Tactical Klips is an officer-owned small business created to solve some of the duty gear concerns officers face on the streets. Their Tactical Mic Klip (TMK) is one of those products that solves a problem that most of us have faced over our careers. The TMK is designed to attach to an officer’s uniform shirt and provide a very secure attachment for the officer’s corded radio microphone.
A simple design, but a remarkable enhancement, the [easyazon_link identifier=”B0084GH5LO” locale=”US” tag=”bluesheecom-20″]Tactical Mic Klip[/easyazon_link] is just one of Tactical Klips innovative designs to make the officer’s job on the streets safer and more effective.
Tactical Mic Klip (TMK)
Most patrol officers use a corded microphone extension to their duty gear radio. The corded microphone allows a much easier method to send and receive radio transmissions, and can be done in a hands-free method instead of retrieving the radio itself from the duty belt to make and receive transmissions. Despite all the advantages of using a corded microphone extension, the clip attachment of the microphone extension has always been a weak point.
Many officers have suffered catastrophic failures of the their microphone extensions at the worst possible moments. In the middle of a foot pursuit, struggling with a resistive subject, or just donning or loosening the patrol car’s seatbelt. In the video below a Las Vegas Metro officer was involved in a serious street fight. His police radio and radio microphone extension became completely dislodged, and had he not had superior ground fighting skills the outcome could have been much worse.
The [easyazon_link identifier=”B005RTTJ60″ locale=”US” tag=”bluesheecom-20″]Tactical Mic Klip[/easyazon_link] is designed to slide around a button on the officer’s shirt lapel or chest. Once the TMK is slid around the button, a gentle tug will secure the TMK in place and provide a very secure attachment for a very vital piece of duty gear. The two nobs on either side of the slide opening help keep the TMK in place around the button.
Once secured onto the button, the officer simply opens their extended radio microphones attachment lever, and slides the lever into the loop at the bottom of the TMK. The attachment lever will grab behind the loop and be much more secure than just attaching to your uniform shirt’s fabric. Another great feature of the TMK is that once the microphone is attached it is virtually invisible, being behind the microphone.
https://youtu.be/KTEawrnXHVA
The Ithaca, New York Police Chief explains why he outfitted his entire department with the TMK. There are other testimonials just like this one on the Tactical Klips website.
Final Thoughts
This has been an ongoing struggle of mine over my career. When I started in law enforcement I would attach my extended microphone to my shirt’s epaulette. After finding that location not ideal in some situations, I moved it to my uniform shirt’s button line. However, this position did not offer any real grabbing area, and I found the microphone would become dislodged on a regular basis.
I currently use a simple elastic band that slide through the button-hole. I can extend the elastic band over the microphone head, and then attach the microphone to my shirt. This has been better than nothing, but I can see where the TMK could be an even more secure mounting option.