Not So Common Off The Shelf, by GuerrillaLogistician

Reference –  8 B

By GuerrillaLogistician

@glogistician on X.com

Corbitt sat beside his crew, cutting egg crate foam into small squares.  Mario, his second, was checking everyone’s gear as he walked around everyone, verifying their gear checklist and doing a shake and bake test, trying to rattle their gear to see if it would make noise.  Everyone was quiet as they prepared for a long trip behind enemy lines, packs sitting empty next to them.  Knowing this would be a few days, everyone was very focused on their kit, more so than normal patrols and quick operations.  Everything they had put on their list had to be just right to maintain the agile light fighting ability without losing capability.  Most of the former army guys scoffed at the bare bones load wanting more ammo, and be damned the weight, but they soon changed their minds as they adjusted to hit-and-run tactics and the brutal terrain they worked in.

Mario handed Michael some egg crate foam. ” Isn’t this just extra weight? My pouch is already padded.”

Glancing over to Corbitt to see if he heard the comment, “Just do what we told you I am not getting yelled at again like that.”

As packing was complete, the men broke down their rifles and packed their kit into the civilian bags.  While the bags were definitely not tactical, they were subdued in colors and of all sorts of brands, from Kelty to Mountain Hardware.  With all their gear packed in the bags, the men had transformed from partisan to what looked like a bunch of hikers or work travelers, a now more common thing.  Just like the 1920s depression, the conflict had pulled jobs to certain areas, and with the rationing of fuel, many workers pooled together to go to work.  It wasn’t that there was no work anymore; it was that it would cluster and be an explosion of work and effort or nothing at all in some areas.  Many companies also promised better food, etc, as a perk, which helped both the worker and the company keep good people traveling to these jobs.  Work tools and equipment were packed into the truck with the men’s packs locked with little padlocks in mesh bags, preventing illegal searches by local law enforcement that were doing checkpoints and were half honest.  With all the theft and travel, many men would lock their bags in these mesh metal nets, which wouldn’t prevent theft, but it made it less enticing to dig through things.  All of this was just to cover for the clandestine nature of there actual work.  The new baseline for the small team wasn’t being loud and proud it was being quiet and quick.  They looked like the American Migrant workers of the 1920s, just modernized.  Many had traveled for work, usually in their personal vehicles.

The packing was complete except the last few items which were being quickly placed in a few key bags.  Mario was packing away his tiny essay ultra and Xeigu 6100 when Corbitt stopped him.  “Hey brother wait one second we got some extra protection for that” , halting Mario’s final packing.  Going back into a small room he came out with a beaten up cardboard box which he sat down on the bench next to Mario.

Mario looked up at Corbett with a quizzical expression, and then, with a sly grin, he said, “What’s in the box… what’s in the box?” Referencing one of the few movies they had on DVD floating around.

“Open up the box and take a look. Make sure you put it on properly,” Corbitt said as he rechecked everyone.

“Ohh, is it the negligee you’ve always been promising? You shouldn’t have!” Mario replied. Although he was joking around, he opened the box and saw protective covers for both his tiny SA Ultra and the 6100 with vigilante engineering calling card slid into the box. Nowadays, people don’t see protective cases and antenna systems with anybody’s name on them, but originally, they were made by a gentleman in Montana. No one really knows if he got swept up or if he was still producing protective gear like this for electronics because 3D technology is so prevalent these days, from drone chassis to almost undetectable plastic firearms. Although he never produced anything in the firearm range for public consumption, and no one ever assumed he did with all the other vendors, he did produce a lot of protective equipment and was constantly updating, modifying, and correcting issues. These days, the moniker VE is rare in the field, but the slight modifications, updates, and new generations all pointed to what Vigilante Engineering had stood for originally before the balloon had gone up. Was he still out there working away? Was this one of his little protective kits that he used to sell? Or was it some file transferred to somebody else, and VE had long since been dragged away to some penitentiary for the malcontents of this new dawning era of socialist democracy? No one knew for sure, but his name had turned into an urban legend, and almost everything made out of a 3D printer was said to have his fingerprints on it.  Maybe VE was just this conflicts “Kilroy was here”.

Corbett checked on Mario quickly and saw him putting away his radio and tiny SA ultra freshly placed in the tan and green printed plastic cases to help protect the fragile technology that would assist them in their travels. “All right, ladies, let’s get the fuck going. I want to return home before Jodie thinks he’s a permanent placeholder in my house.”

Common Off The Shelf

As many of you may have seen already, we have a podcast called Common off the shelf, and I am showcasing some items we will probably discuss later.  The last of our brave little band of misfits bought cases for his radio, while some of us were Gen 1 purchasers.  Being a podcast about gear, tech, and knowledge, expect a podcast all about VE soon.  Since I highly recommend VE products, let’s understand why you should be interested in these products and why I thought they were necessary to talk about and write an article on it.

https://commonofftheshelf.podbean.com/

Who Is Vigilante Engineering?

To almost everyone online, he’s just another guy from Montana putting out 3D-printed products for your average American partisan. One day, hopefully, I’ll meet this guy, but for now, we’re just two digital brothers on the same track of dealing with the communists who pretend they are socialists who pretend they’re liberals.  All of your technology needs protection, and this guy’s trying to keep your electronics safe. He is also well-known for updating and modifying his devices before they hit the public. Then, as they get into the hands of the end user, he makes Version 2. I’ve talked about him several times on the podcast and other locations because I think his products are a good idea, and he doesn’t overcharge for what he’s doing. As of the writing of this article, we began discussing a new antenna setup for HF. Wyoming Survival and several others tend to get a preproduction test item to see how their inventions are fair. We’ve discussed doing link dipoles and other such things for quite a while now, and he has finally taken the time to design one, but before that, he was known for the tiny SA ultra case.

What are his products for, and how are they tested?

One of the core things that I almost always take everywhere with me is the tiny SA ultra. Not only am I trying to get people to understand radio waves better, but I’m also using it as a demonstration platform for multiple reasons. If you don’t play with your prep devices often, you’ll get very rusty on them. For instance, my tiny SA Ultra was kind of a pain in the butt to figure out initially, and it took me a lot of time to write the initial article I did on how I set mine up. People like Wyoming Survival have expanded on that and made even better changes in their setups than I initially did. I’m always learning, and this device is always with me. Well, one of the things that I dislike when taking random gear to work or other locations is that sometimes I drop items. Needless to say, my tiny SA has been dropped several times.

The antenna has been snapped at the base, the stylist has busted off, and the frame of Vigilante Engineering’s protective case is warped so badly that the red lens cover no longer slides or fits in the case. In fact, the Stylist broke halfway in the case because I had been too lazy to shove it into the secure slot. One of those times, I had slung the case and tiny SA ultra halfway across the parking lot as I swung my pack onto my shoulder. I had not secured the side zipper where it was housed. No, I am not a marine, and I don’t eat crayons, but by God, I’ll turn a cube of steel into a sphere if you give me enough time. I honestly don’t know how far you can drop one of these things or sling it around enough before it actually breaks something internally, and I honestly don’t want to find out. I’m giving it a damn good try and have been debating about buying another case along with another tiny SA ultra just in case. Now, I have the Gen 1 case, and it is phenomenal. The Gen. 2 cases are even better, and I ended up selling a few of these when I was at one of Brushbeater’s classes for a sneak peek at his upcoming shop where several of these protective cases were on sale.

What does he make?

VE makes several cases, as I’ve said before, and I have tested out both the tiny SA ultra, the 6100 case, and the prototype of his new antenna. I haven’t discussed yet that he also makes screw-on caps to protect SMA connectors on your tiny Essay Ultra or even your porta pack. Many companies send electronic devices with little rubber caps made for other things that will eventually fall off and disappear. He has a specific brass screw-on cap to protect your equipment, which I think is phenomenal. So, I’ll show a few photos of what I have. Also, I would like to give a shout-out to A. American is a very cool dude, and I consider a pretty good friend who also bought the case for his 6100. No doubt Matt said to get this for your radio and knew between American’s wife and him the extra protection would be a good call. While his current supply of things is very niche and relatively small compared to other big companies, all of his engineered equipment is well thought out.  From the protective guards for an AR-152 to everything else, he is tested and re-engineered to make it the most optimum lightweight but protective device available.  He also thought out a lot of his products for hand comfort and use, putting little notches places to hide your stylist in and tying off points so you don’t lose your gear.

If I were a betting man, I would say he probably takes his equipment out and rucks with it just to see how things go.  For instance, the 6100 cage and its protective sliding doors that cover up the connecting slots from dirt and debris. In contrast, I was sitting with A. American, and I showed him how if both were slid open, it would set up the radio at a nice 45° angle and make it easier to operate. Needless to say, you can always message him and give him ideas, and I did the same thing when he came out with the dipole antenna and sent it to me. Many people are using chameleon antennas right now, but I am working with a gentleman as an assistant for his NVIS class that is coming up in June. Having been to the class before, we had discussed this link dipole setup and also discussed NVIS in general through a messenger program.  So, one of his prototypes came, and I gave him some feedback on improving it. In such a short time, he had spun around and totally remade his product. He made an even more elaborate antenna base for you to make a custom homemade antenna and keep it in a compact format for hiking or even just being a normal civilian and doing summits on the air.

Evolution of his antenna from top to bottom, making it a faster, more efficient deployable antenna.

6100 Case video from one of the guys selling his products

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xX2nm9cn14

So where do I find his stuff?

There are currently four distributors for Vigilante Engineering. I’m going to start out with the newest one, which is his website. He’s going to be doing a little more expensive custom-made products for the end user, so if you have something you want them to design or print out for your gear specifically, you can go there.  He is adapting and developing his site, so give him time and check back.

vigilante-engineering.com (will have more custom options in the future and currently the sales point for the antenna)

Brushbeater (http://Brushbeater.store)

Father Abraham (http://shop.fatherabraham.co)

Constellation Response (http://constellationresponse.com)

The last thing I will say is different stores may sell different colors of products, so check that out as well.