Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1281650
Available front flaps are following: Ä MOLLE Flap – with six rows and six columns of MOLLE laser-cut slots for your own customization Ä Slick Carbine Mag Flap – flat, three AR/AK magazines pouch with ela- stic webbing reinforced on front Ä Triple Rifle Magazine Flap – flat pouch for three AR/AK but with additio- nal MOLLE slots on the outside. Mag pockets are secured with elastic straps Ä SMG Flap – like the Triple Rifle Flap but for four SMG magazines Ä Shotgun Shell Flap – with three vertical rows of loops for seven 12 ga shotgun shells each Users can choose and replace the front flap depending on the mission and scenario. Direct Action abandoned the idea of MOLLE slots cut in the front Vel- cro where the cummerbund is attached. When loaded with pockets and po- uches, both plate carriers are very simi- lar but after a closer look, many diffe- rences are visible. The overall design of the plate car- rier was not changed at all. The main two components are the front and rear plate bags with adjustable, flat shoul- der straps used to adjust the height. Nothing was changed here. There are some slight modifications in the front panel, which are not a revolution but just an evolution of proven concepts. Call it a major tweaks. The permanen- tly attached front flap with MOLLE slots was ditched in favor of modular front flap. Usually the user configures the plate carrier on its own and in most of the cases the "standard" panels were covered with the pouches, usually for the magazines. Spitfire Mk II comes with a Velcro-loop in the bottom part of the front plate bag, where the modular front flap is attached. This could be a story of "hold my beer and watch out" kind, but it seems that after the successful Spitfire plate carrier, the Direct Action crew decided to upgrade the vest with some of the features requested by the end-users. As some of you may already know, Spitfires were already fielded to some of the SOF teams in Europe, including Polish GROM SMU, and the number is growing. Here comes the Spitfire Mk II, and since there were a plethora of Su- permarine Spitfire versions (each with Mk signature), I guess we can expect something new in the future. The basic idea was the weight-savin- gs (even if it was already lightweight) of the carrier and increase of modularity, so the end-user could have more custo- mization options. When compared one to one, the Mk II seems to be a bit stre- amlined in the manufacturing process. Both legacy Spitfire and Spitfire Mk II are available parallel, and all the new parts are downward compatible. Most of the older parts will also fit the Mk II carrier. www.fragoutmag.com