Review: TMC Kägwerks style S7 phone case

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1.0 Introduction

A very tacticool item nowadays, is the Rugged Phone Case, at the top of the Plate Carrier, and preferably a Kägwerks, like I own a TMC AVS Plate Carrier, the Kägwerks could no longer be a missing item , but first some extra explanation about this.

2.0 Kägwerks
Is a company founded by an ex US soldier, in this case Garret Schwindel.
Kägwerks focuses on 2 areas, the first is obtaining specialized shooting training for professional military and law enforcement personnel.

The second is the development, production and distribution of specialized equipment for the SOF community, and then - relevant for this review - we look directly at their Rugged smart phone cases, of course, a competition for the US Army, which Schwindell financially barely won. 

2.1 The Name Kägwerks
 Is a wordplay with Cognition (or the ability to process learned knowledge and techniques) Schwindel has started to develop this cognitive ability more to his environment, and situation can arise.

2.2 Garret Schwindel
After a bad youth  he wisely chose the latter, and entered the Airborne school, Schwindell soon raised the bar, and joined the Army Rangers, and successfully, his whole outlook on life changed, and he completed several missions to Afghanistan, after a few years he then made the switch to the PMC community where he - in his own words - could really develop, after At the age of 14, Schwindell decided it was time to slow down and started the Kägwerks concept.
Watch the introduction video of Garret Schwindel here

3.0 Net Warrior
Initially Land Warrior, it was one of the many modernization programs of the US Army. Mainly consisting of integrated, communication, and navigation technology in order to greatly increase the Situational Awareness of the common soldier.

3.1 Land Warrior 
Was renamed Nett Warrior on June 14, 2010, after the 235th anniversary of the US Army, and named after Colonel Robert B.Nett, a WWII veteran decorated with the Medal Of Honor for outstanding leadership in the Philippines.

Where Land Warrior was still quite cumbersome with Helm displays, and many separate components connected with cables, in Nett Warrior these were more integrated, and simplified.
For example, the helmet and wrist displays were eventually replaced by the EUD (End User Device) a cots (Commercial Of The Shelf) Smartphone, although prepared for military use.

3.2 Milspec Smartphone
In 2012, Nett Warrior launched with the Motorola Atrix, and in 2013 this became the Samsung Note II, in the meantime there has been talk of a switch to IOS, Galaxy S6 and S7 also appear to occur, but in fact no official phone- info can be found after Note II.

3.3 ATAK
Originally Nett Warrior ran on CJMTK (Commercial Joint Mapping ToolKit)
A navigation app that uses maps, and where users can share additional data such as targets, positions, and other info, after an evaluation switched to ATAK (Android Team Awareness Kit) in 2014 as it is only 1/3 of the CMJTK price costs, for similar functions, ATAK exists in multiple versions.

3.4 Nowadays
Do we usually see the Kägwerks rugged cases, it is not entirely clear with which specific smartphones but since Kägwerks Note II, S5,6,7,8,9,20, and iPhone cases suggest that multiple devices are used?  These phones are then wired to the MBITR (MultiBand Inter/Intra Team Radio), for team leaders and JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controllers) we can do even more complex setups with multiple radios, KDUs, (Keypad Display Unit) and see antennas.


Check here my full TMC Kägwerks photo gallery 

4.0 Re-nactment
From an airsoft/milsim impression, a Kägwerks phonecase on your Plate Carrier is almost a must if you want to go for an up-to-date look, were it not for the fact that an original Kägwerks costs around $300, and then there is still the question. to what extent an (expensive) smartphone with ATAK app is a meaningful investment for the average/airsofter/impressionist?

4.1 ATAK CIV
The burger version may be freely downloadable on the Play Store, but it does take some practice to get started, and the system really comes into its own with multiple team members/users.

5.0 TMC's 3479  Phone Case


Check here my full TMC Kägwerks photo gallery 

Is a more budget friendly  option, for about €35 inc shipping, and VAT on Ali Express these days. (or W762 at 14.99 extra shipping)
Were it not, that he proves to be as controversial as essential in the descriptions !
For example, the side buttons would not work / be compatible with a real S7 device?!
And so the case turns out not to be able to withstand frequent opening and closing ?!

The question immediately arises what the hell you can do with this €35 phone case, except for some Tacticoole Insta pics)?

5.1 GeGe Store
Did provide me a TMC S7 case to analyze all this and see if hacks can be applied here?

GeGe Store from Ali express is also a pretty nice store with some interesting items, for example you will find the Ronin Task Force repro, or the Crye PC pad set  at the lowest prices.

6.0 TMC Phone Case Review.

6.1 Overview
The TMC 3479 kit comes with a Kägwerks-Style S7 case, hinged Molle holder, and a Dummy S7 phone, the charging cable with clip (like the original) is not included.

6.2 MOLLE mount tension hinge
As they call the hinged frame at Kägwerks, TMC has quite accurately imitated from a sturdy hard plastic, the Molle hooks sit well in the Molle loops, the resistance on the hinge can be adjusted by means of a screw, the S7 phone case itself clicks very firmly in the frame, and when the phone is then folded up, it also clicks very firmly.
Time and use will tell if the plastic is not too hard and can break easily, and if it will hold its tension?


Check here my full TMC Kägwerks photo gallery

6.3 Hard Phone Case
This consists of 2 halves, front and back, these are also made in a nice decent plastic, the robust design of Kägwerks seems to me the an adequate protection for the phone.


Check here my full TMC Kägwerks photo gallery

6.3.1 The back
of the hard case is shell-shaped so that you can put the phone in it, the supplied dummy S7 has quite a bit of play all around, and I also read something about this in comments, but since I don't have a real S7 phone yet, I can still do this cannot verify, but this doesn't seem like a real issue to me, you can easily fill this around with, for example, cutting some pieces from an eraser or something.

At the back is also the plexi window for the camera, which, unlike the original, cannot be opened,  there is also no Kägwerks marking on the TMC case.
At the bottom are - just like on the original - the rigid rubber caps for the charging cable, and headphone connections.

6.3.2 The front
Of the hard case is frame shaped, and goes around, and over the rear shell
The first thing you notice is that the TMC case does not have the bridge around the home button, the tie down loop, and opening for the SIM card are provided as wel.

When the case is closed, we find an important point of attention here: The case is only held together by 9 small lugs around, instead of over the entire edge as with the original, those lugs are a bit undersized and therefore very fragile, I even see that one already shows a discolored break line after 1 time opening and closing !

If you just press the halves together it will be over and out in no time, you have to close the case with a little more policy, and then it's not that bad.
First hook in the frame on 1 side, and then pull it open slightly when hooking in on the other side and thus help the lugs over the edge of the rear shell, they will show a lot less wear.


Check here my full TMC Kägwerks photo gallery

The next issue are the side buttons that don't work, the frame is fully closed here, but it does have the loose rubber dummy buttons ready, it seems to me that with a little diy skills you can apply a modification here,  I think about trim the dam, and then craft a small block which fits into the rubber button on one side, and presses against the side button of the phone on the other side.

As soon as I manage to get my hands on a real Samsung phone, I will definitely try this out and come back to it!


Check here my full TMC Kägwerks photo gallery

Anyway, this is the biggest shortcoming of this TMC case as far as I'm concerned,
you could assume that they bring a working product on the market,which you don't have to modify yourself to make it work!

6.4 Dummy Phone
Quite a funny thing, made completely from a kind of foam rubber, with a striking amount of details, no functionality at all , but it still presents a bit more beautifully than an empty case.


Check here my full TMC Kägwerks photo gallery

7.0 Conclusion
As I mentioned in the beginning, this TMC phone case in Kägwerks style greatly increases your Gucci factor, for only the cosmetic aspect it is a somewhat expensive Airsoft gear item?
If you absolutely want the Kägwerks S7 case for a certain impression, then this TMC is a cheaper option, altough with the pain points I mentioned earlier.

Finally some bonus pictures of my TMC S7 Case in use on my AVS Plate Carrier
By the way, you can view my AVS review of this here and my

Check here my full TMC Kägwerks photo gallery