The Loadout Room
Professional Gear Reviews
We live in a techno-centric age. Everything is at our fingertips. We have cell phones that can navigate our roads from point A-to-point B. Our phones also have GPS grid coordinates at the quick typing of an app, that can pinpoint your exact location. But what happens in the event of an emergency and you […]
It can be said that the need to band together in groups is intrinsic to what makes us human beings. Long before the dawn of civilization, humans gathered together in like-minded groups in order to offer one another protection, defend resources, and share the mental and physical challenges of survival. Forming a cooperative group, or […]
Operator – someone who operates. In the civilian world, that could be someone operating an excavator, a wheeled tractor, and other similar heavy equipment. Historically, the term applied to people who worked in the old-school telephone centers and operated the manual telephone switchboards that were necessary in order from someone to call another number. In […]
A survival knife is a tool and not a fashion statement, but for any guys out there that have been in a survival situation or a school environment as in a training course, you’d know that. So it becomes a case of practicality over all else. While I’m admittedly no expert on knives, I know […]
One of the indirect benefits of being a Special Operations Forces (SOF) unit member is getting the chance to attend a series of interesting schools. Such schools aim at improving the participants’ craft, whether he’s a shooter or an enabler (support guy). Each component command has a number of schools tailored to the needs of […]
About six months ago in our SFAS training tips, we hit the trails with our rucksack and were hitting the hills as they present issues that as a Selection candidate that you will encounter in the various courses that the services will offer. With the rain, we had in the area as the remnants of […]
A U.S. Sailor leads a hose team during a general quarters drill aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey (DDG 105), July 14, 2018, in the pacific Ocean. Dewey is underway participating in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. Twenty-five nations, 46 ships, five submarines, about 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC […]
In our Selection preparation, we always stress the importance of Rucking and the value that all of the services put on it in the Special Operations community. The services will all stress the 45-pound minimum in training and one of the frequent questions we get is why train with 45-pounds when in reality the amount […]
On June 12, Marines from across the Marine Corps’ special operations units gathered in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, to participate in the 2019 Marine Raider Competition. Six teams, each comprised of six spec ops Marines, competed for the glory of being awarded the title of best Marine Raider. The six teams hailed from the 1st […]
South Florida Urban Search and Rescue, Florida Task Force 2, out of Miami, Fla., conduct reconnaissance missions in Bucksport, South Carolina, Sept. 25, 2018, by GPS marking neighborhoods to identify areas and properties that are flooded, as a result of rising waters in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. These reconnaissance missions are critical for first […]