Foam Dart Integrated Load Bearing System (FD-ILBS)

Image (c) Blastersmiths UK, kindly retouched by Marcus Hoare

This is a complete version of our new, modular modular Foam Dart Integrated Load Bearing System (FD-ILBS) or Phyllis for short.

It is designed as a multi-part system formed of two components and both have plenty of MOLLE space for pouches, panels and the like. This represents a shift in our thinking for tactical vests and rigs. We're looking to lower the barrier to entry to a modular system by breaking it up and allowing people to invest in stages rather than in a large chunk at once.

Essentially, we have 2 large components of the system and we can work through them in turn. The Molle Cuirass in navy blue at the top of the photo and the Battle Belt at the bottom of first photo. These are 2 distinct line items available to purchase separately but they are designed to work together as a single unified vest piece.

MkI Battle Belt - Half of our new FD-ILBS system that includes integrated magazine storage

Battle Belt Reverse

I'll start from the bottom up. At the bottom you have the MkI Battle Belt, a 30" wide piece of Cordura and mesh covered with plenty of MOLLE webbing. This allows ready attachment of dozens of accessories and ready expansion of your rig. Uniquely for our torso equipment, it contains integrated magazine holders. This is a battle ready piece of equipment straight off the shelf. Adding this to your load out not only offers immediate additional pouch and accessory attachment but also magazine space. The one size fits most design is secured at the back using the ladder loc system inhereited from the MkVI tactical chest rig. Off the shelf, it will fit a waist size up to 48" but we can expand that if necessary upon request (just email us when ordering and we'll sort something out). It is secured at the front using side release buckles for ready access, you can quickly don and doff.

The Battle Belt is available from our website (link in the description) in a range of colours and camouflage patterns on a 2 week lead time.

MkI MOLLE Cuirass

For your chest, there is the MkI MOLLE Cuirass. We designed this because people moan about vests being too restrictive. Covering the kidneys warms you up, restricts movement and is a common gripe for many a player. By leaving the abdomen exposed, we sought to fix these issues. Sitting just on your rib line, this vest is designed to be out of the way while providing all the MOLLE space that you would expect from a vest. Even though it is designed bespoke to your measurements, this rig has plenty of adjust-ability to maximise comfort. The ladderlocs securing the under-arm panels to the back plate are inspirited by the South African pattern assault vest so common here in the United Kingdom and they allow for shaping the cuirass to a number of different body shapes. A unisex design is often overlooked in this hobby so we thought we'd accommodate the many female players we encounter at LARP systems across the UK and beyond. As with the battle belt, side release buckles form clasps over the front of the rig for quick doffing and donning. The vest is built from our usual durable Cordura and is lined with mesh for maximum comfort and breath-ability.

These two pieces link using a set of Velcro links to secure through loops present on each piece (pictured right). This locks the two together into an integrated system that is as flexible as any modular system you could ask for. Available in a range of colours and camouflage patterns, we make everything to order in house so if you've a specific requirement, please don't hesitate to get in touch.


Both of these items can be purchased through our website or as a complete system from 30th May 2014. If there are any questions, please drop them in the comments. There was an intention to get a video demonstration of this one but we ran out of time before launch as other, even more exciting items pushed their way through the development pipeline. We will endeavour to get one in short order but for now, rest easy with the photos. :D

Links:
MkI Battle Belt at £25 inc VAT at 20%
MkI MOLLE Cuirass at £35 inc VAT at 20%

-Mike Harratt
Blastersmiths UK

Stryfe Battery Tray Expanders

I hate cutting, drilling and sanding because it gums up the printers, the sewing machines, leaves the minions sputtering and is generally a faff. To that end, a lot of what we do within the company is aimed at reducing the tooling burden a number of mods require. We're currently working on making Rapidpistols relatively painless (once you get past the band saw stage) using the 3D printer and a while back we released a battery tray expander for the Stryfe so we didn't have to dremel the interior of the blaster and create lots of dust that would cause problems in our workshop.

Problem solved. By printing one of these and removing the orange battery braces in the stock Stryfe tray, we're able to wire in a Deans connector and have lots of fun with Litihum Polymer batteries.

The battery in question is a 2S 1000mAh 20C Lithium Polymer battery pack from Hobby King. We elected to swap the stock XT60 connector for a Deans connector because of spacing constraints but that turned out to be unnecessary. There is plenty of internal room once this tray cover is placed.

It comes complete with a matching screw because the stock one was a little too short for our purposes. Granted, it does make the lopsided-ness of the Stryfe worse but it's a worthwhile compromise if you can't be bothered with drilling and cutting all over the place.

These are available on our website for £5 in a variety of colours. Lettering and logos can also be discussed if you contact us via email.

Out with the old, in with the new!

Small zip dump pouches. Originally, their design brief was somewhere to store your keys and such when you're in a fight. We didn't intend them to be quick grab pouches for darts and such, there was a different product in the pipeline for that. However, for one reason or another people prefer the size and shape of the current SZDP and so we converted it fill that niche.

We've had a fair bit of feedback about it and we've made some revisions regards that. The chief change has been the zip. We've moved from the small 15cm closed end zips to full 30cm closed end heavy duty zips which are more durable and now wrap around the edges of the article to allow for a larger opening, easier access. They do come with the slight draw back of not being as weatherproof by virtue of that large aperture.

Prototype of the new format - the fraying in the nylon is perfectly normal and is simply cosmetic

These pouches are the same size as their predecessors and hold a goodly number of darts or 6 dart magazines.

These changes take immediate effect and will cover all orders that have not been dispatched to date.

We are constantly working to improve our product portfolio here at Blastersmiths UK and there are a number of other changes on the way to existing products. Sometimes, they can be as small as this or they can be a complete overhaul of a product like our transition from the MkII/MkIII to the single MkIV. Until something is close to perfect, we won't stop tweaking it.

Next up, large zip dump pouches. :)

Lightweight Shoulder Rig

We usually make these in black and it's a pain to photograph them on actual people because actual people have arms. Annoyingly, it's frowned upon under British law to remove someone's arm for the purposes of taking a photo (or at all, apparently). When a customer recently ordered a Lightweight Shoulder Rig in Multicam, we took the opportunity to take some photos using our fourth employee: Jamie.

Jamie is our multi-use tailors dummy that we use to demonstrate our wares at shows and events. With a 38" chest, he (or she sometimes) also makes a brilliant fitting dummy for our average clientèle. Built from polystyrene covered with black polyester, it's a bit of a pain to see how our stuff works. However, with Multicam, with the different shaded buckles and straps, it's very easy to see how the rig fits together. This particular edition had a pistol holder for right hand draw and a MOLLE panel for holding either a small zip dump pouch or, in this case, an 1812 magazine holder for extra magazine storage (not shown).

The belt loops secure the hard points to your belt using a simple Velcro system. Older models have a Side Release Buckle there but there was too much stand off from the belt and that caused problems in smaller people. Each hard point is connected to the shoulder strap with a simple side release buckle. In future, we plan to sell hard points separately for the ultimate customisable rig.

The rig over all is as lightweight as it suggests. It is designed to explicitly stay out of the way of most motions when you're moving and playing. By being as low profile as possible, it makes for an excellent addition to any other belt system you might have as there is sufficient stand off to allow you to use use current accessories. It also has the added bonus of introducing people to the MOLLE system which is a fantastically flexible system that everyone in the world ever should be using.

Lightweight Shoulder Rigs can be bought from our online store in black for £28 inc UK VAT. Custom colours and fabrics can be commissioned upon request. The Multicam version demonstrated here would cost you nearer £55 inc VAT as it is a speciality item and we can't order the fittings in such bulk as perhaps we would otherwise to bring costs down. If you're interested in a system that isn't in black fabric, drop us an email and we'll get you an invoice sorted out. There is a chance that we'll start stocking them as a listed item in the future but until then, email is the way to go.

NOTE: The authors would like to apologise for the pug ugly Retaliator sitting in the holster in these photos. All of the pretty blasters are out of the office at the moment so we had to make do with that hybrid abomination. :/