Tourniquets are a hot topic again: they save lives in traffic accidents, on the mountain or in military conflicts – if you know how to use them and make the right choice. In order to get an orientation on the market, we had three experts from Critical Knowledge test common “TQs” for Ranger Magazine (made by Militär Aktuell) for their practicality (-> To the large test overview).
Combat Application Tourniquet Gen7
The Combat Application Tourniquet Generation 7 (CAT Gen7) is probably the best-known tourniquet in German-speaking countries and America. With its lightweight but robust design, it has successfully accompanied the test team for many years both at home and abroad. Apart from this test, it has already provided good service from Arctic Warfare training in Canada to missions in the hot climate zones of Africa. The tourniquet has never failed with any team member in terms of material breakage and the blood flow was also stopped under all conditions during our test. A very positive feature is the thick plastic toggle, which makes the product more robust. A disadvantage is that the skin is often pinched in the buckle when tightening, which can lead to increased pain and hematomas.
Product: Combat Application Gen7
Manufacturer: CAT Resources
Price: approx. 35 Euro
Source of supply/manufacturer: combattourniquet.com
Test & evaluation*
Haptics & optics: 12
Even OE: 13
Self UE: 13
Foreign OE: 13
Foreign UE: 13
Gloves: 12
Training intensity: 12
Total points: 88
Ranking in the test: 2nd place
*Self OE: self application upper extremities, self UE = self application lower extremities, external OE = external application upper extremities, external UE = external application lower extremities, gloves = application with gloves, training intensity = can the tourniquet be used without much practice? 15 points were achievable in each test category = a total of 105 points could be scored
This review first appeared in Ranger Magazine #2 (available here as an e-paper).
Click here for the overview article of the big Tourniquet test.
