WAS are they with it?

[Eenthuncob]

So I'm looking to upgrade some of my kit from cheapo and I've been looking at the warrior assault systems plate carriers and the question I've got are they worth the 100+ price range when compared to something like emerson gear? 

 

I'm not into the tactical equipment side of airsoft so would like some opinions and options on plate carriers if possible.

 

Thanks.

[Wo1f]

Personally I think so. Having come from cheap plate carriers to a WAS recon, the quality is night and day. The Emerson one I had used to chafe like mad and was just generally uncomfortable. The recon is nice and comfy 

[Tackle]

warrior kit is the bollocks, yeah its dearer than acm etc, but as far as proven real steel kit goes, its very good value.

[L3wisD]

+1 for warrior stuff.

[Fumps]

Its all I ever use now. Definitely recommend WAS kit  

[Crazy_Crystal]

likewise the majority of what I use is WAS.

 

however it is worth being patient and signing up to UK tacticals email newsletters as they fairly regularly have between 10 and 30% off sales codes, and because it lasts so well don't be afraid of picking up bits you might need second hand. Their stuff comes up fairly regularly on the classifieds here and on Facebook 🙂

[Eenthuncob]

Thanks for the replies, you've all convinced me to get one of there plates.

 

I'll have a look and see what I like the look of.

[Rogerborg]

14 hours ago, Eenthuncob said:

I'm not into the tactical equipment side of airsoft

 

So why wear a plate carrier at all?

 

Upgrade all the way to to a belt.

 

[Tackle]

31 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

 

So why wear a plate carrier at all?

 

Upgrade all the way to to a belt.

 

yep, or a minimal style chest rig, enough carrying capacity without the the bulk (& heat😅) of a wraparound plate carrier.

belt kits are great for a low profile high speed loadout, but chubby mofo's like me who have no waist lol struggle to hold them up 🐷

[Eenthuncob]

Didn't mean it to sound like that. I ment as in I don't know much about the brand's etc.

[MikeMarden]

Another +1 for WAS - Have had other brands in the past; Invader Gear etc. WAS just feels & fits that extra bit better, getting what you pay for TBH.

 

On Facebook there is a page set up called 'Warrior Assault Systems Owners Group' Lots of people buying & selling their WAS gear, majority great price & great condition, you'd be able to pick up a bargain from there should you wish to save a few pennies

[Dentonboy]

My brother has a WAS PC and loves it.

 

My team mate has one and wants a second one and pretty much buys WAS exclusively.

 

Very good quality from what I have seen.

 

TBH, I prefer Crye Precision and you can pick up a lot of Crye pieces for WAS prices if you look carefully enough and keep you eye *cough* on certain *cough* blogs...

[Jedi_Master]

I am a fan of WAS kit, well built and fair price point. 

 

I also second the vote for UK Tactical offers, it was becaus of their discount code that I bought my first piece of Warrior kit from them.

https://www.uktactical.com/c-54-warrior-assault-systems.aspx

[mcwimbo]

WAS kit is good, no doubt. I use a fair few bits myself, BUT you are in the league's of the big boys price wise and you can pick up eagle industries, HSGI, emdom and tactical tailor kit for similar prices which are arguably slightly better quality. 

 

[GenePoolReject]

Hope no one minds me jumping in on the OP’s thread but I’ve been looking into getting a plate carrier and WAS have been recommended, what are they like for fitting for a larger gentleman? (Fatty) I’m not huge but let’s just say my belly tends to get there 1st.

 

Also looked at the Flyye swift but trying to find sizing info is laborious.

[Tackle]

13 hours ago, GenePoolReject said:

Hope no one minds me jumping in on the OP’s thread but I’ve been looking into getting a plate carrier and WAS have been recommended, what are they like for fitting for a larger gentleman? (Fatty) I’m not huge but let’s just say my belly tends to get there 1st.

 

Also looked at the Flyye swift but trying to find sizing info is laborious.

depends, as a fellow chubby chap, are you tall ?, if so then you may find most pc"s, even when adjusted to their tallest settings, end up leaving a bit of belly on show, which for me isn't a good look lol.

if your short then you'll be ok probably, alternatively look at chest rigs, much easier to adjust to cover the belly, plus less restrictive & don't generate the heat associated with wrapping yourself in multiple layers of tactical nylon.

WAS make some great chest rigs too, I use a now discontinued DAR rig, sold it once then bought it back as I missed it 💔

[GothicGhost]

I was looking at the idea of a low profile chest rig to carry my m4 gas mags as they are too heavy for a belt setup.

 

Using the 15% off code for warrior gear and you can use that on sale items as well.

Got this warrior chest that was £80 to £34   waiting on delivery

 

 

[GenePoolReject]

On 03/02/2019 at 11:17, Tackle said:

depends, as a fellow chubby chap, are you tall ?, if so then you may find most pc"s, even when adjusted to their tallest settings, end up leaving a bit of belly on show, which for me isn't a good look lol.

if your short then you'll be ok probably, alternatively look at chest rigs, much easier to adjust to cover the belly, plus less restrictive & don't generate the heat associated with wrapping yourself in multiple layers of tactical nylon.

WAS make some great chest rigs too, I use a now discontinued DAR rig, sold it once then bought it back as I missed it 💔

 

So I bit the bullet and met in the middle. Ordered the WAS elite 901! It’s not cheap gear but considering it comes with a full set of pouches I suppose 125 quid isn’t too bad.

[Lozart]

WAS is decent enough for the price but let's not kid ourselves that it's "top end" pricing wise.

25 minutes ago, GenePoolReject said:

 

So I bit the bullet and met in the middle. Ordered the WAS elite 901! It’s not cheap gear but considering it comes with a full set of pouches I suppose 125 quid isn’t too bad.

 

You could do a lot worse than invest in the back panel too. I have one for my 901 and it's great for attaching hydration carriers etc (plus a bit of extra protection of course).

[TheFull9]

I swear this happens every airsoft gear thread.  I'll tell you now that a JPC/WAS Recon or anything similar from the plate carrier realm weighs less in terms of sheer mass of cordura and webbing when put on a scale next to a 901 with the back panel; hell some modern PCs probably weigh a lot less than just the 901 alone given the way Warrior overbuilds all their LBE.  People use plate carrier interchangeably with armour carrier and they're not the same thing.  An armour carrier like the WAS RICAS (or Eagle CIRAS) or WAS Raptor with soft armour coverage is an entirely different beast to a Crye Airlite or a Grey Ghost Minimalist.  Something like a JPC or anything in that style will also, objectively, have fewer square inches of surface coverage than a 901 with the back panel and if you look at a PC with skeletal cummerbund or just 2" side straps in place of a cummerbund it'll have very much comparable square inch coverage vs the 901 alone.  Anyone can check this stuff for themselves by literally just counting PALS rows and columns.

 

A carrier is not a carrier and a chest rig is not a chest rig.  There's big, bulky, overbuilt kit and there's light, low profile kit.  Generalisation by category only serves to misinform people.  This isn't directed at anyone and the 901 is still a really good piece of gear for airsoft, but some of these misconceptions need to die more than the UKARA license does.

[Tackle]

not just about the weight, we're not all square pegs in square holes, different body shapes & heights, different fitness levels etc etc etc, means one persons experience with ANY particular bit of kit can differ from the next guys, often its trial & error before you find what works best for you.

still good to get recommendations on what's good for the money (& what's a pile of shite 😞)

[TheFull9]

1 hour ago, Tackle said:

not just about the weight, we're not all square pegs in square holes, different body shapes & heights, different fitness levels etc etc etc, means one persons experience with ANY particular bit of kit can differ from the next guys, often its trial & error before you find what works best for you.

still good to get recommendations on what's good for the money (& what's a pile of shite 😞)

 

It is good to get recommendations, but that's of no relevance to what I said, please stick to the specifics.  Saying 'a plate carrier' is de facto bigger/bulkier/heavier/hotter than 'a chest rig' is demonstrably not true, that's my one and only point here.

[Lozart]

10 minutes ago, CKinnerley said:

 

It is good to get recommendations, but that's of no relevance to what I said, please stick to the specifics.  Saying 'a plate carrier' is de facto bigger/bulkier/heavier/hotter than 'a chest rig' is demonstrably not true, that's my one and only point here.

 

My 901 is WAY hotter and bulkier than any of my "plate carrier" type articles. Handy that it covers more of my soft parts in CQB though

[TheFull9]

Precisely, as expected, and makes complete sense.

 

There's no getting around the physics.  If you want more coverage you'll retain more heat (which can be good in winter) and add weight.  Take away the coverage and you dissipate more heat and cut weight.  Some PCs and chesties do vary somewhat in thickness depending on how much spacer mesh, foam, cordura and webbing they use and WAS kit is generally on the thicker side of things vs something like a BFG Plateminus or some of the laser cut chest rigs out there which are literally one layer of cordura with no padding.  Just have to evaluate each product on its' merits, you can't categorise on PC versus CR.

[Tackle]

2 hours ago, CKinnerley said:

 

It is good to get recommendations, but that's of no relevance to what I said, please stick to the specifics.  Saying 'a plate carrier' is de facto bigger/bulkier/heavier/hotter than 'a chest rig' is demonstrably not true, that's my one and only point here.

Not what I said, the threads about warrior kit, great kit but not generally light compared to many of its competitors, I've owned a few of their pc's & at least 2 chest rigs, & all of them had similar build qualities,  I'd go as far to say they're almost "over-engineered", especially for the needs of most airsofters.

1 hour ago, CKinnerley said:

Precisely, as expected, and makes complete sense.

 

There's no getting around the physics.  If you want more coverage you'll retain more heat (which can be good in winter) and add weight.  Take away the coverage and you dissipate more heat and cut weight.  Some PCs and chesties do vary somewhat in thickness depending on how much spacer mesh, foam, cordura and webbing they use and WAS kit is generally on the thicker side of things vs something like a BFG Plateminus or some of the laser cut chest rigs out there which are literally one layer of cordura.

That's my whole point, even the average young airsofter may not have the body characteristics that most tactical kit, including pc's, is tailored to fit, never mind over the hill old feckers like me who have a bmi that looks more like saturdays lottery numbers lol, so covering too much bod in layers of nylon is gonna heat things up, we've all seen players players in the safezone BEFORE play has started already sweating like a paedo in a playground, not in the best shape & "overdressed", full loadout, helmet etc etc.

if I had to recommend a cheap rig that would genuinely suit most players needs, I'd say a bulle mle, not hi-tech but enough real estate for most pouch placement requirements & very "breathable" so to speak.