The Loadout Room
Professional Gear Reviews
That’s right – SOFREP is back. What began in 2012 as a small military blog quickly grew into a leading source for all-things related to Special Operations Forces (SOF), Foreign Policy, and Defense news. In 2018, our editorial team saw an opportunity to expand beyond our SOF focus, so the decision was made to broaden […]
Back in May around Memorial Day, we listed some of our favorite War Films that are guaranteed to entertain and keep your interest. We could have easily added a couple of more as the genre always has some worthy additions by Hollywood’s filmmakers. This year’s blockbuster “Dunkirk” could easily make its way into that list. But today’s […]
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 […]
When putting together a disaster plan, it’s important to prioritize human needs in the way that you prepare. To put together a solid short-term survival plan, you need only to address the most basic of human necessities: water, shelter, food, and security, but as short-term survival transitions into “well I guess this is what’s left of the […]
In any prolonged survival situation involving a vehicle, the most important things to look for aren’t speed or even ground clearance — the first things you should consider are reliability and ease of repair and maintenance. After all, even the most badass of vehicles tend to lose their appeal when you can’t change a flat or find a replacement […]
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 […]
Pistol sights are an interesting topic, they come in all shapes, sizes, and preferentially vary between individual needs or desires. Of course, there are a large selection of brands to choose from as well but that’s not really what I care about, if they work as intended then who really cares? What’s your gun being […]
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 […]
From the earliest days of mankind, one of the few things that separated our particular breed of big-brained monkey from the rest of the competition in the wild was our ability to harness light, in the form of fire. Fire, of course, was paramount to our success as a species for a number of other […]
Editor’s note: This review was written by Steve Balestrieri, a former Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer that now serves as the Editor of SpecialOperations.com I always balk at when someone I know writes something and I’m asked to give an opinion on it. As my circle of friends has grown smaller, I have erred […]