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James G

Operators totally wear Infidel Shirts

Ever since we started dropping bombs, kicking ass, and taking names in Afghanistan and Iraq, I started seeing all these infidel shirts, hats and other stupid infidel branded shit popping up for sale online. Generally I file gay tactical stuff like this under the “Multicam” category in my brain and go on with my day.

But lately there has been an explosion in Infidel branded crap being peddled on every corner of the internet. I figure it is only a matter of time before people start making Dog Sweaters with “infidel” written on the back so they can look like “operators” while walking their dog in the park.

The first thing that makes these shirts stupid is the fact that the term “infidel” is an insult. Someone wearing an Infidel shirt is the equivalent of someone wearing a shirt that says “Les américains sont des Idiots” in French [Americans are Idiots] or a shirt that just says “Fuck Christianly.”

Yes people, the term “Infidel” is an insult, so it just doesn’t make any sense at all to wear a shirt that basically says “I am a piece of shit unbeliever of any religion or belief.”

Now the justification some folks use for wearing Infidel Shirts is “We are taking the word Infidel back as a way to insult the insulters” [something like “nanny, nanny boo-boo stick your head in doo-doo” or some other intelligent reason].

Sure I agree – fuck the folks that call us Infidels, but at the same time why would you want to toss everyone in the Middle East in the same asshole basket.

Click Here to Keep Reading – TACTICAL COMMENTARY: Infidel Shirts Are Fucking Stupid >>>

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Original S.O.E. Single Point Sling, HSGI Pistol Magazine Pouch – Modular & the BLACKHAWK S.T.R.I.K.E. Utility Pouch – Shooting and looting kit for less than 50 bones a pop

Despite all the reviews I do on 400 dollar tactical jackets, 300 dollar flashlights and 200 dollar knives the gear I use the most usually costs less than 50 bones. Unlike in action movies or on so-called “tactical” blogs written by guys who don’t even pull triggers for a living the most used gear are the simple things.

A pouch for holding your flashlight, QuikClot, Nokia Phone, or a sling to keep your arms from turning into jelly when standing on the side of some shitty Iraqi highway for 4 hours because another one of the old ass Scania tractor trailers in your convoy has broken down for the 7th time that mission.

Below are three of my most used 50 buck or less pieces of tactical gear, feel free to suggest you favorite sub-50 buck pieces of kit in the comments.

Click Here To Keep Reading – TACTICAL GEAR – FIELD TESTED: Three Great Pieces of Tactical Gear for 50 Bucks or Less >>>

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Po-Tarts for Operators

One of the worst parts about running missions on the roads here in Iraq [or anywhere for that matter] is trying to get a meal in when running 120K down the road with an AK in one had and a radio in the other. When you are driving, scanning for bad guys or working the radios, MTS, GPS and other gadgets on a 14 hour convoy you can hardly make a ham and cheese sandwich in your lap.

MRE’s are a bit of a pain to sort through while mobile in a car and between all the potholes and constant swerving most of it ends on your kit, hands and floor. You also have to eat them cold because using an MRE heater in a sealed armored truck will make you puke.

For the folks here who have eaten 5 cold MRE’s back to back, you know you are lucky to even gag half of one down. Even instant-eat food like canned meats and beef jerky [I swear I have eaten 100 pounds of Beef Jerky on Convoys and PSD missions] are hardly satisfying and not even remotely nutritious.

Plus having to hold your chow in one hand, a fork in another, napkins and a drink between your legs means your AK is lying on the floor and your eyes are on your lap. Not really a good thing when running down the road in one of the most dangerous countries in the world in a big ass bullet/VBIED/IED Sponge SUV with Iraqi Security Company stickers on the side.

Before a mission I usually make a few sandwiches and throw them in the truck. I have always thought that sandwiches were the perfect food – meat, grain, vegetables, sugar, salt – a square meal in the palm of your hand with no utensils required and only requires on hand. The problem is you can only pack a few sandwiches because after a day they turn rancid from lack of refrigeration or become nasty soggy.

So I did a little bit of Googling and found these Bridgford Ready to Eat Sandwiches that were made for the US Military’s “First Strike Ration” MRE.

Clcik Here to Keep Reading – CHOW: Bridgford Ready to Eat Sandwiches – Sandwiches for High Speed Low Drag Guys >>>

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This looks pretty damn cool, it is a post- Apocalyptic/Zombie independent film. Noting really new right? But instead of the usual Teenagers with camcorders, Lost Army Unit or regular guy fighting the zombies it is a team of Private Military Contractors dong the brain shooting.

From what I can gather from the above trailer sometime in the near future a virus turns some 50% of the worlds population into Zombies. The infected areas are quarantined off into “Red Zones” where the Zombies apparently roam free.

The only people allowed in the Red Zones are Private Military Contractors who presumably do some sort of Contract Work for the Government. One of those groups is called “White Shield International” [har-har].  In the flick a reporter embeds with White Shield on one of their runs into the Red Zone where presumably things go wrong and people get eaten and zombies get decapitated.

As with all Indie Zombie flicks it could end up being really good, or ass horrible, from the trailer I say it could go either way. But the original idea of using PMC’s fighting the Zombies for a profit is a cool twist [they seem to be really pushing that angle in their promotional videos].

Also from the videos on their youtube Page the directors/producers seem to be taking the weapon handling and “PMC Look” seriously, they even hired a 1st Recon Battalion Marine to put the actors through a quick Boot Camp. So expect to see lots of Velcro hats, tactical nylon and tricked out guns. No word yet if the Contractor Beard will make an appearance.

Ckick Here to Keep Reading – MOVIES: Delta Zulu – Zombies VS Private Military Contractors >>>

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the Citizen Soldier – Australian style

So I was browsing the movies at the local hajji shop here in Baghdad when I ran across an Australian flick called “Tomorrow When The War Began”. Considering the rather thin choices [it was a draw between that and another poorly dubbed Steven Seagal flick] I went ahead and snapped it up. Luckily it turned out to be a pretty damn good flick.

Tomorrow When the War Began is a pretty loyal big screen version of the immensely popular [in Australia] book of the same name written by John Marsden [it is actually a series of books]. The movie is basically a “foreign army invades” story told from the eyes of a group of teenagers.

Now you are probably thinking the same think I thought when I read the description, Red Dawn. And while there are many similarities between Tomorrow When the War Began and Red Dawn there are enough differences to make this still entertaining and worth watching.

The movie starts off with a group of teenagers going on a camping trip in the Australian Bush while unbeknownst to them [despite tons of military aircraft flying over them every night in the outback] a mysterious foreign military has began its invasion of Australia. When returning to town they discover that their families are missing and no one is to be found.

Eventually they realize an unnamed foreign army has launched a massive invasion of Australia and rounded all civilians up and placed them in concentration camps. At first they do the usual looking for their families and scavenging for food but eventually they are drawn into defending themselves against the black clad occupying soldiers.

Click Here to Keep Reading – MOVIES: Tomorrow When the War Began – The Australian Red Dawn >>>

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Is that a cleaver in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Here is a sneak preview of the DVM Pocket Cleaver made by Robert Scheppmann and designed by Yours Truly in the DVM Skunk Works Labs that will be available in a few weeks

The Idea came from a combination of a few things. Way, way back in the day in another life I was a chef, one of the most used and best multipurpose knives in a professional kitchen is the Cleaver. There really isn’t anything that you cant do with it. And from living, traveling and working in Asia for so long you cant help notice the 30 year old cleaver being used in every chow shop from Bangkok to Hong Kong. It is just that versatile.

I am also a big fan of smaller Wharncliffe style knives for self defense. So when I was designing this I knew I wanted a straight edged blade. On a resent trip to Indonesia I saw a Pineapple street vendor chopping with a cleaver that had an edge ground into the front. I thought it was a brilliant idea, basically you get two Wharncliffe style cutting surfaces on a single blade that can be used for cutting on every imaginable motion.

And after watching the movie “Wanted” and seeing the Cuban guy slicing and dicing a cleaver I knew I wanted to have a cleaver in my collection. So the “cool” factor is also a part of this design

But you cant really carry around a cleaver without looking like a serial killer so I figured why not chop it down in size. And after getting my hands on one of Roberts other knives [the DROP-POINT-P.D.K.] I really liked how the handle fit in my hand and the blade length.

So I drew up a Cleaver design inspired by his handle but with a cleaver head and a dual grind – with Roberts considerable talent this bad boy popped out. Big thanks for Robert for taking this on for us.

I think it will be great for everything from utility to fighting, something you can use on a camping trip or stashed around your neck in some 3rd world suck-hole – all in a sharp looking package.

Here it is with a couple of different Grinds:


Click Here to See Pictures of the DVM Pocket Cleaver With a Couple of Different grinds >>>

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James G. pimping the Drop Zone Recce Smock in Baghdad

After publishing an article throwing some love to the classic M-65 Field Jacket the guys over at Drop Zone Tactical challenged me to try out their updated take on the Field Jacket, the Recce Smock.

So they were kind enough to shoot one out to me here in Iraq to try out, I had actually already heard of Drop Zone and the Recce Smock from our correspondent Rob Krott who has previously raved about them.

After looking it over on their website I was first concerned that it was a really heavy jacket, something I would have limited use for here in Iraq even during the winter. When it arrived I was pleasantly surprised that it was not a bulky jacket like I had previously thought, but a well engineered unlined mid-weather jacket.

The first real thing I noted was the Recce Smock is designed around someone who would be wearing a full kit and helmet. It fit like a glove while I was wearing my armor carrier and chest rig allowing me full and unobstructed movement. Even the hood was designed for someone who is wearing a helmet, it is actually the only jacket I have ever known where I can wear my helmet with the hood over without feeling I am in a neck brace.

Click Here to Keep Reading – TACTICAL CLOTHING – FIELD TESTED: Drop Zone Recce Smock >>>

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DESERT TAN – CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR Tribute Shirt
URBAN BLACK – CIVILIAN CONTRACTOR Tribute Shirt

After several requests [And with the substantial help of Pimps and Mercs] we are making our Civilian Contractor Tribute Shirt in DESERT TAN and URBAN BLACK.

This shirt is available for pre-order until Monday, April 18 for the reduced pre-order price of 20.00 [22 bucks for XX], retail is 27.00 so you folks are getting a nice discount for buying early.

After Monday, April 18 all pre-orders will be closed and the shirts will ship out about a week later, leftover shirts will be for sale after then for 27 bucks so get in on the cheaper 20 buck price by pre-ordering.

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS AND TO PRE-ORDER >>>

~James G
Founder – Editor in Chief
Death Valley Magazine

Clcik Here to Comment or Ask a Question About the Pre-Order >>>

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A couple of Security Contractors [DVM's very own Bubba G] with Some of Saddam’s gold and silver plated AK’s

Read Part 1 Here >>>

My bro did a great overview of humping the AK in International Security Contracting so in this article I wanted to go over some of the issues one will run into when using an AK on contracts overseas, specifically in Iraq.

Unlike most other contractors I am fortunate enough to be in a unique position where I am able to fire thousands of rounds through an AK here in Iraq every week due to the generous range time allotted to my team. Believe it or not most contractors are lucky to get range time a few times a year.

I know some guys over here that have not fired their weapons in way over a year and some who have never even fired the rifle they were issued. I am sure it sounds crazy to some of the folks reading this, but to the old hands in contracting who are reading this you are probably saying “yep – just like that”.

Before I started contracting in Iraq I really didn’t have much experience with the AK outside of some AK’s I owned and didn’t shoot much [I actually bought them as an investment]. And on my first couple of gigs in the Middle East I mostly carried and M4, so when I started working in Iraq this time around the AK was a relativity new weapons platform to me.

So after a shit-load of time training, humping and shooting the AK in Iraq I have noted several operational quirks that folks who are planning to hump an AK in Iraq should know about.

Click Here to Keep Reading – GUNS: The Kalashnikov Rifle in Security Contracting – Part 2 >>>

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We recently privately opened up the DVM Knife, Gun & Knucks Club to 100 Members, [the “Original 100”] at the 7.62MM Level usually reserved for folks that have been with DVM for a while.

Over half the spots are already taken and the last ones are filling up fast, if you are interested in joining up with some like minded folks you can check out the details here:

http://www.deathvalleymag.com/kgkc762/

Membership Drive is over – All available member slots have been taken, membership is only open by invitation now – thanks for all of the guys in the ORIGINAL 100

Click Here to Comment >>>

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