A new piece of gear.

[JAMMIEDODGERS]

I took everything into consideration with my last post and decided I would go with a desert type loadout. I was at my local army surplus shop and bought an Assault Vest. At the time I didn't know enough about what the product was (Noob move, I know ) and did some research.

I found out that the Assault vest I got was a:

Molle DPM Desert Assault Vest.
Now due to my stupid brain :3 I worry A LOT about what kind of gear is good or not and whether I bought a wrong piece of gear. So I ask you awesome people if this is good. Would love to know to Pro's & Cons of this specific item as I bought it for £30. Would have been £25 without the pouches.

Contains : 3 Utility pouches. 2 40mm grenade pouches. 1 Knife pouch. 1 Water Bottle Pouch.

Hopefully this isn't a stupid question to you people. But then again... I think this is good. Just wanted to know from veterans of the sport.

 

[Sam_G]

They are good cheap bits of kit.

I think they were designed to go over the top of body armor so they be a tad loose fitting. Well the ones i have seen people playing in ALWAYs have been.

Its MOLLE so you can pick and choose pouches and placements so that a good thing. Stick some pics up if you can mate.

You didnt list any mag pouches? you may need to think about getting some as the mags will fit in utility pouch but will move around alot and be very noisy.

 

[Nickona]

As Sam said, for the price they're very good quality especially compare to the likes of Viper kit which is about the same price (the reason they are heap is there's high supply and little demand for DDPM kit nowadays)

You should be able to pick up some mag pouches fairly cheaply, but with MOLLE kit its all about finding out where it sits comfortably for you, very difficult for people to tell you were to put stuff

 

[JAMMIEDODGERS]

There wasn't any mag pouches which came with the Vest, which was a bit disappointing. But I can probably get some mag pouches for a G36 maybe? As I will be hiring.

The mag pouches are high in my list. I just need now some boots (Mostly likely desert to fit the Vest) and some eye protection.

They are loose, even on their tightest setting (And I'm a big lad, weight wise )

They'll be all right with a hoodie or something I think.

I'll stick some photo's up when I can to show you what it looks like etc. I've organised the pouches to how I like them, so I have taken 2 pouches off I think.

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Ian_Gere]

You'll not want to be wearing a hoodie under a vest for long mate, not unless you're sniping. You'll get way too hot running around!

I'd say that of all the noob moves you could have made, buying a molle vest without knowing what you need isn't a bad one. You probably should aim at getting your own eye protection next. Given that you choose something that fits you well enough to be safe, how well you can see is the next most important thing.

I've found that interwoven mesh is the easiest to see through - it doesn't fog; the holes are of intermediate size, which means that it disappears from view when looked through and only approx 1.8mm grit can get through.

Hero Shark perforated mesh is probably the toughest, but it also has the largest holes which can allow BB fragments through (although they don't actually do you any harm) and counterintuitively the larger holes do not make the mesh disappear from view more easily, it remains in your vision.

Most mesh goggles you will find advertised are perforated with small holes; it must provide the best protection against the possibility of fragments, but tests conducted on this forum have shown that some makes of it are only just up to the job when tested to destruction; despite having the highest ratio of metal compared to holes, it too disappears from view, but it does darken your view like wearing shades.

The only other type you're likely to come across is intermediate sized hole perforated mesh fitted into masks; it's pretty much like interwoven mesh except that it darkens the view more and becomes more obvious in your view if you glance rather than turn your head.

There are loads of goggles with lenses, but to some degree they all fog up. You can combat this with wipes, spray, lens coatings, fans, etc. but those measures are by no means perfect. Obviously, so long as they fit tightly to your face, they are safest, but ironically the tighter fitting they are, the more they will fog. Also worth considering is that you can bend mesh eyepro to better fit your contours, whereas polycarbonate lenses are the shape they are made so you can like it or lump it...

The final thing to consider is this: what is more likely to be unsafe, the chance that a BB fragment could penetrate mesh retaining enough momentum to damage your eye (it has not ever been reported to have happened so far), or the chance that fogging will cause you to trip over or run into something/body and fall onto something sharp?

As you say, boots are also important. Surplus Lowas are getting pretty easy to get cheap these days...

As for mag pouches, you need to check that they don't have dividers inside if you intend to use them for G36 mags, or cut them out, but generally a pouch that will fit 3 NATO / STANAG / M4 / SA80 mags stuffed in will hold 2 G36 mags with enough space to just about get them out easily enough but, unless you use a dump pouch, you should plan on 1 G36 mag per pouch, because you'll never get an empty one back into a pouch quickly with another one already in there. Of course, if you use the lugs on the sides of G36 mags to lock them together in pairs, it gets easier to deal with them.

Hope this waffle has been of some use to you

 

[JAMMIEDODGERS]

It really has helped, thank you Ian
I have heard rumors from around the interwebs that mesh is a bit dangerous, so I was a bit scared, and it didn't help when I am on Youtube searching for valid tests, and all these people just shoot the mesh, point blank with 500+ fps guns. (Obviously if that were to happen on a site, I would pick another site )

I don't want to cheap out on glasses as I am on a VERY tight budget, but obviously I don't want to spend a lot on eye protection. I might get interwoven mesh goggles/glasses, but I have never heard of that kind of mesh before so I'll do some research into it.

Like I said before, I would post pictures on here showing the vest itself. And all of the pouches on it are to my liking.

 

[Ian_Gere]

Take a look at these to see interwoven mesh goggles. It looks as if the visor and head bit come off, so that's a bonus. It's easy to trim the plastic in the nose bridge area to fit yours / a half-face mesh mask worn below the goggles. The foam padding ensures a secure BB-proof fit.

You can also get full face interwoven mesh masks, like a fencing mask but with cloth bits in camo or black.

 

[JAMMIEDODGERS]

Hmm, looks all right. I like the price, could probably get it next week if I'm lucky. I have been thinking of getting a full mesh mask. I have no idea, but I like full mesh masks. Thanks for the link mate, I'll have a look around more

 

[Ian_Gere]

This is the best price I can find for a full face mesh mask.

 

[kev.k]

There are a few vids on YouTube showing cheap mesh masks being ripped to shreds by bb's.

I wouldn't chance anything that cheap.

I bought some revision bullet ants of eBay for a ridiculously low price. They are really good.

 

[JAMMIEDODGERS]

Then again, those videos usually consist of people firing point blank with god knows what fps the gun is. If I recall, if people go to fire point blank, they say "Bang"?

Then again, that rule applies to some sites if I remember.

There's so much to choose from, I don't want to end up in the middle of a firefight, fogging up so much I cannot see. Then again, I don't want a unlikely event of a bb shattering against my mesh. I guess it all comes down to your preference. I had a llok for what you said Kev, and they are a bit expensive for my price budget. But again, like with everything, I'll keep looking.

Really appreciate all the help guys. Making my time here worthwhile :3

 

[Ian_Gere]

Yeah, I've done my own tests too. The results are in one of the mask/eyepro threads...

Basically, cheap perforated mesh does shred, however, surprisingly enough it takes more BB's fired on full auto than fired singly into the same point to penetrate them. Single shots fired into the exact same spot on a pair of goggles can be discounted as a realistic scenario, but it's not impossible for full auto to go off in someone's face...

BUT... it takes over a full second, again fired right into the same spot. Is this actually likely? When you're sat watching telly a second goes by quickly enough, but in skirmish terms, when you can dab the trigger of a full auto gun with a 900 rnds/min ROF to get a single shot, more than once in the space of a second... or when we consider minimum human response times of 14 thousandths of a second - it really isn't likely at all.

 

[kev.k]

Bullet ants are expensive if you pay the rrp.

I paid £19.52 for a brand new delux set. Goggles, 3 sets of lenses, quality molle case, cloth wipe and anti fog.

Best bargain I've picked up in ages.

 

[JAMMIEDODGERS]

That...is not a bad deal at all

When was this though? And are they still good enough to use? Just need to know these infos before buying stuff

SO MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM! WAAGH!! Haha

 

[kev.k]

Bought them last week brand new. They're issued to british troops and don't fog much. The tag says they can survive a shot gun blast from 5 meters so I don't think bb's will be a problem.

I got mine in a auction. The seller has a few more sets for £30.

If you look on YouTube there are alot of reviews.

 

[JAMMIEDODGERS]

Thanks Kev, I'm going to go and look for some reviews...just after I have listened to Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns album

 

[akey]

Just a quick one on the vest, that is the same one I have. As others have said they can be a bit baggy, so I have used some tye wraps to 'sew up' some of the side molle panels pulling it together to reduce the size, its worked really well and now the vest fits a charm.

As for G36 pouches my daughter uses the Utility or water bottle pouches that fit that rig (DDPM MOLLE) and they work fine, each carrys 2-3 mags nicely.

M

 

[JAMMIEDODGERS]

Oh my god thank you so much akey, that saves LOADS of time looking for some mag pouches

 

[Alex The Destroyer]

For a face mask, try this http://www.landwarriorairsoft.com/acatalog/b-CH_1116_MC.html#.UWgNDSvwLO8, they are very strong (i did my own test 500 fps sniper only slightly dented the mesh)