brands to avoid

[ghostwalker]

my own 2 pennies on the topic.

WE and G&G never had a good experience with either. WE for their pistols and G&G i owned the original Predator. I never experienced so many issues with a rif feeding, accepting anything other than the single mag it was supplied with or generally just working as it should.

 

[PopRocket123]

In my experience of viper kit, the part that fails is their stitching. I've only had a few bits of viper kit but when they've failed it's always been in a corner of the stitching. I'm guessing they're cutting costs on thread quality and saving time not reinforcing those parts. 

 

[C-Diddy]

What's wrong with WAS? I've seen almost zero complaints over quality and I can't fault my PC so far.

Just to clarify, I probably should've added a smiley, or some such shit as it was intended to be tongue-in-cheek. 

I've had a bunch of WAS stuff, and still use my LPC, and a couple of pouches. However, if I compare WAS against the stuff I have from other 'real steel' brands, like Esstac, Platatac, C2R etc, it really can't compete. 

Of course Warrior is perfectly good for airsoft, but for the price of some of their range, you can get much more for your money imo. 

 

[hunter511]

WAS kit is solid, derivative (and IIRC comes out of the same factory as Bulldog and some other cheap brands) however of late their prices are no longer competitive vs the level of build their gear is. LPC for example is currently 195 at uk tactical.... that gets you most of the way to a direct action spitfire (which from personal experience is a lightyear ahead of WAS in build and features and I would argue gives Crye a run for their money), most of the way to an Agilite K19 (no personal experience) or will give you change from a Ferro slickster......

For the purposes of this tho I wouldnt call it a brand to avoid.

 

[Lozart]

WAS kit is solid, derivative (and IIRC comes out of the same factory as Bulldog and some other cheap brands) however of late their prices are no longer competitive vs the level of build their gear is. LPC for example is currently 195 at uk tactical.... that gets you most of the way to a direct action spitfire (which from personal experience is a lightyear ahead of WAS in build and features and I would argue gives Crye a run for their money), most of the way to an Agilite K19 (no personal experience) or will give you change from a Ferro slickster......

For the purposes of this tho I wouldnt call it a brand to avoid.

IIRC Direct Action Gear is an offshoot of Helikon for their "high end" products. All I'd say with regards to WAS is that friends of mine that have served have said that it's better than what they were issued with.

 

[PopRocket123]

IIRC Direct Action Gear is an offshoot of Helikon for their "high end" products. All I'd say with regards to WAS is that friends of mine that have served have said that it's better than what they were issued with.

That's not saying a whole lot lol. I've heard real horror stories about the quality of the osprey kit. 

 

[Lozart]

That's not saying a whole lot lol. I've heard real horror stories about the quality of the osprey kit. 

Too true! Lowest bidder and all that.

I think he was more miffed that I had a pair of Lowa Zephyrs and he didn't! He was saying that pre-deployment nobody could get hold of gucci kit because airsofters had bought it all!

 

[hunter511]

IIRC Direct Action Gear is an offshoot of Helikon for their "high end" products.

Yup, from what I understand there's been a lot of input into the Direct Action plate carriers from ex-GROM dudes amd there's certainly a higher quality of build and finish than I was expecting at the price.

 

[JinxDuh]

Yup, from what I understand there's been a lot of input into the Direct Action plate carriers from ex-GROM dudes amd there's certainly a higher quality of build and finish than I was expecting at the price.

Agreed. I bought their spitfire mk1 for a GROM kit and it’s bloody lovely. Well worth the money tbh, just wish their pouches was in stock more often. ?

 

[rj1986]

Bit late to the party, but to defend 8 fields - I got some soft pistol mag taco's from them. Under £4 each. They grip my FNX mags tighter than anything. And have a full molle backing unlike the viper ones which are sewn shut on the middle part so you can't loop them properly.

 

[Leo Greer]

Ah, Lancer Tactical... normally I dismiss tech advice from Reddit as garbage, as noted above, but there is something to be said for LT.

The V3s/Prolines seem to be pretty good, and, if I'm not mistaken, are OEMed by Lonex.

The V2s on the other hand... some people like them, but I've worked on two so far and both came stock with plastic bushings and off-spec cylinders. The bushing holes were also too small for 8mm and required some filing for regular bushings to fit. The cylinders I thought were fine, until I realized a build was getting PME dreadfully early because the cylinder had so much resistance. Bad shimming, junk motor, nonexistent compression. Not to mention the hop rubber was crazy hard and slick. Now, not every V2 has these problems, since different parts seem to be used based on run and model, but opening up two LT-25s to find the exact same internals left a bad taste in my mouth. Not sure who makes the V2s, other than it being somewhere in China.

 

[Skullchewer]

Anyone said Bolster Armouries yet?

Not even kidding, guy at our site got one, played it for a few weeks, gave it to the site tech to upgrade.

I'm not even surprised.

Airsoft for rich idiots. 

 

[Speedbird_666]

Anyone said Bolster Armouries yet?

And they just rolled out this masterpiece - a support gun with no bipod, a mock suppressor but no tracer, an angled foregrip to c-clamp that chonky front end but nothing to help hold it's weight, and a base gun that uses a V2 gearbox and not a support gun platform.

https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/bolster-armouries-atlas-advanced-support-gun-aeg

All yours for £1499.

I have seen a Bolster Armouries M4 thing in the 'real'. It was merely ok - nothing exceptional. And certainly not worth the wedge of cash it cost.

 

[Rogerborg]

The spec seems OK, but as always, it's whether the parts actually work together that matters.  But why waste development time on  when you can get a far higher return from buying a purple lightbulb for marketing your next "drop".

https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/bolster-armouries

 

[Speedbird_666]

Ah, Lancer Tactical... normally I dismiss tech advice from Reddit as garbage, as noted above, but there is something to be said for LT.

The V3s/Prolines seem to be pretty good, and, if I'm not mistaken, are OEMed by Lonex.

The V2s on the other hand... some people like them, but I've worked on two so far and both came stock with plastic bushings and off-spec cylinders. The bushing holes were also too small for 8mm and required some filing for regular bushings to fit. The cylinders I thought were fine, until I realized a build was getting PME dreadfully early because the cylinder had so much resistance. Bad shimming, junk motor, nonexistent compression. Not to mention the hop rubber was crazy hard and slick. Now, not every V2 has these problems, since different parts seem to be used based on run and model, but opening up two LT-25s to find the exact same internals left a bad taste in my mouth. Not sure who makes the V2s, other than it being somewhere in China.

Gen3s are rolled out of the same factory as the Novritsch SSR4:

I thought that AIM TOP was the OEM for most of these manufacturers? Lonex has OEM'd for Tippmann (Commando series), BO Dynamics (LT5xx series) and ASG (M15 Proline) off the top of my head.

Maybe they did the Prolines for Lancer too? - the GB's have that Lonex shiny finish.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Anyone said Bolster Armouries yet?

Not even kidding, guy at our site got one, played it for a few weeks, gave it to the site tech to upgrade.

I'm not even surprised.

Airsoft for rich idiots. 

Aye, all that money... definitely Mack's territory.