pmcimagazine.com
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their outstanding clothing; new IR technologies will be part of
the company’s products going forward . UF PRO keep adding
new technologies and tweaking their designs, and their latest
iteration of the “Striker” series is simply superb.
Staying firmly in Eastern Europe Helikon-Tex are always
on my “must see” list at IWA, and in the last couple of years
they have really been making some headway, not only in
a “re-branding” in terms of their product categories, but
in the uniqueness of their designs; they’ve also shown a
massive step up in their quality control which in my mind is
placing them high in the “tactical rankings”. This year saw
them adding new colourways to existing lines, whilst at the
same time adding some neat extras throughout each of their
categories like the Summit ruc and the Pilgrim Anorak; as
always I look forward to working closely with them during
the rest of this coming year as the new products roll out.
Claw Gear are another manufacturer that I love to visit,
as once again they do tend to think “out of the box” when
it comes to putting together their gear. Their “Enforcer and
Defiant Flex” pants looks to be a bit of a winner, and the
“Blue Denim Tactical Flex Jeans” are right on the money when
it comes to “tactical trends”. They’ve also been working on
extending their range of products for the Steyr AUG which
may seem odd for what is basically a clothing company, but
when you consider they are Austrian it all makes perfect
sense!
Leo Koehler have been around for a while and are very
well respected by “those who know” for their quality; whilst
they’re not going to set the world on fire with new and
exciting designs (they already have some crackers anyway!)
they do always have a stunning stand when it comes to the
sheer number and variety of camo patterns that they use,
adding this year CONCAMO which I’ll look at in more depth at
a later date.
Once again Pentagon were pushing on with their
“Tactical Athlete” concept, and they are a brand that as an
outdoorsman I’ve come to appreciate more and more! Whilst
their designs are not quite as “overt” as some, they do make
a superb finished product, and their VORRAS tactical climbing
pants, and ROGUE tactical jeans (yes, more jeans!) certainly
took my eye. Speaking to them at length they have some
great plans for 2018/19 and I’ll be updating on these as soon
as is feasible.
Our friends at First Tactical were really rocking it up a
storm this year, and even twelve months down the line from
their first show they are really making their presence felt and
obviously bringing in new customers! Dan, the founder, must
be well pleased with how things have moved on for them,
and having their head designer, Corey, present meant that we
got to hear all the latest from them, and it looks as if there’s
going to be a major shake-up of their line later this year, so
watch this space!
No trip to a show would be complete without seeing old
campaigners 5:11, and although I’ve not been “wowed” with
any of their designs for a little while it is good to see them
firing all cylinders again. Not only had they upgraded their
clothing and footwear line, but they were also showing their
own new camo pattern, “GEO 7”. This new camo pattern
was allegedly developed in conjunction with Veil Camo and
is going to be offered in two different styles. The “GEO 7
Terrain” is more earth-based with natural tones while the
“GEO 7 Night” is darker in tones. This looks very interesting
indeed and I look forward to finding out more!