Aliens Meets Cobalt Kinetics | SHOT 2017
Who has watched Aliens (you know, the movie where Ripley shows up and “brings it” to the xenomorphs with the Colonial Marines) and wondered why no one has done a round counter like the one on the pulse rifles the good guys used? Well, wonder no more. Cobalt Kinetics has “done it” again, by engineering a solution that combines both functionality and amazing aesthetics.
It was teased at Range Day, and they had some transport issues with getting it here earlier. But, really, it doesn’t matter, because it is here now. It actually is even better in person than it was as described. And we have the first pictures and coverage of it here!
It is actually a very simple concept that provides perfect accuracy that is not tied to assumptions (like the acoustic or impulse driven counters). This actually uses solid state components embedded in the magazines coupled with either a wired or wireless system (all the pics I have today are of the wired). What that means is that EACH magazine knows it’s current state. You can have a dump bag full of mags, pull one out and get a correct count.
Additionally the round count starts changing color based on the number of rounds, from green through red as you get closer to zero. When you hit last round you get a warning symbol. The system, since the tech is tied to the magazine, doesn’t know if there is a round in the chamber when the magazine is empty (so it will never display a “0”). The wireless version uses Bluetooth and has the ability to get total rounds counts (and has all kinds of applications for HUDs and management applications). The system also has a number of settings you can adjust like brightness and sleep timer.
Really this is just the tip of the iceberg with the system’s capabilities. If you are at SHOT, come by booth 2660 and see the system for your self–it is not vaporware!
Tom is a former Navy Corpsman that spent some time bumbling around the deserts of Iraq with a Marine Recon unit, kicking in tent flaps and harassing sheep. Prior to that he was a paramedic somewhere in DFW, also doing some Executive Protection work between shifts. Now that those exciting days are behind him, he teaches wilderness medicine and runs an on-demand medical staffing business. He hopes that his posts will help you find solid gear that will survive whatever you can throw at it--he is known (in certain circles) for his curse...ahem, ability...to find the breaking point of anything.You can reach him at tom.r AT thefirearmblog.com or at https://thomasrader.com
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If they could wire this into the HUD of an Eotech that would be something.
So do I have to buy their magazines or will the magazine component fit in my USGI/PMAG M3's? And will it be $1000? And will they make a display sized to fit behind a folded MBUS front sight? Because these things need to be addressed before I greenlight this technology boner.