Plate Carriers and stuff

[Baz JJ]

When I first started airsoft, I bought myself an assault vest.

My logic was that I didnt fully understand these new fangled plate carriers and I was dazzled by the prices and array of the ones on the market.

The assault vest was fine. It was something familiar and I had more load carrying kit that I could use in skirmishes including an integral hydration pack. I loved the full length zip which enabled me to get it on and off easily.

However, I eventually dipped my toe in the water with this invention of satan - the plate carrier.

I made the mistake of buying a cheap one to try it out.

It was a pain - uncomfortable wires sticking out, difficult to get in and out of unaided, etc.

With my involvement with milsims, I have treated myself to a better one and its night and day compared to the other one I had. Little things like having an integral radio pouch, velcro loops for radio cables, hydration tubes etc make all the difference. I also never fully appreciated what difference dummy SAPI plates make to the fit. I can also close the side panels myself once its on, without the use of mirrors or team mates.

My point ?

I guess Im musing on how, its all a bit of a learning curve. You dont want to lash out on the expensive wrong kit, but sometimes buying cheap in ignorance also means you end up buying twice !

 

[darrenb]

I had the same train of thought.

I brought an assualt vest first cause i wasn't sure what i needed to carry and how many pouches i would need and for what.

Now I've got a better idea of what i need I'm going to invest in a plate carrier and start building it up. Just need to choose one now.

 

[TheFull9]

Welcome to airsoft. I'd say you've done just what 90%+ of everyone else that's ever gotten in to the game has done. Not that it's a bad thing, you can't know what kit you'll like until you buy and try a whole load of things, there's no way around that realistically.

I do wish some people (speaking generally here) would avoid some of the really low end market-stall level tat gear though, because some stuff out there (we're talking full plate carrier + pouch sets in the $40 sort of region) is so atrocious you may as well roll up that cash and f*****g smoke it. I get why people buy the more basic stuff to start with, who wouldn't unless they're a millionaire? It makes sense to look before you leap as you might just find you don't like the game after a little while. But you'll seriously not like it if your rig rips, tears, sheds pouches, pokes you with bits of plastic and wires and falls apart after 2 games. Even worse are the retailers who peddle the really low end vest for like £80+, I've seen Viper cross-draws for nearly £100. There is worse than Viper out there, but the prices on kit that some airsoft specific stores charge is insaaaaane. Not only is it generally BS overall, but you're just straight up tricking the customer in to thinking they're buying something fairly high end, when it simply isn't. You can buy Warrior PCs for less than a lot of the airsoft-quality rigs sold by RIF retailers and I would use WAS stuff for real any day. Flyye is great for airsoft, but I would not trust my life to it.

Gear is like everything, I see people throw away money on such rubbish when it comes to eye pro, chest rigs and holsters etc. If you want, you can actually go out and spend a lot of money on gear made out of sh*tty materials that's been sewn using sub-standard thread by a person who's got no idea how to sew gear together. Or you can most likely spend less money and start off with a solid, simple, effective rig like this:

http://www.flecktarn.co.uk/sdtmb6nx.html

Or this:

http://www.uktactical.com/p-7530-warrior-light-assault-rig-coyote-tan.aspx

Which will abso-bloody-lutely guaranteed last longer than you want to keep it for before you sell it and move on to the next flashy/shiny new toy.

I do blame a lot of the airsoft retailers in many cases. We're not a nation with a military or firearms culture in general, 99.9% of the population are not going to realise it's a good idea to look further than the little 'vest' link underneath the 'SMGs' link at their preferred airsoft retail site. If those stores wanted to do right by their customers they'd learn about how good gear is made and stock stuff that is genuinely high quality and cost effective, not stuff that looks good on a website but is of utterly obsolete design (which is most often the case) and often of comparatively shoddy construction in general on many occasions.

But anyway I could rant about that for a long time. FAO the lurkers reading this - Buy decent stuff. Something isn't 'cheap' if it breaks on you right away and you have to buy another one. Something's 'cheap' if it lasts you years and years of hard usage and performs well throughout that time.

 

[n1ckh]

Welcome to airsoft. I'd say you've done just what 90%+ of everyone else that's ever gotten in to the game has done. Not that it's a bad thing, you can't know what kit you'll like until you buy and try a whole load of things, there's no way around that realistically.

I do wish some people (speaking generally here) would avoid some of the really low end market-stall level tat gear though, because some stuff out there (we're talking full plate carrier + pouch sets in the $40 sort of region) is so atrocious you may as well roll up that cash and f*****g smoke it. I get why people buy the more basic stuff to start with, who wouldn't unless they're a millionaire? It makes sense to look before you leap as you might just find you don't like the game after a little while. But you'll seriously not like it if your rig rips, tears, sheds pouches, pokes you with bits of plastic and wires and falls apart after 2 games. Even worse are the retailers who peddle the really low end vest for like £80+, I've seen Viper cross-draws for nearly £100. There is worse than Viper out there, but the prices on kit that some airsoft specific stores charge is insaaaaane. Not only is it generally BS overall, but you're just straight up tricking the customer in to thinking they're buying something fairly high end, when it simply isn't. You can buy Warrior PCs for less than a lot of the airsoft-quality rigs sold by RIF retailers and I would use WAS stuff for real any day. Flyye is great for airsoft, but I would not trust my life to it.

Gear is like everything, I see people throw away money on such rubbish when it comes to eye pro, chest rigs and holsters etc. If you want, you can actually go out and spend a lot of money on gear made out of sh*tty materials that's been sewn using sub-standard thread by a person who's got no idea how to sew gear together. Or you can most likely spend less money and start off with a solid, simple, effective rig like this:

http://www.flecktarn.co.uk/sdtmb6nx.html

Or this:

http://www.uktactical.com/p-7530-warrior-light-assault-rig-coyote-tan.aspx

Which will abso-bloody-lutely guaranteed last longer than you want to keep it for before you sell it and move on to the next flashy/shiny new toy.

I do blame a lot of the airsoft retailers in many cases. We're not a nation with a military or firearms culture in general, 99.9% of the population are not going to realise it's a good idea to look further than the little 'vest' link underneath the 'SMGs' link at their preferred airsoft retail site. If those stores wanted to do right by their customers they'd learn about how good gear is made and stock stuff that is genuinely high quality and cost effective, not stuff that looks good on a website but is of utterly obsolete design (which is most often the case) and often of comparatively shoddy construction in general on many occasions.

But anyway I could rant about that for a long time. FAO the lurkers reading this - Buy decent stuff. Something isn't 'cheap' if it breaks on you right away and you have to buy another one. Something's 'cheap' if it lasts you years and years of hard usage and performs well throughout that time.

Wow mate, that's some explaination
I fully understand where your coming from mate but my PC has probably cost me to get it how I want, I could get the more expensive ones but it's held up well so far to my abuse of getting wet, muddy & literally dragged through a hedge backwards (and the brambles lol)

It holds what I need for the day & once it does start falling apart then I'll get a new setup

I started out with my old army dpm combats & chest rig (I still use them if want my old school look) & my mark 4 helmet

 

[Baz JJ]

Its funny but I asked a question on one of the pukka hard core milsim sites about a rogue strap that I couldnt identify on my LT6094 replica. We are talking £120-ish for a replica plus extra for pouches, which isnt cheap and they are tapping their noses and saying ah but its not like the real thing and the Chinese copy it wrong, implying that you should get the real thing.

The real thing is USD 400 minimum from LT in the states and thats too much in my mind for an item of airsoft clothing.

Its about balancing fit, form and function with how much you can afford and how often its getting used.

Balance in all things.

 

[TheFull9]

n1ck - As I say I'm just speaking to the lurkers reading the thread here. There's just a lot of good, mid-range gear out there which people rarely seem to buy because they don't know about it (a lot of the time) and it pisses me off personally because I've told a good few people who've been starting out over the years "do not buy that super cheap looking crap, spend the same/less on a good, basic chest rig and all will be well". They go ahead and totally ignore said advice, the massive multi-scam armour carrier that came with 27 different pouches and cost £100 totally falls to bits and just plain hurts them when playing and they end up buying the good stuff from the brands I suggested, but not before pissing that other money right down the drain despite consistently talking about how tight their budget is.

Plenty of Condor and Pantac (and all the similar brands) is more than adequate for airsoft and this is where people so often just go straight for the jugular and call me a gear snob (not saying you are, again just past examples here). Fact is a genuine Crye JPC will not last as long as some BULLE gear (for example) because Crye build things in different ways with different end users in mind and that's ok, but the point is I'd never say more money/higher price = better stuff for airsoft as it just doesn't. Conversely really cheap stuff and some stuff in the middle can be crap as well, people just get so fixated on nothing but the price tag it's crazy. And as I say, buying a £40 rig once is a lot cheaper than a £35 rig twice. Price doesn't equal value.

Baz - Personally I have to say, for that money I'd tell people to buy Warrior, but it's a personal preference thing, if you want the specific 6094 look then obviously a DCS isn't gonna be for you and that's fine. Either way the forums dedicated to milsim are where the few remaining true d-bag gear snobs hang out. Not everyone on them is bad any stretch, but the real twats will gravitate towards such places (generally the sorts who've never served so much as a day in cadets). Reading through many threads on DevTsix as I have been recently (just because I've been through every other loadout thread on every other forum) there are a lot of sh*t personalities on there, just as an example. I wouldn't ever bother being active on a board like that.

 

[n1ckh]

CKinnerly

I completely agree mate, what is the point of asking for advice & ignoring it, it's the same as people asking "what gun do I get" after they've already bought one & "what internal upgrades can I get" before firing it in anger

I bought things cheap as I had to get 3 lots of kit, rifles etc cause both my teenage lads play the sport so when I upgrade my lads get what I had but I do buy brand new for them aswell

 

[Baz JJ]

Thanks for the Warrior links.

I personally really like the LBT and some of its attributes but the Warrior DCS is a better price and probably better made.

Id agree anybody looking at a decent PC without going OTT would be wise to consider it.

There are a number of hard core milsimmers who reportedly spend a lot of their disposable income on buying real steel kit.

They are very knowledgeable about whats out there because they spend a lot of time researching it.

It makes me smile because the real guys that they try to emulate are nowhere near as fussy about the kit they wear.

It also doesnt help milsim much as they have quite a narrow and somewhat elitist outlook about games/companies and sites.

It gives me a great deal of pleasure to see guys play milsims dressed as rag tag freedom fighters or PMCs and get a huge amount of enjoyment from minimal load outs.

Baz - Personally I have to say, for that money I'd tell people to buy Warrior, but it's a personal preference thing, if you want the specific 6094 look then obviously a DCS isn't gonna be for you and that's fine. Either way the forums dedicated to milsim are where the few remaining true d-bag gear snobs hang out. Not everyone on them is bad any stretch, but the real twats will gravitate towards such places (generally the sorts who've never served so much as a day in cadets). Reading through many threads on DevTsix as I have been recently (just because I've been through every other loadout thread on every other forum) there are a lot of sh*t personalities on there, just as an example. I wouldn't ever bother being active on a board like that.

 

[n1ckh]

That's the thing, most soldiers will carry what they need & no more (at least I did)

If I lost my Bergen, I had enough kit on my webbing to make me stay in the game including bungees & tent pegs but if I lost my webbing, then I had to tins, 1 with basic survival stuff & the other with pen, compass, money etc

In airsoft, I carry what I need but doing a milsim then I carry what I need in a Bergen

 

[TheFull9]

I spend a lot of my disposable income on 'Real Steel' kit, but I'm well aware it's a seriously frivolous waste and I definitely consider people who buy more sensible stuff to be more intelligent than I am in that regard. I spend easily a dozen hours per week on gear reviews, videos, web stores, contacting custom manufactures and other web stores along with my contacts in the US etc, all in order to find the best possible stuff to fit my personal needs/wants/criteria (again, serious waste of time when I could be down the gym or socialising or doing some open uni or something). However I emulate nobody as the gear that the SEALs or whoever wear is good for real combat... average at best for airsoft, IMHO. Plus I have my own rank/beret badge/unit patch etc and while it is not even 1% as cool as the SAS or whoever I would not put on sgt tabs and a para beret or commando dagger in a million years, and to my mind personally dressing like anyone else in the military is no different. But that is just me personally, what other people do is up to them.

 

[Bottledtorment]

Welcome to airsoft. I'd say you've done just what 90%+ of everyone else that's ever gotten in to the game has done. Not that it's a bad thing, you can't know what kit you'll like until you buy and try a whole load of things, there's no way around that realistically.

I do wish some people (speaking generally here) would avoid some of the really low end market-stall level tat gear though, because some stuff out there (we're talking full plate carrier + pouch sets in the $40 sort of region) is so atrocious you may as well roll up that cash and f*****g smoke it. I get why people buy the more basic stuff to start with, who wouldn't unless they're a millionaire? It makes sense to look before you leap as you might just find you don't like the game after a little while. But you'll seriously not like it if your rig rips, tears, sheds pouches, pokes you with bits of plastic and wires and falls apart after 2 games. Even worse are the retailers who peddle the really low end vest for like £80+, I've seen Viper cross-draws for nearly £100. There is worse than Viper out there, but the prices on kit that some airsoft specific stores charge is insaaaaane. Not only is it generally BS overall, but you're just straight up tricking the customer in to thinking they're buying something fairly high end, when it simply isn't. You can buy Warrior PCs for less than a lot of the airsoft-quality rigs sold by RIF retailers and I would use WAS stuff for real any day. Flyye is great for airsoft, but I would not trust my life to it.

Gear is like everything, I see people throw away money on such rubbish when it comes to eye pro, chest rigs and holsters etc. If you want, you can actually go out and spend a lot of money on gear made out of sh*tty materials that's been sewn using sub-standard thread by a person who's got no idea how to sew gear together. Or you can most likely spend less money and start off with a solid, simple, effective rig like this:

http://www.flecktarn.co.uk/sdtmb6nx.html

Or this:

http://www.uktactical.com/p-7530-warrior-light-assault-rig-coyote-tan.aspx

Which will abso-bloody-lutely guaranteed last longer than you want to keep it for before you sell it and move on to the next flashy/shiny new toy.

I do blame a lot of the airsoft retailers in many cases. We're not a nation with a military or firearms culture in general, 99.9% of the population are not going to realise it's a good idea to look further than the little 'vest' link underneath the 'SMGs' link at their preferred airsoft retail site. If those stores wanted to do right by their customers they'd learn about how good gear is made and stock stuff that is genuinely high quality and cost effective, not stuff that looks good on a website but is of utterly obsolete design (which is most often the case) and often of comparatively shoddy construction in general on many occasions.

But anyway I could rant about that for a long time. FAO the lurkers reading this - Buy decent stuff. Something isn't 'cheap' if it breaks on you right away and you have to buy another one. Something's 'cheap' if it lasts you years and years of hard usage and performs well throughout that time.

+1 for the BULLE chest rig I've had one in OD and beaten it to utter death and back and the only damage is on one of the clips

 

[Baz JJ]

Im dangerously close to drifting off topic, but theres nothing wrong with you spending whatever you want on kit.

Ive just spent a very pleasant thirty minutes browsing through the kit on the UK Tactical link you provided. - thank you.

The point I was trying to make is that there are individuals who look down their noses if you go to a game without the kit or if you cant do a 48 hour milsim or its not held at a MOD training camp. IMHO that IS elitist and gives milsim a bad tag.

Nothing to do with the topic, but there Ive got it off my chest.

I spend a lot of my disposable income on 'Real Steel' kit, but I'm well aware it's a seriously frivolous waste and I definitely consider people who buy more sensible stuff to be more intelligent than I am in that regard. I spend easily sa dozen of hour per week on gear reviews, videos, web stores, contacting custom manufactures and other web stores along with my contacts in the US etc, all in order to find the best possible stuff to fit my personal needs/wants/criteria (again, serious waste of time when I could be down the gym or socialising or doing some open uni or something). However I emulate nobody as the gear that the SEALs or whoever wear is good for real combat... average at best for airsoft, IMHO. Plus I have my own rank/beret badge/unit patch etc and while it is not even 1% as cool as the SAS or whoever I would not put on sgt tabs and a para beret or commando dagger in a million years, and to my mind personally dressing like anyone else in the military is no different. But that is just me personally, what other people do is up to them.

 

[TheFull9]

The point I was trying to make is that there are individuals who look down their noses if you go to a game without the kit or if you cant do a 48 hour milsim or its not held at a MOD training camp. IMHO that IS elitist and gives milsim a bad tag.

No quite, I couldn't agree any more, I was saying the same thing.

Apart from the fact I don't much fancy paying for the privilege of doing something I get forced to do in work's time (very occasionally, luckily), that aspect of 48hr milsim games puts me right off.

 

[Mtemprell]

I know when I first started playing I us to use plce Webbing system as it was easy to use had plenty enough storage space with 4 double mag pouches a water bottle pouch and 2 utility pouches. Soon thinned it down as I realised I didn't need the space. Plus was a pain during a day of cqb found my self going through gaps sideways. I now use a osprey vest and it's the best investment I've had to date for airsofting.

 

[Lozart]

I've been pretty lucky really. Much like the OP I bought a cheap assault vest (Miltec Molle one IIRC) and then decided I wanted a chest rig instead. Fortunately a WAS 901 with a back plate came up on ebay for £70 and I've not looked back since! Endless sales on the UKT page have kept me supplied with pretty much all the pouches I've ever needed too.

 

[MrMcG]

I've been pretty lucky really. Much like the OP I bought a cheap assault vest (Miltec Molle one IIRC) and then decided I wanted a chest rig instead. Fortunately a WAS 901 with a back plate came up on ebay for £70 and I've not looked back since! Endless sales on the UKT page have kept me supplied with pretty much all the pouches I've ever needed too.

Exactly the same

Bought a cheap tactical vest ( viper i think )

Now have an OPS molle plate carrier, just bought the pouches and stuff now so soon it will be fully up and running will keep the tac vest as a spare of if a mate comes along