Särmä TST Assaulter Back Panel

Do you carry your breaching tools, smoke and frag grenades, and extra magazines at the bottom of a jingling satchel or with some DIY zip-tie setup on the back of your plate carrier? Get with the times and acquire our modular Assaulter Back Panel that solves all your assaulting problems!

By securing mission critical items in the back panel, you keep them organized and with you even during rougher insertions, such as riding a snowmobile or boat, or rappelling from a helicopter. After the insertion, your battle buddy opens the back panel pocket, and the contents inside are easily accessible to him as you e.g. move around buildings or indoors in stack formation.

Features

As the name suggests – this is meant to attach to the PALS webbing on the back of a plate carrier and carry all sorts of gear that might be needed, especially when assaulting urban areas. The back panel is also suitable for slower-moving operations, where backpacks are left in vehicles/caches, and you just carry your optics, communication devices with batteries, water, food, and perhaps a thermal jacket.

• Takes up 4 columns and 6-7 rows on PALS webbing
  • Typically, there are 2 columns left free on the PC's back
  • The back panel can be installed to one side, leaving space for a larger breaching tool holder
• Three separate sections:
  • Outer pouch
  • Main pouch
  • Flat pouch for breaching tool

The Assaulter Back Panel is packed with modularity and features – let's go through them in detail.

Outer Pouch

Besides carrying equipment with the zipper closed, the flap of the outer pouch can be opened, rolled up and secured out of the way with the hook and loop on the inside bottom of the pouch. This way, items stored in the pouch are easily accessible to your fellow fighter.

• Dimensions approx. 25 x 18 x 6 cm / 10" x 7" x 2.3", fitting, for example:
  • 4-6 hand grenades / smokes (depending on the shape)
  • or 7 AR magazines (30 rnds)
  • or 6 AK magazines (30 rnds)
• The inside back of the pouch is hook and loop PALS panel
  • Can attach both hook and loop inserts and MOLLE pouches

Main pouch

The main pouch is larger, and the zippers open from the top down to about halfway. The resulting flap can be folded down into the pouch. The unique feature of the main pouch is that it continues from the bottom as a roll-up tube. It comes with a divider containing a stiffener, which attaches inside the main pouch with hook and loop if you want to use the main pocket and the roll-up part as separate compartments.

• Dimensions approx. 35 x 18 x 10 cm / 14" x 7" x 4" with the roll-up part rolled up
• The inside back of the pouch is hook and loop PALS panel
• One-wrap loop for a hydration bladder
• Slits on the sides for a hydration tube or radio antenna

The roll-up extension aims to increase the volume of the back panel. Additionally, the tube is another way to access items packed into the main pouch. The tube is designed to fit a Scott Promask FM3 gas mask. Instead of a gas mask, it can also hold additional clothing or medical equipment.

Even if your shoulder mobility is limited, the user can reach to open and close the roll closure. Note that when you open the rolled tube straight, loose small items will likely fall out. Also, the main pocket will jettison loose items if the divider is not in place. So, if you plan to use the tube by opening it, it's not advisable to store a large collection of separate small items in it.

"Bolt Cutter" Pouch

Behind the main pouch, there is an additional 15 cm / 6" wide flat pouch for a long breaching tool, such as bolt cutters. This pouch is not connected to the main pocket's roll-up extension. The pouch is indeed very flat, so a full-size sledgehammer head won't fit in, but medium-sized bolt cutters or a crowbar most likely will.

• With the hook and loop extension opened, the depth of the pouch is about 50 cm / 20"
• With the extension pushed up into the pocket, the depth is about 32 cm / 13"
• Not really suitable for storing a hydration bladder

There's no separate attachment method for the bolt cutters etc., but with a little DIY spirit and imagination, you can create a suitable fastening for your own particular tool. At the top of the pocket, there are both plastic D-rings and 25 mm webbing loops for custom attachments.

Other Features

On the sides of the back panel, there are elastic compression cords with locks. You can keep these as they are set or thread the straps through the loops on the back panel according to your preference. Near the bottom and top of the outer pouch, there are also compression straps with SR buckles. These can also be moved or removed if desired.

In addition to attaching it to a plate carrier, you can directly attach shoulder straps to the Assaulter Back Panel if you need to carry it like a backpack. With D-rings and other loops, you can also attach this back panel to a plate carrier in other ways, but we recommend direct MOLLE/PALS attachment.

TL;DR? Watch the video for a detailed walk-through of the product:

Materials

Main material 500D Cordura, backside laser-cut 500x500D Cordura laminate, and breaching tool pouch extension 1000D Cordura. All materials are NIR-compliant according to Finnish Defence Forces’ specifications.

Made in the EU

The manufacturer is the Finnish company CPE. The first batch of Assaulter Back Panels is made in Finland, but the company also has other factories within the EU.