The Military Equipment Crisis

NATO forces no longer able to provide gear fit for the mission.

Official issue gear has always been equipment meeting the minimum standards and the lowest possible price. This is why any serious fighter, and pretty much all SOF operators, have always selected their own gear, based on their own operational and individual requirements.

NATO forces, however, may it be the U.S. military or Scandinavian military, not only are now issued substandard equipment that no longer meets minimum standards, but are not even able to source better quality gear, no matter their budget. Manufacturers have gone woke, insane, or a combination of both, and simply no longer produce suitable equipment for warriors.

Let’s look at a few providers:

Brynje of Norway

This may be the most mind boggling case in military history. In 2016, Brynje somehow secured a contract to equip Norwegian Special Forces with base layers marketed as “Tactical Arctic”. Flammable base layers that would melt and drip upon contact with a fire source, turning the wearer into a roman candle. Why? To this day, it is difficult to comprehend. It would however appear that a bureaucrat, most likely female, decided a synthetic fabric with marginally faster drying rate took precedence over fire resistant or fire retardant fabric.

If this was not bad enough, the synthetic fabric used in the inner mesh of the base layers was made of polypropylene. Not only an absolute environmental disasters due to microplastic shedding (now even present in humans’ brain), but also the effect on the endocrine system. So, not only did Brynje and Forsvaret (Norwegian military) equipped its special forces with flammable combat gear, but also with a fabric that effectively nuked their swimmers and testosterone. Possibly linked at this point to Norwegian males having the lowest sperm count in all of Europe, despite otherwise enjoying a better quality of life and a much cleaner as well as less contaminated environment than the rest of Europe.

Brynje, eventually, dropped the polypropylene mesh fabric on tactical base layers in 2024, finally producing suitable wool base layers in a military and Arctic context. However, the reprieve was short lived. Following a radical turn to the left after embracing the UN Agenda 2030 (at which point Brynje no longer sponsored males and only focused on females), they had a bright idea this year to make base layers unisex (we all know a male and female body are identical in shape), and even remove the fly on longs. So, in order to be woke and inclusive to women (who do not belong nor can perform in combat in the first place), operators in the Arctic would now need to pull their pants down, and their longs down, just to take a leak, facing frostbites and significant vulnerabilities in a combat context.

Norrøna

Norrøna, at some point, secured a contract to equip Scandinavian special forces (Norway, Sweden and Denmark) with Goretex shells, sold under the “Recon” name. Besides the gear not being Fire Resistant or Fire Retardant, something I guess we as Nordic special forces have to get used to, the pants and jackets were not NIR-compliant and, you guessed it, effectively glowed in the dark…

Fimbulvetr Tankr-X

Only one company in the world produced snow shoes suitable for Arctic combat operations: the Fimbulvetr Tankr-X. Produced in Norway. But with the company shutting down, due to difficulties competing with state-subsidized cheap gear made by slave labor in enemy countries, there is no longer any acceptable and suitable option available for snow shoes.

Arc’teryx LEAF

Glowing in the dark and not being NIR-compliant was not limited to Norrøna. The Norwegian military eventually got a contract with Arc’teryx LEAF for Goretex shells. Like Norrøna, outside of the multicam version (only used by MJK and FSK during specific ops), none of the garments were NIR-compliant, and all glowed in the dark as well.

Carinthia

The Austrian company, previously known for producing gear of reasonable quality in Europe, including extreme cold sleeping bags, recently decided to engage in full blown fraud. They quietly moved production to Asia, renaming the continent… “extended Europe area”… You can’t make this up. Besides the blatant deceit and fraud under EU laws, resulting, naturally, in a catastrophic drop in quality.

Mystery Ranch

The military equipment train wreck is not limited to Scandinavia. Mystery Ranch, previously known for the quality and mission-ready aspect of its military line, particularly the Jump packs, completely dropped the ball as well shortly after being acquired by Yeti (known for producing cheap gear in China sold in America at an obscene price, and also for one of the largest recalls in American history).

First, they changed the woke to some narrower, thinner and flimsy version designed, you guessed it, to accommodate women bodies, and becoming beyond uncomfortable for men. The actual dudes jumping from planes with the packs. They also replaced the plastic frame in yoke with a much thinner and wabbly version that no longer gives the packs any structural rigidity. The new version is like wearing a duffle bag on your back.

Difference in thickness of yoke's strap between legacy and newer version. Including plastic element previously used to also improve structural rigidity.

Mystery Ranch also increased stitching allowance to 1/4 of an inch, meaning that the webbing has become irregular, making it a challenge to attach and detach pouches, especially with cold fingers with diminished dexterity.

Much greater stitching allowance (the worst in the industry) results in webbing being uneven, and significant difficulty in using in cold weather.

It is worth noting as well that Mystery Ranch stopped producing Berry-compliant packs in Montana many, many years ago, subcontracting instead to various companies all over the countries. Americans at least were lucky enough to get a Berry-compliant version… Other militaries have to make due with packs produced even more cheaply offshore, but still sold at an obscene price.

To add insult to injury, Mystery Ranch no longer honors warranty claims for anyone who dares pointing out the shortcomings of their new production.

Safariland and Magpul

Previously household names in America for anything military and tactical, both have started to shift production offshore, leading to a significant decrease in quality, durability and reliability.

Crye Precision

While the Crye Precision G3 Combat Pants remain a standard in combat gear, and are still made in America, they are very difficult to get. Ruins your pants in some op? Except to have to wait several months for a replacement.

One should also remember the complete fiasco the G4 combat pants, supposed to be an upgrade and improved version of the G3’s, have been. As per a review by one of our guys.

No Suitable Equipment

At this point, there is no longer base layers suitable for Arctic operations and sufficiently durable for a military environment. There is no longer Goretex shells suitable for military operations. Reliable and Jump packs ready for the mission are not longer available. Even suitable magazines are difficult to find. Mere combat pants still exist but are a challenge to source and replace.

It is now gear designed to accommodate women, at the expense of the actual warriors needing and using it, impractical for male needs and bodies, expected to melt on your and glow in the dark. Most being also produced in, and thus relaying on, enemy states.