our theory to the test. Basically our opinion is that no camouflage is a replacement for good field craft or in any way makes a human less detectable to a quarry. In effect we call BS on hunting specific camouflage.

We were fortunate to spend some time with a friend who has spent a lifetime stalking both animals and people on every Continent on the planet. Well, with the exception of the North & South Poles because in the words of our friend "anything that makes these places home deserves to live". Having worked and trained with with Iban tribesmen, Tuaregs in the Western desert and everything in between. He's forgotten more than most of us will ever know about tracking. Sadly, very few people get time to spend time with someone such as this and the day we had reinforced how much we'd forgotten or didn't know in the first place.

I will find you and I will kill you

Having read several theories on what ungulates can or cannot see; if they can see in colour or how certain camouflage patterns can make you disappear to them, our plan was to try to evaluate the efficacy of a couple of camouflage patterns against the human Mk1 Eyeball and if we were lucky against game.

The test was conducted in terrain that included open hill side, forested areas, bracken and grasslands with very little dead ground. We also had the opportunity to carry out the evaluation in snow, at night, dusk and cloudy days. Anyone who has done any kind of stalking will tell you that you need to be prepared to spend a lot of time not only on your feet but also on your belly.

And now a word on hunting/stalking. Hauling your fat ass into a tree stand and making squirrel noises is about as far removed from stalking as you can get. Sitting for hours on end in the off chance that something edible wanders past is hardly pitting your skill as a hunter against that of your prey. In many areas of the world, you'd die of starvation before something remotely edible happened by.

And that's what was annoying us. We have yet to see any piece of advertising from any of the new "uber-camo" manufacturers that mentions the skill of the hunter and that's the crux of this article. The skill of managing shape, shine, shadow, spacing, silhouette, movement and scent would appear to be redundant if you believe the claims made by certain companies. Which brings us onto the second thing that annoys us...why is it always a human that is telling us how effective a camo pattern is? Well, until someone invents an ungulate to human translator we have to rely on experts to tells us what an deer, pig or other hoofed target actually sees.

What we do know is that animals can and do have the ability to differentiate shades if not colours. If it is the same as humans, we'll need to wait on our translator being invented as until now it's all been guesses. From the work we've done we think the view that an animal sees is some where between the two images below. We took into consideration field of view, focal length and published work from various sources. Finally we tested our theory in the field.

What a human would see if they had a wide field of view

What an ungulate might see of the same scene

In our comparison we used everyones favourite multi terrain camouflage and the elvish invisibility pattern used in the science of nothing. If you hadn't realised already the prone figure is wearing Multicam and the upright mannequin is clothed in a fractal pattern popular with the bow hunting world. As far as we're concerned, there's really not a lot in it from an optics point of view. Both patterns did a reasonable job of breaking up shape

Which brings us full circle back to our question of should you invest in hunting specific camouflage? If you've more money than sense, the crack on and while you're at it get all your kit decked out in a matching pattern. If you want to get close enough to a beast to get a photo like the one below, spend your money on getting trained by a good hunter/stalker and getting time on the ground learning your field craft. Leave the weekend warriors up their trees sitting in their chairs.

Just our opinion, feel free to disagree.

Boot Test 2011

2011-02-22T14:29:00.000Z

Thinking about replacing your old boots, have a look at our mini review of six very different types of footwear. We decided to include this mini review while carrying out product testing for some of our apparel products during a two week period in early February 2011.

All the footwear in this mini review has been worn by us over the past 6-12 months and in some cases longer. The information presented here hasn't been influenced by brand loyalty, advertising dollars or any other external factors...it's all based on our experience of using and in most cases abusing these products.

Footwear is such a subjective piece of personal equipment that we thought twice about preparing and publishing this article. However, we felt that some of our readers would benefit from our experience and maybe avoid a costly mistake.

AKU Conero GTX This model by Italian manufacturer Aku were popular with all of us. Manufactured using a suede/textile upper with a Vibram sole, the Conero's were good on mixed terrain. As with most Italian boots they did feel a little on the narrow side that pinched the more nobbly footed. The sole was quite stiff which wasn't a problem at first, however after the uppers had been broken in it required the laces to be uncomfortably tight to avoid excessive foot movement and blister formation. Overall a reasonably good, if expensive boot. Getting them sized by a good dealer is recommended.

Meindl Himalaya GTX Meindl have been making high quality footwear in Germany for hundreds of years. This pedigree show in the Himalaya, they are built like battleships and ooze quality. They are positioned as a 3/4 season boot and will take a walking crampon. In our experience they were a little too heavy and stiff for general every day use. They worked great on rough/rocky terrain, but were too stiff for the boggy hills on the West Coast of Scotland. More than once hidden stones caused us to hyper extend knees and ankles. Very high quality boot, but choose where you use them carefully.

Hanwag Lima GTX If you are new to these Hanwag's then you are missing out on possibly one of the best multi terrain boots in existence. One of our people is now on their second pair and refuses to wear anything else. After trying these we understand his passion for this brand. Straight from the box the Lima GTX was comfortable. We've since used the Lima's with crampons, on long tabs, high mountains and short strolls..they never fail to impress. The combination of fit, reduced seams and low to mid ankle height means few abrasion points that lead to blisters and good support without causing calf muscles to pump up. Something that happens with many of high ankle boots. The best muti use boot by a long way.

Salomon Mega Trek Maybe a little unfair to include this boot given the company it's keeping in this review. However, if you're looking for a good, low cost fabric boot then the Mega Trek is worth considering. We used this boot on the hills during the February gear trial and were quite impressed. It was warm in the cold weather and the "MeToo-Tex" liner allowed reasonable vapour transfer. When the going got tough though, the Mega Trek really wasn't up to the task, not giving anywhere near the level of ankle support required for off trail hiking. We also found that the boot leaked quite badly around the lace hooks and eyelets. Comfortable low level trail boot, but not really up to hill/mountain work and questionable manufacturing means we'd think about how and where we'd use this boot. Which is disappointing as the same companies Alp 7 boot was a great piece of equipment.

Haix Airpower P9 In every test there has to be a loser and in this test it was the Airpowers. Manufacturing quality was very good but we couldn't get our heads around the design intent. A desert boot with a membrane? We've heard all the stories about the use of membranes in desert boots, but the facts are that you need to shift sweat in the desert and anything that impedes this is bad. The ankle cuff was too high coming some 6"-8" up the lower leg. Everyone complained about the calf muscle pumping up. Adjusting the laces to compensate led to excessive foot movement! Finally the heel cup must be one of the worst ever designed. No-one in our group could wear the Haix for more than a couple of hours. I don't see any army that spends a lot of time on its feet using the P9's. Sorry Haix, but in this test you were the weakest link.

Salomon SM Expert Just for the hell of it we included this winter boot. Several of us have used this boot for some time and it just works. For mixed alpine terrain where ice, rock and snow mean crampons are off and on between large rocky sections these boots are ideal. Having said that, they were overkill for our jaunt to Scotland..that was until we had an overnight snowfall and temperatures south of -20C. What was strange with this boot was its appetite for laces. In 9 days both boots ate their way through two sets of laces. The culprit being the locking hook where the boot flexes. You could spend a lot more money and not get the comfort, flexibility or utilisation of the SM Expert.

And Winner Is...

Hanwag Lima GTX

Probably the best multi use boot currently available.

UTE - We test the gear

2011-02-19T19:11:00.000Z

We did more, but this is probably enough to give an idea of how much time we spent working the gear this past week.

<a href="http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/view/28501852">Mull Route 3</a> <a href="http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/?location=Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom">Find more Walks in Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom</a>

Another route this week

2011-02-19T18:59:00.000Z

<a href="http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/view/28501166">Mull Tour Route 2</a> <a href="http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/?location=Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom">Find more Walks in Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom</a>

One of the routes this week

2011-02-19T18:42:00.000Z

<a href="http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/view/28499944">Mull Circuit 1</a> <a href="http://www.mapmywalk.com/routes/?location=Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom">Find more Walks in Argyll and Bute, United Kingdom</a>

Coming Soon - Results from our Winter Gear Test

2011-02-16T21:05:00.002Z

Busy days at UTE towers. We've had the annual ISPO Outdoor Show in Munich followed immediately by 9 days in the hills testing existing gear and some new developments.

The testing is still in progress and we expect to finish this coming weekend. We've had rain, sun, snow, frost and temperatures down to -20C (-4F).We can't remember a time when we had so many extremes of weather in such short periods of time.

A full write up along with photo's will be published, but in the meantime here's a small taster.

Civil Unrest - What Would You Do?

2011-01-30T23:18:00.000Z

You're half way through your expensive foreign holiday with your family and your worst nightmare begins; a civil uprising takes place. Phones are not working, mobile coverage and internet access is down. Television news is saying one thing but your Mk1 Eyeball tells you something different. Far from being the zombie apocalypse of films, this is the very real situation in several locations across North Africa at the moment.

What would you do?

So, what should the average family guy do in this situation? Who do you call, more to the point who can you call? The reality is that very few people will have prepared a "Bug Out Bag" (BOB) before or even thought about needing one...until now! If that's you, then you need to wise up, because your family or companions will be depending on you to take control of the situation.

We'll assume for this scenario that you are in your hotel, when it all goes "Pete Tong".

First Things First
The first thing to do is to get your group/family together. Observe the behaviour of the hotel staff, are they looking worried, has their behaviour changed are they around? If you can, speak to one of the senior members of staff in the building and ask what is going on and where? At this stage STOP and ask yourself "am I or my companions in any immediate danger?" if possible you want to note the time and any mass movement & direction of people in the vicinity of your location.

Chances are that you're going to have to prepare your BOB on the hoof. Depending on whether you're on your own, with your family or travelling in a group will dictate what and how you prepare. If you read our survival guide for the 2010 World Cup then you'll already be ahead of the game. What, you didn't read the guide? Then you better brush up numb nuts!

Remember this is a bail out bag, you will not need every piece of crap that you packed for your two weeks on the beach. After you've prepared your bag, STOP, collect our thoughts and assess the immediate threat.."am I or my companions in any immediate danger, has the situation changed?" If possible you or a companion monitor the situation on the ground. Has the volume, direction, mood or other attribute changed either positively or negatively with the people on the street? You should also assess how much daylight you have left and do you need to travel at night. If there is no immediate threat, then the safest location is probably in your hotel room. Use the time to trim the bail out bag, monitor the situation and prepare to get out of Dodge in the morning. If possible watch the local news channel on television and verify that the pictures you see align with what's happening on the streets.

A word on your bail out bag. Your molle covered "tatical daysack- for serious escape and evasion" is about as low profile as a Louis Vuitton holdall. Both scream out "look at me, I'm different". Much better to find a sturdy cloth or nylon shopping bag as used by the locals and use that. If you must use your 5.11 bag, at least put it inside the shopping bag until you're somewhere safe that people can appreciate it.

Stage Two - Let's Get Outa Here
You've monitored the situation and decided that the situation has either not improved or has gotten worse and it's time to get out of town. But wait, my holiday representative/hotel rep says there's no cause for alarm and that our government is advising to stay put. You need to ask representative three questions:

Are visitors still coming into the country? If they are, then the aircraft will be returning and you want to be on it when it heads back.
How did they get their information, phone, internet, email? Can you use their communications method to contact the outside world. At the same time record that you do not feel safe in your current location and demand repatriation as soon as possible.
How old is the information? If it is more than 24hrs old then you have more hard information than some desk jockey half way round the world.

Before heading off into the dust, you're going to need to know where you're going and how. Telling someone that you're "going home" isn't really going to cut it. Try to think not only about the fastest route home, but also the safest. This could be by road, rail, water, air, underground system or combination of them all that you may need to change several times over many hours.

Be clear on where you're in country point of exit is, how long it will take to get there, the general direction and most importantly is it safer than your current location?
Leave a clear note of your intended destination and planned route with the hotel and also inside your main bags that you will leave at the hotel.
Avoid if possible spending time walking anywhere.
Try and establish if a taxi service is operating or if any of the hotel staff can drive you to or close to your point of exit.
When you set off, keep moving.
Avoid demonstrating crowds, but keep away from areas that are too quiet.
Dress as much as you can in muted colours or similar to the locals. You'll never look like a local, you're trying not to draw too much attention to yourself.
Your goal is to get from an area of danger to an area of safety as quickly and safely as possible.
When you arrive at your point of exit immediately inform your airline that you require repatriation as soon as possible.
Try and contact your embassy, travel company and someone back home.
Is there anyone around you that is using a phone, can you borrow it?
If you can, find a quiet spot where you can observe arrivals and departures - from where, going to where?
Be prepared to take an indirect route home.

Making the decision to get out of town will be difficult and based on several factors. It could also just come down to gut feeling, but you must always keep in mind that it is you, your family or your companion's lives or welfare that could be at risk. In addition there could be many thousands of people waiting like sheep to be told what to do while all around them the world descends into chaos and danger.

Chance favours the prepared mind.

The Best 10 Minutes You'll Spend On YouTube

2011-01-30T02:42:00.000Z

We've gotten a little too serious recently what with events in North Africa and elsewhere.

Normal service is now resuming with this epic Bollywood take on Terminator. Seriously, forget about all the other Oscar nomination crap, this movie should be up there for no other reason than the creative use of weaponage. We're sure that the script is the bastard child of Chuck Norris, Sly Stallone, Stan Winstone, Bruce Willis and L'Oreal.

Enjoy.

William Hague - A Foreign Secretary In Name Only

2011-01-28T18:50:00.000Z

If ever there was evidence required that the current UK government have no grasp of current international events or policy it's in the comments made by William Hague (Foreign Secretary) today regarding the situation in Egypt.

To quote "..authorities in Egypt should not seek to suppress people's right to freedom of expression.."

So where were his words of wisdom over the previous weeks months and years regarding the same suppression in Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Jordan to name only a few. In effect he's saying take away 20-30 years of autocratic control of the population and replace it with...? And therein lies the problem, there is no transition plan for Egypt and that's a very dangerous position to be in.

So, how on earth do you replace autocratic regimes and maintain stability at the same time? The short answer is that you can't! Just look at the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, both catastrophic successes. If he thinks that a Western style of democracy will fill the government void like some Lego brick, he really has no understanding of Middle Eastern or North African politics.

We only need to look back to the Turkish War of Independence to see that even with a country aligned behind a single leader it still took some 20 years and a firm hand to go from an autocratic Sultanate to a modern system of government. Can the global community really afford 20 years of unrest in the region. For some people the Suez Crisis is still a bitter pill.

Remember your speech from 1977 Mr. Hague, "half you won't be here in 30-40 years, but others will have to live with the consequences". Before making comment on what and how a system of government should work, think about the consequences as it is normally paid for in blood.

North African Domino Effect

2011-01-28T02:07:00.001Z

After our post yesterday on North Africa, we had several questions asking our opinion as to why this situation has developed. While we don't list geo-politics as one of our core skills, we've been around long enough and know a few folks who can give some background.

Getting this overview prompted us to dig a little deeper,so we decided to write up our findings and publish them here. The question in our minds was, "could there be potential for what happened in Tunisia to spread, like a domino effect, across the region?"

Given the amount of unrest, we were interested to see if there was any demographic data for the area that might support our concerns. If there were patterns, then the next obvious question was, "is there some probability for example of a Tunisia domino effect affecting the whole region and possibly further?" As a final piece of research we wanted to compare the same demographics against that of Western economies.

The area we're referring to makes up the Southern coast line of the Mediterranean Sea. From Morocco in the West to Jordan in the East, a distance of some 15,000+Km. Along the way you cross the borders of Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt before arriving at Jordan, East of Israel and account for some 176 Million people or about 57% of the total number of people in the USA.

View Larger Map

With the exception of Egypt, the other countries in the area have populations that vary between a few million people to around 35 Million people. Land areas are for the most part larger than that of EU comparison countries, though how much is actually usable away from the coast is questionable.

Where the numbers begin to get interesting is for unemployment in the region, one of the reasons cited for the unrest in Tunisia. With the figures available to us (up to 2008), unemployment in the region is quite high. The real numbers are probably much higher with estimates of 15%-20% possibly being closer to reality.

The next three pieces of data appear to compound the high unemployment issue.

You have a relatively young population across the region who have lived under an autocratic regime for most if not all of their lives.
The level of literacy in the region is on the increase.
But salaries, with the exception of Libya, are under $4,000/year

Finally, we looked at the two main religions in the area. It won't come as a surprise that the region is almost totally of the Islamic faith. We added this graphic to illustrate the difference or polarity of the different faiths across the regions.

Feel free to agree/disagree, but the numbers speak for themselves, if the global communities involvement in this situation remains at it's current level of sensationalist newspaper headlines. We could find ourselves dealing with a much greater problem in the not too distant future. A young disaffected population will look in any direction for a solution. The one they find, may not be the one that they hoped for.

North Africa Social Demographic

Four Weeks in North African Politics

2011-01-27T16:18:00.001Z

Has the recent crisis in Tunisia marked the beginning of the end for autocratic Arab leaders?

The demonstrations have influenced public unrest and demonstration from Algiers in the West to San'a the capital city of Yemen in the Middle East. In between there have been demonstrations in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, though the latter has been widely ignored by Western news agencies.

Should the West be concerned about this revolution that has spread over 3000 miles in little over three weeks? The interesting observation is the relative lack of comment or involvement from the European countries, The UN and the USA. Seems like the position is to avoid perceived Western involvement thereby making sure that meddling whether real or imagined is avoided. In dealing with the unrest, the governments would do well to look toward the outcome in Tunisia. The standard operating procedure appears to be the enforcement of decade old anti demonstration laws by police and other internal security organisations and mass arrests. While this might control pockets of demonstration for the short term, the resultant fallout will only widen the divide between people and police services that are already accused of corruption, bribery and excessive force.

The worry is that the region becomes destabilised to such a degree that a large swathes of North Africa lose their respective governments. The problem then becomes who fills the void when the dust settles? And we all know who will be waiting in the wings to step in.

Update 20:20 - CET 27/01/2011

Reports are coming in of further demonstrations and clashes in North of Suez in Ismailia and in the Souther Aswan region. Also, we just got word that demonstrations have taken place in the West African country of Gabon.

Welcome To The CHIL

2011-01-26T19:54:00.000Z

At UTE, we use a variety of tools to create our products. From a relatively straightforward piece of apparel through to our advanced thermal or mechanical systems, every product is created and tested "virtually" before we go near the toolbox. Our virtual toolkit has grown and developed to include 2D drafting, 3D modelling and finite element analysis. The problem with these systems is that you are manipulating a real world model using a 2 dimensional interface.

Enter the world of "The CHIL" (Collaborative Human Immersive Lab). The CHIL is a Lockheed Martin virtual reality environment that allows users to collaborate on systems, test new products and perform analysis in three dimensional space. The technology has been used in the movie industry for some time, but we're excited to see this filtering through to the defence industry. Hopefully there will be a cost effective version for mainstream parametric systems in the not too distant future.

In the meantime take a sneak peak into the CHIL.

A Guid Burns Night

2011-01-25T16:08:00.002Z

Around the world tonight, folk of Scottish descent will be dusting down their kilts and preparing their Selkirk Grace for the annual Burns Supper.

To commemorate the "People's Poet" we've compiled our list of the Top Ten Worst Scottish accents in movie's.

10. Richard Attenborough - Jurassic Park: Where did the accent go half way through the film?

9. Ewan McGregor - Phantom Menace: Alec Guinness never sounded like this!

8. Sean Connery - Every movie he's ever done: Yesh, from Egyp-shan King to American-Oirish you can rely on Sir Sean not to deviate.

7. Michael Caine - Kidnapped: My name is "Alan Breck"

6. Jessica Lange - Rob Roy: Must be from the McHollywood clan

5. Robin Williams - Mrs. Doubtfire: Shite attempt to cover up a shite accent.

4. Mike Myers - Shrek: Axe Murderer was great, but what happened with Shrek?

3. Robert Duvall - A Shot At Glory: WTF...Hollywood comes to Hampden

2. Mel Gibson - Braveheart: When you cross the border from England to Scotland there is a sign that says "Failte gu Alba" or Welcome to Scotland. If you look close, you will see a small sign underneath that says "Fuck Off Mel Gibson wi yer shite accent"

1. Christopher Lambert - Highlander: About as convincing as a coo shite wig.

But don't take out word for it, watch the movies for yourself.

Lang may yer lum reek.

Unleashed McTactical Equipment

Build an F18 Super Hornet In Under 4 Minutes

2011-01-24T17:58:00.000Z

Time lapsed video of the assembly of an F18 Super Hornet.

$500,000 trade show stand

2011-01-22T14:43:00.000Z

That's how many green backs you'd need for the current TNF stand at the OR Show. Brand awareness definitely is a high maintenance bitch.

Every Nuclear Explosion from 1945 to 1998

2011-01-20T15:02:00.000Z

Prepare a coffee/beer/tea or other favourite tipple and prepare to be amazed by this video showing the who, where and when of very nuclear explosion from 1945 to 1998. The question that comes to mind is how many times do you need to repeat an experiment to validate the data?

However, you look at it the cost and extent of post war nuclear programs is jaw dropping.

Let The Mayhem Commence

2011-01-18T13:15:00.000Z

For the second year we've decided to avoid the pilgrimage to Nevada for the annual SHOT Show. If you're not aware of this exhibition, it can be described (in its own words) as the worlds largest Hunting, Shooting and Outdoors Trade Show & Exhibition. Depending on your position it could also be described as the single biggest gathering of gear queers on the planet.

The last time we were there, we couldn't believe that some dude was pissed that he was refused entry. The simple reason that he was refused entry was that he was sporting a custom chest rig carrying an inverted trench fighting knife (complete with knuckles/hand guard). He started spouting some shit about his right to defend himself however he saw fit. Kinda reminded me of the angry guys around BIAP with shaved heads and long beards back in the day.

Rather than invest the thousands of £/$/€'s to make the trip, we decided to offer our users something that benefits their pocket. For the duration of the SHOT Show we're offering a 30% discount on all performance outdoor apparel. To take advantage of this offer use the code "SHOTSHOW" at checkout to redeem this offer.

If you can't make the show or like us choose to invest your hard earned elsewhere, you can get daily updates on what's great and good by visiting Soldier Systems Daily.

Unleashed Tactical Equipment

Ricky Gervais Introduces the Golden Globes

2011-01-17T16:27:00.000Z

We wanted to post this because it is just so funny. Listening to the groans of self recognition from the collected Hollwood greatness to Ricky's opening monologue was awesome. These people need to learn not to take themselves so feckin seriously.

Good effort Mr. Gervais.

Enjoy

Team Unleashed Critics

A New South Atlantic Warning

2011-01-11T19:20:00.000Z

Those that have followed our Blog for some time may recall the article we posted back in June 2010? The crux of the hypothetical article was that military activities had escalated in the South Atlantic due to a discovery of an oil field in Falkland Island waters.

Jump forward less than twelve months and we have the Royal Navy refused resupply in Brazilian ports, a result some would say, of the newly elected Brazilian government building relationships with their South American neighbours. Add in the fact that the US State Department would be willing to mediate on discussions regarding the future of the Falkland Islands, it's becoming clear that we're on our own should the sabre rattling become more serious.

Some how I don't think that our current political elite won't have the same metal as Maggie in responding to any threat or action. Needless to say there are SLR's of a 1982 vintage in storage and a more than willing private force ready to "stand too" given the call.

Anyone for a last "Hurrah"?

The Way Women Talk

2011-01-11T17:44:00.002Z

When you guys aren't around, us women are free to express ourselves, our way...as this short movie shows.

Enjoy
Unleashed Oscars Team

On Top Or Underneath

2010-12-28T19:47:00.002Z

Atap Shell With Plate Carrier On Top

Atap Shell worn over plates

This question came up just before the holiday break up and it took us some time to get round to answering it.

It refers to our Atap MULTICAM Shell Jacket and whether it could be used in conjunction with body armour. It's a question that is so obvious we forgot to mention anywhere! Shame on us as it is one of the key features of the jacket and something we spent a lot of time getting right.

The short answer is that the Atap Shell Jacket can be used with body armour underneath or on top. Now before geezers start trying to squeeze a full chest rig with extra pouches underneath the jacket. STOP! It's designed for a covert plate carrier not a full up assault vest with a few thousands rounds of belt draped from it.

Atap Shell Showing Plates

Our design is fitted at the lower body, while offering more space in the upper body and sleeves. The cut and fit means that covert plates can be worn underneath, while there is no excess material to bunch up if worn with an overt plate carrier or assault vest on top of it.

The fit also minimises taking up a shooting position due to some clever manufacturing between the body of the garment and the sleeves, even when a plate carrier is worn over the jacket.

More Government Cut Backs

2010-12-28T17:52:00.000Z

We wonder where it will all end? The latest cut backs by a coalition government that no-one voted for beggars belief. The same government that claims to be keeping us safe from terrorist plots and protecting our way of life has decided to close the Forensic Science Service (FSS).

The rationale behind the closure is that the service costs £2MM GBP a month and that similar service can be farmed out to the private sector. Well, based on previous experience anything that the government has farmed out has cost the tax payer more and the level of service reduced. The language used is also interesting Does the government also view the armed forces as costs along with police, nurses, doctors and other critical services. All these services would lose money if they were businesses too!

At the same time we can find mi££ions to support a shakey €uro that risks sliding into the Mediterranean; find tens of mi££ions to give to India for a nuclear program and while we're at lets send a few mi££ion to our favourite African dictator Robert Mugabe.

The UK's defence is being decimated by a sham of a government that is more interested in short terms savings than long term security. The only long term security they seem to be interested in is their expense accounts and final salary pensions.

Close the FSS and then wait for the numerous appeals and claims of mis-trials to follow and see how much change you get out of the £24MM GBP saving.

Team Unleashed

Computer Theft & Getting Even

2010-12-26T18:51:00.001Z

This time of the year, a lot of us are spending time away from home or the office and one day you get the call you've been dreading. "This is the police, we regret to inform you that your office/home has been robbed". Turns out your laptop has been stolen along with several other items. If like us your computer(s) are an integral part of your business, employment or means of income, the actual monetary value of the equipment is overshadowed by the value of the data held on it by several orders of magnitude.

At this point you're thinking, "but I use a power on password and a separate user login password". Or your machine may have some sort of biometric security built in. Well, that may stop the low life from using your computer until they remove the Li-ion battery, but it won't help you get it back.

You could buy and install any one of several dedicated packages that provide hardware location information. However these tend to store the information on systems hosted by the package providers and limits what you can do to get even. So we offer here some pointers on what you can do to assist the police in tracking down your missing hardware while opening up opportunities for getting even.. This information is supplied as is without warranty or claims to suitability.

Back To Basics
Out of sight is out of mind. Or put another way if the sticky fingered low life can't see your device how can they steal it? So, avoid keeping your laptop/computer/x-Pad where it can be seen and easily swiped... including the obvious man bag at the side of your favourite chair and power cord that disappears under the couch.

Take A Note Of Your Equipment's Serial Numbers
You're gonna need this for the police reports and to identify your equipment should it be recovered. Do it now, it takes less than 30 seconds and will make life so much easier.

Should You Have A Power On Password
It might seem contrary to conventional wisdom, but stopping a thief from using your hardware will only delay tracking down your missing equipment.

Keep A Daily Backup

We don't mean the crappy software that comes with your operating system that squeezes all your precious data, pictures and "video projects" into one container file. The backup should be a actual copy of your complete system on an external hard drive and not compressed to save space. And please DO NOT keep your external hard drive next your computer, as it will most likely get swiped along with your computer. We have used GoodSync for a couple of years and have had zero problems with it. The first time you make a copy of your system, it takes some time, but after that it's just the files that have changed that are copied and a lot of tasks can be automated once set up.

Set Up Your Browsers Homepage To Your Company's Website
Why would you want to do that? These days, most websites capture visit statistics and information to show who, where and when people visited your company website. Part of this data is your IP address or a unique number that identifies where someone has visited your site from. So, when/if the low life manages to connect to the interweb and sparks up your browser, it will go directly to your company site you will get a record of where and when they visited. More importantly you will have their IP address.

Install VNC Software On Your Computer
This is a program that runs on a computer and allows you control it remotely So, armed with the IP address you can then take control of your computer remotely. We should add that you need to understand the implications of running VNC and the risks involved.

Install Keylogger Software
This might sound strange, but it'something we highly recommend. This software doesn't need to be running the whole time, but having it installed and ready to roll will not only help track down the perpetrator of the theft, it will also help in Phase II - Getting Even. That's right folks, our keylogger will start to capture passwords, mouse clicks and even take screen shots...all good evidence to send onto the authorities.

Getting Even
We don't recommend or condone any of the following, but if you really wanted to (and have taken some of the previous steps) you now have access to such things as pictures, social networking login data, online service data like eBay and PayPal. You could get really creative and mess with someone's karma if you had access to all that now couldn't you...!!!

Have fun.

Team Unleashed

PS...don't think it could happen to you? Well listen to what happened to this MIT educated hacker...

WikiLeaks - Our Take Part II

2010-12-24T16:06:00.000Z

We mentioned the WikiLeaks expose a few weeks ago and how, in our opinion, the majority of it was nothing more than political tittle-tattle. As more "information" has been made available there's been some mildly interesting nuggets of news like Israel using Turkish air space to drop a surprise or two on Syria, with it would appear, the blessing and/or support of the US.

Flabby

What is really enlightening is the petty jibes, comments and generally low quality of the content that pass for shocking news exclusives. For example the intelligence station chief, describing Kim Jong Il as "flabby" isn't really the picture we have from Hollywood is it? Would Jason Bourne have made it to a third release if the best he could do was describe Kirill as having poor fashion sense and decidedly questionable friends?

Close pals according to intelligence reports

And that's the rub, governments spend untold fortunes maintaining embassies, communications networks, spy's and secret agents that directly or indirectly can affect the future of our planet. So when the nett result of this "eyes on the ground" intelligence is nothing more than junior-school playground name calling, we as tax payers should be asking if we're really getting value for the $/£/€'s spent.

We still stand firm in our belief that anything truly secret or damaging to national security would never have made to the interweb. However, what we have seen from the WikiLeaks releases is that the power brokers and big cheeses behind the public face of government are not the suave seducers of the movies, but are more than likely filing reports based on subjective personal opinion, rather than real intelligence.

Let's hope that the real WikiLeaks information of public interest continues to be published. At the same time we need to question the 99% of tittle-tattle and at what cost it comes..both financially and in lives.

Happy Holidays.

Team Unleashed Tactical

Spend Time In The Bar & Save Money

2010-12-17T19:15:00.000Z

Time's running out and you still can't find that Christmas gift for someone special? Well, we have the solution! Get to your nearest bar, order a drink and visit our online store. We've prepared an online voucher system that shows just how much you love your tatical dude or dudette.

We can customise our vouchers to incorporate your personal message and send it to you or your intended recipient. All possible without leaving the comfort of the bar.

Get clicking here...UTE Vouchers

Sing Along With A Creepy Russian Guy

2010-12-16T15:32:00.001Z

We were trying to find the lyrics to this song for ages and finally found them. Turns out that the original lyrics, about a cowboy trying to find his gal, were banned in Russia due to it potentially inflaming the ardour of hormone fueled, pubescent Muscovites.

So here it is, including the lyrics.

Altogether now...

Pearl Harbour - 7 December 1941

2010-12-08T09:36:00.001Z

Pearl Harbour - 7 December 1941

We're Into The Last Day Of The UTE Discount

2010-12-07T10:26:00.001Z

Time's marching on folks and you don't have too much time to snag a bargain.

Winter Blitz Special Offer

2010-12-03T18:51:00.000Z

That's right folks, we've totally lost the plot.

For five days we're offering an incredible 30% discount on all products in our covert and performance tactical range of products. The discount code will be published on our Facebook page and will be active from midnight tonight GMT. You need to go to our Facebook page and click "Become a Fan". The banner on the left will have the discount code.

Go crazy and get some, we're not going to be repeating this again.

New Website & Online Store

2010-12-01T14:30:00.000Z

We're pleased to make several announcements today regarding our business activities.

MULTICAM Products

The Atap range of shell garments are now available using the MULTICAM camouflage pattern. Created using state of the art manufacturing techniques and high performance ePTFE laminates, the products have been optimised for performance and user comfort.

Visit the online store to get more information Atap Jacket

High Performance Outdoor Products

In association with Westcomb Outdoor, we are pleased to offer the entire range of this high performance apparel collection. Exclusively available to military, law enforcement and security specialists the Westcomb range bring a fusion of class leading materials and cutting edge manufacturing techniques.

The current state of the art in outdoor apparel.

Vanguard Thermal Suppression - Gen II

From our special products lab, we have now completed development of the 2nd Generation of the Vanguard Thermal Suppression technology.

Have a look at how it performs even at unreasonable close ranges.

Special Offer

In conjunction with Soldier Systems Daily we are pleased of offer our product range with an exclusive 10% discount. Please use to code "SSD" to include the discount during checkout.

Regards,

Unleashed Tactical Equipment

Sales Support Team

The Real WikiLeaks Drama...

2010-11-29T18:20:00.000Z

Leaky pish if you want our opinion, all 250,000 pages of it. I mean, come on is anybody really surprised that:

Mr. Putin & Medvedev are a tight double act!
Mr. Berlusconi likes to party and act 40 years younger than he is!
Mrs. Merkel avoids risk and is rarely creative!
Mr. Ahmadinejad annoys all his neighbours near and far!
Mr. Sarkozy has BO and wears built up heels (OK we made up the BO part)!

Do we really believe that anything that would jeopardise national security would be allowed into the public domain like this? We have laws that stop real sensitive being published. The real reason governments are getting their Bjorn Borgs in a fankle is that amongst all the tittle-tattle are the real gold nuggets that can put the politico's under the spotlight...who's been taking back hander from whom; who's had their hands in the knickers or Y fronts that they shouldn't have. This is the stuff that ends careers!

So for us the risk to national security from WikiLeaks is just smoke and mirrors. We'll wager that there are a few clenched buttocks around the world hoping that the probing eyeball of public outrage doesn't land on them.

You failed to maintain your weapon, Son.

2010-11-26T12:21:00.000Z

Vigilante pensioner Harry Brown (Michael Caine) gives the good news to some "neds" after they murder his old pal. Not a Hollywood epic with bullet dodging underwater kung fu experts, but a closer to home, gritty snap shot of inner city life, that more than a few people will be familiar with.

Not being fans of Sir Michael and being of the opinion that he's done nothing of note since Zulu, we approached this movie with some reluctance. However, we're pleased to say that this has to be one of his best performances since then.

Definitely worth renting if not owning.

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-24T17:32:00.000Z

To all friends, colleagues and readers of the Blog, we'd like to wish you a

Happy Thanksgiving

Visual Aids For Fixed & Rotary Wing Assets

2010-11-23T09:17:00.000Z

Not everyday you may need to guide in a helicopter, but it's worthwhile brushing up from time to time.

Visual Aids Handbook

When I Grow Up, I Want To Do This

2010-11-19T15:07:00.000Z

If you can draw your eyes away from the great views around Scotland, you might see a guy on an orange bike doing some incredible stuff.

Truly awesome and a great role model for young folk everywhere.

Enjoy

Domain Name Scams from China

2010-11-17T10:09:00.002Z

It's Very Urgent Please Pass To Your CEO

You may have received a mail with this title and some text along the lines...

We formally received an application In November 16, 2010, one company which self-styled "Htqie Corporation" were applying to register "yourdomainname" as Network Brand and following domain names:

"yourdomain.asia
yourdomain.cn
yourdomain.co.in
yourdomain.cn
yourdomain.tw
yourdomain.hk
yourdomain.in

After our initial checking, we found the name were similar to your company's, so we need to check with you whether your company has authorized that company to register these names. If you authorized this, we will finish the registration at once. If you did not authorize, please let us know within 7 workdays, so that we will handle this issue better. Out of the time limit we will unconditionally finish the registration for "Htqie Corporation".¡¡

If you've received something like the above be aware that it's a scam that's been running since at least 2008. Unless you plan to do business in China then ignore all these types of emails

If in doubt check the senders domain using http://www.whois.net/ you'll probably find that the registrar is some flunky sweat shop somewhere in China.

New additions to the library

2010-11-10T13:53:00.000Z

Recent product testing in the wilds of Northern Scotland and the Alps meant we had some time at the end of the day to catch up on our reading materials. Apart from the usual works of fiction there were two books that everyone agreed should be on everyone with even a passing interest in things of a military nature should read. By a strange quirk the books are also complimentary in that for a large part they deal with the psychology of war and the stresses that combatants find themselves exposed to during and after active service.

War by Sebastian Junger (ISBN 978-0-00-733770-5) is not an attempt to explain the politics or strategy of the current war in Afghanistan but rather chronicles his experiences and observations over a two year period as an embedded journalist with a platoon of US infantry. The platoon, which man's an outpost in the Korengal Valley, spend days oscillating between extreme boredom to being involved in contacts and the agony of losing a brother in arms.

Soldier "I" by Pete Winner (ISBN 978 84603 995 9) is the semi-autobiographical story of a former member of the UKSF. The book offers a good mix of action (The Battle of Mirbat) and the authors experiences when the "Camp Gates Close". After 26 years of premiership dealing and avoiding death, the author found himself receiving medical treatment for post traumatic stress. A condition very rarely written about or understood by the health professionals tasked with "fixing it". Soldier "I" is a fine example of the high's, low's and especially the recovery that military personnel need to deal with and can conquer.

Highly recommended books that will be re-read again and again.

Unleashed Librarian.

For Pilgrims Everywhere

2010-11-03T23:50:00.000Z

We are the Pilgrims, master; we shall go
Always a little further: it may be
Beyond the last blue mountain barred with snow,
Across that angry or that glimmering sea,
White on a throne or guarded in a cave
There lives a prophet who can understand
Why men were born: but surely we are brave,
Who make the Golden Journey to Samarkand.

RESUSCITATION COUNCIL GUIDELINES 2010

2010-10-18T12:57:00.000+01:00

European Resuscitation Council Guidelines will change at 06.30hrs Central European Time on Monday 18^th October 2010

The executive summary can be found here....Executive Summary

If You Love The Smell of Napalm In The Morning...

2010-10-07T22:08:00.000+01:00

Just got this heads up from Soldier Systems Daily

Apocalypse Now

Time to order the new surround system in preparation for some Wagner.

Bring it on.

UTE Film Club

See Effects Of The Times Square Bomb

2010-09-30T12:19:00.002+01:00

This video, released by the FBI, shows the effect of the Times Square bomb had it detonated. Now try and imagine if you, your family or friends had been exposed to this..!!

Spare a thought for the people in the various agencies, that have to deal with this and worse on a daily basis.

UTE September Newsletter Now Available

2010-09-28T16:01:00.000+01:00

Something special regarding high end apparel in the September issue of the UTE Newsletter.

Take a peek here...

UTE September News

Water Take Off - 101

2010-09-26T22:04:00.000+01:00

Do not let the moving parts touch the big blue wobbly thing.

Things You Need - Casio Exilim EX-H20G

2010-09-25T15:02:00.001+01:00

Casio launched a new GPS enabled camera this week. No great shakes there I hear you say, more than a few camera's have this facility! Well the Exilim EX-H20G is just a little bit different. This camera claims to be able to geo-tag pictures even when you don't have satellite reception through a Hybrid GPS system.

Using motion sensors, Casio say it will calculate your position from the last known lat/lon received from the GPS. It willl even record tracks/waypoints when powered off.

If it works as described this could be a cost effective addition to the surveillance operators toolkit.

WiFi version next please.

The Anatomy of Shell Garments: Part 3 - The Construction

2010-09-23T22:49:00.000+01:00

Now we're ready to start sticking things together in the third part of our series on shell garments.

How is stuck, what's the process and what form does the finished article take? Read all about it here at BFE Labs.

Civilian Contractor Casualty Accountability Project

2010-09-16T17:54:00.000+01:00

Death Valley Magazine recently published an article on the “Civilian Contractor Casualty Accountability Project” (CCCA-Project). The goal of the project is to not only account for all of the Civilian Contractors who have been killed in service of the U.S. Government around the world (regardless of nationality) – but also to account for those Civilian Contractors who are Missing in Action, currently being held as Prisoners of War or Unjustifiably Held in Captivity.

To make this monumental task a reality they are seeking volunteers. To see how you can help visit:

Death Valley Magazine

The Anatomy of Shell Garments: Part 2 - The Components

2010-09-16T13:11:00.000+01:00

The second article in the series Anatomy of Shell Garments is available for viewing on the BFE Labs site.

Hold off making that expensive purchase until you've read this.

Anatomy of Shell Garments - Part 2

The Big Spenders

2010-09-16T12:31:00.000+01:00

Continuing the theme of military spending, here's a snap shot of the military spend of several countries and where they stack up in the military spend league table.

Data sources SIPRI & IISS

What Is Tactical?

2010-09-13T16:08:00.000+01:00

Thanks to Chris at Technical Applications Group for forwarding this link.

A message here for a lot of people.

Lest Ye Forget

2010-09-11T14:29:00.000+01:00

Military Spending Versus Bank Bailout

2010-09-10T12:11:00.000+01:00

Some interesting fact & figures from the SIPRI 2010 Yearbook:

World military expenditure in 2009 is estimated to have reached $1.531 trillion in current dollars
This represents a 6 per cent increase in real terms since 2008 and a 49 per cent increase since 2000
This corresponds to 2.7 per cent of world gross domestic product (GDP), or approximately $225 for each person in the world
The USA with its massive spending budget, is the principal determinant of the current world trend, and its military expenditure now accounts for just under half of the world total, at 46.5% of the world total
The 15 countries with the highest spending account for over 82% of the total
The USA is responsible for 46.5 per cent of the world total, distantly followed by the China (6.6% of world share), France (4.2%), UK (3.8%), and Russia (3.5%)

To put this into context, after the financial geniuses around the world got us into the current economic mess, they were bailed out to the tune of $8.424 trillion dollars. It's hard to imagine just how much that is and how many zero's are in there. But put another way, it's enough to end world poverty for half a century. Now that buys a lot of hearts and minds! OK, a lot of the bank bailout is just in guarantees, but even so it's a helluva lot of potential money.

To close this article I'd like to reference some work done by Jim Bianco of Bianco Research. He calculated the inflation adjusted numbers for previous big budget government spends:

Marshall Plan: Cost: $12.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $115.3 billion
Louisiana Purchase: Cost: $15 million, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $217 billion
Race to the Moon: Cost: $36.4 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $237 billion
S&L Crisis: Cost: $153 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $256 billion
Korean War: Cost: $54 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $454 billion
The New Deal: Cost: $32 billion (Est), Inflation Adjusted Cost: $500 billion (Est)
Invasion of Iraq: Cost: $551b, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $597 billion
Vietnam War: Cost: $111 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $698 billion
NASA: Cost: $416.7 billion, Inflation Adjusted Cost: $851.2 billion

Total - $3.92 Trillion

So the bank bailout is over twice all those expenditures combined.

Makes you wonder doesn't it

Human Resources - Why do we need them?

2010-09-09T21:24:00.000+01:00

Sleepy Cat (not her real name), our resident social barometer and all round good egg made an interesting observation recently. Since joining our small team she feels liberated! She can say how she feels, cuss like a pirate, have a mood and generally get on with her job without worrying about upsetting some Earth biscuit.

The key is that we work as a team, toward a common goal. We all have off days, but the difference is that we don't go running to Human Resources when someone pisses on our chips. It's a simple solution... we don't have HR, so we have to deal with it ourselves.

So here's my theory on business..When you think you need an HR department, Get Out. You've got the wrong people doing the wrong jobs. Now don't misunderstand me, the tasks that come under the HR umbrella are critical to the success of the business, but they should never be somewhere for the Monday morning coach to go running to when they have a gripe. Which sadly seems to be their main function these days.

So to recognise Sleepy's contribution to social observation we present the HRFZ t-shirt..

Thanks DG for organising this.

Anatomy of Shell Garments

2010-09-09T08:27:00.000+01:00

In association with BFE Labs, we are pleased to bring you a mini series on the Anatomy of Shell Garments. Over the course of several articles we hope to provide information on the main aspects of what goes into and influences the modern shell garment. In the process we hope to dispel some myths and factoids.

We hope you enjoy the series.

Unleashed Development Team.

Article 1 - A Brief History

Coming Soon - Unleashed Classic His n Hers

2010-09-06T20:49:00.001+01:00

We've been putting it off for a while, but they will he here soon..The Unleashed Tactical Equipment classic t-shirt.

They are so cool that several delivery guys were rushed to hospital with hypothermia and frost bite and that was just trying to get our samples to us.

Made from combed 100% fine jersey cotton they are guaranteed to make you more attractive to the opposite sex and increase your performance in the sack.

The t-shirt is unisex and looks good on just about anybody..unless you're the type that thinks exercise is a wheezing shamble to the local pizza joint. The spaghetti strapped option is strictly for the laydeez. We think it looks equally good on small pert love fruits or full bodied fun bags.

Enjoy,

Team Unleashed Leisure Group.

The Joys Of Air Travel

2010-08-29T00:31:00.000+01:00

A busier travel week than normal for Unleashed Tactical meant the opportunity to enjoy some time with fellow travellers. We're very much an "Eat What You Kill" organisation and look on travel investments the way we would spend our own money i.e. a free bag of salted nuts will not encourage me to spend three times more on a rival carrier.

I don't mind saying that we use easyJet for a lot of our air travel around Europe. It's cost effective and get's us to where we need to be on time (most of the time). They have their way of operating and providing you accept this all goes well. This recent trip though had me ready to pull the pin. Not with the airline I have to add, but with the moronic customers at check in.

The airline has a two simple rules:

Only ONE piece of hand luggage
Maximum weight on checked in luggage 32Kg (64lb)

Moron 1: Suitcase weighs 35Kg (70lb), the fucker can hardly lift it onto the belt and starts grumbling that he has to split the weight and pay extra for the weight and bag. Total time to check in - 15 minutes

Moron 2: Doesn't think that a wheeled trolley and briefcase are two pieces of hand luggage. Another discussion begins with the passenger adamant that she only has one piece of hand luggage. Total time to check in 8 minutes

Moron 3: Has "hand luggage" that could house a family of dwarves. No way it meets the size allowance. It needs to be checked in and a fee paid. Total time to check in 10 minutes

Moron 4: ME - Small back pack, meets size and weight limits. Security questions, boarding pass issued. Thank you. Total time to check in < 2minutes.

If you're reading this and you fall into the Moron 1-3 category. Don't be a travelling asshole! Do your preparation beforehand and everybody's life is sooo much easier.. and you don't run the risk of being stabbed in the ear with my pen.

Where Next For Private Security

2010-08-18T19:42:00.000+01:00

It's a strange world in general, but you have to question the wisdom of President Karzai and his latest plan to nationalise security in Afghanistan. As far as we can gather, you either sign on the dotted line or get out of Dodge. So by the end of the year around 19,000 private security personnel could be out of a job being replaced by ANP.

So maybe now is the time to look for pastures new before you get lost in the line of 19,000 looking for work elsewhere. How about anti-piracy, that's in the news a lot. Well before you break out the inflatable ring and don the Capt Jack outfit, best look at the numbers.

Piracy Map 2005

Piracy Map August 2010

Well, well is it time to find out the difference between the poop deck and the poop chute?

For more information on pirates visit...Garrr this be pirate Steve

For All Rotary Wing Warriors

2010-08-10T00:32:00.003+01:00

Best played VERY loud...

RTFM - Or how to save $200,000,000

2010-08-06T21:02:00.000+01:00

It's been a tough week here at Unleashed and just as we were about to close up shop this gem arrived from our good mate DL out & about.

Imagine the situation, you're just about to take delivery of your new Airbus A340-600. There is not a single hour of flying time on this airframe and you have the privilege of doing the pre-delivery ground tests.

You pre-delivery flight crew from Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies (ADAT) arrive to do such testing as engine run ups prior to delivery to Etihad Airways.

The ADAT crew taxi your new Airbus A340-600 aircraft to the engine run up area.

All four of the engines are then taken up to take off power on a virtually empty aircraft. Having not read the f*cking manual, they have no idea just how light an Airbus A340-600 really is.

The Airbus A340-600 is a machine, it is programmed to obey certain rules and advise if certain rules are broken. At this point the aircraft notices that something is wrong and warns the flight crew by making an annoying noise and flashing some lights. The flight systems are having the electronic equivalent of seizure...Engines at take of speed, slats not deployed, flaps not deployed....what's going on?

"AHA", says one of the flight crew. "I know what is wrong. The aircraft thinks we are trying to take off, but the other sensors say we should be up in the air!"....Let's pull the circuit breaker for ground proximity sensor so we don't have this noise and flashing light nuisance. The aircraft now thinks it is airborne.

Now the Airbus A340-600 is a smart aircraft and will try and make sure that all systems are performing as safely as possible. One of these safety features is to insure that the pilot does not land the aircraft with the brakes engaged. The ADAT flight crew, having not read the f*cking manual are not aware of this safety feature and having disengaged the ground proximity sensor the aircraft rockets forward at full thrust.

It appears that not one of the flight crew had the sense to kill the power to the engines of the $200,000,000 aircraft before it hit a noise barrier head on.

Due to a news blackout, the extent of the injuries to the flight crew is unknown.

Airbus A340-600: $200,000,000

Thick As Shit Flight Crew: $300,000

Unread Operating Manual: $300

The result...Priceless.

News From the Front - AQIM

2010-08-03T13:10:00.000+01:00

France Declares War on Al Qaeda

Is it all about to kick off in North Africa and can our already stretched forces deal with operations on a third front? This article was prompted by our roving reporter Dr. Baz.

A raid by combined French and Mauritanian forces into Mali in which six Al Qaeda in the Islamin Mahgreb (AQIM) were flat packed, resulted in the retaliatory, revenge murder of the hostage, Michel Germaneau an aid worker kidnapped in April, they were trying to liberate.

In response, the French prime minister has declared that "France is at war with al Qaeda". Not sure what this means, but it marks a clear shift in France's normally discreet dealings with its regional allies - Mauritania, Mali, Niger and Algeria.

View Larger Map

Mali, a former colony of France, is the worlds 24th largest country, comparable in size to South Africa. It's population of 13 million is made up of approximately 90% Muslim, 5% are Christian and the remaining 5% follow traditional beliefs. Mali is also one of the worlds poorest country's with an average annual salary of $1,500 USD.

Visitors are advised to use extreme caution if visiting Mali or neighbouring countries for fear of additional retaliatory attacks.

Unleashed News Desk