Tactical Arm Bands

Tactical Arm Bands

Something I have seen recently has been "tactical arm bands" for sale by various vendors. I was issued one of these for a trip to the Middle East several years ago. Mine was made by the Krill Corporation and has a backlit panel for reading your information stored on your wrist. These armbands seem to have come into fashion recently.

Mine is an Army Combat Uniform (ACU), camouflage pattern and uses a CR123 battery to illuminate the inside. Two elastic straps and Velcro fasteners allow you to wear this like a gauntlet on your wrist. For my purpose, this was issued to hold a chart of: call signs, tail numbers and radio frequencies for use during military operations. Since I am old school however, my Rite N Rain notepad did just fine in its place. My go-to notepad used to be the green "Memoranda" pads issued to many military personnel. These were glued together like a scratch pad with ruled pages. The Rite N Rain version adds a better cover and water resistant paper. The tactical armband was supposed to be a replacement for my pocket notepad.

This arm band reminded me of something that a football quarterback would carry to the field. I never used it in the field and thought it was overkill for what it was. It has several layers of plastic with Velcro fasteners on the edges and made a lot of noise when opening. I also noticed a slight hissing sound from the electronic circuit that drove the electro-luminescence panel. My other thought was getting the sand of the Middle East into the barely protected electronic circuit. A small slot for a pen holder is also included, as well as a panel to place a name tape.

Since the new uniform already had pen slots on the sleeve, this seemed redundant and a waste of space. It was also another layer added to your wrist. In cold climates this may be an advantage, but in 100 degree plus heat, it is not. It could also rub your arm if you chose to wear it under your sleeve. So this sat in my Battlefield Airman Module footlocker for several years, unused.

Now I take this out, after posting a video on Youtube.com of it. And after several responses, this is being sold under different names and manufacturers once again. None of them have the illuminated back panel though; many have no lights at all, or include a third party light attached to the arm band by straps or clips. Now they are sold as an accessory you need for long range shooting. Your bullet dope charts go here on your wrist now. I just shake my head and wonder why so many people think you need more gear to take to the field. Real operators do not need more "stuff", it is only a matter of practicing the basics until you do it very well.

The basic dope chart as I was trained was to be attached to the inside of the rifle's scope cover, or laminated and attached to the butt stock. This way the information is attached to the weapon. If you were injured or killed, someone else could use the chart on the weapon to fire it effectively. Now it would seem that it is fashionable to place it onto your wrist.