Recon Medical Tourniquet - (Black) GEN 3 Mil-Spec Kevlar Metal Windlass Aluminum First Aid Tactical Swat Medic Pre-Hospital Life Saving Hemorrhage Control Registration Card, AOS (10 Pack)

I initially bought this to be strictly a practice/junk tourniquet but quickly realized that it's anything but that. The first thing I noticed when I got it was the Recon Medical business card taped to the package with the quote "That other's may live" on it. This is the Air Force pararescue motto, which makes me wonder if there is a former PJ designing these. Based on the design, it wouldn't surprise me. The fit and finish of this is top notch. Inspecting every thread on it, I was unable to find a single flaw. They claim to use kevlar thread for the stitching... comparing the thread to known kevlar thread as shown in my photo, I believe this is accurate.COMPARED TO A CATObviously, you all want to know how this compares to the industry standard CAT tourniquet, so some differences.-The first and most functional difference is the buckle only has one opening on it, compared to two for the CAT. I'm fine with this since I keep my CAT staged in this configuration anyway for one-handed application. However, it is possible that if you had to apply the Recon high on the thigh of an overweight person, the strap might slip. There is a white dotted line stitched onto the back side of the strap to indicate the minimum the strap should be drawn through to ensure a secure hold. I'm 6'/195lbs and with the tourniquet all the way up my leg, I could pull it through enough.- More important, the Recon tourniquet uses an aluminum windlass with knurling instead of the plastic one used on the CAT. The plastic CAT windlass is plenty strong enough (if you have a genuine one), but a common complaint was that it would be slippery when wet with blood/water/sweat/etc. The texturing on the Recon windlass is similar to what the SOFTT tourniquet has.- The tab on the end of the strap appears to be heat welded together, rather than sonic welded. However, I don't believe this is a concern since the internal tightening strap terminates before this point and is held by heavy kevlar stitching, where on the CAT the internal strap is held by the sonic welding- The length is identical to the CAT and the velcro used appears to be identical and seems to stick to itself as well as the CAT.Overall I'm very impressed with this tourniquet and am almost inclined to give it the edge over a CAT.

I am in Law Enforcement and I have been carrying this Tourniquet on my vest for quite some time now. Luckily, I have not had to use it... Until this past weekend. I responded to a call of an accidental discharge, where an older gentleman had accidentally shot himself in the leg. My partner and I were first on scene, and saw the amount of blood. I was able to quickly apply this tourniquet and stop the blood flow. Shortly later, the rescue squad arrived, and they stated that the tourniquet was exactly what this man needed. Luckily the man didn't lose too much blood and is in stable condition. Unfortunately, I was without a tourniquet on my vest. Right when I got home I immediately found it again on Amazon and placed another order. This product is very practical and easy to use. Thus it deserves a 5 star rating.

This product seems well made. The windlass is made from aluminum or another metal. Stitching is well done, no loose thread to be found. Compared to a Gen7 C.A.T. TQ they look almost identical. The buckle the strap feeds through on both the Recon and the CAT look to be the same thickness with similar construction. That goes the same for the backing plate. Both indicate a DATE of creation. The CAT TQ has a plastic windlass, i'm not sure if its reinforced with metal or fiberglass. The Recon Medical TQ time stamp strap is some kinda of plastic sticker thats fused to the strap vs the C.A.T. TQ is printed on the fabric of the trap itself.All in all they look nearly identical. I've included some photos between the two tourniquets. The Recon tourniquet gets very tight to painful with 1 1/2 cranks of the windlass in par of the CAT TQ. This is a very good or seems to be a very good clone of the CAT TQ sold by North American Rescue.Here's my beef:Looking under the Q/A section people ask if this is a CAT like those sold by North American Rescue. Yes its like the TQ sold by them but its not the TQ sold by them. My issue is the response from the seller on those that point out the fact these are not TQ made by C•A•T Resources, LLC and sold by North American Rescue. They respond with the following: "We consider your comment defamation of our product and company which is against US law and Amazon Terms and Conditions. Our product is patent pending, trademarked, and proprietary.".For as good as I think this product is, the fact this company feels to bully consumers pointing out that these are not patented C•A•T Resources TQ is outrageous. I've included side by side pictures of the Gen7 TQ from C•A•T Resources and the Recon Medical TQ. As I said I think this TQ would hold its own against the GEN7 but I don't like the fact they feel its ok to bully consumers.

At first glance upon receiving this tourniquet it seemed durable and of high quality. Unfortunately within a month the inner band that the windlass is used to tighten had been torn right in two. I teach a first responders class on the weekends and used this tourniquet as a demo, so it was only used about twice a day for 6 days it completely failed. I assumed this must be a fluke because Recon Medical boasts a life time warranty and that these have a “service life of five years”!!! So I replaced the original with another identical tourniquet from Recon Medical and the same thing happened in even LESS time!! Garbage product, false advertising, and I am so glad I discovered that these are crap in practice runs and not in a real emergency!

First off, I use to be a PJ so I know medical gear and have used it in the field extensively. This is a good North American CAT clone that I have personally put through the paces in numerous active shooter classes I teach. It's not a cheap Chinese piece of junk which some reviewers have said. My guess is these folks have never compared the two side by side or even been in the field for that matter. I use the NA CAT in my department, but for my own personal use I save the money and use Recon Medical's tourniquet.

It’s an original Recon medical tourniquet! Is a “copy” of Nar CAT, it's not a fake cat it's just a copy of the cat with some changes, practically identical of CAT with some differences like windless in aluminium and kevlar thread sewing!

Thankfully not used but I’d trust it with my life