History of One Hundred Concepts
One Hundred Concepts is a 3 man company based out of Tennessee focussing on the development of tactical kit and equipment that provides an edge for customers across the globe. Frustrated with gear and lack of ingenuity, the team are building upon a line of products and striving to make our lives easier through better kit applications.
For more info - visit the One Hundred Concepts website.
Why the Chemlight Kit by One Hundred Concepts?
I discovered One Hundred Concepts a couple of months ago and I purchased the LightCap that they produced for my Surefire M300V. Whilst browsing the website I came across the Chemlight kit. In an urban environment I use chemlights along with others to mark buildings and routes such as buildings containing casualties, safe buildings etc... Previously I used to carry them in a dangler attached to my chest rig or in side pouch on my plate carrier, which required me opening a pouch and taking split seconds of attention off of what was in front of me. I later moved to hanging them directly off of my 1st Line Gear and have kept them there ever since, since they were easy to grab and easy to pull. One thing that irked me was that sometimes they would be caught and ripped off of the shockcord or paracord and I'd lose them when in an urban or wooded environment. The Chemlight kit appeared to offer a couple of solutions for carrying chemlights and being a no nonsense, simple cheap design I added it to the basket and waited for it to turn up.
Product details
Herein lies the product description from the website;
One Hundred Concepts - Chemlight Kit
The Chemlight Kit was designed to increase camouflage, noise, and light discipline to chemlights carried on your kit. Instead of shiny, white, highly visible chemlights dangling haphazardly from your belt or chest rig, the Chemlight Kit keeps them neatly together, well camouflaged, and protects them from the degrading elements.
The Chemlight Kit also comes with six pull tabs for quickly ripping chemlights out of the keeper. The kit includes two variants of pull tabs: serrated and smooth edge. This allows you to distinguish between multiple colors of chemlights by feel, even through gloved fingers. The pull tabs were designed specifically to work with Cyalume chemlights that are available on our website. (link)
Each kit includes a Chemlight Keeper, six coyote brown pull tabs (3 serrated, and 3 smooth), and two keychain cables.
Packaging exterior
The Chemlight kit and components were shipped in a typical rugged transparent sealable bag. The only feature on the exterior was the product label detailing the company logo and product name.
Components
The Chemlight package comes with three main components; Chemlight keeper, 6x pull tabs (3x serrated and 3x straight) and 2x threaded keychain cables.
Chemlight keeper exterior in detail
The Chemlight keeper is manufactured using 2x 4" elasticated panels double stitched together on the interior. The material sections are the genuine and officially licensed Multicam pattern.
Measurements
The Chemlight keeper itself measures;
Height 10.5 cm
Width Bottom 9 cm
Width Top 6 cm
Depth 2 mm
The Chemlight keeper weighs 20g.
As mentioned, the Chemlight keeper is manufactured using genuine elasticated Multicam material. At the base of the front and rear panels are two pull tabs from which other attachments can be added if required.
The Chemlight keeper has an opening at the top measuring 4.5 cm diagonally and the base has an opening measuring 6 cm diagonally.
The front pull tab also features the company logo on the front and the website details on the rear.
At the top of the rear panel there is a small paracord loop stitched onto the panel which is used for attaching the Chemlight keeper to a carabiner or existing paracord loop on a belt or plate carrier.
In addition to the Chemlight keeper, the package also contained the 6x PullTabs manufactured using laser cut 500D Cordura material. These individually weigh 2g. There are two variants included, 3x serrated edge and 3x smooth edge. The purpose of having these variants is that it enables the operator to differentiate between two different types of chemlight that may be used on task, i.e. green light denoted by smooth edges and IR denoted by serrated edges. The difference between the PullTabs is noticeable and can easily be felt when wearing gloves.
The final component of the Chemlight keeper are the 2x threaded keychain cables. Measuring 11.8cm in length and with a diameter of 2mm these are hardy little parts. When attaching the chemlights to the keychains it's worth noting that to be able to carry 6x chemlights without issues in the Chemlight keeper you should only attach 3x chemlights per keychain, otherwise the risk is of the chemlights coming loose and easily disconnecting from the keychain.
Chemlight keeper mounting variations
The below photos illustrate when the Chemlight keeper is simply used with the Helikon-Tex M81 trousers, with enough attachment points to choose from, it remains low profile but can move around quite a bit and get tangled.
The below photos illustrate the Chemlight keeper when attached to 1st Line Gear. It shows how low profile the chemlight keeper is, how close it remains to the beltkit / operator and demonstrates how the design enables it to offer both sunlight damage and bump protection to the chemlights when stored in the keeper. To keep more secure it could be fed in behind the Yates 463D CQB Belt 1/75" and slightly more held in place.
Spiritus Systems Mk4 chest rig used in combination with the Chemlight keeper. With multiple attachment points on the rig, means that there's likely to be a suitable mounting option for most users. Again stood upright or when mobile, movement of the Chemlight keeper isn't noticeable, however if going prone it may cause issues.
The final set of pictures demonstrate the Chemlight Keeper attached to the Crye Precision AVS plate carrier. Again with multiple mounting locations available it's up to the user as to where to mount it that's accessible and out of the way of other equipment.
Maintenance
Maintenance of the Chemlight kit and other components is minimal.
Use stiff or soft brush to remove excess dirt from the interior and exterior of the Chemlight kit and PullTabs.
Warm water can also be used in conjunction with a tougher brush to remove debris.
Allow Chemlight kit and PullTabs to dry naturally.
Periodically check the stitched paracord at the top for wear and tear as well as the keychain cables and PullTabs for any signs of damage of fraying.
Thoughts and opinion
The Chemlight Kit has one job, protect chemlights from the environment (including physical and environmental damage). As can be seen, it's a simple yet effective design that enables your chemlights to be kept safe and ready for your use. It's worth noting that I personally affix ranger tape to the bottom 50% of the chemlights to a) protect them from bumps, scrapes and damage and b) to customise how much light is emitted when cracked. Being extremely lightweight the Chemlight keeper is a simple unobtrusive attachment to your belt kit, chest rig or plate carrier, taking minimal space and it's hardly noticeable. The addition of the 6x reusable PullTabs is also great with the added effect that they are each identifiable (straight vs serrated edge) to tell the difference at night or when in the thick of it. One Hundred Concepts do sell the Chemlight Kit Refill, which consists of an additional 6x PullTabs (3x straight and 3x serrated) in the event you lose one or more when out on the ground.
Innovative, affordable, mission specific designs are a fantastic opportunity for companies to give to the end user something unique that's unrivalled and has a place in the modern market. One Hundred Concepts is one of those companies that yet again have designed and manufactured an item specific in it's use, but is another 'small thing' to improve the lives and reliability for those in the Military, Law Enforcement or as a civilian. Attached to the 1st Line Gear I own I've been using it a lot during urban environment training and close combat ranges and it's living up to high standards.
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Final Note
I am not paid for my blogs by the manufacturers or companies that I purchase my items from. I am not offered freebies to promote a product. These blogs are purely written from my own experience in truth to help advise and inform others who may wish to purchase the items or understand more about them. If I am sent a freebie to review this will be stated at the beginning to make you aware.