The Hobbit Hole Part II: Troop Safety and Convenience

October 23rd, 2006

While we reluctantly have to discontinue our knife program, the Hobbit Hole remains dedicated to the well-being of our troops. We will be doing this via a couple of programs.

First is “the carabiner program”. We will continue to give away the Grimloc safety carabiner to any and all troops that request them.

These are nice convenience items, and important safety items. You should never use a real “mountaineering” carabiner just to hang a flashlight or water bottle on your IBA. The danger of getting hung up in some tight spot is just too great. The safety carabiner will break under your weight, freeing you. It also doesn’t get hot in the sun, and is not a source of fragmentation or ricochets.

Normally, we’ll send two carabiners via first-class mail to anybody who requests them. If you need more, or need some for your buddies, just ask, and we’ll do our best to serve you. I know that a lot of hydration systems have a loop in each corner of the unit, and four carabiners make for a handy and safe way of attaching the hydration unit to the back of your armor.

If you need four, we’ll send four. If you need four hundred, we’ll work it out somehow.

While the Grimloc carabiner remains our main “product”, we will continue to evaluate other items for their usefulness to the American Soldier and Marine. Coming in the near future will be evaluations of upgrades for the PASGT helmet that significantly increases the blunt force trauma and ballistic protection provided by the helmet.