Gun Sling with Tourniquet and Methods of Making the Same

Abstract

Gun slings including a tourniquet sleeve and tourniquet are disclosed and described along with methods of making them. In some embodiments, a gun sling may have an attached tourniquet sleeve to hold a resilient member tourniquet such that the sleeve conforms to the shape and flexibility of the gun sling so that the function of the gun sling is not impeded.

Description

PRIORITY

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/952,308 entitled Guns Sling with Tourniquet and Methods of Making the Same, filed on Mar. 13, 2014, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

This application relates generally firearm accessories. More particularly, this application relates to gun slings having a tourniquet.

BACKGROUND

People who carry rifles, shotguns, and other long guns are often at some risk of serious injury, either due to other weapons, or because rifles are often used in rough, wild, and dangerous terrain where people can be seriously injured. For example, police, military, and hunters are all at intermittent risk of serious injury from various sources, including from falls and weapons. As such, each of these activities usually includes the prudent carrying of a first-aid kit. One important part of a trauma first aid kit would include a tourniquet or something that may be used as a tourniquet for keeping an individual from bleeding to death after suffering serious injury to a limb.

The problem with first-aid kits, however, is that are often left in a vehicle, or overlooked before certain activities. What is needed is convenient first-aid implements easily carried by people with rifles when engaged in dangerous activities.

SUMMARY

Gun slings including a tourniquet sleeve and tourniquet are disclosed and described along with methods of making them. In some embodiments, a gun sling may have an attached tourniquet sleeve to hold a resilient member tourniquet such that the sleeve conforms to the shape and flexibility of the gun sling so that the function of the gun sling is not impeded.

The sling may include an adjustable length of material having a first end and a second end, each of the first and and second ends being configured to removably attach to a firearm to form a sling. The sling may also have a tourniquet sleeve attached to a portion of the adjustable length of material, and a resilient member tourniquet within the tourniquet sleeve. The sling may also have a securement loop proximate to an opening in the tourniquet sleeve. The tourniquet may also have a securement tool, and the securement tool may selectively engage with the securement loop to hold the tourniquet in the tourniquet sleeve.

In some embodiments, the tourniquet sleeve may be selectively attachable to and detachable from the portion of the adjustable length of material, for example, with hook and loop fasteners. In other embodiments, the tourniquet sleeve may be formed as part of the sling, for example, the tourniquet sleeve may be sewn to a portion of the adjustable length of material.

A tourniquet on a rifle sling may be used by attaching a sling to a rifle, wherein the sling has a tourniquet sleeve; inserting a tourniquet into the tourniquet sleeve; carrying the rifle with the tourniquet in the tourniquet sleeve; and removing the tourniquet from the tourniquet sleeve. Some uses may include securing the tourniquet into the tourniquet sleeve using a tourniquet securement tool, or discharging the rifle with the tourniquet in the tourniquet sleeve, or even applying the tourniquet to an injured person.

These and other aspects will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description can be better understood in light of Figures, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a gun sling with an integrated tourniquet pouch and tourniquet attached to a rifle;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a gun sling with an integrated tourniquet pouch and tourniquet;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a tourniquet pouch and tourniquet;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a section of a tourniquet pouch with hidden lines representing a tourniquet in the tourniquet pouch;

FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate features of an exemplary embodiment of a gun sling with a tourniquet pouch and tourniquet; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 illustrate another exemplary embodiment of a tourniquet pouch and tourniquet attachable to a gun sling.

Together with the following description, the Figures demonstrate and explain the principles of exemplary gun slings with tourniquets and associated methods of making and using them. In the Figures, the size and relative placement of components and regions of illustrated devices may be exaggerated or modified for clarity. The same reference numerals in different drawings represent the same element, and thus their descriptions may not be repeated. Some drawings may omit certain components not necessary for describing the illustrated embodiments, but which would be known to those of ordinary skill in the art to be present in and with firearms.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As in the illustrated embodiments, aspects and features of gun slings with tourniquet sleeves and tourniquets and associated methods of making and using them are disclosed and described below. The following description supplies specific details in order to provide a thorough understanding. Nevertheless, the skilled artisan would understand that the apparatus and associated methods of using the apparatus can be implemented and used without employing these specific details. Indeed, the devices and associated methods can be placed into practice by modifying the illustrated devices and associated methods and can be used in conjunction with any other apparatus and techniques conventionally used in the industry. For example, while this description and associated Figures focus on a rifle sling with an integrated tourniquet sleeve and tourniquet, other embodiments may include a tourniquet attached to a gun sling with a temporary attachment.

Conventionally, gun slings (rifle slings) are formed with the sole design purpose of securing a firearm to an individual when engaging in various physical activities, such as hiking, parachuting, climbing, etc. Rifle slings may have various length adjustment mechanisms and various connector designs for attaching the sling to a rifle—sometimes with quick-release or easy adjustment features, particularly for rifle slings used in military and other tactical applications.

Gun slings disclosed in this application include an attached, easily accessible tourniquet generally extending along a length of the gun sling such that the tourniquet does not interfere with the traditional functionality of the gun sling. In some embodiments, a tourniquet sleeve may be formed onto a portion of the gun sling to allow a tourniquet to be placed in the sleeve for easy access in case of an emergency. In many cases, a person that is likely to encounter trauma while engaged in firearm related activities will have the firearm with them at all times, such that the tourniquet will almost always be immediately available to stop bleeding should a serious incident occur.

Turning now to the Figures, FIG. 1 shows a gun sling system 100 attached to rifle 10. Sling system 100 may include a gun sling 120, a tourniquet pouch or sleeve 130 fixed to the gun sling 120 and a tourniquet 110 positioned inside of the tourniquet pouch 130. Gun sling 120 as shown includes attachment points 122, 124 for attaching sling 120 to attachment points 12 and 14 on rifle 10. Of course any suitable attachment mechanisms for securing sling 120 onto a rifle may be used with sling 120. Sling 120 may also include a quick adjustment mechanism 140. Quick adjustment mechanism 140 may include a speed buckle 142 operated by pulling tab 144 to release or pulling end 146 to tighten.

Tourniquet 110 may be formed using a resilient length of material 112 along with a tourniquet securement tool 114 for securing the material to itself. Such types of tourniquets do not require the use of a turn handle as traditional tourniquets using a non-resilient material do. This type of tourniquet may be applied one handed by an individual on an injured limb by stretching the resilient member 112 around the injured limb and securing it onto itself with tourniquet securement tool 114 to keep the tourniquet tight enough to slow or stop bleeding in the injured limb.

As shown in FIGS. 1-6, tourniquet 110 may be carried within tourniquet pouch 130. Tourniquet pouch 130 may include securing loop 132 to provide an anchor point for tourniquet securement tool 114 in order to hold tourniquet in an easily accessible but secure position within tourniquet pouch 130. Tourniquet 110 may be doubled over and then inserted through into the interior 134 of tourniquet pouch 130. When fully inserted, tourniquet securement tool 114 may extend along with a small portion of resilient member 112 out of the pouch 130 proximate to securing loop 132. Securement tool 114 may then be secured to securing loop 132. Other types of tourniquets may also be stored in tourniquet pouch 130. In such embodiments, tourniquet pouch 130, 230 may include an opening for inserting the tourniquet into the sleeve and/or may also include a covering, or lid to secure the tourniquet within the sleeve.

Tourniquet pouch 130 may be formed by sewing or otherwise attaching a top layer 138 to a base layer 136 on three sides to create a sleeve or pocket having one open or openable end where tourniquet 110 maybe selectively inserted or removed. In some embodiments, base layer 136 may be part of gun sling 120. I other embodiments, pouch 130 may be formed from a tube material such that base layer 136 and top layer 138 are sides of a tube of material. In yet other embodiments, base layer 136 may include attachment mechanisms for attaching tourniquet pouch 130 to a gun sling. For example, base layer 136 may include a hook and loop fastener material along its bottom length for securing to a cooperating hook and loop fastening material on a gun sling. Other embodiments may include snaps, buttons, or other mechanisms for securing tourniquet pouch 130 to gun sling 120, or any desired gun sling. One such embodiment is discussed in further detail below with respect to FIGS. 7 and 8.

Another embodiment of a tourniquet pouch 230 that may be attached to a gun sling is shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. Top layer 238 may be attached to base layer 236 as described above. Attachment 250 may be included with tourniquet pouch 230 and may include folds 252 and 254. Folds 252 and 254 may be extensions from base layer 236, or may be separate pieces of fabric or other suitable material. To attach to a rifle sling, a bottom portion of base layer 236 may be placed against the rifle sling with folds 252 and 254 extended. Folds 252 and 254 may then be folded around the rifle sling an attached to each other to form a channel through which the rifle sling extends. Folds 252, 254 may include cooperative hook and loop fasteners, snaps, buttons, or any other suitable mechanism to form a channel through with a rifle sling may extend and secure tourniquet pouch 230 to the rifle sling. In some embodiments, folds 252, 254 may be include resilient materials biased towards a closed position such that a rifle sling may be held by a portion of folds 252, 254 biased into a channel, but which may be moved to allow positioning of the rifle sling.

Each component of the sling system 100 and of other embodiments may be formed of any suitable material for making rifle slings and tourniquet pouches. For example, nylon webbing and nylon fabric may be used to form the various components along with metal or polymer hardware for the rifle sling.

In addition to any previously indicated modification, numerous other variations and alternative arrangements may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this description, and appended claims are intended to cover such modifications and arrangements. Thus, while the information has been described above with particularity and detail in connection with what is presently deemed to be the most practical and preferred aspects, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that numerous modifications, including, but not limited to, form, function, manner of operation and use may be made without departing from the principles and concepts set forth herein. Also, as used herein, examples are meant to be illustrative only and should not be construed to be limiting in any manner.

Claims

1. A sling for a firearm, the sling comprising:

an adjustable length of material having a first end and a second end, each of the first and and second ends being configured to removably attach to a firearm to form a sling;

a tourniquet sleeve attached to a portion of the adjustable length of material; and

a resilient member tourniquet within the tourniquet sleeve.

2. The sling of claim 1, further comprising a securement loop proximate to an opening in the tourniquet sleeve.

3. The sling of claim 2, wherein the tourniquet includes a securement tool.

4. The sling of claim 3, wherein the securement tool selectively engages with the securement loop to hold the tourniquet in the tourniquet sleeve.

5. The sling of claim 1, wherein the tourniquet sleeve is selectively attachable to and detachable from the portion of the adjustable length of material.

6. The sling of claim 5, wherein the tourniquet sleeve is attached to portion of the adjustable length of material with hook and loop fasteners.

7. The sling of claim 1, wherein the tourniquet sleeve is sewn to a portion of the adjustable length of material.

8. A method of carrying a tourniquet on a rifle sling, the method comprising:

attaching a sling to a rifle, wherein the sling has a tourniquet sleeve;

inserting a tourniquet into the tourniquet sleeve;

carrying the rifle with the tourniquet in the tourniquet sleeve; and

removing the tourniquet from the tourniquet sleeve.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising,

securing the tourniquet into the tourniquet sleeve using a tourniquet securement tool.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising,

discharging the rifle with the tourniquet in the tourniquet sleeve.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising,

applying the tourniquet to an injured person.

12. A tourniquet sling system for a firearm, the system comprising:

a firearm sling having a first end and a second end, each of the first and and second ends being configured to removably attach to a firearm;

a tourniquet sleeve attached to the sling; and

a tourniquet carried within the tourniquet sleeve.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising a securement loop proximate to an opening in the tourniquet sleeve.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the tourniquet includes a securement tool.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the securement tool selectively engages with the securement loop to hold the tourniquet in the tourniquet sleeve.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the tourniquet sleeve is attached to the tourniquet sleeve with hook and loop fasteners.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the tourniquet sleeve is sewn to the sling.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the tourniquet sleeve is integrally formed as a portion of the sling.