Looking for some help on my loadout.

[BlackBlur]

Hi everyone so its been a couple of months now since I've started playing and I'm feeling like its time to start tooling up on a proper loadout now so when I go to sessions I can avoid needing to use any rental gear. I already got my AEG sorted and shes been doing me proud and I bought a mask but I think the mask is gonna be changing already to a simpler goggle and mesh combo. Will probably stick to a simple cap or hat with these or grab a helmet.

Glove wise I've read on here about mechanix gloves so will more than likely pick them up for definite along with some form of kneepads too. Chest rig wise I am a bit torn though. I really prefer playing very aggressive and on the move so leaning more towards a simpler chest rig over plate carriers (even though they look fairly kick ass). How are m5 mags with the pouches however? Should I be looking for specific pouches of do the more common m4 pouches work ok for them?.

Last thing I'm thinking about then is camo scheme. I would kinda like to go a hybrid route between CQB and outdoor skirmishes, Full camo and full black aint really interesting me at the minute (probrably will change first time I get lit up in full auto!). Was considering some form of camo trousers just with a grey/black hoodie style top. Chest rig and any type of armour would then be black I think.Oh and a backpack too for the outdoor skirmishes.

How does the plan sound? Would you have any suggestions perhaps on things such as the chest rig or even the camo route?

Cheers.

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

If you want a simple rig go for a molle belt. Then you can just use the pouches you want. Plate carriers are a pain in the arse and stop people feeling hits to often.

 

[jcheeseright]

don't worry about camo, at airsoft ranges block colours work just as well anyway, as long as you're not wearing bright orange you're all good.

chest rig/plate carrier etc wise, budget and capacity are your two main factors here; with a molle rig you can tailor it 100% to your requirements or theres plenty of already dressed chest rigs that are really well arranged.

Best bet is to give us an indication of how much stuff you're likely to be carrying and a rough budget, a 3x magazine and one grenade load is going to require a very different solution to 10x magazines, 2x grenades, bolt cutters, pistol, first aid kit, 3L camelbak, waterproofs etc...

Oh, and a backpack for woodland games is entirely unnecessary, never ever have I had a requirement for one on a standard walk-on day.

 

[Aengus]

I'd recommend od ubac random colour of trousers (military colour of course) then one of the y' olde British dpm chest rigs should be about £30-40 for the whole load out if you're looking to not spend a ridiculous amount

 

[Aengus]

Like this one: http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arktis-Chest-Rig-DPM-old-School-Ally-/221857998503?nav=SEARCH

 

[Albiscuit]

Like most of us we have all altered our loadouts more times than we can remember and now have different loadouts for different settings and different guns and even particular style loadouts, SAS, Marine, character specific loadouts etc...

My advise would be to buy slowly, grab some combat trousers either a plain colour and go for a PMC style look or grab some woodland surplus ones. A UBACS top is a decent base layer, or a checkered shirt for that merc look would work, I even spent the first few months playing in a hoody...

Rig wise, its worth working out like mentioned above what you actually want to take. I started off wanting a PC with all the added extras and a backpack with even more gear with pouches all over and soon realised after skirmishing its pointless as I tend to run around the edges of battle or play a stealthy type of play so wanted low stream and bought a simple chest rig for pouches.

Even now I want to simplify it more with just a battle belt for mags and holster and thats it....

Only thing I would say is a godsend is a dump pouch

What I guess I am waffling on about is to buy as you play, then you know whats needed to suit the style you play and the locations. (my nooby mate spent I dont know how much on kit before his first skirmish to realise he wont use half of it and stripped it right back, I dread to think how much he wasted) I have 3 set ups for the weapons I use and locations I play at Plus my SAS "costume"...

 

[Albiscuit]

oh... checkout http://www.military1st.co.uk/ for inspiration... Everything you could possibly need/want/desire and a hell of a lot more you will find yourself making excuses you need to justify a purchase!

 

[BlackBlur]

Hey thanks again for all the advice guys much appreciated! Did a bit of thinking like you said about how much gear I'd be looking to ever take. Thinking no more than 4 mags including the one that is loaded which could work well with this mag pouch: http://www.military1st.co.uk/bvmmp506og-viper-mp5-mag-pouch-green.html and grab a dump pouch to go alongside it.

Would I be right in thinking that this would then be the type of rig they atttach too properly? http://www.military1st.co.uk/201047-001-condor-lcs-ops-chest-rig-olive-drab.html

Its funny too now that I think about it I cant even think of other stuff I'd slap onto it. S maybe a belt system could do the trick too. Would minus a layer on my chest too in CQB as I kinda dig wearing hoodies to those sessions too no matter how boiling they can be hehe.

But seeing the plain olive green in the rig and pouches does not look to shabby could grab a pair of combats similar colour and it would be simple enough for CQB and outdoors. Only reason why I thought about a backpack type of thing was carrying valuables water and spare bbs. Didn't mean a crazy sized backpack in case that is what you thought I meant. Cheers again for the advice!

 

[Albiscuit]

That rig would be suitable, but would you want everything on your chest?

Plus like you said its another layer.....

A Molle battle belt with those pouches (I have the same Viper ones for my black mp5 kit and they are great) a dump pouch behind you and a holster on the right with maybe a small pouch for mk5 grenades or a BFG and a torch and your all set... All you would realistically need for a normal skirmish

a backpack would be something else you didnt need... valuables and stuff can stay in your bag in the safe zone. I have never seen or heard of things going missing from the safe zones, its things dropped in the game which are picked up which cause issues (strange really when all the stuff in the safe zone are worth way more than a battered BFG)

Plus I normally have a bottle of water in my dump pouch if its warm out or the games last a while...

But....

http://www.military1st.co.uk/bvlbagdayg-viper-lazer-day-pack-green.html This is available if you really think you need it.. I have one and it packs a lot in for a small bag.

 

[Esoterick]

You could try a MOLLE belt with a yoke which has MOLLE space on the back of it. This would allow you to attach a hydration pouch. You do need to review taking excess stuff into games though as I pop all my valuables in my gun bag in the safe zone and only use a hydration pouch on sites where you are out of the safe zone for 1 hour or more.

The real issue i've always found is if you want to try a certain loadout you are inclined to not spend a lot of money, however if you like that configuration it makes you wish you had bought good quality gear in the first place.

This is normally the recommended beginner chest rig:

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

However they are quite often out of stock

The second rig I bought was a Condor chest rig with built in mag pouches. It worked fine, but it wouldn't adjust enough to fit my chest well plus one of the MOLLE loops somehow tore after around 3 games.

As has been mentioned above it's a bit of a personal thing as to what works for you. I'd be inclined to go for a surplus type chest rig you can pickup for around £20 and work from there. However I couldn't vouch for what is good as the first rig I bought was supposedly a surplus DPM chest rig which is made out of material so rigid it bounces all over the place.

 

[BlackBlur]

Hmm your quickly selling me to the idea of a molle battle belt! When I think about it motion wise of reaching for something too it seems a hell of a lot more natural too than going for my chest for something. I think I am being a bit of a gimp too about back packs will probably just stash a water bottle somewhere for longer days.

Would their be any versions of the battle belts you'd recommend and what about the harness things they seem to be showing for them? Just wondering too if you would have any ear protection tips if I do go for the glove/mesh combo instead (Thinking simple beanie hat or something). Current helmet just about covers them but is too bulky and want to get away from mesh when it comes to my eye protection.

 

[Esoterick]

This is what I use for a belt setup:

http://www.uktactical.com/p-8712-warrior-plb-belt-olive-drab.aspx

http://www.uktactical.com/p-8713-warrior-molle-harness-olive-drab.aspx

It certainly isn't the cheapest, nor necessarily the best but the build quality is very good. Reaching for mags is something you pickup pretty quickly either way, although my limited experience of closed mag pouches with a clip says that I find them fiddly to open and close. Especially as you quite often can't seen what you are doing, particularly with a lower mesh mask as it blocks your vision downwards.

Personally I like a plate carrier as it fits tightly and almost all of them have a silly amount of MOLLE space for whatever you want to attach to them. I'd most likely switch back to the belt setup linked above, except I like to carry an extra mag(it will hold 4 plus a dump pouch if I recall correctly) and I run a holster on a belt which would prove difficult if you are already wearing a MOLLE belt.

The biggest drawback with a plate carrier is they are without a doubt the hottest bit of kit to wear. The downside to a belt is i've found it obstructs moving side to side whilst lying down far more than a plate carrier does. If you don't end up lying down a lot this wouldn't be an issue.

In regards to ear protection I just use a lower mesh mask with the big plastic loops mostly covering my ears. You can get little mesh ear protectors, but it's not my preference.

Edit: Also I would test whatever you buy wearing your face protection and gloves as it's massively different compared to having full peripheral vision and dexterity as you would without them.

 

[Albiscuit]

I may be wrong but the harnesses are not needed for the belts, I am sure I have seen people running about with the belts with no PC or harness (I know the are designed to be used under a harness or PC to give additional molle space however)

But it doesnt even have to be a molle battle belt... I use similar to this http://www.military1st.co.uk/13315501-mil-tec-army-belt-quick-release-50mm-olive.html in black with the same MP5 pouch you listed a dunp pouch a smaller admin pouch and my drop leg holster hanging off.... Lightweight as I can be really!!

But I would like to run a similar set up in olive for outdoor green ninja games and would certainly look to a molle belt as they look better and the pouches do flap a little on a normal belt

You can get a lower face mesh mask with ear pro built in, or like you said use a beanie.. I pull a beanie down, use a shemagh or use a olive headover depending on the rest of the set up, lately i have not been too bothered and just use glasses, although my forehead is a BB magnet DOH!!

 

[Esoterick]

I may be wrong but the harnesses are not needed for the belts, I am sure I have seen people running about with the belts with no PC or harness (I know the are designed to be used under a harness or PC to give additional molle space however)

It depends on how well the belt fits the individual plus how much weight is put on it really.

 

[BlackBlur]

Guys thanks a lot for everything I through together this wishlist as an example of what I'm now considering and will probably grab the harness just for the looks if anything hehe. (Would replace gloves for mechanix too I think).

Edit: Noticed the wish list page didn't even save sorry.

Ah wait I just realized to that I have a m4 pouch in their too for some odd reason sorry, Thought that was an addon part that I had to put the mp5 mag pouch onto. This is what happens when I go planning to blast all my wages this late at night. :wacko:

 

[jcheeseright]

Top tip: don't buy viper, it's garbage. There's loads of other brands that are better and often cheaper.

Uktactical.com are doing a 10% off sale on warrior at the moment (stuff is pretty much bomb proof).

Likewise flecktarn.co.uk do a good range of bulle pouches and rigs which are very well put together.

 

[BlackBlur]

Ah right will probably avoid them then cheers for the heads up sir. That is kinda sickening too because out of most sites I have seen to be honest Vipers was the best laid out I reckon and they are pretty much the only people that seem to be selling those mp5 ammo pouches. Back to searching for now, gonna focus on the belt dump pouch and ammo pouches see what I can find.

Gloves, knee pads and eye pro I'll sort at my local site today I think.

How about condors stuff? Was thinking about this maybe:

http://www.military1st.co.uk/215-002-condor-h-harness-black.html

http://www.military1st.co.uk/tb-002-condor-tactical-belt-black.html

http://www.military1st.co.uk/241-002-condor-battle-belt-gen-ii-black.html

http://www.military1st.co.uk/bvmmp506og-viper-mp5-mag-pouch-green.html

http://www.military1st.co.uk/ma22-002-condor-3-fold-mag-recovery-pouch-black.html

 

[Sacarathe]

Condor is hated (due to poor durability/construction consistency) over in the US airsoft community, have you looked at flyye?

I was going to get a condor H harness and belt, In the end I went with a Flyye battlebelt with suspenders, works great so far.

http://www.flyyeindustries.com/ArticleShow.asp?ProdID=0643

http://www.military1st.co.uk/itemlist.html?searchquery=flyye&catid=0&itemsperpage=99999

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

Top tip: don't buy viper, it's garbage. There's loads of other brands that are better and often cheaper.

Uktactical.com are doing a 10% off sale on warrior at the moment (stuff is pretty much bomb proof).

Likewise flecktarn.co.uk do a good range of bulle pouches and rigs which are very well put together.

Viper isnt that bad. They have some ok belt rigs and pouches and some ok light weight tac vests at reasonable money. You can get better but you will pay more and to be honest its airsoft not a full on battlefield so will be durable enough for what most people need.

 

[Lozart]

Condor is hated (due to poor durability/construction consistency) over in the US airsoft community, have you looked at flyye?

I was going to get a condor H harness and belt, In the end I went with a Flyye battlebelt with suspenders, works great so far.

http://www.flyyeindustries.com/ArticleShow.asp?ProdID=0643

http://www.military1st.co.uk/itemlist.html?searchquery=flyye&catid=0&itemsperpage=99999

Condor kit is fine for the average airsofter. The butthurt in the US is mostly down to people wanting it for activities other than airsoft (survivalists and the like) when it does show its shortcomings compared to "real steel" kit.

I have a Condor Battle Belt and it's been absolutely fine.