Part of the problem is everyone pitches in an idea and the original item gets all gacked up.

It has to be "blah blah blah and blah" capable of "feats superman wouldn't want to do" and able to be used by a guy who is cold/wet/tired/hungry/lost with a bad attitude to boot.

I was a guinea pig at the Natick Test labs a long time ago. Saw some really nice gear there, most of which, while perfectly usable, never got fielded. "Didn't meet standards"

Fast forward 18 yrs, the SGM of the test labs was a old friend, who after listening to techno-babble, got knee and arm pads off the shelf for less that 1/4 the price the contractor was quoting. And to my amazement, they were fielded as is off the shelf.

Not all desk jockeys are jerks.