November 11, 2012

TRU Xtreme Assault Suit

Remember how I said our retail store is having a Tru-Spec weekend at the end of this month? Well today I�m going to write about one of their new products: the Tru-Spec TRU Xtreme Assault Suit.

The Tru-Spec TRU Xtreme Assault Suit takes the Tru-Spec TRU Xtreme Tactical Response Uniform and makes it into a flight suit. You already know whether or not you need a coverup-type tactical uniform, so I won�t go into why it would be helpful or harmful for your mission. That�s a personal thing. What I will talk about is why it is different from other flight suits. The TRU Xtreme Assault Suit has a regular and a fire resistant version and each of those is made from two different lightweight, breathable fabrics. The regular version is made from 50/50 Nylon Cotton Rip-stop fabric. As I talked about in my Tru-Spec Overview and in my post about the M-65 field jacket, Rip-stop fabric really does work. I have personally tried to tear this stuff and it just won�t happen. The fire resistant version uses 80/20 cotton/Nomex. Nomex is a fire resistant fabric, not a treated fabric. That means that the fire resistant properties won�t wear away or wash out. These durable fabrics are combined with reinforced SuperFabric elbow and knee patches to extend the life of the assault suit.

The suit design is the same for either of these varieties. There are a vast number of pockets to hold everything you need for your mission. Here are just the bellowed ones: two slanted chest pockets, sleeve pockets, flapped hip pockets, and cargo pockets. All of these will carry a lot of gear. In addition to these, there is a detachable tri-pocket with document on the lower left sleeve and two front slash pockets on the pants section. There are also hidden zipper pockets at the outer edge of the chest pockets and cargo pockets.

The TRU Xtreme Assault Suit is made to keep you as comfortable as possible. The mandarin collar that can be worn down or up, it has an elastic waist, and it has a bi-swing back to increase your comfortable range of motion. It will also keep out the elements with its two way front zipper with a storm flap. Tru-Spec has also made its assault suit with ventilated underarms to keep you cooler and aid breathability.

To better illustrate why this is different, let me profile Tru-Spec�s other flight suits: the 27-P and its fire resistant version, the XFIRE 27-P. These are basic flight suits based on the 27-P coverall from U.S. Flyers. The 27-P is made from 65/35 polyester cotton twill and the XFIRE 27-P is an 80/20 cotton/Nomex blend. These still have a bi-swing back, a two-way zipper, and lots of pockets, but there the similarities end. The zipper doesn�t have a storm flap, the collar is a regular one, not mandarin, and the waist is adjusted with hook and loop tabs. Unlike the Tru-Spec TRU Xtreme Assault Suit, the 27-P flight suits have adjustable hook and loop sleeve cuffs, so it will help keep the elements out at your wrists. It has reinforced shoulders rather than knees and elbows and the pockets close with zippers rather than with hook and loop tabs. The basic 27-P flight suit has nine pockets and the XFIRE has an additional safety knife pocket on the inside left leg.

Basically it comes down to differences in the pockets, comfort, and durability. The 27-P flight suits are great, don�t get me wrong, but they are basic. They won�t last you as long as a flight suit made with Rip-stop material. And if you need larger pockets or just more of them, you will want the TRU Xtreme Assault Suit. The TRU Xtreme and the 27-P are reinforced in different places, so you should think about where your flight suits normally wear out the most when you choose one. The 27-P is a good, basic flight suit; the TRU Xtreme assault suit reinforces more heavily used areas, increases comfort with ventilated underarms and the storm flap on the front zipper, increases durability with Rip-stop fabric, and beefs up the pockets.