RTTEC Selected Industrial Views
On the occasion of SHOT Show 2019, MILITARY TECHNOLOGY published the third Annual Rugged Tactical Tools for Extreme Conditions (RTTEC) Series that conveys the thoughts and messages of the world’s tactical equipment leaders, according to the question: “How is your company (through your products/solutions) able to protect/help the Special Forces/Law Enforcement Operator?” For printed version, please pick up a magazine at the show. Here’s Silynx Communications‘ response:
For nearly 15 years, Silynx has been focused on protecting Special Forces / Law Enforcement operators by providing communications systems that address the long-neglected issue of duty related hearing loss. Our products are designed to protect the officer’s hearing, enable crystal clear communications and 360-degree situational awareness, all while minimising headbourne weight.
While not directly life-threatening, hearing loss does directly affect an operator’s effectiveness in battle. That loss of effectiveness, of course, is life threatening; we protect them from that hearing loss. Advance consideration for hearing protection and communication equipment purchases has been, and continues to be, neglected by leadership. We are referring to the unfortunate reality, particularly in law enforcement, of leadership deferring spending on a protective headset, noting (although paraphrased, the sentiment is factual): “Well you don’t shoot your gun that often so we’re not going to allocate the budget for a good headset.”
Hearing loss is not just about loud noises like gun shots and explosions. Hearing loss starts to occur at sounds above 85 decibels. For example, a subway train is 90dB, a factory machinery is 100dB, a car horn is 110dB, a siren is 120 decibels. Silynx addresses this challenge by providing a product—a headset with a handsfree push-to-talk unit to key the radio remotely—that does four things for the operator:
- Protects their hearing from dangerous noise
- Electronically passes through ambient sounds so the operator maintains situational awareness of their surroundings at all times
- Provides hands-free controls of the radio to communicate, with or without a helmet
- Provides full capability by only adding 6oz to the operators load
Other systems that do this are impractical as they weigh about 1lbs pound, inseparably attach to the operators’ helmets, and incorporate a long “boom” microphone that tends to break and/or be a snag hazard. They protect the operator’s hearing but impart new problems like adding significant fatigue to the operator’s neck and eliminates their ability to communicate unless a helmet is worn.
Silynx also provides these products to the Special Forces and Law Enforcement operators affordably. Comparable systems are being sold to the government—both law enforcement and the military – at very outdated contractual pricing. Silynx believes in the importance of affordable, quality communications gear that protects operators, so much that our R&D continually invests in providing significant performance enhancements without affecting the price to the end-user.
As the old adage says, “Shoot, move, and communicate.” Silynx takes this seriously and will continue to provide the best products that enable outstanding communications on the battlefield, and healthy hearing off the battlefield.