thedrifter
09-12-06, 11:08 AM
September 18, 2006
Your new jacket
Leathernecks can look forward to high-tech design
By Christian Lowe
Staff writer
BALTIMORE — Thousands of Marines deploying to Iraq next year will look a little different on the battlefield, donning a new jacket designed specifically to shed the bitter winds and sandstorm rains that make the cold-weather months there miserable.
The new “combat desert jacket” combines cutting-edge materials and design to give Marines a more comfortable outer garment that keeps them cool where it counts and warm where needed, but still stands up to the pounding your typical grunt can dish out.
“The focus of the industry right now is getting that moisture to wick away from you as much as you can as well as maintaining some of that core heat so you can keep warm,” said Bill Schorr, military product manager for 180s LLC, the company that designed the new jacket.
“All the materials are highly abrasion resistant,” the former Marine infantry officer and gear developer with Marine Corps Systems Command added in a Sept. 7 interview. “We know these guys beat stuff up pretty good.”
The introduction of the combat desert jacket throughout the Corps is another in a series of modern garments issued since the pixellated combat utility uniform changed the look of the Corps in 2002 and introduced technical features not found on previous garb. The fielding also recognizes the impact that modern materials and extreme sports have had on the comfort and durability of technical clothing that has recently been adapted for military use.
The new combat desert jacket can be worn in place of the standard cammie blouse when field conditions warrant. It does not replace the hooded Gore-Tex rain parka or the fleece jacket. Rather, it’s a new piece of gear for your sea bag.
“The combat desert jacket is … intended to provide multi-season environmental protection in desert environments,” officials with SysCom, based at Quantico, Va., said in a Sept. 6 written statement. “Having minimal impact on the combat load, the CDJ will provide protection against wind, blowing sand and light rain [and] snow.”
SysCom declined to make an expert on the combat desert jacket available for an interview, instead e-mailing a short statement.
Input from Marines
In 2004, SysCom issued a request for a combat desert jacket to industry that asked companies to provide their best design and material solution for a garment with general performance characteristics instead of making manufacturers adhere to specific criteria. About 20 companies submitted ideas, including leading outdoor gear makers such as Patagonia, Outdoor Research, Arc’teryx and Propper — the manufacturer of the improved load-bearing equipment backpack.
In the fall of 2005, SysCom picked four finalists and asked them to make 200 samples of each design to be tested. Over the next several months, infantry, artillery and logistics Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Camp Pendleton, Twentynine Palms and Bridgeport, Calif., evaluated the contenders, wearing them during training exercises and on day-to-day operations.
In May, 180s was selected for the contract to manufacture up to 205,000 combat desert jackets through 2007. The first 60,000 will be delivered in December under an initial $8 million contract, although it’s unclear if those will go to Iraq. The company has previously designed base-layer garments, such as T-shirts and underwear, for the Corps.
“Critical to the process was that we had the right input and the right information about how it was going to be used,” said 180s’ sales and marketing chief, Craig Hazenfield.
Packed with features
Spun off from the Corps’ mountain cold-weather gear program nearly three years ago, the new jacket includes materials that work well in all but the most sweltering conditions — a true three-season jacket.
Heat generated from lugging heavy loads of body armor and ammo is allowed to escape through panels of thin, stretchy material that run down the jacket’s side and under the arms.
The shoulders are reinforced with water-resistant Gore-Tex fabric to keep shoulders from chafing, while another panel of the same Gore-Tex fabric in the lower back protects against water seepage below the line of a Marine’s body armor.
The jacket’s chest and back panels are made of another Gore-made material called Freedom Plus, which combines the softness of fleece with the toughness of standard Gore-Tex. Designers figured the chest would be covered with body armor anyway, so water resistance wasn’t the main goal.
The arms are made out of a Polartec fabric called Power Shield and are lined with a light, grid-pattern fleece.
Temperature management is the key to the jacket’s design, company officials said.
“Regulating core body temperature allows you to enhance your performance,” Hazenfield said. “That’s really our whole philosophy.”
Marines will also get a kick out of the “monkey paw” cuffs that give the wearer added hand protection and a neck gaiter that rolls into the jacket’s collar. The jacket is impregnated with X-Static, an anti-microbial silver fiber that’ll protect your rack mate from the stench of a week-long hump.
“This is a garment used day in and day out … you’re not showering for days, [so] how do you help that person control odor and be as sanitary as possible in the garment?” Hazenfield said.
The jacket isn’t a replacement for the Corps’ All Purpose Environmental Clothing System rainwear, and it’s not going to be right for all conditions, designers say. But for most environments where it’s windy, cold, sandy and damp — as it usually is in Iraq from late fall to the spring — the combat desert jacket is for you.
Just throw on your base layer, a thin fleece shirt and the new combat desert jacket and you’re ready to go, Schorr said.
“This fills a niche that the Marine Corps has never had before,” Schorr added. “It’s not a strictly hard shell with a [waterproof] laminate like a Gore-Tex. … This is much different.”
Fielding plan
I Marine Expeditionary Force: 43,228
II Marine Expeditionary Force: 43,229
III Marine Expeditionary Force: 10,000
Marine Forces Reserve: 39,641
Combat desert jacket cost: $137.06
Ellie
Your new jacket
Leathernecks can look forward to high-tech design
By Christian Lowe
Staff writer
BALTIMORE — Thousands of Marines deploying to Iraq next year will look a little different on the battlefield, donning a new jacket designed specifically to shed the bitter winds and sandstorm rains that make the cold-weather months there miserable.
The new “combat desert jacket” combines cutting-edge materials and design to give Marines a more comfortable outer garment that keeps them cool where it counts and warm where needed, but still stands up to the pounding your typical grunt can dish out.
“The focus of the industry right now is getting that moisture to wick away from you as much as you can as well as maintaining some of that core heat so you can keep warm,” said Bill Schorr, military product manager for 180s LLC, the company that designed the new jacket.
“All the materials are highly abrasion resistant,” the former Marine infantry officer and gear developer with Marine Corps Systems Command added in a Sept. 7 interview. “We know these guys beat stuff up pretty good.”
The introduction of the combat desert jacket throughout the Corps is another in a series of modern garments issued since the pixellated combat utility uniform changed the look of the Corps in 2002 and introduced technical features not found on previous garb. The fielding also recognizes the impact that modern materials and extreme sports have had on the comfort and durability of technical clothing that has recently been adapted for military use.
The new combat desert jacket can be worn in place of the standard cammie blouse when field conditions warrant. It does not replace the hooded Gore-Tex rain parka or the fleece jacket. Rather, it’s a new piece of gear for your sea bag.
“The combat desert jacket is … intended to provide multi-season environmental protection in desert environments,” officials with SysCom, based at Quantico, Va., said in a Sept. 6 written statement. “Having minimal impact on the combat load, the CDJ will provide protection against wind, blowing sand and light rain [and] snow.”
SysCom declined to make an expert on the combat desert jacket available for an interview, instead e-mailing a short statement.
Input from Marines
In 2004, SysCom issued a request for a combat desert jacket to industry that asked companies to provide their best design and material solution for a garment with general performance characteristics instead of making manufacturers adhere to specific criteria. About 20 companies submitted ideas, including leading outdoor gear makers such as Patagonia, Outdoor Research, Arc’teryx and Propper — the manufacturer of the improved load-bearing equipment backpack.
In the fall of 2005, SysCom picked four finalists and asked them to make 200 samples of each design to be tested. Over the next several months, infantry, artillery and logistics Marines at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and Camp Pendleton, Twentynine Palms and Bridgeport, Calif., evaluated the contenders, wearing them during training exercises and on day-to-day operations.
In May, 180s was selected for the contract to manufacture up to 205,000 combat desert jackets through 2007. The first 60,000 will be delivered in December under an initial $8 million contract, although it’s unclear if those will go to Iraq. The company has previously designed base-layer garments, such as T-shirts and underwear, for the Corps.
“Critical to the process was that we had the right input and the right information about how it was going to be used,” said 180s’ sales and marketing chief, Craig Hazenfield.
Packed with features
Spun off from the Corps’ mountain cold-weather gear program nearly three years ago, the new jacket includes materials that work well in all but the most sweltering conditions — a true three-season jacket.
Heat generated from lugging heavy loads of body armor and ammo is allowed to escape through panels of thin, stretchy material that run down the jacket’s side and under the arms.
The shoulders are reinforced with water-resistant Gore-Tex fabric to keep shoulders from chafing, while another panel of the same Gore-Tex fabric in the lower back protects against water seepage below the line of a Marine’s body armor.
The jacket’s chest and back panels are made of another Gore-made material called Freedom Plus, which combines the softness of fleece with the toughness of standard Gore-Tex. Designers figured the chest would be covered with body armor anyway, so water resistance wasn’t the main goal.
The arms are made out of a Polartec fabric called Power Shield and are lined with a light, grid-pattern fleece.
Temperature management is the key to the jacket’s design, company officials said.
“Regulating core body temperature allows you to enhance your performance,” Hazenfield said. “That’s really our whole philosophy.”
Marines will also get a kick out of the “monkey paw” cuffs that give the wearer added hand protection and a neck gaiter that rolls into the jacket’s collar. The jacket is impregnated with X-Static, an anti-microbial silver fiber that’ll protect your rack mate from the stench of a week-long hump.
“This is a garment used day in and day out … you’re not showering for days, [so] how do you help that person control odor and be as sanitary as possible in the garment?” Hazenfield said.
The jacket isn’t a replacement for the Corps’ All Purpose Environmental Clothing System rainwear, and it’s not going to be right for all conditions, designers say. But for most environments where it’s windy, cold, sandy and damp — as it usually is in Iraq from late fall to the spring — the combat desert jacket is for you.
Just throw on your base layer, a thin fleece shirt and the new combat desert jacket and you’re ready to go, Schorr said.
“This fills a niche that the Marine Corps has never had before,” Schorr added. “It’s not a strictly hard shell with a [waterproof] laminate like a Gore-Tex. … This is much different.”
Fielding plan
I Marine Expeditionary Force: 43,228
II Marine Expeditionary Force: 43,229
III Marine Expeditionary Force: 10,000
Marine Forces Reserve: 39,641
Combat desert jacket cost: $137.06
Ellie