#bdus

Marines may be the first to fight, but these Marines are firster. Recon can be picked up by any UNSC soldier, but the niche it fills is key to the large scale deployment of marines in new, yet uncharted combat zone.

Recon’s camouflage and navigation bonuses are designed to get a small unit safely throughout enemy lines, while its Main Perk, Cartographer, extends their Navigation bonus and clears the fog of war for any allies following in their footsteps.

Recon is a lighter combat BDU, providing decent armor with minimal weight penalties, and decent storage support for the self sufficient missions its intended for. It doesn’t have the increased hardening of Security and Soldier though, and its users will want to end fights quickly when combat is unavoidable.

Stats:

Armor ++

Weight +

Storage ++

Skills:

Camouflage [Field Craft] +

Navigation (Ground) [Field Craft] +

Main Perk:

Cartographer- Recon constantly records and streams navigation data to the UNSC Battlenet. Any Fog of War cleared by a unit wearing recon counts as Obscured instead of Unexplored for allies passing through later on. Permanent defenses remain visible, and allies know the last known location of enemy units and vehicles spotted by Recon armor, even if that location is Obscured. If a character wearing Recon armor did not see enemy units and vehicles, even if they otherwise cleared the Fog of War, such as if the enemy had concealment or moved into the area after the character moves on, they remain Obscured. Furthermore, all alies passing through terrain mapped out by Recon gain Navigation (Ground)+.

Five Pairs of Cargo Shorts That Aren’t Terrible

With summer slouching toward Labor Day, you thought you’d be spared another mention of menswear’s roughest beast: the cargo short. They’ve been roasted by the Wall Street Journal (and many others) and staunchly defended by guys with exceedingly weak cases that seem to boil down to: they’re easy and what we’re used to. Which is the same argument a toddler might make to stay in diapers. The diaper is, after all, sort of the original cargo pocket.

Fortunately, there is a middle ground. There are short pants with arguably vestigial pockets that look OK, even good. Cargo shorts are modeled after a military design, and we generally appreciate the influence of military design on civilian style. The key is avoiding the characteristics that brought the cargo short down: mall-ified design elements, careless fit, and guys’ admirable but unhelpful refusal to get rid of their truly worn out, 15-year-old shorts. Burn the Abercrombies you “could totally fit six cans of Beast light in” and opt for cargos that are either faithful to pre-mall styles or trying for a more modern look.

Nonnative Trooper shorts

Like many men’s brands today, Nonnative specializes in tweaked basics, like nicely tapered “easy” pants or loose (but loose in a specific, intentional way) jersey tshirts. Every season they put out a pair or two of utility shorts I’d call cargos (the olive pair in the lead photo of this post look great, but are from 2011). The flapped cargo pockets on this year’s version are on the front of the legs rather than the side, and there’re additional zip pockets above them. You probably won’t be stuffing all your extra cash in there though, as these retail for about $250+.

Rothco/surplus BDU shorts

It seems to be true the genesis of cargo shorts is that military contractors made pants with side leg pockets, which resourceful soldiers cut off at the knee for hot weather wear, inspiring original manufacturers like Rothco to make proper hemmed shorts like these, often out of ripstop material with bellows pockets and sometimes seat reinforcement. They are cheap as dirt. And really? They’re totally fine--I wear my pair a lot. How they fit you will depend on where you are in the size spectrum, as each size covers a range of measured waists with the help of side adjusters, which are semi-functional. For a similar effect you could also cut off a pair of Stan Rays or other fatigue pants.

Milspec shorts were also pretty much your only option for cargo shorts in the 1980s and early 90s, when they were popular with skaters and part of the tribal uniform in “youth crew” style hardcore punk circles. The pockets were great for storing sharpies so you could X up on the go. Other key accessories: a low-slung guitar and a tough guy stance.

Patagonia stand-up shorts

These are sort of cheating, but Yvon Chouinard’s 1970s shorts design, where the cargo comes in the form of a double seat open at the top rear, are a modern outdoors classic. They mesh well with other styles with an outdoor flavor--like rugby shirts, 60/40 parkas, moccasins—stuff sometimes  referred to as “rugged ivy.” They’re also reasonably priced, usually under $50.

Bleu de Paname shorts

I wrote about Bleu de Paname’s cargos last year and they didn’t bring the exact model back this summer, but you can still find some floating around the internets. I liked the moleskin fabric, contrast buttons, and funky rear pocket on these, which are to American cargos like a Le Labourer jacket might be to an American chore coat.

Julius shorts