Grey loadout?

[Mosh]

So I saw a recent staus update from @Hibernatorin which he posted this article, I though it looked pretty cool and wondered if anyone ran anything like it and where they got it from, as it's going to be harder to find than surplus stuff.

 

[Jedi_Master]

5.11 Tactical do a range of Storm grey kit including chest rig, saw it in an article in Airsoft Action a few months ago. Think it may be sold by Military 1st. Not the same as police kit but gives a grey load-out.

[Mosh]

5.11 Tactical do a range of Storm grey kit including chest rig, saw it in an article in Airsoft Action a few months ago. Think it may be sold by Military 1st. Not the same as police kit but gives a grey load-out.

Thats awesome, thanks dude

[djben9]

yeah got a few grey bits, not a lot, not yet my colour..... as mentioned it was in AA issue vol 11 iss 4....

 

you cant try military 1st...my go to for day to day combats as well! haha

 

prob best to just browses google tbh

[Mosh]

Military 1st looks like a winner, really like the shadow grey, lots of variety too.

[djben9]

yep. let me know how you get on, im using helikon a lot for my general day to day wear as well which I get from M1st....pockets for kids stuff while out!! haha

 

not sure about other brands tbh and the comfort/fit

 

guess I could buy try return

[inhen]

The 'overalls' appear to be Arcteryx Leaf if I'm not mistaken. I hope you've got deep pockets?

 

[Mosh]

The 'overalls' appear to be Arcteryx Leaf if I'm not mistaken. I hope you've got deep pockets?

 

Arcteryx-LEAF-Assault-Pant-AR-1200x800.png

Not looking for an exact setup, something similar, I like grey ^^

[TheFull9]

There's really no 'surplus' of grey gear... unless you're buying WWII Wehrmacht.

 

Off the top of my head, the following tactical brands do various bits of apparel in grey:

 

-Arc'teryx LEAF

-Velocity Systems

-Arktis

-Tru-Spec

-LBX

-5.11

-Vertx

-Triple Aught Design

-Patrol Incident Gear

 

Then for rigs, pouches and other bits you've got the following:

 

-HSGI

-Blue Force Gear

-Haley Strategic

-Grey Ghost Gear

-LBX

-Magpul

-Vel Sys

-5.11

 

Between mil1st and tactical-kit you'd be able to put together a loadout without importing if you'd rather not do so. 5.11 is the best value available in the UK for airsoft I'd wager, though don't rule out outdoor brands as I got some nice Craghoppers in a grey that matches Arc'teryx wolf bang on for £20; no tactical features of course but they worked just fine for skirmishing.

 

I'd recommend these probably if you were going 5.11:

 

http://www.military1st.co.uk/74369-092-5.11-stryke-pants-storm.html

http://www.military1st.co.uk/72415-092-5.11-rapid-response-quarter-zip-shirt-storm.html

 

Best middle ground of the available options, would make for a good set to skirmish in. If you have any more questions gimme a shout, I've been looking in to grey kit and slowly building my collection of the best bits I can find from the limited selection out there over the past 2 years or so and I've done a lot of searching around in that time.

[Mosh]

Thanks for all the info, is there any reference as to the look you want, I know some people find an image of what they liked and built that as best they can, have you done the same?

 

and do you currently have anything purchased?

[TheFull9]

I can see why you'd ask as that seems to be the way an awful lot of people go, but personally I don't have 'loadouts' and I don't work from reference pictures. To fully explain why would take a long time but for me it boils down to 2 key points.

 

1. What works for real combat is never going to be the ideal in airsoft.

2. The stuff that armed police, special forces and military personnel in general are issued (and buy for themselves) is never the best stuff available on the market. Even the ever-worshipped SEALs do not get issued the all around 'best' kit that exists in the world today. Not far off in their case, but still not 100% and in airsoft (unlike the military) we have the freedom to pick and choose whatever gear we like. I don't get that luxury in work so I make sure to fully exercise it in my hobby.

 

Overall, cherry picking your gear to best suit the game we play makes by far the most sense from a practicality standpoint. It won't get you 10k followers on instagram for how leet speshul forcez it looks, but it'll still look cool, cost less and work better than verbatim copying any real operator.

 

Personally right now I have this lot in grey:

-Arc'teryx Talos combat shirt and trousers

-Velocity Systems long sleeve BOSS rugby shirt

-Craghoppers trousers in a colour that matches

-PIG FDT-Alpha gloves

-Arc'teryx BAC (cap)

-Salomon outdoor/hiking style trainers, can't remember the exact model right now but most of their general-style outdoor footwear is good for airsoft

-Off The Grid Concepts custom kydex holster

 

That lot covers the base layer, might get some Arktis trousers. Planning on getting a mission-spec EOC for the upper half and a velocity systems belt, then BFG and HSGI pouches most likely.

[Jedi_Master]

If anyone is interested in Arc'teryx Talos Leaf wolf trousers then it is worth looking at Edgar Brothers online (UK retailer for Arc'teryx) http://online.edgarbrothers.com who have a limited sale on.

 

Just bought a pair in their ghost sale for half price, still not cheap but more affordable.

Arc'teryx Leaf Men's Naga Hoody is down to £85 from £200.

[Aengus]

Would rather have a 5.11 pair from mil1st for like £40

[Jedi_Master]

Would rather have a 5.11 pair from mil1st for like £40

I had already bought a pair of 5.11 Stryke storm trousers from Nightgear before I saw the Arc'teryx wolf ones in the sale. Bit of an impulse purchase but I have been going with a grey theme and they can be worn outside of airsoft (or at least that is my justification), apart from the balaclava

[TheFull9]

You'd definitely struggle to get a price that good on the Talos trousers elsewhere and that pricing is an absolute steal for Arc'teryx, I was tempted to buy a second pair when I got the e-mail from Edgar Bros even though I've already got some. I think I got my MC versions for about £100 on ebay but that was a really lucky find.

 

Not to mention the Talos is out of production so any stock left is all that's ever gonna be available. If anyone out there reading is even thinking they might want to do the Armed Met/CO19/whoever they are loadout at some point, now's the time.

[Jedi_Master]

Just realised that Edgar Brothers have grey kit on eBay, for example Drac trousers for £135 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arcteryx-Mens-Drac-Pant-Trousers-ARC-10713/291303019252?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D8d6de0abaa2c4b22bc46ad8140b62cd0%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D291572668014

[Esoterick]

The kneepads in those look really weird.

[TheFull9]

The Arc'teryx trousers just have strips of webbing as reinforcement on the knees to protect the main fabric from abrasion against the ground/walls etc. You can put their knee-pads inside to give actual padding in front of the knee, but they don't have an external pad like Crye.

[Esoterick]

Looking at it I think the picture on the Edgar Brothers website makes the pads/strips look like they weirdly bulgey. They don't look so odd in other photos.

[Jedi_Master]

They are slightly weird partly because the of extra reinforced material over the knees is a different colour to the main grey colour. They do give extra strength and protection without the kneepad inserts. Good quality material but the legs on size Large (36" waist) are very long on me and ideally I would need to be several inches taller for a better fit. However, size Medium are only 33" waist. No choice in inside leg measurements, i.e. 30R.

[ImTriggerHappy]

Just realised that Edgar Brothers have grey kit on eBay, for example Drac trousers for £135 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Arcteryx-Mens-Drac-Pant-Trousers-ARC-10713/291303019252?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140122125356%26meid%3D8d6de0abaa2c4b22bc46ad8140b62cd0%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D291572668014

Looks like binman trousers.

Buggered if I would pay £135 for trousers to play toy soldiers in. I would wreck them in a few games no matter how tough they are.

[Jedi_Master]

The binman load-out in Donkey jacket is more my 1970's Troubles or miners' strike look.

[Esoterick]

Looks like binman trousers.

Buggered if I would pay £135 for trousers to play toy soldiers in. I would wreck them in a few games no matter how tough they are.

 

I like trousers with the knee pads built in because I always seem to savagely bruise up my knees and I mainly play woodland. My Multicam Tropic trousers cost around the same amount and they are nice and sturdy, whilst my surplus MTP trousers are starting to get holes in the knees after less than 5 games. Plus there is a massive hole in one of the pockets, could be too much pocket billiards to be fair....

 

There seems to be pretty big jumps in build quality once you reach a certain price point. For Airsoft clothing it's around £100 and with ski/snowboard jackets it's around £200 in my experience. I have absolutely no idea if the really expensive stuff is worth the money, but i'd suspect diminishing returns kick in like they do with almost anything as the price ramps up. It all depends on what you want I guess, personally I've become bored of cheap stuff that breaks easily.

[Jedi_Master]

Buy cheap and pay twice. What seems like a good deal is not always what you get from my experience of using eBay, it is always preferable to try on something first when possible. All a balance really, as a pair of grey Craghoppers and hoody can do as well as high end kit for airsoft, although I will also use my clothing for other activities, PC gaming, driving to work, shopping trip to Waitrose

[TheFull9]

Buggered if I would pay £135 for trousers to play toy soldiers in. I would wreck them in a few games no matter how tough they are.

 

What is it you do in airsoft that's so much more hardcore and damaging to your kit than the stuff actual soldiers and SF types do? Honestly I am curious because a SEAL (or whoever) does get through a set of Cryes every few weeks on deployment given the things they go through, but we're talking a combined total of many days worth of time kicking in doors and taking names, whereas actual time spent shooting during a skirmish day is probably between 5-7 hours at a rough guess.

 

I've met a fair few army blokes and other guys who're at the pointy end, talked about their experiences when 'away' and they'd spend days upon days in the field, often involving a lot of fighting, but they weren't getting through even the crappy issued trousers at anything like the rate you're describing.

 

-

 

On a different subject, for anyone interested, here's the more typical pricing on the Drac trousers:

 

https://www.nightgear.co.uk/en-UK/ArcTeryx-LEAF-Drac-Pant/5195365ng.htm?colour=Wolf+Grey

 

If anyone here wants a real heart attack look up the Arc'teryx Alpha line. The current EB pricing on the Dracs and Talos is well below usual RRP and you won't find Crye combat trousers new in Europe for under £200 (and Cryes are made of just the same fabric as a lot of Tru-Spec and Propper apparel).