Blackhawk, Eagle, LBT or SOE

[spycop]

With all the hype lately and salesmanship, do the operators get to choose what equipment they prefer such as Blackhawk or Eagle, London Bridge or SOE? Or do they have to settle with what they are issued. As a Police Officer I can pretty much buy what I need to get the job done and comfort and safety are most important to me, cost is really not an object. I have heard **** Marcinko say that he bought Six the best of everything and screw the Navy channels.

What do the Teams issue now for tactical gear?

Thanks

[Chickenhawk]

I'm familiar with LBT, Blackhawk, and Eagle products, and they all have some good things to offer. I'm partial to Blackhawk, since I knew Mike Noell when he was still on active duty in the Teams. I think it's safe to say that each Team uses slightly different gear, depending on its mission, and different platoons in the same Team may have different set ups. We have a lot of freedom of choice in regards to our load bearing equipment (we call it "H-gear"), so long as we carry the required number of magazines, amount of water, signalling devices, medical and survival gear, and any other mission-specific equipment required on an operation. The different Teams have remarkably similar Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for carrying gear, even with all the diversity.