Keep him away from the compass man. :D

TR

The new Army......

What's a compass? :munchin

Never used but 'know a guy'
 

One of the Bravo's in my company uses one in place of a shotgun catch (attached with bungee as previously mentioned but to retain it when not in use). I havent see it used in that manner, although we found a good (read: humorous) use for it:

When conducting pistol reload drills, if he brings the pistol in nice and close before dropping the magazine (M9 metal mags) the magazine will drop and be sucked in and stick to the magnet. Voila: dual purpose shotgun catch / dump pouch. We have a promo video of these and are trying to figure out what cool paint scheme to use before selling to the Airsoft crowd...:D

So what is the reason for you question? I'm very curious. :D

A true magnet story.
 

Last year I was being shown around a new factory which made wind turbines. The rather comely young lady who was giving me the tour was walking ahead of me when we passed some huge magnets which formed part of the generators in the turbines. I felt a stirring in my pants as I followed her though the narrow passage way between these large parts awaiting assembly. Now, I am not really an ass man, so I was surprised at the movement in my crotch, until I brushed too closely near one of the magnets and I was suddenly yanked by the front of my trousers and stuck firmly to a generator housing. The 38 spl Colt Cobra that I habitually carry in my pants pocket was now firmly stuck to the magnet. My efforts to disengage must have looked obscene as the pretty young thing turned to look at what all the commotion was about. After a few seconds, I managed to slide myself along the casing until the magnetic force lessened enough to enable me to get unstuck. Now, most of the Cobra is in fact un-magnetic alloy and as far as I can tell, just the steel sleeve in the barrel is the only real large bit of magnetic material in it. Imagine if the gun had been pure steel?

Rare earth magnets will work but I have a couple of concerns. Long time exposure can and will magnetize what they are holding and why I do not use magnets to hold my tools. This could create problems in functioning later.

Second, while a rare earth magnet the size of a quarter and about .25 inches thick will withstand a mighty pull away, it has almost zero lateral force. thus the item can slide off very easily. Not a good idea in a dynamic situation.

Kieth, I counsel against. :)

I remember seeing someone with the AWS Shotgun Retainer with a magnet sewn in. I didn't use it, so I don't know how effective it was, but AWS is in Fayetteville and sell them for ~25 bucks.

http://www.awsin.com/proddetail.asp?prod=50329

Take it to a rigger, sewn in a magnet, and see how it works?

I think its a great idea to add more metal on your kit to hold something. I can't wait to see all the "light weight" Velcro replaced by heavy metal. :rolleyes:

Brilliant if you ask me.

Question
 

Would these magnets have an effect on any of the electronics you guys carry on your person?

In my youth i can remember the hell i got from my folks the first time I put a magnet up to the tv screen (during a Packers v. Vickings football game...) it was kinda funny watching my old man's face [and volume level of his rebuke] change right along with the colors of the screen.:D:eek:

I will admit that I lack the knowledge of the tech that I occationally see service members carrying on their wrists, pouches etc but what are the effects of a powerful magnet, maybe not on the circutry itself, but the digital screens you use to acccess those technologies; are they subject to malfunction when a magnet is in close proximity?

Hell yes........ not to mention they could affect optics, nav equipment, radios, cameras, computers, flash drives, etc etc etc

Oh yes, they can DEFINITELY break your finger if they are large enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-UZYyhk_w0

:eek:

I stand corrected, that is disturbing.

I have a number of rare earth magnets that I use for a number of tasks in my wood working. Some are only 1/4 inch tall and in diameter. two palced together are a pain to pull apart but will slide apart fairly easily, BUT, will snap right back together as soon as you relax. I DO NOT allow any of my electronics any where near them, and that includes my watch.

I have two of these magnets and when I made the mistake of allowing them to come together it literally took all my strength to separate them. The now sit together on the fridge will about four pieces of cardboard separating them. I've had my finger between them and they will leave a mark......

If you've never played with a rare earth magnet they are absolutely nothing like the magnets you are familiar with.


http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=BX08Y0