Blue Force Gear came onto the scene in 2004 and continues to find itself making gear and kit that is constantly pushing the extremes of what they can get out of ideas, materials and the ever changing market in tactical items. From the Vickers Combat Application Sling to plate carriers and pouches that can house a proverbial village; if you are looking to hold magazines, armor, tourniquets or a can of Skoal, it is likely built by Blue Force Gear.
Over the past year Blue Force Gear has taken the extreme high ground with regard to weight restriction and has released a new generation of a MOLLE attachment system that can be found under their Helium Whisper™ line of products. Rather than using multiple pieces and parts to construct the current MOLLE attachment system, Blue Force Gear uses a patent pending single piece of high performance laminate backing material to be the base of their new lightweight products. By using fewer pieces of material to construct these pouches and rigs, Blue Force Gear can cut fifty percent or more weight off of their former designs. What this translates to is more comfort, less weight to carry and perhaps a bit longer in the field, either on a daily basis or over a career.
Found under the MOLLEminus handle, Blue Force Gear has built two chest rigs using the same ideas and thoughts on weight reduction that is found in Helium Whisper™ technology pouches. The RACKminus and SPLITminus are both made from an incredibly lightweight hydrophobic ULTRAcomp™ material that doesn’t absorb a lot of water when wet, dries quickly and doesn’t attract bacterial and fungal development. Both MOLLEminus rigs are thinner than a dime and have slots and voids cut into the ULTRAcomp™ to allow the mounting of MOLLE pouches.
Always looking for ways to get rid of items I no longer need in the field, being able to shed weight where I can and liking incredibly durable gear, I grabbed one of the SPLITminus rigs and dedicated it to my semi-auto .308 weapon systems. Running two single SR25 magazine pouches with Helium Whisper™ backing and a Helium Whisper™ Medium Horizontal Utility Pouch I find the entire set up weighs less than one of the empty magazines. Compared to what I had been using to house the same amount of real estate, the lightweight SPLITminus system has wondering if gear can get any lighter in the future? With all of this being so light is it durable? Yes, it has outperformed 1000D Cordura® during testing.
Take a look at the photo and see how the Helium Whisper™ pouches attach to the multiple columns and rows of MOLLE compatible channels. Magazine and utility pouches are easily fed through the MOLLE fields and fit with extreme precision. No more snaps either, which can be a pain to repair if they break. The Helium Whisper™ attachment system is sewn pieces of Velcro that tuck away nicely when sitting behind the backing parts of the pouch.
In all, the MOLLEminus system sheds weight where I thought weight could not be dropped. The comfort of the SPLITminus, with the padded shoulder straps, has me wearing it all day, outside of lunch, when on the range for training. This is something that I have not done of the past with other rigs.
You can find these rigs and more information here; http://www.blueforcegear.com/molleminus/