A basic guide to buying Russian kit for Beginners

[MSSW Rune]

So you want to be the bad guy at your local skirmish or a milsim? Of course you do, someone has too right? One of the great things about modern Russian special forces especially is, from the last 10 years you can basically make a cool kit for anyone's taste. From that cool old school and unique Russian look, to a modern juggernaut clad in multicam or Atacs FG. If recon kits are your thing then there are a huge selection of kit to choose from too, again ranging from old school and basic to more modern and complex. 

 

  

Anyway, hopefully this basic guide will both help you get where you want and save you some time and money as buying Russian kit can be quite daunting at first trying to figure it all out. When I first started I made some terrible kit choices which basically just wasted my money due to the quality of items (some are so bad they fall apart within a few games). What you have to keep an eye out for is Russian copies of Russian kit. They are easy to spot as they will be priced at around £25 for a full uniform and they are normally just for sale on ebay. But, most Russian kit is awesome and has a totally unique and head turning look. 

 

A really good place to start with is RU for you. They are a UK based company with UK stock of Russian kit and they are completely trustworthy and honest. They will also order anything you want in from replica or real kit if you ask so its always worth contacting them if there is something you really want. 

https://www.ruforyou.com/

 

An ok shop thats based in Russia is grey-shop. They are one of the biggest sellers but prices for some items are pretty steep for what they are and postage time can be very slow (just had to wait 2 months for some kit but normally its weeks not months) and their stock taking is pretty poor if I'm honest. I only buy from them if something is on sale and I'm prepared to wait now. Be aware that their pre built kits are not accurate before buying. They are just similar ish to the real units so don't expect it to be even close to impression level. 

https://grey-shop.ru/

 

Another great one though is SRVV who produce high end kit for multiple branches of Russian Special forces. Their shipping times are stunning and so are their items but be prepared for Import fee's of 20% on your items. Sometimes it comes through unseen (very rare as they are all above board and do it all legally) but more often than not you will get a fee but it only holds you up by 3 days for shipping and Import fee's aren't really anything to worry about. Rather, just keep them in mind for the end cost of an item. 

http://www.srvv.org/shop.php

 

One of the best companies to get bits of kit like uniforms and things is definitely SSO. You then have companies like ANA who make pretty nice stuff too and then you have BARS who make ok stuff but it often fades quickly and things like that. Those things will have to be bought through a middleman like RUforyou as those companies don't tend to ship to western countries so they have to be bought in Russia and shipped to the UK. 

 

For nice high quality replica's a good place to look is Skirmshop who are based in Holland and shipping is normally within 3 days or less of purchase to the UK. They sell IRT stuff which isn't the cheapest but most often the most accurate and well made.

http://www.skirmshop.nl/en/

 

Toysoldier also make a few Replica Russian things but they are very expensive after import fee's but the bits of kit they do are very cool. They do also make a nice FSB velcro patch to go on the back of your carrier.

http://www.toysoldier.com.hk/

 

A good place to get second hand kit is on facebook on groups like "Russian Airsoft International Community" which so long as you're careful you can get some really good deals on kit. You can though get some terrible advice from users (that can be true in many places though on the internet) but feedback is normally quite helpful and constructive there as most of the "stitch counters" have been removed recently. 

 

My main bit of advise is to avoid ebay for anything other than patches really as 9 time out of 10 it's way more expensive or a bad copy that you will regret. The Cheap £25 camo suits are the worst by a long way and a complete waste of money from my experience. Just don't do it. 

 

I'll do a more complex guide to doing more specific kits soon too but it will mainly just focus on FSB as thats what I know the most about of all of the Russian branches. This guide is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to kit as when you add in all the Facebook kit sellers in Russia selling kit that FSB and MVD guys were issued and want to shift on it can get a bit complex which is why I have left them out of this and as I said I'll save that for a more complex guide to doing accurate kits. 

 

I hope this is of some help to you all. 

 

[emilianoksa]

It certainly helped me.

 

Thank you.

[Solar]

Nice guide, Ive bought some stuff from Grey Shop and delivery time was quite long with the cheaper postage option. When the kit arrived it was good quality though