{"id":5104,"date":"2022-08-14T17:35:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-14T17:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/08\/14\/former-paratrooper-launches-new-business-making-tactical-equipment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T20:53:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T20:53:44","slug":"former-paratrooper-launches-new-business-making-tactical-equipment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/education-transition\/2022\/08\/14\/former-paratrooper-launches-new-business-making-tactical-equipment\/","title":{"rendered":"Former paratrooper launches new business making tactical equipment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This story was <\/i>originally published<\/i><\/a> in the Fayetteville Observer.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. \u2014 From a young age, Chris Cruz had a bit of an entrepreneurial spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He sold chocolate bars in elementary school. In middle school, he\u2019d bring Capri Suns to sell to classmates for $1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess I kind of always wanted to be my own boss,\u201d said Cruz, who medically separated from the Army at Fort Bragg<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The path to becoming his own boss continued with joining the Army \u2014 something he knew he wanted to be in since he was 5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was born in Guam, before moving to Kentucky, and most people from Guam pretty much join the military to get off the island,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I joined for the service, too. Most of my family has been military.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruz\u2019s time in the Army led him to create his business, Anubis Design Group<\/a>, in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The name Anubis comes from watching the movie \u201cThe Mummy\u201d and is an Egyptian god that kept evil out of Egypt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of mysterious, kind of similar to how some people in the military will come out of the shadows or darkness to stop bad people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Anubis
Anubis Design Group specializes in making tactical nylon gear for the military, law enforcement and civilians. (Rachael Riley\/The Fayetteville Observer via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The primarily online business specializes in creating tactical nylon equipment and soft goods, along with customized clothing for military service members, law enforcement and civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruz said his focus on tactical nylon equipment is because he often modified his own military gear \u201cto make it more personalized or better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople in my units would see that I was modifying my own stuff and asked me to do whatever modifications they needed, and it took off from there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2018, Cruz said, one of his buddies in the 5th Special Forces Group asked him to modify a chest rig \u2014 a tactical vest used for holding equipment \u2014 and to add a couple of patches to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The friend was pleased with the work and encouraged Cruz to start his own business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruz said he\u2019s grown from hand stitching to using heavier industrial machines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He customizes and makes armor plate carriers that hold ballistic armor, chest rigs that hold ammunition and other gear, and general-purpose pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe vests are what we\u2019re more well-known for, but it\u2019s not just gear,\u201d said. \u201cWe have T-shirts and hats and are trying to branch into other things like photography and landscaping.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t