DiamondBack Tactical’s Commander Arm board

Details

Written by JT McAvoy

In March of 2006, I had an idea after flying a mission.  Pilots have leg boards to write information on.  Now, this works great for them because they generally do not get out of the aircraft, but for me and crewmembers it does not work at all.  It would fall off and get hung on things very easily.  However, a board that you could wear on your arm and write on would fit the bill perfectly .  So I set out on my mission to find such a product.  In April of 2006, I found what I needed in the form of DiamondBack Tactical’s Commander Arm board.  It was the only place that I found, after much searching, that had anything close to my idea.  It promised to have many options. 

The arm board came in many colors and had two back-lit writing surfaces that you could use erasable markers on.  One of these surfaces is tear-away Velcro and can also have a standard 3x5 card slid inside of it.  The back-light comes in multiple colors, which is great depending on what you use it for, and promised to be compatible with NVGs.  It Velcro’s to the arm and has a non-slip backing to it, as well as a small battery back that weighs next to nothing and, finally, a place to keep an erasable maker.  Needless to say I was impressed.  So in April of 2006, I ordered one in an olive drab color.  Here is where the adventure begins.

I have to say that initially I thought the price was somewhat high for the product.  DiamondBack Tactical is the only company that has this product so I had to “suck it up” as they say.  I was not at all impressed by the delivery time of this product.  It was ordered in April of 2006 and was delivered to me after many frustrated phone calls in September of 2006.  This was a less than stellar performance on DiamondBack Tacticals’ part.  I will say though that the staff I dealt with to resolve this issue was more than helpful, always courteous, and genuinely sounded like they wanted to help with this problem.  This helped ease the sting somewhat.

So after much anticipation, my Commander Arm Board arrives.  It was in the olive drab color that I ordered and in the white back-lit surface that I wanted.  It was a little smaller than I expected, but was still something that would work, especially if you have smaller arms. The place for the marker holds tightly and you stand little chance of loosing it.  The white back-light was not a bright white.  It was more of a soft white that was bright enough to see what you wrote and in what color.  The light would not blind you though, and is very easy on the eyes, especially in the dark cockpit of the helicopter.

The battery pack sits on the top part of the arm board and is not very well protected at all.  It feels fragile and almost like I could break it at any second.  The housing and switch is plastic, feels cheap, and is definitely not resistant to the elements.   It also has to be tightened on a regular basis which is very aggravating.  If you have smaller arms like myself this can create a few issues.  The non-slip backing is great and sticks like glue not only to clothes but also to a bare arm even when it is hot, humid, and you are sweating profusely.  The arm board curves if you have smaller arms.  This causes the cover flap to come up short and not Velcro quite all the way.  This is somewhat of a minor issue, but aggravating none the less.  The tear-off writing surface is a great idea, especially since you can place a 3x5 card in it.  Once again, though, if you have smaller arms this surface bends which is not a problem except for the fact that it buckles also and makes a lumpy, much less than optimal, writing surface.  This is less than impressive.  The back-writing surface bends and forms a smooth surface, with no lumps, and is great to write on.  

With respect to writing, there is problem that needs to be addressed by the manufacturer.  There are erasable markers that are sold with this board specifically by Diamondback Tactical.  If you write on the surface and leave it for more than a few hours, it will stain the writing surface.   As anyone knows, sometimes you need GPS coordinates for hours and sometimes days, and the staining makes this a problem. With some time, scrubbing, and a good solvent all colors will come off except for the red.  The red seems to stain the worst and lasts forever.  I have not found anything that will clean this off to date.  There also appears to be no replacement tear-off surfaces for this product.  This is a problem not only because of the stains, but also in case one gets lost on a mission.

Over all, I am impressed with the idea and the attempt.  I still use mine and it continues to function well to date, despite the minor issues.  The design and the technology behind it however, have a long way to go.  There are many improvements that can be made as well as problems that need to be fixed.  I think these improvements would make this product more functional in the military, tactical, and civilian world.  I think that this could easily be done without increasing the cost and you would definitely not sacrifice any quality.  I also think these improvements once made will warrant another round of testing and evaluation.  I am ever confident that it will then be an indispensable asset in the tactical world in every respect.