Buckle your seatbelts and get ready from lots cool images to emerge of US troops in the sea, jungles and skies of Asia battling it out with their Pacific brethren in the latest installment of Cobra Gold.

Sponsored by the Thai and US military, Cobra Gold 2020 brings together around 30 countries with everything from bombers to fighters, SEALs to soldiers, cruisers to carriers and has served for nearly 40 years as a way to coordinate allied military operations in a vast swath of Asia.

Returning to a part of their Vietnam War lineage, the American 25th Fighter Squadron based in Osan Air Base, South Korea, went retro in this year’s Cobra Gold exercise, donning headwear that harkens back its deployment to Thailand when the squadron flew F-4 Phantoms in Southeast Asia.

[Read More: 5th Special Forces Group went old school with their tiger stripe uniforms during a training exercise]

The latest Pentagon videos coming out of the exercise show A-10 pilots from the 25th gearing up for a flight wearing so-called “Saigon Cowboy” hats, popularized by the fighter jocks of yore.

These wide-brimmed, cotton hats kept the blazing sun off the faces of U.S. fighter pilots on the hot ramps of Ubon and Udorn before missions. The pilots often festooned squadron patches and other unit designations on the flipped-up brims, giving them an OD Australian look to them.

Taking a page out of the 1960s book, some of the 21st century versions of the Saigon Cowboy hats feature the “Thailand” chevron attached to the brim.

And this isn’t the first time we’ve seen US units going old-school when it comes to highlighting their Vietnam heritage.

In August 2019 we spotted soldiers from the 5th Special Forces Group dropping simulated bad guys wearing Vietnam-era tiger stripe uniforms emblazoned with retro Special Force patches in blue and yellow.

It’s a seemingly small thing, but when US troops commemorate their previous badassery by wearing gear from their historic exploits, it’s always something that adds a little motivation to any exercise.

Let’s face it, if you’re reading this, you more than likely forgot that Valentine’s Day is almost here.

With the excitement from all of this year’s SHOT Show debuts and tons of cool new military hardware just around the corner, it’s easy to forget everyone’s favorite day of romance, chocolates, and cheesy cards.

Don’t worry, GearScout has your six (you’re welcome)!

This year, make your Valentine’s Day tacticool, GearScout-style, with these awesome products that we’ve curated to save your butts (and probably ours too).

And if you’re single on the big day, just go ahead and treat yourself!

We’re not judging.

For the shooter

If you’re a recreational shooter, you compete, or you’re issued a blaster for work, chances are you’ve heard of Trijicon’s Miniature Rifle Optic, their bestselling red dot sight.

This year at SHOT Show, the company debuted an MRO on steroids — the MRO HD. Re-engineered and revamped, the MRO HD turns it up to 11 with an optic that offers shooters a 2.0 MOA center dot encompassed by a 68 MOA segmented circle reticle.

Trijicon boasts a “truly ambidextrous reticle” on this optic, as well as a brightness control that allows the user to switch between a full reticle or a simple center dot, based on their preference.

The MRO HD is set to sell for $919.

For the beach bum

It’s no secret that we’re a fan of Combat Flip Flops. Not only are their products incredibly badass and highly inspired, it’s also hard not to love a company that pledges to support a day of school for Afghan girls with each purchase.

For that special someone who also happens to be a beach bum or a hardcore aloha-type, check out CFF’s Floperator Coyote. Designed to be rugged and damage resistant, these flip flops aren’t just going to last you a while, they’re also going to make you look pretty moto with the option to customize their look using moral patches.

You can pick up a pair on CFF’s website for $39.99. Just don’t take these things into *actual* combat.

For the regular bums

Being able to recline and take some of the weight off your feet after a long day is one of the most underrated and unappreciated bonuses in life, especially if you’re on the trails or parenting it up at a soccer game.

NEMO Equipment knows this just as well as we do, and that’s why they’ve rolled out their Stargaze Camp Chair, currently retailing for $149 with free shipping on their website.

The camp chair is a more budget-friendly modification of the company’s Stargaze Recliner, though with the ability to gently swing like a rocking chair. NEMO boasts that this chair can go virtually anywhere unimpeded, working easily on most surfaces including unimproved terrain.

For the always-hungry

We’re always hungry.

Writing articles on Gear Scout to navigating traffic, 3-gun competitions, and all-day hikes can get incredibly tiring.

We also know we’re not the only ones out there craving a snack while reading this. That’s where Good-to-Go steps up to the plate with a number of meal options that are easily prepared, highly nutritious, and in sizable servings that will fix any hunger craving in a hurry.

With a wide menu available, Good-to-Go’s products are especially geared towards outdoorsy people who find themselves on the go, be it hitting the trails, conquering a mountain, or just enjoying a relaxed camping trip with loved ones.

Vegan, low-sodium, and gluten-free options are available.

For the tactical poet

We know the value of a good pen — especially one that can write anywhere, regardless of the elements and conditions outside.

For those who need to keep a writing implement on them at all times, be it to take notes, jot down a hot rhyme or poem, or fill out forms on the go, Gerber offers its Impromptu Tactical Pen.

Featuring a Cerakoted machined steel body (you read that right), the ITP is easily one of the most badass pens on the market today, capable of writing in driving rains and also equipped with a glass breaker to help escape rougher situations.

Gerber offers the ITP on their site for $73 — a lofty price for a pen, but then again, this is no ordinary pen.

For the tactical every(wear)

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ATTENTION! Perfect gift alert Soldier up in with this little infidel print & twin w/ your fav comrade. These cheeky babies are made from 4 way stretch breathable moisture wicking material.

A post shared by Tactical Distributors (@tactical_distributors) on Oct 29, 2019 at 1:37pm PDT

We can’t say enough about Tactical Distributors’ “Battle Briefs.”

They’re comfortable, they’re cool as sh*t and they’re super functional. No need to actually go “commando” with these bad boys against your butt!

The Battle Briefs have a ton a style, with cool graphics and accessories — even ones with built in pockets for those who like to let it all hang out around the house (or are really into Every Day (and Night) Carry).

In case you’re wondering, these skivvies are even built for the Tiger Mom in your life, with new female-friendly designs coming out all the time.

And if you’re super tactical, you can even sign up for a subscription service to receive a new pair of briefs each month. Happy Valentines Day baby!

For the outdoorsy tacti-nerd

Anyone who knows GearScout knows we’re big fans of LOWA footwear.

In fact, it turns out our pimpin’ may have paid off, with rumors that the boys from the CBS show “SEAL Team” will be sporting some LOWA kicks when the season resumes this spring!

Well, along with their tactical line of shoes and boots, LOWA has also refined their hiking and approach shoe offerings to blend the needs of the outdoor enthusiast who’s trekking through the rough stuff and the operator who’s going low profile but may have to go loud when the fur starts flying.

Presenting the Explorer GTX Lo for both men and women. A blend of the company’s high-end mountaineering boot line and its trekking shoe, the Explorer GTX features a DynaPU midsole, a cushioning heel wedge and an easier walking flex. It’s also lined with Gore-Tex and features a Vibram Rock Trac outsole with MegaGrip rubber.

I don’t know what that all means, but I know I’d want some for V-Day!

The ultimate tactical snack

What’s Valentines Day without chocolate?

And what could be better than a chocolate bar shaped like a 1911?

Nothing.

So get on it boys and girls and order up your honey a silky sweet token of John Moses Browning’s greatness with this blaster from Chocolate Weapons (no mystery what these guys are all about, huh?)…

The chocolate 1911 is almost a full pound of milk chocolate goodness and comes packed in a no joke padded gun case. And you can even order candy ammo to load into it (or your mouth bro!).

And for you tactical love bunnies who like to pork out on candy then wash up after your gluttony, there’s even a matching set of 1911s in chocolate and soap.

All we ask is that you make sure to kind of tell your tactical valentine that the gun case isn’t hiding a new sidearm. Don’t want to have to deal with that let down.

Sightline Media Group, LLC writes about products and services to help our readers navigate when shopping online. Sightline Media Group, LLC may receive a share of revenue from our affiliate partners if you purchase products or contract services through our links.

For the last five years, rumors of Colt’s death have been (slightly) exaggerated.

From real estate defaults, to bankruptcy, to cancelling civilian sales of AR-style rifles, the company has taken more than a few licks at a time when firearms sales were booming.

The storied brand, once the primary supplier of America’s standard-issue military rifle, has been casting about for wins since it lost the lock on M4 production for US troops in 2009.

A few feeble attempts were met with shrugs from the market and the latest news that the company had basically given up on AR-style rifle production for the civilian market prompted cries of betrayal and sorrow for one of the country’s oldest gunmakers.

But under everybody’s radar at this year’s Shooting, Hunting Outdoor trade show in Las Vegas, Colt quietly announced a revamp of its battle-tested M4 military rifle, introducing the new “CM5” rifle to the shooting public.

At first glance the CM5 (love that next-iteration moniker!) is pretty cool, and incorporates the typical Colt-manufactured solidity that was a hallmark of the company’s military-issued guns.

The most notable differences include a new lower receiver design that has beefed up thickness in the hammer and trigger pin areas to “decrease wear from pin movement over time.”

There are also ambidextrous, no-snag controls and a ton of Magpul furniture to round it out.

Another cool innovation is a direct-mount of the rail to the upper receiver, making for a true “free float” of the barrel for this CM5, the company says.

“The rail’s attachment point to the receiver draws the balance to just in front of the magazine well, giving the carbine an increased ability to get on target and point faster while giving a more stable farther out hold for the support hand without the flex normally associated with rail systems that attach to the barrel,” a Colt rep told GearScout.

For the spec geeks out there, the CM5 tear sheet says this:

• Caliber: 5.56
• Operating System: Direct Gas Impingement
• Barrel: 4150CMV 14.5-inch Heavy profile, 1:7RH 6 grooves
• Receiver Material: Both receivers are 7075-T6 Aluminum, black anodize
• Rail: 13.5” Multi-slot MLOK fore end with true continuous 12 o’clock top rail. 45° vent slots can be fit with MLOK accessories as well for added customization
• Stock: 6 position extension tube. Magpul CTR Stock
• Sights: Magpul MBUS/ MBUS Pro
• Weight: 6.6lbs

The CM5 comes in a few cool configurations, including a “PDW” with 10.3-inch barrel, a 10.5-inch .300 Blackout PDW version and a slick looking sub-compact weapon, or “SCW,” with a telescoping PDW-style stock.

Officials with Colt say the CM5 is primarily intended for export clients, and given the news that Colt won’t make ARs for American consumers, it’s doubtful you’ll see the CM5 on gun store shelves anytime soon.

But for those nostalgic for the brands of yore, there’ll be some comfort seeing the legendary Colt logo out in the field again.

The MG 338, a .338 Norma Magnum machine gun made by Sig Sauer, recently completed safety testing, according to a Wednesday announcement by the weapon-maker.

And soon, Marine special operations forces will put that theory to the test, Sig Sauer told Military Times.

The MG 338 machine gun and the ammunition Sig makes to fire out of the new weapon officially have been designated by the U.S. military as safe for testing, and Sig has delivered a limited number of the machine guns to MARSOC for user evaluation.

The MG 338 is competing with the Lightweight Medium Machine Gun, made by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems for the SOCOM replacement for the M240.

There are no plans yet announced for the machine gun to be used outside of SOCOM.

In a Jan. 20 response from company officials, General Dynamics said its Lightweight Medium Machine Gun received a similar safety sign off in 2015, adding the system is “currently undergoing an evaluation from SOCOM.”

Both the Sig and GD submissions are lighter than the 240L version of the existing 7.62 mm machine gun in use by soldiers, Marines and special operators. Whichever company wins could get an order as early as 2021 for as many as 5,000 machine guns.

The MG 338 weighs 20 pounds and, with a folding stock, is significantly lighter than the current M240 variants.

The GD variant weighs 24 pounds and can defeat Level III body armor at 1,000 meters and incapacitate soft-skinned vehicles with more than four times the terminal effect of the 7.62 mm NATO cartridge, according to the company’s website.

The caliber delivers maximum effective ranges to nearly 2,000 yards and maximum ranges at more than 6,000 yards, according to company data.

The Army is in the midst of testing, evaluating and eventually down-selecting for the Next Generation Squad Weapon rifle and automatic rifle, which aim to replace both the M4 carbine and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, both chambered in 5.56 mm. The Next Generation Squad Weapon will be chambered in 6.8 mm.

The new .338 caliber for SOCOM machine guns has such range and lethality that SOCOM officials may put in in configurations where only a .50 caliber M2 was used before.

“For the first time in decades the U.S. Military certified a new machine gun, ammunition, and suppressor at the same time, bringing new innovation, portability, and increased lethality to our ground forces, with all components coming from one company,” Ron Cohen, president and CEO of Sig Sauer, said in the statement.

The package also includes a new suppressor that will mitigate sound and flash signature as well as reduce back blast, Sig says.

Military Times reported the original request by SOCOM for the .338 caliber machine gun from the May 2018 annual National Defense Industrial Association Armament Systems Forum.

Experts say the round has a recoil similar to the existing 7.62 mm but packs a punch approaching the .50 caliber round at extended ranges. The .338 NM can penetrate advanced body armor and outranges the 7.62 mm.

The federal posting wants it to weigh 24 pounds unloaded and measure out at 24 inches with a 500-600 rounds per-minute rate of fire.

The weapon must also include both a suppressed and unsuppressed quick-change barrel.

Weapons experts say the advantages of a firearm like the MG 338 comes from the round itself — the .338 Norma Magnum.

The machine gun can also be configured to fire the existing 7.62 mm round, of which the services have plenty in stock.

This story has been updated with a response from General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems.

First an airsoft version of the MCX Virtus, which makes those of us with 5.56 Virtus’s giddy for pre-match backyard training.

Then the limited release of a no-joke surplus M17 with authentic serial numbers and wear and tear from Sig’s inventory of the test guns that won the Army’s M9 replacement contest.

And now, for the first time ever, Sig is releasing a bolt-action precision rifle it says is a perfect option for both PRS competitors and hunters alike.

Dubbed the CROSS rifle, the new blaster will surely look familiar to modern bolt-gun enthusiasts who’ve probably been lusting over the unobtainium rifle built a few miles from Sig’s Newington, New Hampshire, manufacturing facility.

That’s right, we’re talking about the Q Fix.

When you stack the CROSS and the Fix specs side-by-side, it’s tough not to see the similarities.

The CROSS will come in three calibers. Of course, .308 in either a 16-inch barrel or 18-inch barrel and 6.5 Creedmoor in 18-inch.

But in a little surprise announcement slipped into this surprise announcement, Sig will also offer the CROSS in its newly-developed .277 Fury round.

That’s the round being developed for the US Army’s Next-Generation Squad Weapon program and has specs that are pretty out of this world.

The CROSS is a one-piece receiver design “that eliminates the need for bedding the action;” features a three-lug, 60-degree bolt (with an interchangeable bolt handle); a two-stage match trigger that’s adjustable from 2.5 to 4 pounds and ambi controls.

There’s also a brand new, adjustable precision rifle stock that folds against the receiver, giving the 16-inch .308 version a compact length of 25-inches. And the thing only weighs 6.2 pounds unloaded.

And, oh yeah, the 6.5 Creedmoor and 16-inch .277 versions come in both black and First Lite Cipher camouflage (First Lite is a kick ass hunting gear company a la Sitka).

The .308 is running a 1:10 twist, the 6.5 has a 1:9 twist and the .277 has a 1:8.5 twist — all through a stainless steel heavy profile barrel.

Now, the CROSS ain’t exactly cheap, but at $1,779 it’s about $1,500 cheaper than its closest competitor, the Q Fix.

We’ll be sure to update our readers on the CROSS as we find out more in the coming days. And stay tuned to the GearScout YouTube channel for videos coming out of Sig’s SHOT Show range day January 19, where we’ll surely get a chance to shoot this bad boy.

Way back in 2010 we tested an inflatable bivy from Nemo for use on a reporting trip to Afghanistan (was it a GoGo Elite? I forget).

Full-on operators use their stuff as well as the overlanding set and anyone who needs rugged gear in extreme conditions and must save weight.

This year Nemo teamed up with premium hunting gear company First Lite — which specializes in high-end big game hunting clothing and equipment — to pattern a special edition of their Stargaze Recliner Luxury in the hunting gear company’s Cipher camo, marking a sharp departure from Nemo’s typical color pallet.

Dubbed the “Stargaze Recliner Luxury Field” (ugh, that’s a mouth full), the new chair is 100 percent no joke. It’s a big chair, measuring 27″x36″x44″ and weighs in at seven pounds, so it’s probably not going to go on any lightweight backpacking trip.

It has thick, sturdy aircraft-grade aluminum legs, a padded, adjustable headrest, beer and cellphone holder — and it all packs down into a compact carry bag for transport. The backrest is made with a non-absorbent monofilament mesh that’s strong and weather resistant.

The Luxury Field has a special “suspended” design that allows you to lean the chair back in one fluid motion without tipping the frame.

Hence the “Stargaze” monicker.

The GearScout team (and family) spent a few months at sporting events, shooting competitions and in the front yard with this “camp chair on steroids” and came up with a few thoughts to help determine if this is the right solution for you.

What we liked

The Stargaze Luxury Field looks cool at heck and definitely turns heads. The First Lite camo is awesome and the design itself is unlike any camp chair we’ve ever seen.

It was very comfortable — generally (more on that below) — and the reclining capability was smooth and luxurious. Being able to lean back, and for shorter people, sit almost cross-legged in the seat itself was a plus.

The headrest was another nice extra and the stash pocket worked great to keep the smartphone at close hand.

The Stargaze all packed up is small enough to keep stashed in the truck and take with you for a stroll to the lacrosse field or car camp site.

Lastly, we had zero worry that any of the chair’s components would break or strain under weird angles, uneven surfaces or excess weight. The chair is stated to hold 300 lbs., and while we never took it to that kind of limit, we were occasionally burdened with guns, gear, ammo and food.

No biggie with the Stargaze Luxury Field.

And the ability to lightly swing the chair is very cool — no other camp chair we know of can do that.

What we didn’t like

But it wasn’t all puppies and kittens with the Stargaze.

First off, I’m a tall guy with wide-ish shoulders and I found the seat back a bit constricting when I wasn’t reclined.

The beer holder is at a weird angle and very close to your leg, so spills were imminent unless you gulped down a few ounces before entrusting it there.

Also, getting out of the Stargaze could be a but disconcerting given the generally long back and short seat bucket.

And it’s kind of big. This isn’t something you can take from stage to stage at a shooting match or carry with you all day in the field. It’s more of a base-camp or tailgating chair, which kinda limits its “range” of use.

Bottom line

The Stargaze Recliner Luxury Field is seriously cool camp chair that’s super tough and engineered for comfort — all backed by a company that’s at the cutting edge of hardcore outdoor design.

And at a suggested retail price of $229, it’s a serious commitment to comfort. But that’s one reason why the Stargaze Recliner Luxury Field could be the last outdoor chair you’ll ever want to buy.

The notice targets the L2C holsters built for Sig Sauer’s P320 and the P250 but specifically outlines safety issues with using that holster for an M17 or M18 handgun — the Army’s new modular handgun that was built to replace the Beretta M9.

According to the CPSC, the holsters can inadvertently disengage the safety leaving the gun in a condition ready to fire, and increasing the chances of a negligent discharge.

Read More: Is the Blackhawk T Series holster the SERPA killer?

Unlike the standard civilian P320, the M17 and M18s have external safeties as per the requirements of the Army. The clone versions offered to the civilian market also bear those external safeties.

Blackhawk has worked hard in recent months to rebrand itself and change consumers’ minds about their product quality and design. For years Blackhawk’s signature retention holster — the SERPA — has earned a bad rap, with some agencies and departments banning it over safety concerns with its paddle release mechanism.

But under new management, the company saw the launch of the T-Series holster as a path out of the doldrums — a strategy the L2C recall certainly won’t help.

In an interview, a Blackhawk official said the company brought the safety issue to the CPSC back in August when Blackhawk’s engineers tested the more compact L2C holster with an M17 and M18.

Engineers realized extra plastic in the original version of the holster could partially disengage that handgun’s safety.

“We caught it, we recalled it,” said Willie Vernon, Blackhawk’s senior director of marketing.

“Thanks to the new nature of this holster as well as the relatively new nature of that handgun being made available to the public, the great likelihood is that there are very few people out there who would meet both criteria of owning a T-Series L2C as well as the M17/M18 variants of the Sig P320,” Vernon added.

She said when engineers discovered the issue, only about 1,500 of the holsters had been sold and that the company immediately contacted distributors and even reached out to those who purchased the L2C holster from www.blackhawk.com.

The L2C has been redesigned to remove the extra polymer that was contacting the safety and any new holsters won’t cause the issues that prompted the recall, Vernon said.

According to Blackhawk, shooters can tell if they have one of the affected holsters by looking at the part number on the back of your holster – if it’s stamped with an “A”, then that is the old version. If it is stamped with a “B”, that is the updated version.

Owners of the L2C with an “A” serial number are advised to stop using the holster and contact Blackhawk at 1-888-343-7547 for a full refund.

From the weapons, to the tactics, to the real (and not freaking so overdone it’s sickening) portrayal of emotional issues confronted by warriors at the very sharpest end of the spear, CBS’s “SEAL Team” is one of the few shows that actually gets it right.

Action, Serbia, Bravo Team. We can't wait for you to see the Season 3 premiere TONIGHT at 9/8c. #SEALTeam pic.twitter.com/vb2xmWkKLw

— SEAL Team (@SEALTeamCBS) October 2, 2019

And since the show — starring David Boreanaz (formerly of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Bones”); Max Thieriot; Jessica Pare; Neil Brown Jr.; A.J Buckley and Toni Trucks — dodged the cancellation bullet and kicks off its third season Oct. 2, we here at GearScout thought it would be entirely appropriate to start a fan blog.

The other cool thing about the show is that some of the cast members are actual operators. Our good friend Tyler Grey is a producer and plays the role of Trent in the show. And we met Justin Melnick (Brock) at SHOT Show last year with his SWAT partner @DitaTheHairMissile who kicks in doors alongside him.

We're back! Tonight, 9/8c. #SEALTeam pic.twitter.com/3mJ520u8eX

— SEAL Team (@SEALTeamCBS) October 2, 2019

The (Not a) SEAL Team blog is Helmed by fellow tacti-nerd Ian D’Costa, our #1 GearScout contributor, and backstopped by yours truly and my great friend and rabid SEAL Team fan, Ingrid Niehaus (who reps some cool tactical companies like LOWA), we’ll be writing up our thoughts on the week’s episode and discussing what we think should happen in the episode to come.

The blog will be posted the day of the next show, so you can debate through the week what’s going to happen and track your predictions that night.

We welcome comments below, IG DMs or smoke signals — we’d love to hear your thoughts about the episodes too…

Going Hot!

Here's your sneak peek at tomorrow's action-packed season premiere. #SEALTeam pic.twitter.com/UMo7F0fWsc

— SEAL Team (@SEALTeamCBS) October 1, 2019

Yep, I am a sucker for “tactical” pants.

But the thing is, I am super picky about what works and what doesn’t … and I’ve been disappointed a lot.

Don’t try to fool me with crappy materials, boxy designs for lowest-common-denominator body styles and features for Fudds.

Give me a pant with new materials, a sophisticated, low-bulk fit and details that surprise me, and I’ll give you my cash.

Back a few years ago, 5.11 made a sharp pivot away from the boxy cut of “uniform”-like tactical apparel and started to incorporate fit and features found in companies making high-end outdoor gear and kit for those at the pointy end of the spear.

The Apex pant was just that — a tactical pant that was designed at the outset for a special operations unit to go “low viz” in dangerous battlefields. New materials, a more athletic fit and features like internally bellowed pockets (so mags wouldn’t print) — and even a hidden handcuff key pocket — pushed the envelope for 5.11 and others who followed.

Fortunately, there are now more to choose from in mid-2019, including the Capital, Bravo and Icon pants.

I’ll include the features of the pants below, but here are my thoughts on the Icon pants after two days of shooting (video and guns) at the Sig Sauer Academy.

Things I Liked

• Slim Fit
• Internal Mag Dividers
• High-end Materials

I’m not sure if you’re with me on this, but I am sick and tired of pants with more fabric than I need. I want something with an athletic, articulated cut and no extra bulk. Thankfully, the Icon pants are slimmed down and tailored (but not Hipster cut).

The 80/20 Poly-Cotton Flex-Tac ripstop is nice and light and stretches with your kung fu moves.

Another thing — I’m constantly jamming sh*t into my pockets at the range. You’ll see from the video below that in the absence of a gun belt, I resorted to my Icon’s internal mag dividers for a bit of extra pew fuel. If I’d had to do some cool guy moves, those mags wouldn’t be bouncing around and spilling out all over the deck.

Lastly, the Icons use some cool new materials, including this 80/20 Poly-Cotton Flex Tac ripstop (I’m a sucker for the rip stop) and the stretch panels in the waist are low-drag enough to hide the fact that you may need them after a gluttonous wing-eating session.

Things I Didn’t Like

• Uncomfortable Waistband
• Hot Fabric
• Stiff Pocket Flaps

But that flexy waistband also poses some problems.

The stretch fabric feels nice against the skin, but the Flex Tac? Not so much. Maybe with some more washing it’ll get beat down a bit, but I wear t-shirts and don’t tuck in and that waistband was uber annoying during the day.

And Teflon’s cool and all. But it can make the damned pants freaking HOT. I was sweating bullets during the two days of shooting. I mean, when I see ripstop I think lightweight, breathable, summer, The ‘Nam…

Not so the Icons. Sure, the Teflon coating makes them spill resistant, but heat and chafe? No thanks.

One last thing — and it’s a super quibble — but the flaps on the thigh pockets are way too stiff. Getting things in and out of the pockets took a lot of TLC, and in the end I want a thigh-pocket I don’t have to look at to push and pull gear.

Bottom Line

Tiny flaws aside, the Icons are going to stay in my selective stable of range and competition pants for a while. The Apexs are awesome, but lack that athletic cut the Icons give you, so those old pants’ll probably wind up in the backup drawer.

And, thanks to 5.11 for making duds that fit fit dudes for a change! But can you please make some shorts that are less than 11-inch inseams?!

Dubbed the Next-Generation Squad Weapon program, the Army is asking industry to come up with weapon and ammunition designs that will address some of the shortfalls it has seen with the current M4 and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon carried by most front-line units.

Chambered in 5.56mm, the M4 and SAW has a lethal range of about 300 meters, service officials have said.

The new rifle and automatic rifle must be able to engage targets out to 600 meters, industry insiders say.

“This is a weapon that could defeat any body armor, any planned body armor that we know of in the future,” former Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has said. “This is a weapon that can go out at ranges that are unknown today. There is a target acquisition system built into this thing that is unlike anything that exists today. This is a very sophisticated weapon.”

In its announcement on the Federal Business Opportunities website, the Army said it had selected General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, AAI Corporation Textron Systems and Sig Sauer as the three finalists for the program. Previously FN America — which makes many of the Army’s current M4 rifles — and PCP Tactical were being considered for the NGSW program.

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What does it take to meet the requirements of today’s soldier?…we have some ideas. #NeverSettle

A post shared by SIG SAUER (@sigsauerinc) on May 13, 2019 at 3:30pm PDT

The Army is asking GD, Textron and Sig Sauer each to supply 53 rifles, 43 automatic rifles and 850,000 rounds of ammunition for testing. The contract lasts for eight years, but the prototype testing will last for 27 months — in line with the Army’s stated goal to have the new rifle and machine gun fielded to combat units by 2022.

The service has said the NGSW will not replace all M4s in the Army but will be carried primarily by front-line troops.

The 27-month test program will include “soldier touch point” tests that evaluate “mobility and maneuverability on Army relevant obstacles, and user acceptance scenario testing,” the Army says.

The service will also test the weapon’s controllability, the round’s ballistic effectiveness and a “limited evaluation with Soldiers in the loop to assess the suitability and effectiveness for combat operations.”

“These evaluations may be conducted with multiple squads,” the Army added.

The key to the program is the development of the cartridge itself. The Army has asked industry to develop a round with a 6.8mm bullet. The exact specifications and the threats it would be designed to counter are still secret, but industry officials say the bigger, heavier bullet will reach nearly double the distance with more lethal force than the smaller, 5.56 round.

General Dynamics has been developing a 6.8mm round with a polymer case, helping reduce the weight of extra ammo a soldier might carry employing a rifle with a larger, heavier round.

Textron has spent years developing a so-called “cased-telescoped” round that is even lighter and smaller than the GD option. That round has mostly been a test bed for the Army to explore ways to lighten a soldier’s ammunition load but has been given a new lease on life with the NGSW program.

Sig Sauer — maker of the Army’s new M17 and M18 handgun — has taken a more traditional approach with a 6.8mm round incorporating a blended metal case that is still lighter than an all-brass one.

The Army says it has the option to make a selection during the first 27-month prototype phase and award a final contract. The service says it wants to buy up to 250,000 weapons — a combination of rifles and automatic rifles — and up to 150 million rounds of the new 6.8mm ammunition.