After seeing the ‘thats what I’m talking about! blowing shit up’ camelbak vid chipps did, I was wondering how much of their trade is to the military?

Standard issue for British troop which must be 10s of thousands of units a year. I assume it’s the same with the US. That salesman must have got a good bonus.

Yeap – standard issue in the ‘states. They develop products to work with US ‘technical’ body armour/webbing systems.

Considering the US Marine Corps (before even getting to the air force, navy or army) is bigger than the entire British Army, that’s a lot of custom.

http://www.camelbak.com/Military-Tactical/

I’d put it that most of their leisure technology is a spin off from their military developments. Since about 2003 they have really been into the military market and the military has really been into hot dry places!

Frightning that the US marine corps is just over 200,000 and is the smallest of the armed forces in the US.

…. another bit of useless information i can add, is that the U.S. Special forces have more vehicles than the entire British armed forces.
Kinda makes you realize the bluff behind the bullshit when Cameron pretends to flex Britains military might.

You do forget that, despite having a smaller force on paper, our British resolve and stiff upper lip is a serious force-multiplier.

So, ‘right on’ cyclists should not buy camelbak products. Any other bicycle related companies creaming it off of war?

You do forget that, despite having a smaller force on paper, our British resolve and stiff upper lip is a serious force-multiplier.

Exactly, the abilty to sit back and enjoy a nice cup of tea and consider our options, while eveyone else runs around like headless chickens has made us the global force we are today.

Oakley supply the US military in goggle,gloves and boots so don’t buy off them either tang if your worried.

UK special forces wear M&S underpants too.

Never thought about it before, but why don’t armies use mountain bikes (with cannons attached) to get around mountainous areas?

Can’t see any downsides, other than having to carry a big lock and a lot of cake.

I have 3 issued Camelbaks in various shades of sun bleached desert cam. The issued ones we get are the 3l Thermobak, which is just the bladder in a cover with shoulder straps. Lots of blokes also buy their own daysack sized ones – I’m using a multicam Motherlode out here.

thebunk – Member
Never thought about it before, but why don’t armies use mountain bikes (with cannons attached) to get around mountainous areas?

Can’t see any downsides, other than having to carry a big lock and a lot of cake.

That is genius, apart from the cake issue! Perhaps Orange (or someone) could fabricate them an off-road trailer with a tea urn & somewhere bulletproof to safely store some Malt Loaf?

I don’t know if there’s a moral issue here. I mean if Camelbak weren’t supplying them then someone else would be.

I have 3 issued Camelbaks in various shades of sun bleached desert cam

Different shades for different kids of desert? (serious question)

Slightly related – Easton are using spin off tech from composite armour for their new wheels to make them tougher.

Military surplus is a great way to buy tough and light clothing from goretex etc as long as you don’t mind cammo. Need to get some myself.

Altberg boots, IWC watches, Land rovers, Avon (rubber boats), Maglite torches, Silva compasses, Ordnance survey maps, snugpak, Hi-Tec trainers etc etc.

UK special forces wear M&S underpants too.

I wondered why there was a queue of squaddies at the returns desk asking for a different colourway last time I was in my local store.

I’ve had a couple of the military issue camelbaks (ie, transformer and mule) over the years, as I’d seen them in the states, and to be honest, I thought they were a lot better made than the civvy ones – better fabric, better sewing, better bladders.

The military (grey) bladders were already being produced in antibacterial plastic, with plug and play replaceable valves and internal baffles about, ooh, five years ago – well ahead of the civvy ones, thats for sure.

Special Forces always makes me think of Special Needs, and how droll and lighthearted it would be if the two were confused in some important military action. There is a very tasteless film to be made there.

On a Camelbak-related subject …. just bought a new bladder (is that what they’re called ?) and didn’t have time to thoroughly rinse, disinfect it before using it, and I got the idea (obsession?) that it was making me sick, or maybe just the water tasted bad.

Me being paranoid, or should you spend time “preparing” a new CamelBak? Never had a problem before. This was a new fangled one that supposedly had some sort of anti-bacterial gubbins on.

hels – I believe the title you’re looking for is ‘Speshul Forces’ 😆

I don’t know if there’s a moral issue here. I mean if Camelbak weren’t supplying them then someone else would be.

The moral issue is not resolved by changing supplier. Perhaps it could be if the military manufactured their own products.

I have 3 issued Camelbaks in various shades of sun bleached desert cam

Different shades for different kids of desert? (serious question)

Nah, all started in same shade of desert camouflage, but some have been used more than others so have been bleached by the sun more/collected more dust.

Oakley supply the US military in goggle,gloves and boots so don’t buy off them either tang if your worried.

Will also be supplying UK MoD with gloves shortly…

Never thought about it before, but why don’t armies use mountain bikes (with cannons attached) to get around mountainous areas?

Can’t see any downsides, other than having to carry a big lock and a lot of cake.

The Swiss Army had bicycle troops until 2001 – Google Swiss Light Bicycle Infantry… We used to have bicycle mounted troops too, Google Army Cyclists’ Corps, you’ll see some of the archive photos from D-Day with Tommies carrying bikes off the landing craft…

But think of all the fun stuff we would be missing out on if military tech never made it to the broader world… Space travel (off-shoot of German V2-based research), jet engines, Kevlar, modern ceramics.

It’s a [sad] fact that just about every good bit of technology that we use in our daily life has been researched, produced and brought to market because of the direct result of military research or action.

I am not anti military at all and i know that combat troops should be properly supplied for their job but profiteering from war just feels wrong. I know that in the big picture thats quite a naive thought, and that the two issues are inseparable, just how I feel. The’ blowin shit up, thats what im talkin about’ remark actually annoyed me a bit. They are in no danger from exploding things but making bucket loads of cash from the awful situations our troops are placed in daily.

Special Forces always makes me think of Special Needs, and how droll and lighthearted it would be if the two were confused in some important military action. There is a very tasteless film to be made there

http://www.theonion.com/articles/clinton-deploys-very-special-forces-to-iraq,645/

Special Forces always makes me think of Special Needs, and how droll and lighthearted it would be if the two were confused in some important military action. There is a very tasteless film to be made there

Hels I have some very tasteless footage you may be interested in…it involves a Troop of Royal Marine recruits waiting to spring an ambush and a amazingly ill timed group of mentally less able (see how PC I am!) children riding through on ponies

Any other bicycle related companies creaming it off of war?

You’d probably have to ride a rigid bike to really stay pure.

Hels I have some very tasteless footage you may be interested in…it involves a Troop of Royal Marine recruits waiting to spring an ambush and a amazingly ill timed group of mentally less able (see how PC I am!) children riding through on ponies

Obviously not within 25m of a PROW 😉

Quote
“You’d probably have to ride a rigid bike to really stay pure.”

Nope – my 1×1 is made from 4130 steel, so are Kalashnikov AK47 receivers.

The connection is slightly closer than bikes and military vehicles having rubber tyres but that’s about it. Oh, apart from both being light, simple and reliable.

Oh, apart from both being light, simple and reliable.

I assure you, an AK47 is most certainly not light!

<meatloaf>
Two out of three ain’t bad.
</meatloaf>

Obviously not within 25m of a PROW

😳 cough cough, of course not, and it certainly wasn’t on the gulley from Castle Copse toward Kettle Copse on Woodbury Common

swamp – I only said ‘probably’.

I was meaning you’d have to pick your suspension manufacturer carefully.

The Oakley Factory Pilot gloves are the best cycling gloves I’ve ever used. It was around five years before a hole wore through one fingertip. If I could find a supplier of that coarse black Kevlar cloth that saddle corners and palm areas on gloves are covered with I could patch them up, but hours of googling has failed me so far. I love the carbon knuckle protectors, great for smacking car door mirrors out of the way.

DrJ – Member
On a Camelbak-related subject …. just bought a new bladder (is that what they’re called ?) and didn’t have time to thoroughly rinse, disinfect it before using it, and I got the idea (obsession?) that it was making me sick, or maybe just the water tasted bad.

Me being paranoid, or should you spend time “preparing” a new CamelBak? Never had a problem before. This was a new fangled one that supposedly had some sort of anti-bacterial gubbins on.

I take mine to the same chap who seasons my copper pans.

It’s not true that all cool stuff is military based. For a start Camelbaks weren’t actually invented for military use first. And computers weren’t invented for military use, although some early ones were used during the war. What else.. mobile phone networks? Digital cameras? They are a spin off from astronomy technology iirc.

Anyway best thing for a bike mounted gun would be a recumbent with two wheels up front. You could link a gimballed machine gun to the bars if they were the kind that where above your legs on a really long articulated stem. Now that would be a truly awesome weapon. Anyone want to make a paintball version?

So much high street equipment comes from military developments. I remember the company I work for bringing out the first affordable D-SLR camera in the late 90s, and being surprised to find out that they could have released it years before but the technology was being used to put that camera in a different form into cruise missiles so that pictures could be taken as the missile smashed into insurgent’s hideouts pre-9/11.

molgrips. Digi cams? CCD’s developed for thermal imagers etc. First TI flown over the Falklands in 1982 with small CCD but it did the job and helped the SBS (should be able to read about it in detail next year under the 30 year rule). Oh and LCDs developed by DERA.