Leatherman MUT

I get it, you like the idea of buying the Leatherman Military Utility Tool (MUT) that is specifically designed for the M16/AR15 platform, you like the idea that it was designed by some SFCs from the Army Marksmanship Unit at Ft Benning, and that it was field tested in Iraq and Afghanistan for two years before its release… but it sells for about $160USD. You would rather get something else like some fancy mag pouches with kydex inserts, or a new daypack because even though you already have two, you’ve realized that when you’re wearing them it looks like you’re about to kick a door and that you probably need a regular looking day pack. Trust me, I get it. Picture this though, you’ve pulled up to the range to zero the new laser or optic you got in the mail and you realize that you’re drawing a lot of attention because you’re a geardo and your rifle looks like you might have stolen it out of Garand Thumb’s Pelican case when he wasn’t looking. You step to the line, load a mag, chamber a round, flip the safety, fire a group as tight as possible and surprise surprise, you need to make an adjustment. Now you’re the guy with the expensive mag pouches trying to figure out if a dime will fit in the adjustment screws. 

Triple Aught Design Fall Film Festival

This season Triple Aught Design is hosting a film festival and is showcasing some outstanding videos from all over the world of their fans sharing their passions. I put together a short film with the team of some caving and rappelling and am honoured to have been approved for their festival. Please click the link to see my submission, my second submission, and if you like it please vote! If you want to be the first to know about new videos the best way is to follow me on Facebook or on Instagram.

Video and editing by: Jeremy Meuris

Salomon XA Pro 3D Trail Runners

It all started with a post I saw on Mark Owen’s (@markowenseal) Instagram feed. Nothing even over the top really, just a bunch of dudes, wearing Salomon XA Pro 3D shoes with Multicam pants. At the time, I was in the market for some new trail shoes so obviously, this piqued my attention. When a former member of DEVGRU posts a photo like this and says “ Best mid weight shoes ever”, I knew I had to check them out. I don’t imagine Mr. Owen was paid by Salomon to endorse their shoe, but considering at least his demographic, they couldn’t have asked for a better endorsement.

Beyond Clothing - PCU Level 5 Glacier Shock Softshell Jacket and Pants

After a lot of digging around, I finally managed to pick up all the pieces of the Protective Combat Uniform (PCU) system. Since its inception in 2002, there have been many progressions in outerwear technology that have inevitably made PCU inferior in some ways, but in my opinion as a total system, it is still at the top of the heap. Speaking specifically about the level 5, the most versatile level in the system, the use of Epic fabric made by Nextec does a great job of blocking the wind, but at the same time, it doesn’t trap moisture produced by your body within your clothing system. When you consider those benefits and then look at how thin and tough the material is, Epic is hard to beat. Because the jacket allows for moisture to escape, I’m able to stay more comfortable during high-intensity activities in the cold rather than if I were to use a Goretex which acts as a vapour barrier. After three years and two Glacier Shocks later, I think it’s a good time to write the full review of Beyond Clothing’s level 5 system.

Millbrook Tactical HQ

On the last day of August, I was lucky enough to attend the Millbrook HQ grand opening just a few kilometres away from their old location on Iber Road in Ottawa. All the elements you know from the old location have been brought to their new home at 129 Willowlea Road. The difference now is that Millbrook is in their own detached building, and for the public, the showroom has been upgraded stylishly with a tasteful combination of modern displays and reclaimed barn wood. It would seem that with every year that passes, Millbrook Tactical grows more prosperous. The question, of course is, what is the key to their success?

An open letter to Jason McCarthy of GORUCK

Open discussion for all about the GORUCK Challenge, which is nearing 6 years young and remains our flagship event:

How are we/Cadre doing in line with our goal of Building Better Americans? If you have any feedback on anything at all (events themselves, operations, how we can better help you get your friends to show up), please post below. Good idea, Bad idea, Positive feedback, Negative feedback. Have at it. Even Wednesday whatever drama, just don't get out of hand :)

The worst thing you can answer with is silence.

Thank you all for growing this badass community tens of thousands strong all over the country and the world.

Jason McCarthy

Backpacking List - Working towards ultralight

A new year brings new gear! I remember when I first started to buy camping gear, my goal was to see if I could get everything to fit into one bag. I had a large ALICE pack that was modded to fit more than the regular 50L capacity, but it wasn’t large enough to accommodate my hand-me-down synthetic sleeping bag and much of anything else. As the years when by, I did my research, talked to people with more experience, and over time I picked up items that were smaller and lighter. 

Below is a list and a video of where I’m at for the 2016 summer season. I still have some improvements to make, and if you have any suggestions or comments, please share below or on YouTube. I’d love to know what you think! Do take note though that I haven’t included my food, water or clothing. I’ll be doing another video to cover those items. 

Arc'teryx LEAF Atom LT - Review

Many years ago I learned a valuable lesson about purchasing gear from a waitress. I was out to celebrate an anniversary with my wife at a restaurant called the Lobster Trap. My wife ordered the lobster bisque and I ordered the clam chowder. I was surprised when the waitress stopped me and said, “No, you don’t want the chowder, you want the lobster bisque”. I had my heart set on the chowder, brushed off the recommendation, and was surprised with how forward our server was. Curiosity got the better of me after a few sips of the chowder though and I asked for a spoon of my wife’s soup. When the waitress came back to bring us our drinks, I ordered myself a bowl of lobster bisque. 

Camping Checklist - Prep and Packing (late summer/early fall)

When I first started getting into camping the hardest thing to do was to fit everything into one backpack. The source of my problems, I came to realize, stemmed from two problems. First, the vast majority of my gear was entry level with almost no consideration for packability and weight. Second, and this is what’s probably most important, is that I was bringing too much crap. The more I spend time in the woods, the more I realize, you don’t actually need very much! Something that holds true for me especially is that the more I bring in, the more likely I am to lose a piece of gear. 

GORUCK Selection Kit List with Stony Smith 014

The first time I met Stony was during my first Challenge, Class 524 in Toronto. I had read on another blog that he had done the Challenge the year before, and I saw the video he made of the creation of our team weight. This guy was dedicated. During the event he was quiet, except for when someone needed help. He was always willing to assist the team by carrying someone’s ruck or to lend a hand. I imagined he knew what we had in store, but instead of spoiling the surprise, he just let us experience the Challenge fresh.

Fast forward a few years, he’s still the same friendly guy. He still comes out to Challenges (Class 659 video, Class 1571 video), and works with people to help them through the events. Except now he has a glorious face forest, and his muscles are a bit bigger. When I asked him if he would mind doing a segment with me about his gear, he didn’t bat an eye. Always willing to share, and always down for telling a good story. We need more guys like Stony. Damn Skippy!

*Note - There will be another video coming out Saturday morning that will outline some of his ruck and boot modifications and what he wore during the challenge. Follow my page on Facebook, and you'll know exactly when it comes out. 

The Grand Canyon

We did our best to do as much research as possible so that our hike would be both enjoyable and efficient. We trained with our rucks, and had them packed with exactly what we would be bringing with us so that there wouldn’t be any surprises. All said and done, each of our packs weighed about 70lbs. The smiles and cheeky comments when people saw the way we were dressed, as well as how big our packs were on the way up and down made something perfectly clear; we looked fucking spectacular. 

One Shot Tactical Store

It was 10 years ago that One Shot Tactical Store first opened its doors. A few weeks ago, we made the hike from Toronto to Trenton to wish the OSTS team happy birthday. I had never been to the shop before, but I’ve certainly frequented their website to make purchases over the years. They were one of the first Canadian shops that I knew of to carry tactical products whose inventory mirrored many of the American sites I liked. The bonus was that I was able to support a local Canadian business and, of course, there were massive savings in shipping. From a professional standpoint, the store is strategically located near CFB Trenton, home of JTF2 (once they finish moving).

Legit Kit Interview

When I first started getting into gear the only place I really knew where to get good kit was on eBay. Every once and a while I’d find a seller that had a real Eagle 3-Day or an LBT Garmin pouch, not a crappy knockoff. Those were exciting days. Then I stumbled upon Legit Kit’s eBay store... I was just getting into Navy Special Warfare stuff at the time, and it was like this guy was monitoring my Google search history because his store had EVERYTHING. The really obscure stuff that I was looking for like TFSS pouches, Coyote OR pack covers, UDT horse collars, you name it, it was there. Sure there were forum boards and niche blogs where you could find this kind of stuff, but the sheer volume and frequency of his updates meant that I had something arriving at my doorstep a few times a month from his inventory. What made it even more enticing was his impeccable feedback percentage! 

Tactical Pants Faceoff

Tactical pants, or as our friends in law enforcement and armed forces call them, pants. Whatever you call them, they are a massive step up from wearing jeans or track pants when it’s time to do some PT. As a civilian, my "tactical" uses for these kinds of pants are kind of limited, but where they really shine are for range days, camping, hiking or during GoRuck Challenges. These pants are not designed to help you with your yoga class or your upcoming half marathon. These pants were designed to get dragged through the mud, dunked into a lake, and low crawled through a ditch without ripping or unnecessarily sucking heat away from your body when wet.

Outdoor Research interviews with designer Nathan Jenkin

This year at SHOT Show we were very happy to speak with Nathan Jenkin from Outdoor Research. He is one of their product designers and he was kind enough to walk us through some of their shooter specific gear. The first is their Aerator Gloves, and the second is a prototype maritime ensemble designed in conjunction with SEAL Team 4.

Layering up for winter camping

I went up to some crown land over the weekend with some friends with the objective of building some quinzee snow shelters to stay in for a few nights. On one of our day hikes instead of traveling along the logging roads, we chose a point on the map and used our topo map and compasses to walk a straight line. It took us over some decent hills and was much more rewarding than taking the easy way. Below is a video that outlines the layering system I used for the weekend.

BeastMode For The Brave

Here is our submission for BeastMode For The Brave. Please check out their page to learn how to bring more awareness and support to veterans living with PTSD and disabilities. Please share this with your friends and do your own video!

Vertx and Victory First with Matt Jacques

We were very lucky to have the opportunity to meet with Matt Jacques from Victory First at SHOT Show 2015. He walked us through some of the EDC bags from Vertx as well as some of his background in SWAT. One thing I didn't know before SHOT Show was that the name Vertx is short for "covert" and the "x" is a nod to Arc'teryx. Learn something new every day!

Crown Land Camping During The Polar Vortex

Polar Vortex Crown Land Camping

As some of you might know, each year Matthias and I put ourselves to the test and push another month into the winter. In December 2013 we did 8 days on Manitoulin Island, albeit in relatively balmy weather with the temperatures never really dropping past -5°. Checking the weather forecast before our January trip in 2014, we learned that we were going to be looking at temperatures dropping at night to -32°C before the windchill.

Millbrook Tactical Inc.

Update 9/20/16
Millbrook has moved to a new location. Click here for updated info, photos and article.

Just outside of Ottawa in Stittsville lies a real gem. Frank Paquette founded Millbrook Tactical Inc. in 2008 after a 15 year career with CANSOF. The organization supports Military and Law Enforcement by providing specialized training and SOF based equipment. Luckily for guys like me, they also have a storefront that’s open to the public. A few weeks ago I set up an appointment and over the Christmas holiday I had a chance to stop by for a chat.