PDA

View Full Version : Gear Sector ASP Single Point Sling Review



Stickman
6 September 2007, 18:20
Slings become a hard topic to write about, especially when you figure that different people have assorted likes, and dislikes based off previous experiences that they have, or that they have learned about. I'm one of those people that tends to be pretty straight forward on items, and I make no bones that I've never been a single point sling fan.

For a long time, I carried a 3 point sling. This was based in large part on having had poor experiences with single point slings. A loop of thin webbing with a contact point to the weapon doesn't make for a very good sling in my opinion, and that is all that most single point slings have been that I've used. Some have been lacking in stitching, some have been lacking in the quality of hardware, some have been lacking in quality of webbing, and all had been lacking in overall appeal based off my needs. I use a sling on my duty weapon as a city cop, and my carbine sees more than an average amount of use. I need equipment that works, and works well. Equipment failure isn't an option in my book, and solid choices can help prevent this from happening, though Murphys law seems to get involved in almost every aspect of police work at some point.

I could gripe and complain about single point slings for a long time, in the way they feel, the pads that some people use, the way they attach to the weapon, the extra parts or long extensions, and other things, but no doubt you get the idea by this point.

Enter the Gear Sector ASP. The ASP stands for Ambidextrous Single Point, and it certainly is an ambi friendly unit, but that wasn't what made me willing to try it out. The Gear Sector ASP uses a three way mount, and that makes all the difference in the world to me. The hang, the way it lays, and the overall feel make it unlike any other single point sling. However, while that certainly gave it a greater sense of appeal than its counterparts, I still wasn't sold.

Construction of the Gear Sector ASP is broken down into a few categories.

Lets start out by looking at the material itself. The webbing is MIL-W-5625 1″ tubular nylon webbing. This gives it several benefits, first, it is unbelievably strong. One inch tubular webbing is the same material that I have rock climbed with for the past 20 years, and if tubular webbing can handle me falling 60+ feet at 300 feet off the deck, I can certainly trust it to hold any loads that I can put on it with my weapon. Tubular webbing has a few other benefits that it brings with it, especially when viewed for duty use. Tubular webbing isn't like flat webbing, which means it doesn't bow in the middle and dig in like may other slings will. Its heavy duty material supports itself, which is nice when you are wearing soft armor. Tubular webbing is also a soft material with a smooth, tight weave. It is tough enough to resist tearing or getting cut (which is why its used in rock climbing), but the weave is smooth enough that it won't grab or irritate my skin when worn for long periods of time. Lastly, tubular webbing doesn't twist and kink. This becomes a big deal when I'm deploying quickly out of my cruiser and throwing on the sling while running to a high priority call. I don't have to play with adjusting or untwisting the sling, and for anyone who has had to throw a sling on in a hurry, you understand what I mean.

Next, lets take a look at the hardware used. The fasteners are obviously going to be the weakest link in this setup, especially when you figure that its built with tubular webbing. While I can tell you that the male and female ends lock together with a good solid feel, and that you have to grip them hard to disconnect them, that still doesn't impart the overall concrete feel of these pieces. Being naturally pessimistic as a cop, I felt a need to test the polymer hardware myself. I started with looping the sling off a bolt in a tree, and hung off it. Nothing happened. I quickly grew bored of that not so high speed test, and began jumping up and down to shockload the sling. Nothing happened. Again, I grew bored, and decided that I need to do something a little more destructive. I took the sling and chucked it into my freezer for an hour and quickly looped it over a banister and put my weight on it. Nothing happened. The next logical move was to jump up and down on it. Nothing happened. While I understood at that point that the sling hardware was capable of dealing with my patrol duties, I still felt compelled to see what else I could do, and to see at what point that I would reach hardware failure. Eventually I discovered that freezing it overnight, or even for 48 hours had no apparent effect on it, at least not with me weight jumping up and down on it while suspended from a banister. Dirty looks and muttering from Mrs. Stick ended that series of tests. My next series of tests were based off locking the end of the female side into a vise, and trying to twist the sling enough to pop the male/ female connectors out of union. No luck with that test either. I figured that I had put the sling through more abuse than I had any right to give it, and certainly more than I could realistically expect to ever dish out to it in training or real world use. ITW GhillieTex™ brand hardware evidently holds up well, and as an added benefit, it color matches the sling material, which isn't a big deal either way for those of us who use black slings.

Moving along, the third part that locks it all together is the thread and stitching. Gear Sector states that stitch using MIL-VT-295 #69 bonded nylon thread with double box stitching. I don't pretend to know the intricacies of the thread world, nor am I master of stitching methods, but the above testing and abuse showed me that this thread and stitching holds up well to abuse.

Gear Sector had a final trick up their sleeve. The modular use of multiple attachment stubs meant that I could run the same sling for my shotgun, as I do for my AR15, FAL, and AK. This gives me one sling instead of a stack of slings attached to weapons. My extra slings are stored, and I tend to just bring one sling with me to training or callouts. Team weapons also benefit nicely from this as team members can swap out weapons if needed without getting out of their slings. My guys have found it nice to be able to unplug while staging or stuck in the van/ truck, but still leave their sling on.

I've used a Gear Sector ASP on my duty weapon for roughly the last three years, and I would have continued using it if Jason Trusty hasn't developed a second generation ASP. The new variant gives stronger color matched hardware with a reduced IR signature, color matched thread, and a new auxiliary stub design to prevent any slippage.

I started out this thread complaining about single point slings, and in general, I still dislike them, but the Gear Sector ASP is so different from the other single point slings I've used, it deserves to be in a class of its own.


Here is the ASP shown locked in the Magpul UBR stock with a QD mount.

http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/Magpul/IMG_4109%20Stick.jpg



Gen II ASP in black.

http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/Weapon%20Slings/IMG_2917%20Stick.jpg



Coyote Brown Gen II ASP on a training weapon.

http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/Magpul/IMG_4789%20%20Stick.jpg



Foliage Green GEN II attachment on 11-87P.

http://stickman.rainierarms.com/galleries/Weapon%20Slings/IMG_2935%20Stick.jpg

Eric
8 September 2007, 19:23
Reviewed Item: Gear Sector ASP Sling

The ASP Sling arrived in a nice clear plastic clamshell type package.
According to the manufacturers web site regarding the construction:
· MIL-W-5625 1″ tubular nylon webbing
· MIL-VT-295 #69 bonded nylon thread
· ITW GhillieTex™ brand hardware
· Double box stitch construction
· Made in the USA!

The nylon webbing was a bit narrower than some others, but the material is soft and didn’t dig in, like some lesser ones that I’ve seen. The ends of the material were neatly heat-sealed, to prevent any stray threads from cropping up. Stitching was clean and it doesn’t appear likely that the box stitching will let loose.

Gear Sector has an unusual configuration in that one sling can be used with a variety of weapons, though the use of several adaptors. The adapter is affixed to the weapon and contains the “male” hardware. The sling has the “female” end secured to it. The two pieces securely click together. The arrangement is fast and simple to use. It’s nice being able to ground a weapon or temporarily secure it in a rack, but then being able to immediately click the weapon into the sling, which is still worn by the user.

I like the simplicity of the ASP sling, but perhaps I should have stated earlier that I typically don’t like single point slings for what I do. When the weapon is released, it swings around a bit, bouncing off my legs and knees. This would occur when doing transitions, going hands on with someone or otherwise doing something that requires the use of both hands. With the ASP sling, the weapon drops lower than I prefer. I like having the buttstock closer to my shoulder to speed up the presentation from the slung position.

I still use a three point sling on my primary patrol carbine. One glaring negative aspect of such slings is the amount of webbing that gets in the way of manipulations. Through repetition I’ve overcome this problem, but it’s still something to be considered.

The ASP Sling that I reviewed was the most current version – generation 2. I installed it on a 16” AR15 carbine using the Gear Sector SPRE mount that replaces the receiver extension end plate. In my opinion, this is THE mount to use with the ASP sling. It’s very low profile and the slot for the sling has just enough room for the material to pass through. It goes in snug, but without any hassle. I’ve seen a lot of similar mounts that are far too large and obtrusive. Gear Sector did a great job on this piece.

I had used an earlier version of the ASP sling and experienced the sling coming loose. At first, the same thing occurred with the Gen 2 version…until I read the directions. Obviously as a male, I find it unnecessary for silly things like directions. Why would the manufacturer know better on how their product is used? Directions were not included in the packaging, but are available at www.gearsector.com. After routing the webbing through the hardware in the correct fashion, the sling was rock solid. I abused it the best I could, but the sling refused to come loose. Apparently Gear Sector has combined stout materials with some solid engineering.

Bottom line. The ASP single point sling from Gear Sector is a well made piece of equipment. It’s another option worth considering.

m24shooter
21 December 2007, 15:58
The Gear Sector ASP Gen 2 single point sling


History:

I’ve been running one version or another of an ASP for several years. Previously I used a variety of two and three point slings, but found them all lacking. Too much strap hanging all over, difficulty in shooting from prone, problems getting in and out of vehicles, shoulder transitions, having to mess with sliders and buckles when changing position, and having an octopus hanging off of my rifle was nothing but frustration. Getting the weapon out of the way and keeping it there when I didn’t want it and keeping it handy when I did were difficult with these setups. The ASP solves all of these issues.


Construction:
The ASP is composed of a loop that goes around the body and an attachment stub. The loop is fairly basic, and is adjusted by means of adjusting the base slider that lengthens and shortens the loop which is doubled back on itself. This allows the sling length to have a broad range of movement, but completely eliminates any web stubs hanging from the loop.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a391/m24shooter/aspgen2wm.jpg


The attachment stub is a short length of web that is either woven through a receiver end plate, H&K hook, or QD button. There is also a web stock adapter for weapons that don’t have the ability to accept one of these methods.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a391/m24shooter/auxadwm.jpg

In the current Gen II models, there is a new means of securing the stub to the weapon. The new ladder-loc is a two piece buckling arrangement that can be quite difficult to get the web threaded through. I found a pair of pliers helpful in pulling the web through. While this might seem like a drawback this actually provides a much tighter lock when the webbing is pulled on, and locks the buckling arrangement down even tighter. The other end of the stub is half of a side release buckle that engages its counterpart that is permanently part of the sling body. The stub is the means by which the weapon is attached to the sling. By having this two part mounting system, one sling can be used by several weapons, or the user can change weapons without having to change slings.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a391/m24shooter/rrauxadsprewm.jpg

The arrangement of the sling with the triangular tri-glide orients the sling loop and attachment stub in such a way that the weapon is kept in the right position by allowing the weapon to hang more naturally and comfortably.


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a391/m24shooter/triglideauxadx2wm.jpg

The single loop of tubular webbing is smooth enough to slide wherever it is needed, and the tri-loop allows the weapon to hang without problem or twisting of the sling itself. The sling lets me slide the weapon quickly to my offside where it can rest out of the way if needed, and will quickly return when I want to bring the rifle back up. The narrower 1″ web lets the sling fit around a lot of the obstructions on LBVs, LBEs, and PCs without being uncomfortable when worn over a shirt alone.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a391/m24shooter/aspgen2m4mavwm.jpg

The tubular webbing allows a higher degree of comfort than would be expected with such relatively narrow webbing because of its nature. The tight weave of the webbing also means that the sling is not easily frayed or torn. Even with the sling being routed over and around mag pouches, exposed mags sticking out of open-topped shingles, pistol mag floorplates, EMT shears, and multitools the webbing has shown minimal wear with no tearing. The surface shows some “fuzziness” from sliding over these various obstructions, but no serious damage. The tubular web prevents the edges from rolling downward and biting the user. The loop of the sling is cut quite generously, and I had plenty of material to fit around both myself (I am not small) and all manner of gear to include a shirt and light jacket, a chest rig, a MAV and PC.

All of the hardware on the new Gen II slings has been upgraded and improved. The original hardware on the first gen slings was tough and heavy duty. This version is even better. It is very sturdily constructed ITW GhillieTex. As soon as you snap the side releases together you notice the difference from lighter hardware. The buckles lock together and stay together. The hardware is also color matched to the sling and has a low IR signature.

Attachment:
The ASP is best used when attached in the vicinity of the rear of the receiver and the receiver extension. Attaching it to the rear of the stock allows the weapon to hang too low, and would be a hazard.
In attaching the ASP to my weapon, I used the SPRE also offered by Gear Sector. This is a replacement unit for the receiver end plate that normally is found on the back of an M4 or similar type carbine. It incorporates a sling loop for the ASP auxiliary adapter. I chose the Gear Sector version over others for a several reasons. First, it is a dedicated right hand unit. I didn't want to deal with a loop sticking out on the right side of the weapon and interfering with the forward assist button. Second, it is very low profile. The 1" web allows for a 1" loop, as opposed to the larger 1.5" loop present on most other end plates that incorporate a loop. While this may not seem like much of a difference, when you compare the amount that a 1.5" loop protrudes upwards and can interfere with the quick sweeping of the charging handle, it is noticeable.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a391/m24shooter/spreaspgen2wm.jpg

Strength testing:
To test the strength of the sling I increased the amount of weight and force that I applied to the sling in increasing steps. I attached my sling to a carbine, stood on the weapon and pulled the sling. The buckles stayed together. I put each of my kids (5 and 6 year olds) in the loop of the sling and lifted them free of the floor, which they thoroughly enjoyed. I lifted 300 pounds of weights with the sling without compromising either the hardware or the webbing. At that point I decided that the sling was capable of withstanding pretty much anything I was going to put it through.

Use and application:
With the detachable stub, the sling solves my biggest issue with two and three point units: no straps to hang up on equipment when getting into or out of a vehicle. Keeping the weapon stowed in a safe, gun rack, or trunk can be done without the sling being attached to the weapon. When the weapon is needed it is a simple matter of “clicking in” as Jason puts it.

The weapon and sling is worn so that the loop goes over the strong shoulder, behind the back, and under the support arm. The attachment stub is positioned so that the weapon is in front of the chest when you want to keep the weapon ready for use. In order to prevent the weapon from being bounced around on the body, it is necessary to keep a hand on the weapon in this position. This point is often overlooked by users, and results in some undeserved criticism of the sling as well as a few knocks to the groin. The single point design is not intended for long term patrols or running around with no hand on the weapon; it is meant for primarily CQB type work in which the user is going to have a hand on the weapon most of the time and the weapon is going to be kept in a ready position.

When the sudden need to transition to a sidearm comes up the support hand guides the weapon along to the weak side while the strong hand draws the pistol. The support hand can be kept securing the primary, or it can be brought up to the pistol. The simplicity also provides for maximum ease when changing shoulders: you just pop the stock up and over the stub. For times that the weapon is not going to be needed or needs to be placed in a more secure posture, the sling and weapon can be rotated under the support arm so that the weapon hangs at the side with the buttplate under the support arm. It is also possible to slide the weapon a little farther back along the support hip to minimize both visibility and accessibility from the front. This keeps the weapon clear of the front and out of the way, but still able to be quickly brought back into action. A possible scenario for this would be restraining a subject or trying to keep a lower profile posture or any other procedure where both hands will be needed. Another benefit of the ASP is that there is no adjustment needed to shoot the rifle with an ASP from prone either.

Conclusion:
After several years of using the ASP I remain a satisfied Gear Sector customer. The sling has been proven to be a great piece of gear. If Jason had not released the Gen II, I would still be using my Gen I. The sling has proven its value and utility to me through these years of use on several platforms. The materials and construction are first rate and the service from Jason is even better. Order from Gear Sector with confidence, and after trying the sling out you will have the same level of confidence in the equipment.