CONTACT FRONT!!!!: CTOMS Slimline CFAK

Last year I attended the trainer course “Tactical Combat Casualty Care” and since then I’ve been hooked on the concept. Browsing through the internet it soon revealed that there is a lot to read on the subject but especially there are a lot of companies with great medical gear and pouches around.

This blog post will focus on some of the TCCC pouches available. These are sold and issued under the name IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) or CFAK (Combat First Aid Kit).

The current ABL issued IFAK pouch (more commonly known as the “Caiati trousse”) is a great pouch but it has its shortcomings.

The big advantage of the pouch is that it can be ripped open exposing all the medical gear in one instance.

Negative points are that the pouch stays fixed to the MOLLE compatible vest and can’t be torn off. If the casualty is facing down with major injuries to the back, getting to his TCCC pouch contents, installed on the chest side, can be rather difficult. Another less positive point is if the CAT tourniquet is stored inside the pouch(to protect from dust and mud) the complete pouch has to be torn open to gain access. Closing it again with the attached velcro is rather difficult and probably impossible when injured.

Contact-front has been looking to construct its own TCCC pouch but it is still in a development stage.

Meanwhile I came across the Canadian company ‘CTOMS’ which produces a wide range of medical supplies and gear. One of their innovating product they sell is the Slimline CFAK.

I managed to purchase one from CTOMS via a friend in Canada because transport to EU is rather expensive. 100$ for one pouch is a little bit too much. Nevertheless, if you would order 1 or 20, transport would stay the same. So buy in bulk I would say ;-)

Looking up close to the Slimline CFAK, I can only say that it is a well thought of piece of kit. First of all, its constructed of 550D Cordura and takes up two Molle channels. The pouch itself is closed with a silent zipper and when opened folds open in two equal parts.

The front of the pouch reveals a separate pouch which is closed with a velcro flap to store the CAT tourniquet. It protects the CAT and you don’t have to pull open the pouch to gain access.

On both sides of the pouch you can find one channel Molle attachment to mount additional gear like for example a Benchmade Safety Cutter or combat Shears.

The zipper is covered by a velcro flap. The two zipper pulls come together at the top of the pouch where there is a pull tab that can be used to “tear” open the pouch pulling the two halves apart.

The inside of the pouch reveals a modular attachment system that can be tailored to personal preference. There is more than enough room to at least accommodate the items that can be found in the ABL IFAK. Except for the triage card and chest seal that have to be folded in two to be able to fit.

The Slimline CFAK is mounted on a platform which is attached on a MOLLE system like the NFM Bear 2 vest. The platform is available as a horizontal or vertical solution. The pouch can be quickly released from the mounting panel in one motion with a pull on the beaded tab. The pouch can be easily reattached with one hand.