From George Zimmerman's attorneys: "This is a photo of George Zimmerman taken by a police officer on the night of February 26, 2012. A black and white photocopy of this image was provided by the State in the first Discovery. This high-resolution digital file was finally provided to the defense on October 29, 2012. This image was disclosed in the State's 9th Supplemental Discovery."
Comparison of photos from BuzzFeed.
CHAMP (Stands for "Counter-electronics High power microwave Advanced Missile Project."
"Meet Jason Whitlock, rocket scientist extraordinaire. One can only speculate if he was researching his latest article in this photo, 'covering sports from every angle' as it says in his bio at FoxSports." -- Photo and caption from GunsSaveLife.com.
I've resisted spending any time reacting to the Whitlock-Costas Affair, being too busy with Absolved and not sure that I could say anything that hasn't already been said. The post at GunsSaveLife.com is particularly skewering.
That said, I'm going to finish up with today's posts and then back to Absolved.
The Modular Integrated Communications Helmet (MICH) compared to PASGT helmet outline. The newer Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) is derived from the MICH and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
Yesterday, in my Kevlar Helmet Update, I mentioned that "Tire Iron's" post on the Poor Man's MICH, originally posted on AWRM, was no longer available. I asked if some reader could forward it to me and here it is, below, courtesy of CFB. A deep genuflection and a tip of the boonie hat to him.
Poor Man's MICH by "Tire Iron"The USGI Kevlar helmet (PASGT – Personal Armor System Ground Troops – don’t you just love military acronyms?) is better protective headgear than the ‘ole M1 steel helmet of WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, and countless other actions.It provides superior ballistic protection as a result of being made from Kevlar instead of thin gauge steel. I remember as a young boy, playing ‘war’ almost daily, wearing a M1 steel helmet. I ‘thought’ that this helmet made the wearer invincible – and that it could repel projectiles like tennis balls off a concrete wall. When I was a mid-teenager, I took a M1 helmet out in the hills with me to check it with ‘real’ bullets. I shot it with a .22 long rifle cartridge (fired from a Ruger 10/22) at a distance of 50 yards. To my utter horror and surprise – the bullet penetrated the helmet, leaving a jagged hole where used to be pristine steel. This started my curiosity of helmets, their design, and their performance in the ‘real’ world.My first encounter with the USGI ‘Fritz’ (or K-pot) was in 1983 at USMC boot camp. When I had a few spare moments (which were MIGHTY few) I started to evaluate this helmet against the helmet of my boyhood (M1 steel helmet). I could see that there were some definite improvements in the design, but I also recognized that there were some definite ‘draw-backs’ to the design as well.For instance – the helmet limited visibility in the upper peripheral as well as the left and right side peripheral areas. In other words, by rolling the eyes up and then to each side, one could ‘see’ helmet – thus the helmet was blocking areas that could otherwise be ‘seen’ if the helmet weren’t worn. This required the user to actually turn their head to look in that direction, when without the helmet – the eyes could have just rotated in their sockets – while the head remained stationary. As we all know – movement is a target indicator – so, any ‘extra’ movement is ‘bad’.Also, the helmet does limit auditory abilities. The helmet actually covers the ear canal, thus inhibiting the wearer of being able to hear all available sound. The wearer actually has to tilt his/her head up to enable sound to come direct to the ear canal. At the same time, the other side of the head is tilted down, degrading the hearing in the opposite ear even further.And – as stated above – movement is a target indicator, making any extra movement a ‘bad’ thing.The suspension is another area where the designers ‘missed the boat’. The chin strap allows for the helmet to rotate down in front of the wearer’s face, TOTALLY blocking all vision. This is not a good thing. And while it allowed rotation forward, it also allowed rotation backward. Padding is non-existent, and the suspension is a direct – nearly unchanged – descendant of the M1 steel helmet. SURELY we have had some improvements in suspension design since the 1940’s haven’t we??It is interesting to note that when I was sent to ‘Jump School’ (or as the Army calls it ‘Airborne’ school) we were issued a rear pad and some extra strapping meant to limit that forward and rear-ward rotation. (The only time we jumped with the Fritz after jump school, was when we were jumping with the Army and the jumpmaster would not let us wear our camouflaged motorcycle helmets, or later our Pro-Tec skateboard helmets. We knowingly gave up the ballistic protection for better visibility, better hearing – the ProTec has ‘holes’ so there is nothing covering the ear canal – and more comfort.)Then – long after ‘my’ time, the MICH (Modular Integrated Communication Helmet) helmet came out. It is a better mousetrap. It handily solves the problems present in the Fritz, and a few others too.For one, the ‘suspension’ system is not really a suspension system at all, but rather some black high tech foam pads (visco-elastic, temperature and pressure sensitive padding) that are moveable/removable to suit the wearer. These pads also decrease the shock transmission dramatically – like from 220 g’s to 77 g’s. In other words, what would be a 220 ‘g-force’ transmitted to the head through the Fritz would only be a 77 ‘g-force’ transmitted to the head through the MICH padding. Recognizing that a ‘g-force’ of 200 will cause significant injury/concussion (300 ‘g-force’ causes death) – and that a ‘g-force’ below 90 represents no injure at all, puts that ‘point spread’ into perspective, doesn’t it?The padding is also water-proof, so the helmet/padding does not get ‘heavier’ from being wet. The padding, although waterproof, is air permeable, coupled with the ‘self wicking’ fabric that covers the padding draws out much of the heat/perspiration away from the scalp reducing heat build-up and ‘hot spots’ in the helmet.The padding is buoyant, so the helmet will actually float in water! Supply Sergeants will like that – but even more important – if you take a spill with this helmet on, it will actually help you float, instead of being an anchor attached to your head like the current Fritz helmet would be. The chin strap arrangement on the MICH is a ‘four point’ affair; with two attach points in the rear, and two near the front. This provides vastly superior performance compared to the two point chin strap on the Fritz, and even some of the three-point ‘upgrades’ offered by some companies. The real difference is where the ‘front’ attach points are located. The chin strap on the Fritz is located at the perfect pivot point on the helmet – and pivot points on helmets are ‘bad’. The chin strap attach point on the MICH is further forward, well past the pivot point. That is good.The MICH also is ‘cut’ different. There is full forward and side peripheral vision, i.e. when one rotates one’s eyes around, one does not see helmet! The helmet is cut higher in the ear area too, so the helmet does not cover the ear canal. This greatly improves hearing compared to the Fritz helmet!As you can probably tell by now, the MICH is a much better way to go.Here is the downside though. The price of the MICH is MUCH higher than the Fritz helmet. In fact the retail price for the MICH is approaching $500.00! That puts it out of reach for almost everyone that will not be ‘issued’ one.So – this starts the second part of the story. Being on a normal budget as I am (I am NOT Bill Gates, actually closer to Elmer Fudd) I have had this project going on in my basement that I have named the “Poor Man’s MICH helmet” – and I must admit that is has been a success in meeting my goals.My goal was to take a regular USGI Fritz helmet, and modify it to be as close to a MICH as I could make it. This modification can be done by anyone with a few tools found in most garages/basements.Here is what I did.I took the lining out of a Fritz helmet, and kept all of the hardware (but chucked the lining and chin strap). Then I drew on the helmet with a magic marker where I wanted to cut. Now the nasty part. I donned a cloth mask, and safety glasses, and ground off the places of the helmet that I wanted to remove. This did take some time, and it was dusty and stinky. And no, I will not do yours!Once I had that done, I applied some pliable epoxy (“RepairitQuick” found at my local Home Depot store) around the edges to cover the grind marks and to stop any fraying of Kevlar fibers. After that a quick dowsing with Isopropyl Alcohol to get rid of all the dust in preparation for painting. A quick coat of Wal-Mart OD paint brought it back to its original color.I purchased the padding from Brad at Lightfighter ([url= http://"http://www.lightfighter.com"]www.lightfighter.com[/url]) – and it is made by the same company that provides the padding for the MICH – so it has all the same properties. I purchased the four point chin strap direct from the company (Brad didn’t carry it at the time, but he does now!).Now I had all of my materials. The instructions that were included with the parts were very well written, and easy to follow.The result?? I now have a “Poor Man’s MICH”. When I roll my eyes, I see no helmet. My ear canals are not obstructed by Kevlar. I have the same superior suspension and chin strap as the MICH. All for A LOT less money. My “Poor Man’s MICH” costs are: $50 for the FRITZ (check e-bay); the ‘Padding’ upgrade is $88 ([url= http://"http://www.lightfighter.com"]www.lightfighter.com[/url]); the four-point chin strap is $48 ([url= http://"http://www.lightfighter.com"]www.lightfighter.com[/url]); the epoxy was $3 (Home Depot); and the paint was $2 (WalMart). This brings the project total to $191 – which is within reach for most folks/police officers/smaller police departments, cause they can buy a little at a time, instead of dropping down $542 dollars for a MICH (or even the $419 that Brad gets for them at [url= http://"http://www.lightfighter.com)"]www.lightfighter.com)[/url].So for those of you that are on a budget, and want/need the benefits of the MICH – but don’t have the dough – give this project a try!Below are two pics fo the USGI Fritz 'in action'. Note how the ear canal is completely covered and the obstructed visibility. Also note in the second picture that the wearer has actually tipped the helmet back in an attempt to get better visibility. The down side is that if it can be tipped back, it can also be tipped forward - perhaps blocking all vision.
Two views of the PASGT "Fritz" or "K-Pot" Helmet
Side view of MICH helmet. Note un-obstructed ear canal and vision, and four point chin strap.
Front view of MICH helmet. Note un-obstructed ear canal and vision.
The approximate areas I cut off my Fritz.
My Poor Man's MICH side view. Note 'clear ear canal' and un-obstructed view, plus four-point chin strap.
Front view of the Poor Man's MICH helmet.
Inside view of both helmets. MICH helmet on left, and Poor Man's MICH (or Near MICH) on right.
cheerstire iron
“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition” -- Rudyard Kipling.
I love it.
While "Fiscal Cliff" may be having its 15-minutes of fame - a la "Honey Boo Boo" or "Sneezing Panda" - there is one thing that has consistently been more and more searched in the last eight years. According to Google Trends, internet users are skipping just plain old simple "ammo" as a search query, and in a tried and true American tradition, confirm that size matters. The size of the ammo order that is, as can be confirmed by the following chart showing queries for "bulk ammo". What goes without saying, are the wavelike periodicities of the quantized jumps higher in popularity at select times over the past decade: they just happen to aggregate around a very specific event taking place each November every 4 years. At this rate by November 2016 we are going to need a bulkier chart...
The Agilte Injured Personnel Carrier weighs only three-quarters of a pound, yet it can bear 5,000 pounds and enables a rescuer to carry someone on his or her back. The unit's 12.5-foot length folds down to just 10 inches. According to the manufacturer:
"The IPC is made of high-tensile military strength webbing or seat belt material, and it folds into an accordion shape so it's small enough to throw in a camping bag . . . It has built-in padding and it's sewn together in Delaware by the same people who make the harnesses for the US Air Force's V22 and C5 Aircraft."
IPC folded for stowage.
Video link.
Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH)
MICH The Comfortable Life Saver
The U.S. Army has ordered another 60,000 MICH (Modular Integrated Communications Helmet) helmets. Formerly called the Gallet, after the designer, and now known as the FAST ballistic helmet, the manufacturer has long been known for designing helmets for fire, police, and rescue personnel. When first issued to troops eight years ago the MICH was 14 percent lighter (at 1.36 kg/3 pounds) and more comfortable than the 1980s era PASGT. MICH was most appreciated because it can be worn for long periods without becoming uncomfortable. The latest models are even more comfortable, with an improved interior that also offers more protection against bumps and explosions. . .Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH)Inspired by the success of MICH, a version of the helmet was renamed ACH (Advanced Combat Helmet) and ordered in large quantities. Last year an improved version, ECH (Enhanced Combat Helmet) showed up. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps found that their new ECH was even more bullet proof than expected. While testing the ECH it was discovered that the machine firing metal fragments at the ECH (to represent shell and bomb fragments) could not fire fragments fast enough to penetrate. The ECH was supposed to be invulnerable to pistol bullets, and it was, but some types of metal fragments were expected to still be dangerous. So ECH was tested to see how well it could resist high-powered rifle bullets. ECH was not 100 percent invulnerable but in most cases it would stop anything fired from a sniper rifle. Overall, it was calculated that the ECH was 40 percent more resistant to projectiles and 70 percent stronger than the previous ACH helmet.The ECH made use of a new thermoplastic material (UHMWP or Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene), which is also used in the current FAST helmet. UHMWP is lighter and stronger than the Kevlar used in the ACH and earlier PASGT and, it turned out, provided much better protection as well. The ECH began replacing the ACH last year, with 200,000 to be purchased. The ECH costs $600 each, twice as much as the ACH. But for troops under fire, the additional cost is well worth it.
PASGT Helmet, aka "K-Pot," "Kraut Helmet," etc.
I have previously posted on this subject in a Helmet Tutorial in 2009.
Lots of K-Pots are out there on the legal surplus market, few ACHs and NO ECHs. The Army's CID is very careful these days to track down missing state-of-the-art gear, especially electronic sights, night vision, ESAPI plates and ECHs. There are also federal police trolls out there who go from shop to shop, trying to entrap folks into buying such gear. Caveat emptor.
Oregon Aero PASGT-to-MICH conversion pads.
That said, the available K-Pots can be cut down to MICH pattern with a Dremel tool and made more comfortable. They can also be upgraded with a new suspension system from Oregon Aero. The up-grade kits are not cheap, however, and militia poster "Tire Iron's" tutorial on the K-Pot to MICH downsizing by Dremel seems to have disappeared from the Net. (If anyone has one stored electronically, or has Tire Iron's email address, please forward it.)
Oregon Aero PASGT-to-MICH conversion with pads and chinstrap.
"Mitt Romney? A LEADER of the GOP? That's the best laugh I've had since 1919."
The Associated Press sez: "Mitt Romney's loss creates GOP leadership vacuum."
This sock-puppet was forced upon the party by the real GOP leadership who were frightened of the prospect of a Tea Party-backed candidate. They got, in return, exactly what they did with Bob Dole and John McCain and what they deserved with Dubya in 2000. But don't try to sell me on the notion that Romney was some sort of principled political LEADER. He was an opportunist who had his head handed to him by an opponent who should have been easily beaten. So much for Karl Rove and his gang's reputed "political savvy."
"Hero instructor fought son in Wyoming college bow-and-arrow murder-suicide, police say."
Arnold's body was found in the gutter of her street, and evidence suggested much of the attack occurred outside the home, Walsh said.Neighbor Heather Meier said she came home from work Friday afternoon after picking up her 7-year-old daughter from school, and the two saw Arnold's body still lying in the street."As soon as we got home, we just shut the curtains," she said Saturday. "You know, tried to just watch some TV, have some snacks, mind our own business."
I'm going to give this woman the benefit of the doubt and believe that the cops had already arrived, once again too late to affect the outcome of a criminal attack.
"While stationed with the Navy SEALs, Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Lee Tappen wanted an easy way to fly home to the West Coast to see his wife. The plan he devised now could land him in prison. Tappen, 35, admitted in federal court Wednesday that he built a plane, on the government's dime, out of parts he ordered through his job. He pleaded guilty to filing a false claim and faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced April 1."
This is a cautionary tale that reflects how easy it is for a soldier, sailor or marine to throw away a promising career by diverting government assets as well as a reflection of how the Black Ops community spends and accounts (or, rather, fails to account for) the large amounts of materiel that have come their way in the last decade or so. The waste is said to be incredible and it is little wonder that this schmuck, watching that process every day, thought he could get away with his kit-plane project.
A reader direcxts my attention to this deal: "New C Products 30rd .223/5.56 curved Aluminum Lightweight magazine for AR15/M16 type Rifles. Feature Chrome Silicon Springs, Black Teflon coated Finish, and C-Products Orange or Black anti-tilt follower." Buy 10 or more at $8.50 each from AIM Surplus.
He notes: "I ordered a dozen for myself and the shipping was less than $11. Not a bad deal." I have dealt with AIM in the past and found them to be excellent on quality and service.
The FBI doing "what's good for the collective," 19 April 1993.
More from the collectivist Borg.
[Mauser] blames the American attachment to guns on ignorance, and on immaturity. . . . “We’re still at the stage of rebellious teenager, and we don’t like it when the government tells us what to do. People don’t trust government to do what’s right. They are very attracted to the idea of a nation of individuals, so they don’t think about what’s good for the collective.”
You're right Mauser, I don't trust the government "to do what's right." For that I have a century of evidence backing up my opinion. What did the cops do for your son, Mauser, on that bloody day? Why they surrounded the school and set up a perimeter-- and waited "for safety." A Three Percenter would have pushed forward to the sound of the guns killing the kids. You're perfectly within your rights to draw the wrong conclusion from your son's death, just don't try to force it down my throat contrary to my own life's experiences. Trust the government? You've GOT to be a hive insect to do that.
