Scav Eng Design Mentality
“Outdoorsman”. “Sportsman”. “Milsurper”. I’ve been called all of these, but my favorite by far is “Geardo”. Obsessions with “good” gear means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. A person that is climbing Mt. Everest will have different gear requirements than somebody climbing the local hill. And both of those will differ from someone in a warzone being shot at. The relative nature of those requirements will change accordingly.
As the friendly neighborhood Geardo, I have purchased, ripped, lost, and broke countless different gear options from Walmart to West Berlin. From REI to IRA. I started with modifying or making my own gear as a kid, typically stuff from Walmart because that’s all we could afford. I eventually graduated to the wonderful world of Military Surplus (Milsurp), where you can buy anything from Deutschland underwear to inactivated panzerschrecks. My first purchase was German Flecktarn Gor-Tex bibs so I can play paintball in. I didn’t know as a kid that I would be sweating profusely in it, but they gave me camo on a budget price so I was sold.
My Belgian Rucksack, modified externally for quick open/close with extra attachment and internally for compression of gear
The great thing about Milsurp gear is it was created with a never fail mentality. Or at least that’s typically the intent. The designers know that the average infantryman might end up needing to use this piece of gear, maybe a tent, as something totally different, maybe to help carry a wounded solider off the battlefield, and that it should be extra tough. The cost for extra toughness typically means extra weight. And depending on which country you get it from, some might incorporate significantly different ways of thinking than we do in the US, so it’s interesting to see the differing design intents. The big takeaway I found out quickly with Military Surplus, typically across the board, is it is incredibly tough, but also incredibly heavy.
I later incorporated the “fancier” commercial gear, lightweight and ultralight gear from places like REI. Yeah it was great to feel like you weren’t carrying much, but being rough on gear (which I undoubtedly am) I was always bummed when I wore through something quickly or tore something doing something I didn’t think would damage it. I think I was just used to Milsurp gear and expected lightweight, low Denier fabrics to operate the same. They don’t and that’s not their intent. The plus side is you can get very specific, NOT one size fits all gear, that is designed for a specific task and you can lower the weight accordingly.
A US Military Assault Pack and my favorite lightweight commercial pack. There is a significant difference in weight & toughness.
Notice the difference in grab handles, the commercial uses lightweight webbing while the US Army’s uses a piece of heavy 2” webbing folded on itself and double stitched.
This is where Scav Eng comes in. I make gear that is designed for specific intents, but made with tougher materials so they will not fail you when you are out in the middle of nowhere. And if they were to begin to fail, they are made to be easily repairable in the field. No extra bulk, no fancy stuff added purely for cosmetics. I Over-Design and Over-Build for reliability, similar to milsurp, but cut weight to fit specific tasks, similar to commercial gear.
We are made to fit the niche in between Military surplus and Commercial gear. Lighter than Military Surplus, but significantly tougher than Commercial Gear.
Take our Butt Rug for example. A simple packable seat. I think of it as an individual picnic blanket. The difference is the 1000D Cordura that is incredibly tough, and the use of wool, that is incredibly high performing. Sure, I could have made them bigger so they can be used as a full blanket, but then they get too heavy. I could have used fleece to make them lighter, but then you lose the wet weather insulative properties of wool. I could have put ribbon on the outside to hide the stitches and even stitch with a lighter weight thread, but then you would lose the access to fix a ripped stitch by simply melting it, one of the reasons I use heavy-duty Nylon thread. Nylon thread melts easily, similar to paracord. I used to offer them with buckles and straps, until I came up with the Shock Loops. A more simple, elegant, solution that was not only tough, but also lighter. The Butt Rug, as simple as it is, took years of trial and error, and multiple revisions to find the perfect balance of useability, toughness, and weight.
As the business progresses, I plan to bring more, larger products into the catalog with this same design mentality. I’ve been testing multiple product prototypes for the past multiple years, that will hopefully soon be on the horizon of unveiling to the public. So, stay tuned and thanks for the support!
