STRIKE-HOLD - the international military and tactical blog

Direct Action Gear USA expands product offering

Direct Action’s expanded line of advanced tactical nylon gear was debuted in the US at SOFIC in late May – now these made-in-Poland products are in-stock and available for purchase through the Direct Action Gear USA webstore. The line-up includes their flagship SPITFIRE™ Plate Carrier, HURRICANE™, TEMPEST™ and TIGER MOTH™...

The Capture of Aqaba

On 6 July 1917 Lawrence of Arabia captured the port town of Aqaba in perhaps one of the greatest coups of the First World War.  He had left the Arab camp at Wejh on 9 May, embarking on an epic expedition across some of the worst desert terrain in Arabia....

Helikon-Tex joins as a Sponsor of Lights, Sights, Lasers US Tour

Khyber Interactive Associates, a world-class emergency response training, research, consulting company and developer of the annual Lights, Sights, Lasers US Tour, announced that Helikon-Tex® – a leading International innovator in tactical apparel and gear for law enforcement, security and military forces worldwide – has come aboard as a platinum sponsor...

What does ‘AR’ stand for?

The term ‘assault rifle’ has been a politically loaded term right from the start – as the origins of the German military designation “Sturmgewehr” (assault rifle) shows. Although its commonly repeated that the term was made up by Hitler, Peter G. Kokalis actually did thorough first-hand, primary research into it...

The ‘Bat Hawk’ surveillance and conservation light sport aircraft

Following the news that Botswana has taken delivery of 14 of these aircraft to be deployed on air-borne anti-poaching patrols above four major game reserves in the country, we decided to take a closer look at this little plane with the cool name. The ‘Bat Hawk’ is type-classified as a ...

UF PRO® introduces Gen.2 STRIKER XT BDU

After two years of gathering extensive feedback from field usage all over the world, plus lots of additional hours invested in perfecting even the smallest details – UF PRO® now introduces the new Gen.2 version of their Striker XT BDU system. Since its introduction in 2014, the first generation of...

The Science Behind the Soldier: ‘Grunt’ by Mary Roach

Hot on the heels of our last article about Natick Labs came this online article from ‘The National Geographic’ about a new book by renowned author Mary Roach: Mary Roach, a self-confessed “goober with a flashlight,” has created a niche for books with one-word titles—Gulp (on the digestive system); Bonk...

The Science Behind the Soldier: Natick Labs

Located in Natick, Massachusetts, and officially known as the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC), the installation is often referred to by its common nickname of ‘Natick Labs’. Whatever you call it though, there’s no doubt that these folks do some very important work – even...