“YK35” – Marom-Dolphin Special Forces Tactical Vest

Marom-Dolphin is a small Israeli company founded in 1993 that develops, manufactures and markets personal military gear for the Israeli Defence Forces, security personnel, special forces operators and civilian enthusiasts worldwide.  The company’s founders are all IDF combat veterans and have used their in-depth, first-hand experience and understanding of modern operational requirements to deliver soldier-focussed and mission-oriented products of the highest quality.

The company offers a wide spectrum of different tactical vests for all needs and purposes – developed together with their customers.  All Marom-Dolphin tactical vests are ergonomically designed to conveniently and comfortably spread the heavy weight they can carry.  They also fit easily over body armour vests.

Two things are crystal clear from the moment you put this vest on:

1. it is totally focussed on being a combat load-carrying rig that will hold all the basica ammo load and first line equipment that a special forces operator might need for a mission
2. it is also extremely well-made, robust, ergonomic and comfortable

There are clear reasons for Marom-Dolphin’s uncompromising design and manufacturing approach.  Firstly, their equipment is developed by a private company – by soldiers, for soldiers.  This is not the usual designed-by-committee, compromised-by-conflicting-requirements, delivered-by-the-lowest-bidder type of government contract.  Secondly, they have a boots-on-the-ground level of knowledge and understanding about the kinds of mission equipment and operational requirements that their gear must support. 

This means that this vest is 100% operationally-ready as soon as you take it out of the bag.  There’s no fiddling around with a dozen bags of individual pouches and struggling to figure out how and where to attach them.  It also means that there’s no time wasted by needing to work out unit SOPs for pouch attachment, or needing to run briefing sessions to inform squad members of those SOPs.  Don’t get me wrong – I fully appreciate the advantages and flexibility of MOLLE gear…  But sometimes the “Keep It Simple, Stupid” rule is still the best.

So – if this baby is ready to go straight out of the bag, what type of, and how much, “Go” gear will it take?  Well, here’s a day’s worth of “battle rattle” that I loaded one up with for a good day of airsoft skirmishing:

• 12x M4 magazines
• 5x BB-blast grenades
• 1x personal radio and headset
• 2x thermo-baric grenades
• 1x spare 9.6v battery for my AEG
• 1x Gerber multi-tool
• 1x map
• 1x hydration bladder
• 1x Pro-tec helmet (in the special helmet carrying pouch)
• 1x bag of 2,000 BBs
• 2x speed loaders
• 2x MREs
• 1x ground sheet
• 1x Gore-Tex jacket
• 1x Gore-Tex trousers
• 1x 6-ft. length of rope (in the special pouch designed for this purpose)
• 1x poncho liner
• and there was still room for more!

Overall, my impression of this vest is that its one hell of nice piece of kit – its very well thought-out, very well made and extremely practical and comfortable.

Two strips of semi-rigid foam provide protection for the wearer’s spine and help support the load carried in the back pouches.  Internal foam pads and adjustable straps on the sides of the vest help to make it the most comfortable combat vest I’ve worn to-date.

Like all Marom-Dolphin vests, the Special Forces Tactical Vest is available in tan, black and IDF-standard Olive Green.  The full range can be found at: www.zahal.org

More info about Marom-Dolphin can be found at: www.marom-dolphin.co.il