Will my webbing wobble?

[RostokMcSpoons]

I be been running around with mags and a pistol in my DPM95 trousers, it's time to get a bit more serious and get some webbing or tactical gear of some sort...

My first attempt, a tac vest from Wish for a bargain price was a 'near miss'... I bought the grey digital camo version which was just too light coloured and didn't match my woodland gear, but it was so cheap it was only a test run at this anyway...

The bigger problem was the pistol holster flopping about as I ran around, leading to the sound of velcro tearing and reattaching all the time, and the feel of the pistol about to fly off into the undergrowth... (It's a metal HFC M92)

And the vest itself made me sweat like an absolute hog.

So that's out.  I've been looking at British Army surplus PLCE webbing, but I think even that might be a bit much, 

So the next alternative is a simple utility belt, with a holster, and a triple mag pouch.  Maybe a dump bag behind, or a utility pouch too, but light weight is the key.

Now the thing is my current kit means I'm wearing either a battle shirt or jacket, so the belt will be on the outside, not through the trouser belt loops. 

Will it be ok like that, or will it wobble around too much? 

Will I be able to pull my pistol from a hard shell push button retention holster, and the mags from the pouches cleanly?

Any feedback or alternatives welcomed... I'm running at the cheap-skate bargain-bin end of the financial spectrum for the moment though! Used gear considered!

Oh yeah.. side note, the pistol isn't working well, will probably buy a TM 5.1 to replace it...

Here's the kit I'm thinking of to go with it....

https://www.iwholesales.co.uk/611750 (belt)

https://www.iwholesales.co.uk/tactical-equipment/holsters/613242-WoSport-hi-capa-quick-release-holster-black

https://www.iwholesales.co.uk/tactical-equipment/pouch/612243-big-foot-tactical-three-magazine-pouch-for-m4-ak-aug-od

 

[Jacob Wright]

I suspect, with that combination of belt and holster that there may be a bit more wobble/play in it than you would get with a trouser belt or molle set up. 
 

My reasoning is the belt looks fairly thin, and the holster is designed to have the ‘paddle’ sit inside the trousers to be more stable. 
 

However, if you did tuck the shirt in and run the belt through the trousers I don’t think you’d have the same problem. 

 

[Tackle]

Get yourself a bulle mle, cheap, stable & enough molle for most setups but your back & upper part of your front isn't wrapped in sweat inducing nylon/cordura. 

As for the holster, get a serpa or imi, or one of the half decent knock offs for your chosen pistol, with a molle fitment, no more wobble, fast draw & pretty much guaranteed not to lose mags mid game, something very common with material holsters or sticking them in pouches. 

& yep, mle's & holsters do come up on the forums or ebay s/h at very good prices. 

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Thanks for that.  I'll at least upgrade my intended purchase belt to a Molle battle-belt design, even though this means the cost is creeping up... 

The Bulle MLE is this thing? https://www.flecktarn.co.uk/odtmb2nx.html

That certainly looks to have plenty of capacity and options to change how it's worn... but £30 before I stick anything else on it.  The cost creeps up more!

There's a simpler and lighter £25 battle belt with yoke which also looks good: https://www.flecktarn.co.uk/odtsb2nx.html

Maybe I need to wait a little until I can get some really Gucci kit, rather than trying to shop at Primark (on a Sale day) 

Edit...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8FIELDS-Padded-Battle-Patrol-Belt-with-Harness-Yoke-Molle-Olive-Green-/294252681805?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

This molle belt with yoke that I've looked at before is now on offer to me at less than £14... It looks quite good at that price but I'm just worried the molle paneling is more around the back than the sides... Would the holster be badly positioned?

 

[Tackle]

Jesus, no offense, but even for a scotsman you bring a whole new meaning to the saying "tight as a gnats chuff" ?, yeah you do have to add some pouches to the mle but that doesn't have to be expensive, in the scheme of things it's actually a very sturdy good quality bit of kit for a bargain price, & will outlast a lot of the so called "gucci" more expensive items that players use. 

As for the belt order you've mentioned, that was actually marketed originally as a sniper set up, hence the fixed horizontal mag pouches on the rear, I've got one & while it's the typical bulle high quality, it has limitations in its use, which includes its very small amount of additional molle for customising your load out. 

The other thing is you've described yourself as "old & a bit chunky", or something like that, well as a fellow geriatric chunky monkey I can confirm the mle is not only a fairly lightweight base, it's also very adjustable & does a great job in hiding middle age spread lol. 

Way better than many of these micro style rigs that many players are using, they look horrific on anybody that weighs more than about 12 stone ?

 

[solitaire360]

Your initial stories of scraping kit together for your first games really hit home. Reminded me of my own early days. Oh memories!

After years and years of getting through all manner of decent and/or improvised/modified load bearing kit, I've now quite comfortably settled on the following:

A belt: with holster, pistol mag pouch, dump pouch, grenade pouch.

A (heavily modified) chicom chest rig (get them for £20), they're amazing, as like most things made in the eastern bloc they were built en masse, to last and to continuously fix and upgrade. If you get the time, you can even take away the chicom's own, smaller, oil bottle & grenade pouches with a sharp knife, and sew molle loops there instead. That's what I did (pm if you want a pic). Now to those I've attached: Utility pouch, bayonet & canteen pouch. It comes with three mag pouches already.

Truly enjoy working on my gear, improving it - you will too.

 

[Badgerlicious]

Kombat Trojan chest rig. Viper has the same thing under the name Spec-Ops chest rig. £30 for 4x mag pouches, 3x pistol mag pouches, 2x smoke grenade pouches, a utility pouch and a radio pouch (that doubles as a decent 5th mag pouch). The drawbacks being it's a fixed layout, so you cannot add or remove any pouches. You might be able to find the same thing on ali or wish, though I haven't found the exact model myself. I must spend a good 50% of my time on my belly and the stitching is still good after a few months of running it. 

That plus the rigger belt. I recommend it through your belt loops, there will be some play in the holster otherwise, though it shouldn't be unusable. 

The pic is me and my mate both running one. We're both pretty "meaty" lads, so you can get an idea of the fit. Though he's put his on a kombat molle yoke, and mine's on a dpm yoke. The OD green goes really well with dark woodland colours imo. 

View attachment 80097

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Floppy holsters are just one of these things that I assumed happened and there was no fix...

I bought my crossdraw vest off Amazon and its decent... nothing special but perfectly functional without need to add anything else. I assume its similar to your one... you could always remove the holster part and get a leg mounted one?

 

[Rogerborg]

Webbings wobble but they don't fall down.

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Yeah I apologise about the tightness of the purse strings... I've got two guns being meddled with by the site technician (for which I'll owe some cash next time I play), a desire to buy a TM high capa (and ideally another rifle), and a wife who has got wise to the fact I want to spend money on this hobby when I'm telling her to be more careful with money each month ?

So I'm trying to save money on this part of my kit, but I'm realising it's difficult to get the things I want at bargain basement pricing!

Still, whatever I buy now doesn't have to be my 'forever' loadout, just need something better than sticking everything in pockets.  For at least a couple of months.

 

[Rogerborg]

Nothing wrong with pockets.  When I can't be doing with strapping myself into a chest-tac-plate-belt-rig, I just throw on a vest and fill it up.

eBay for "assault vest" or similar, there's plenty around for under £20.

View attachment 80101e

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Yeah I'm avoiding another assault vest because I had to wring the sweat out of my jacket when I wore one for half a day.

The recommended chest rigs at least allow a bit more breathability.

Damn it, even if I had all the money in the world to spend, I don't know what I want now ?

 

[strykerles]

When I started out I brought a surplus Osprey vest from ebay, did the job for a time but made it a little difficult to move in cqb. Can be picked up quite cheap too and the pouches for the system are cheap

also coming back after lockdown it was a bit............ snug

I've since gone to a molle belt with shoulder straps, can carry what I need and is so much lighter and easier to move in. also the molle on the straps can be used for smaller pouches

I carry 2 double SVD/VSS pouches, a double pistol pouch, pistol holster and a dump pouch on the belt and a grenade pouch and bayonet on the straps

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

@strykerles do you wear that belt over the top of the jacket, or in through the belt loops, because that was kind of the crux of my initial questions... Whether there's enough stability on webbing when it's not connected to the trousers

I'm liking the Bulle MLE harness more now I've realised it can carry multiple magazines on the inside pouches. 

I guess my only real complaint is that it will look a bit odd wearing it with no pouches on the outside!

(The sniper belt was quite appealing but it's out of stock anyway, so that's ruled out)

 

[TheFull9]

If you're only going to have 1 belt and if there will be times where your upper garment covers your waist area and you can't tuck in then obviously you can't use your belt loops, which is why a chest rig or a webbing type setup is good as you throw them on top of anything.  Whether a simple military type of thick belt will bounce around on you without using belt loops will depend on the belt type, how much weight you put on it and where precisely you wear it.  The materials of the belt and your clothing and your body shape will all dictate the amount of friction and hence the potential movement of a belt that's not anchored in place and nobody here can predict the end result given all the different factors.

The MLE really is right around the lowest end of the budget spectrum in terms of what's actually good, especially since you'll need a modular rig to mount a holster and pistol mag pouches; common old school mil surplus is pretty much all setup for rifles because wars aren't fought with handguns.  Surplus UK issued MTP pouches are cheap and you can just add some over time, get 1 or 2 a month type thing.

The next cheapest thing down is to get just a surplus issue PLCE belt, they're mega cheap, tough as old boots and you can bodge together a rig and then tighten the whole thing around your waist (your actual waist narrow point not your hips) and it'll wobble a little bit for sure but will work.  Securely retaining your pistol and mags will largely come down to using a decent holster and pouches more than the belt.

 

[strykerles]

I wear the belt over my shirt and the harness holds it in place. can be fiddly to get the straps adjusted right though

never had a problem since I've been using it

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

I thank you all for your input to my buying decision, you've been kind and patient with an old man trying to save the pennies and ounces ?

I have now gone 'sod it' and bought a Viper tactical harness from my local online Airsoft shop's boneyard, it's black rather than the dark green I'd have liked, but for a tenner for a Molle belt I'm not going to be picky.  I've also grabbed a super cheap universal belt holster to temporarily continue carrying my sickly HFC M92 (if I don't jump in for the TM Hi capa) for a game or two, which will let me test out the balance.

Next I'll buy some Opsrey SA80 mag pouches as they're cheap as chips... And a utility pouch.

Should be sorted, at least to the point that I'll know if this works for me!

Edit: Purchased a couple of elastic strapped Osprey mag pouches, and one of those plastic shell m4 mag holders for my primary speedy access.

My total outlay is now.... £31

For which I've got a Molle belt with v harness, fabric holster, 2 mag pouches and one mag holder.

You might see it all on eBay in a couple of weeks ???