CSM gear

CSM Gear is a quality gear producer. They are best known for the items they have supplied for the FSBE II kit.

The items include flashlight molle holster, dump pouch, sling, etc.

I have ordered from them in the past, purchasing a dump pouch and a padded pistol belt. Unfortunately the belt was purchased in the wrong size. So I still have this at home, unused and unloved.

There were a few other parts that I had been wanting to buy for quite some time. And on November 7th I finally bit the bullet and ordered a fanny pack, a CIRAS sling and a flashlight molle holster.

They did state that orders would not ship out until after 4-6 weeks. But on November 27th they replied to my email and said that they would ship my order tomorrow. All in all it took 3 weeks to ship. Not bad, considering they're a small company with large orders coming in from all over the globe.

I will put up some pics when I get the order in.

http://www.csmgear.com

More pouches.

So a few weeks ago I won an Ebay auction for 4 FSBE II issued m4 mag pouches. The seller accidentally sent me 2 x 2004 and 2 x 2005 dated pouches, instead of 4x 2004 ones. I had to send the 2005 ones back to him and he came through and sent me back two more 2004 issued ones.

 

 

I also got a shotgun shell pouch, also FSBE II issued of course. Dated 2007 though, but nice and issued nonetheless.

 

MSA Sordin MICH Ranger Communication System (MRCS)

I won this MRCS (MICH Ranger Communication System) on Ebay. They are fabricated by MSA Sordin. It offers hearing protection and functions as a communication headset at the same time. It came with two Nexus U-94 U/A Push To Talk buttons (PTT) wired for MBITR radio. But they're useless for me, as I don't have an MBITR.

Next month, I will buy a PTT wired for a 2 pin Kenwood radio. To use this military headset, the PTT will need to be rigged with an microphone amplifier, as the impedance of the military microphone, which is rated at 150 Ohm, is too low to use with a civilian radio, which has a higher impedance. So I contacted the people at talkingheadsets.co.uk and they will wire up a PTT for me. If you are interested in the headset, you can also purchase it from their website: www.talkingheadsets.co.uk. You can find it on Ebay from time to time and they'll be cheaper to be honest.

Updated FSBE II kit list Part 1

Here's a list of items in my personal FSBE II kit, still missing a lot of stuff.

• Eagle Industries Land Ciras x 1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2004)
• Eagle Industries Land Ciras x 1 civ (now traded away)
  
• Eagle Industries Rhodesian Recon Vest x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2004)
• Eagle Industries Rhodesian Recon Vest x1 civ (now traded away)
• Eagle Industries MBAV Plate Carrier with Cumberbund x1 civ (now sold)
• Allied Industries MBSS Plate Carrier x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2005)
• Paca soft armor carrier x1 civ

 

• Eagle Industries 24 round  shotgun shell pouch x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2007)
• Eagle Industries M4 mag pouch x7 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2004-2005)
• Eagle Industries M4 mag pouch x4 civ (now sold)
  
• Eagle Industries M4 double mag pouch x2 mil (USMC issued 2007)
  
• Eagle Industries .45 FB mag pouch x6 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2006)
• Eagle Industries frag pouch x3 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2005-2007)
• Eagle Industries frag pouch x1 civ
• Eagle Industries M60 mag pouch x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2007)
• Eagle Industries M60 mag pouch x1 civ (now sold)
  
• Eagle Industries Canteen pouch x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2005)
• Eagle Industries Canteen pouch x1 civ (now sold)
  
• Eagle Industries Hydration pouch x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2005)
• Eagle Industries Hydration pouch x1 civ
• Eagle Industries Medic pouch x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2007)
• Eagle Industries Medic pouch x2 civ (1 sold)
  
• Eagle Industries GP pouch x1 civ
• Eagle Industries SAW ammo pouch with detachable top x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2004)
• Eagle Industries Gas mask carrier x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2005)
• Eagle Industries MBITR pouch x1 civ
• Eagle Industries Admin pouch with lightholder x1 civAllied Industries Admin pouch without lightholder x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2007)
• Allied Industries Admin pouch with lightholder x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2004)
• Allied Industries MBITR pouch x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2004)
• Allied Industries Modular Assault Pack x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2005)
• Allied Industries M4 mag shingle x2 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2004)
• Allied Industries Flashbang pouch x3 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2007)

• Eagle Industries duty belt tan x1 civ
• Eagle Industries slung weapon belt catch x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2005)
• Allied Industries dive belt molle adapter x2 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2005) 
• Allied Industries leg panel x2 mil (fsbe 2 issued 2005-2007 the 2007 is sold)
  
• CSM dump pouch x1 civ
• Safariland 6004 for 1911
• Flightsuit tan x1 mil
• Flightsuit sage green x1 mil
• MCCUU marpat woodland x1 mil
• MCCUU marpat desert x1 mil
• FROG II shirt marpat desert x2 mil
• FROG II gloves x1 pair mil
• FROG II flash hood x1 mil
• Reversible MICH cover with NOROTOS hole x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued)
• Oakley SI Assault goggles with fan tan x1 mil (fsbe 2 issued)
• Belleville 550 ST boots
• Peckham fleece coyote brown x1 mil
• Propper Goretex parka marpat woodland
• Alta DCU knee pads
• MSA Sordin 75310 military headset with dynamic mic
  

LBT-1476a

London Bridge Trading is a company known for their high quality tactical gear.Their gear is used by armed forces all over the world, including Navy Seals. That quality comes with a hefty price tag though.

So when I saw the LBT-1476a for $80 where they usually selll for $149, I bought it straight away.

It's a three day assault pack in Mouse Grey, which is their version of Ranger Green/Smoke Green. The pack has 3 compartments and does not come with a frame unfortunately.

I have yet to take it out, but it will be used as my work pack. So it will be used daily.

FSBE 2 med pouch

Finally I got my FSBE 2 med pouch today. A few days ago the trackingnumber showed that it had arrived in FRANCE?! WTF, I don't even live there. So I was worried and contacted the seller. He reassured me and told me he sent it to the right address. But this morning before going to work, I checked the tracking number again and it was still in France.

Luckily I found a package in my mailbox after I came home from work and in it was the med pouch. This more or less concludes my search for FSBE 2 pouches, I got all the important ones. There are some obscure bits, the rarer pieces. But I am pretty content with the collection I have built up and will probably stop looking from now on.

 

 

Surefire G2

Just got this little light in. It's a G2 made by Surefire. It's nice, sturdy and well built. It came with 2 Surefire CR-123 batteries, 2 extra CR-123 batteries, a little nylon holster, a replacement LED bulb and a little LED keychain light.

The flashlight itself is very good and works well. The other bits that came with it are shit though. The LED bulb does not fit properly in the flashlight housing. I kind of got it to work, but it's still not how it should fit. It is extremely bright though with its 280 (!!!) lumen, whereas the standard bulb puts out 65 lumen.

The G2 fits in the holster well but the flap is too short to fit over the flashlight. But I have a CSM speedholster coming in, so it doesn't matter that much.

The LED keychain light is nice on the other hand, it's small, light and extremely bright. Definitely will put that to good use!

RLCS MBITR pouches

It's confirmed that the two MBITR pouches that I have are indeed part of the Ranger Load Carrying System. Lack of tags and OD webbing indicates that it's 1st gen ranger green as well. Nice to know and I hope I can trade these in the future for some nice stuff. That is why I bought them after all.

PCU level 5

I have had my PCU level 5 set for a couple of years now. But recently I read that only black labels are the real ones. My jacket has the black soft nylon label and a little green NSN label. It's genuine for sure. But my pants/trousers have a regular green NSN label.

First I thought that I had wasted my money on a replica pair. But after talking to another collector, I have found out that they are indeed genuine and issued. It does set my mind at ease.

Stupid really, how a little piece of fabric can influence your whole mindset!

On a sidenote, I have shipped out my two 2005 M4 mag pouches to France. The guy I bought them from, shipped out two 2004 and two 2005 mag pouches to me, instead of four 2004 ones. So I will be getting the two others soon.

Incoming stuff!

So I was not at all satisfied with the med pouch I got in. The tag was removed and I think it's a civilian version. So I sourced an FSBE 2 version, it's not the older one, with the green tag, but instead I found a newer 2007 one.

I prefer the older version, but beggars can't be choosers.

Furthermore I found and bought a set of MSA Sordins. I don't actually know why I got them, just a cool item to have I guess.

Price was average, not too cheap, not too expensive. But I'm glad I found them. It's the issued version that US Army Rangers use. It's called MICH RANGER COMMUNICATION SYSTEM.

Some more FSBE 2 stuff

I received a med pouch and some M4 mag pouches today. The med pouch had its tag REMOVED. There's a big difference between it not having a tag or having it removed. So I was not happy to find out that it has actually been removed. Furthermore the color indicates that this is not an early edition but a rather late edition, the tan little tag inside the pouch confirms this. I am not at all convinced that this is a military issued pouch. What I think is that this is a civilian pouch with its tag removed and passed off as mil issued just to sell. Not happy to find this out.

Also I won 4 early edition 2004 FSBE 2 issued M4 mag pouches on Ebay from a guy that I know and talk to on MSN. But as it turns out he sent me 2 of those early 2004 mag pouches and he sent another 2 late edition 2005 ones that didn't sell during one of his auctions. Maybe he made a mistake, I don't know. I have contacted him and asked for more information, as his auction clearly stated that it was for 4 (four) 2004 mag pouches and not for 2x 2004 and 2x 2005.

So today's not a good day at all. One of the most disappointing gear receiving days to be honest. I guess you can't win em all.

Edit: The guy has been in touch with me since then. I have sent back the two 2005 pouches and he will be shipping the two 2004 pouches to me.

FSBE 2 lot

I got this little lot of items from Ebay. They were all pretty cheap, and I didn't pay astronomical prices for them for a change.

FSBE 2 Allied Industries leg panel dated 2005

FSBE 2 Allied Industries leg panel dated 2005 left and 2007 right

FSBE 2 dive belt MOLLE adapters dated 2005 x2

FSBE 2 slung weapon belt catch dated 2005

FSBE 2 CIRAS 2004

Quick update again. I woke up one and a half hours ago in the middle of the night to do my trade for the FSBE 2 CIRAS. It's a mil issued 2004 version. The guy I traded with, just finished a late night airsoft skirm and came to my place to trade for the CIRAS after the game. So I had to get up in the middle of the night.

Anyway here it is. Notice the similarity in color between the 2004 RRS-V and the CIRAS. The MBSS is dated 2005 as is the hydration carrier and MAP.

Got to get ready for work now (02:13 am), sleepy as hell!

15:21 hours, I'm back from work again. I took a few pics of the CIRAS in "daylight". The color looks really nice and different from the new shade of coyote brown. I have also put some pouches on the CIRAS, but I'm still waiting for more pouches which should be coming in next week. I will take pics of the fully loaded CIRAS then. It should be good, with only FSBE 2 issued stuff on it and no civilian pouches at all.

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NSN tag completely worn out unfortunately