“No matter how deep Tom Cruise sinks into Scientological insanity, or how pudgy and disconnected from reality Val Kilmer becomes, will there ever be a red blooded American male who wouldn’t put a full nelson on the chance to pilot a fighter jet, and play Maverick or Ice Man in a dogfight? Air Combat USA, and its fleet of SIAI Marchetti SF-260s, pin down dreams of aerial combat, while average Joes and their $1,395 make those dreams come true.
In its Basic Air Combat Maneuvers course, Air Combat USA turns everyone from programmers to stone masons to ballerinas into fighter pilots for a day. You and an instructor (but mainly you. Really.) will command a light attack jet through tense skies rife with enemies, duking it out during 5 to 6 dogfights that will demand precise flying, aerial acrobatics, heavy G forces, weapons lock…all the fun stuff leading up to, but excluding the part where someone gets hurt. And from takeoff to landing, the experience, and every Hot Shots Part Deux quote you utter, will be digitally recorded on 3 cockpit cameras for you to take home, sync with a deep cut of musical drama, and upload to YouTube like your man in the video…”
Take a California legal S&W M&P15, put a tri-color dot optic and 6-position stock on it, then add an 18 volt rechargeable chainsaw with “fast swap bayonet mount”.
Then paint it in a gender-confused scheme that has nothing to do camouflage (or anything remotely tactical) and put a tail on it. What do you have?
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Honest Abe’s mom was killed by some kind of supernatural creature, driving him to pursue a career of slaughtering vampires and their slave-owning allies. Who knew? It’s based on Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel.
Well, we’ll tell you. All of the manufacturers have been notified of our 12 Days of Tactical Christmas contest winners. These folks will have gone into the order queue, but please give them time to process and then ship your prizes. Some of the manufacturers will notify us (for instance, the 5.11 Tactical MOABs have already gone out, and the Blue Force Gear slings have either shipped already or will ship very shortly) but others will be caught up in their ops tempo and may not remember to do so. You are going to receive your prizes; thanks for participating in the contest! If you think that was cool, wait ’til you see what Tactical Fanboy, BOLO Report and Soldier Systems Daily are all doing for Christmas this year. It’ll be epic.
MilSpec Monkey’s got a new patch out, if you’re needing one. Maybe suggest it for your sweetheart (or your mom) as a last-minute Valentine’s Day gift for ya. You can find it on the MSM site now in several color schemes.
Nothing says I love you like a bulletproof thong. (They also have bulletproof wraps and regular bulletproof bikinis, if she doesn’t like dental floss defining her ass.) Note: absent the documentation of a proper ballistic test, we wouldn’t recommend you wear these skivvies to a gunfight.
StrikeMark has introduced a Glock mount to their line of GoPro mounting products. Designed to fit all Glock models, it’s made from 6061-T6 Aluminum with a powder coated matte-black finish and comes with a nylon-tipped set screw and a 3/32 hex key for easy installation.
EA has released Battlefield 3: Aftershock, a free game app on the iTunes store inspired by the upcoming movie ‘Act of Valor’. It’s a multiplayer game with four weapons (five, with an unlock) and “leading edge graphics”. Not bad for something free.
Need a new hat? Want a new hat even if you don’t need it? The new MilSpec Monkey mesh variant GG-Hat is now live on the MSM store. It’s built to shed heat for “desert dwellers” or those of you who are slowly cooked in the humidity of summer along the third coast. The foundation is a FlexFit cap with the top rivet removed and hook-and-loop sewn on.
Tactical Fanboy: the new MSM cap.
The front panel is approx 4″ x 3″ and the rear is 3″ x 3″ with a 5.5″ x 1″ strip at the bottom for name tapes. There is even a 2″ x 2″ diamond up top for those of you who are so high speed low drag and important you need IR tabs. The Monkey mentions it in the description, but we’ll reiterate it: this design gives good functionality without looking like you’re wearing a Velcro wig. There is a lanyard attachment point on the bottom too, should you need it for whatever reason. Pay attention to the sizing details.
It is our contention that all new SOF characters in the next Modern Warfare and Battlefield incarnations should wear these (and maybe use some RAMPS: more on that later).
Spartan Blades showed SSD a couple of new designs at SHOT Show. From top to bottom:
-Spartan Harsey Hunter – This one has been around awhile. Built in cooperation with renowned knife designer “Bill” Harsey, it’s intended to pull double duty as a fighting or hunting knife.
-Spartan Harsey Model 2 – Another knife built in cooperation with “Bill” Harsey.
-Phrike – A smaller knife, it should hit the market this Spring.
Isao Machii is something to see with a sword (though he’s so fast you really don’t see it, so to speak). Stan Lee (who we love) told us about him first. Then we found out he taught the Mad Duo (or so they claim) the week before they learned grappling from Ryan the Yeti and that just really made him a lot cooler. Seriously, if you’ve never heard or watched Isao Machii work, you need to.
A lot of TFB readers shoot real steel. Many of you are current or former military, a surprising number of you have concealed carry licenses (which we think is great, so we’re clear). One question that frequently arises is the issue of securing a weapon. One of the places we follow is the Personal Defense Network. Here’s a suggestion on their part for one security option.
There’s really no way to comment on the penultimate awesomeness of this. It is so epic than any offering on our part would be banal and superficially useless.
Eye Handy has released its first “Best Of” video. Very nice indeed. We highly recommend this self-help series to learn how to do all sorts of things (as we should have made abundantly clear over the last few days).
You need to make some Jello shots for the Superbowl party today? Plan on having a legion of nubile college coeds cheer for you, or just want something besides beer?
This young lady will help.
Gonna skip the Jello and stick with a beer keg? We can help you with that too.
Hate Real Shallow and Vacuous Housewives of Different Cities? Us too. Here’s something a little different.
Foreign Islamist fighters poured into Somalia back in ’06 when the Ethiopian military moved in to assist former president Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. They were happily greeted by al-Shabaab and integrated into much of Somali society, though in August of last year many of them were expelled from Mogadishu after heavy fighting with AMISOM and TFG forces.
Somalia Report has an interview with Shuuto Juuni Mohamed, the wife of one of these fighters. Though her father says she was brainwashed, the 20-year old woman remains loyal to her banished jihadist husband.
From sweet, gravity-defying flips to snake skin canteens full of urine, this video featuring (hilarious) commentary by best friends Matt and Pat easily shows why the Man Vs. Wild video game is the greatest game ever.
Words of warning: you may want to turn your volume down just a tad. Also, the video is a bit NSFW.
Help save a life with Airsoft Extreme. They’re sponsoring a special operation on February 18th for Michelle Smith.
Michelle is married to Matt Smith. Matt Smith has been a long standing member of the airsoft community who has put forth an immense amount of work over the years, but has remained silent, humbly in the background doing work for the community that few have ever know, but all have seen. This Gentleman has created the very image of the airsoft community in the Bay Area (where AEX is headquarterded with a number of organizations that make the Bay Area airsoft community what it is today. Matt Smith is a close friend of AEX and many others in the airsoft community. He came to them with a need, a need that is not for him, but for his wife and a need that no one would want to face. Michelle needs a heart and double lung transplant.
