Perfecting Your Loadout, the Unsung Hero of Destroying Your Bank Account

[alxndrhll]

It’s been a long time since I’ve had to start from nothing when it comes to a loadout. Switching over to a bolt action rifle initially meant I didn’t feel I need to change a huge amount from my standard AR setup, likely just meaning I could loose the plate carrier entirely because everything would comfortably fit on a belt.

 

Once ‘ghillie-ing up’ became the route I wanted to take this changed... a lot.

 

I’m now 3 different chest rigs, 3 different belts and a whole host of pouches deep trying to hit a sweet spot that I’m not entirely sure exists (in my experience and opinion you don’t know a setup is properly working until you field it). Each purchase has been to trying and correct something which felt inconvenient while playing, thought often it creates another which requires buying something else. I feel like I’m ‘about there’ now, but ultimately I’ll only get that answer once I’ve got out to a skirmish.

 

The whole process has left me wondering how other folks go about perfecting their loadouts... or more to the point, whether they do? Is this simply a case that I’m trying to create a setup with some very specific things I want to achieve that just haven’t been a consideration ahead of ‘sniping’?

 

Cheers,

Alex

[Cannonfodder]

Trial and error really. I tend to know roughly how I want to do things and then adjust what doesn't work

[Albiscuit]

Took me ages to work out what I wanted and how it all worked together.

 

Have finally settled on a belt and simple smg rig lightweight set up.

 

I prefer to take the least amount out with me to make things easier and I dont buy or wear gucci gear so my loadout is cheap, simple but practical for my use.

[Impulse]

Yep, trial and error. Lots of experimentation. I have gear that has been relegated to the gear bag in the cupboard because I picked it up, tried it and it didn't work for me.

 

And window shopping. A lot of stuff I use is when I've just been browsing shops when bored. I started with a chest rig and a drop leg holster for sniping, but now I'm using a belt kit and a drop leg platform on my left for carrying VSR mags, with either a (different) drop leg holster or one mounted on the belt. I found having too much on a drop leg was annoying and shook around, but just using it for a pistol on one leg and VSR mags on the other is fine.

 

Even when running an AR, I'll typically go for a chest rig at most. It's all personal preference and what you're used to.

[alxndrhll]

When using my AR loadout I’m guilty of succumbing to all the gucci trimmings, when moving to ghillie land I actively went out to find the cheaper repro bits because it was all getting covered in shoe goo etc anyway.

 

It’s interesting how many things I felt I needed to consider when using a bolt action. Specifically on the chest rig shoulder strap placement was something I’d never really thought too much about before, keeping my sides/arm pits clear to stop ghillie snagging, low profile for more comfort when prone and the ability to simply get lower to the ground.

 

I guess I just found it pretty crazy how much more I had to think about, and tweak my ‘load bearing’ so it was working with what I wanted to do. And certainly made me realise that there is a vast difference between something being comfy to wear, and something being comfy to use.

[Lozart]

3 hours ago, alxndrhll said:

II’m now 3 different chest rigs, 3 different belts

 

[PopRocket123]

I've tried to build my loadout to be as lightweight and versatile as possible so that I can have one loadout to use with my AEG, SMG LMG, DMR and sniper. I like having good quality kit so my belt and PC are higher end (FRV and WAS) however the pouches on them are pretty much all cheap eBay or AliExpress jobbies apart from a couple of WAS pouches and universal holster I picked up cheap. It's all lightweight and slimline and with the WAS velcro Molle placards and Emerson clone pouches everything is easy to swap out between calibres. I am still wanting to pick up a set of Emerson Crye clone M81 combat trousers and UBACS but that can wait. I also want to get a couple of bits to go more into the camo and sneaky sniper playstyle. It's taken me a good few years to get it to this point and although the overall look has stayed consistent, each piece has been replaced at least twice. I think the only bit of kit I still use from my first loadout is the assault pack. 

[alxndrhll]

5 minutes ago, Lozart said:

 

3 weeks ago I had 0 chest rigs and 1 belt, so I certainly hope it doesn’t keep growing at this rate!

[Rogerborg]

It's not a "loadout", it's a costume.

 

[Lozart]

37 minutes ago, alxndrhll said:

3 weeks ago I had 0 chest rigs and 1 belt, so I certainly hope it doesn’t keep growing at this rate!

 

I like you, you're funny.

[alxndrhll]

3 minutes ago, Lozart said:

 

I like you, you're funny.

[Lozart]

57 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

It's not a "loudout", it's a costume.

 

 

[Skara]

Tough question.

 

As others already said, it's a matter of actually fielding stuff.

 

I'll take my sniper kit as an example, I've been working on it for 2 years, have tried all sorts of different configurations, yet I'm not satisfied with anything I've tried.

There is always that pouch getting in the way when going prone, or that fucking MK23 burying itself somewhere, or lately not being able to have quick access to what I really need like gardening shears to cut holes in vegetation and/or attach natural veg to the rifle.

Don't be fooled by youtubers and celebrities. Everyone was using belt+harness kits until some famous thundercunt said "go buy Vipurr spiritus knockoff iz gud rig", then EVERYONE started using it. Even if it's a bit shit.

 

 

[RedWolfDoctor]

I freely admit I'm not someone who "perfects" their loadout, I mostly just buy stuff because it looks good . Although in recent years I've been tweaking it so it works for me, I'm right handed and use an ICS S.I.R. M4 and have my M4 mag pouches on the left so I can easily get mags. Beyond that I have shoulder pads, groin protector and neck protector installed. It gets hot and tiring very quickly but I'm too inefficient and image concious to change down to something smaller, more practical.

[alxndrhll]

33 minutes ago, Skara said:

Tough question.

 

As others already said, it's a matter of actually fielding stuff.

 

I'll take my sniper kit as an example, I've been working on it for 2 years, have tried all sorts of different configurations, yet I'm not satisfied with anything I've tried.

There is always that pouch getting in the way when going prone, or that fucking MK23 burying itself somewhere, or lately not being able to have quick access to what I really need like gardening shears to cut holes in vegetation and/or attach natural veg to the rifle.

Don't be fooled by youtubers and celebrities. Everyone was using belt+harness kits until some famous thundercunt said "go buy Vipurr spiritus knockoff iz gud rig", then EVERYONE started using it. Even if it's a bit shit.

 

 

 

For someone that holds so much distain toward them I suspect you pay much more attention to the ‘influencer’ scene than myself. I largely ignore it because watching someone else play airsoft isn’t particularly my idea of entertainment, and as discussed elsewhere reviews tend to be presented (at best) in a very subjective manner. When I’m putting money down for new things it tends to be because I need it to do something very specific that reviews would rarely cover if an item is/isn’t suitable for.

 

I tend to believe that most setups can be good, it just depends on the application. I’m not a fan of the belt plus harness setup for sniping because I have to move more than I’d like when prone to access things. If you tend to crouch and stand rather than going prone then this disadvantage no longer exists. Though I do agree that trying to build your kit based on what someone else is using can be a mistake, but for those that have zero idea what they want it’s probably a better starting point than having no idea at all.

 

FWIW having owned the D3CRM and the Mk4 Micro Flight I’ve found the Viper VX stuff to be perfectly adequate for airsoft, the inserts aren’t great but when it’s £5 versus £20 for a set they’re entirely functional... and it means I’m not spray painting and gluing all over £200 worth of kit.

[EDcase]

I thought I wouldn't get into all the kit buying but after a couple of years I have bought a few vests and other bits to find the best combination for playing.

I only buy cheap stuff from fleaBay though so not that bad.

[Shamal]

Viper gear is really good kit.  I have a lot of it and it works for me. 

Regards 

[Skara]

2 hours ago, alxndrhll said:

you pay much more attention to the ‘influencer’ scene than myself

Not really, I watch (some of) them because in the sea of clickbait cheetah stuff there is also good content regarding kit.

Specifically I'm talking about KM, for as much as we hate him, he does build good loadouts. Unfortunately he does not really share what (and most importantly WHY) he uses.

 

2 hours ago, alxndrhll said:

I tend to believe that most setups can be good, it just depends on the application.

100% agree. Apart from plate carriers. They are useless and look bad on fat people (me included).

 

2 hours ago, alxndrhll said:

I’m not a fan of the belt plus harness setup for sniping because I have to move more than I’d like when prone to access things.

 

Me neither, for the same reason.

What's on my belt is the absolute last resort before being sent out of the game.

I carry 3 guns when sniping:

Rifle

Mk23

AAP01 (soon to be SMG'd).

 

The AAP sits on my belt and there is a specific reason for that: it's a quick draw for me even if uncomfortable when I lay down on the right side,but the snappiness and auto capability widely make up for a bit of discomfort.

 

Everything else sits on my chest/sides/back. Bar the mk23, its spare magazine and the gardening shears, the rest is stuff I don't need to access in a pinch (radio, water, BBs, gas).

[Smiling-Dutchman]

I've been buying Molle compatible pouches for a whike, mostly for my backpacks as I need different configurations every now and then. Thankfully some of those also come in handy in my current loadout.

 

I currently have a simple chestrig which mostly revolves around 4 magpouches (which I did buy specifically for airsoft, never used on my backpack weirdly enough) but every time I play I alter something afterwards which makes it fit my playstyle a bit better (from moving my magpouches one column to the right to adding pouches, or removing them).

 

I've recently bought a combat velt with which I might experiment a little to see if I like that. Maybe go for a plate carrier/combat belt combo at some point. But I also have thought of some different pouches to buy, when I have some spare budget for it again.

 

This is also why I like the "loadout" post to scroll through and look for any ideas in there I can blatantly steal.

 

[PopRocket123]

1 hour ago, Skara said:

100% agree. Apart from plate carriers. They are useless and look bad on fat people (me included).

Also true of skinny people. I remember when I first started my plate carrier was about as wide as my chest lol. Then I put on weight and my gut stuck out and got pinched between it and my belt. 

[Adolf Hamster]

rig wise i'm currently only running 2 rigs: svd smersh for the svd, ak smersh for everything else (although granted i'm moving to standardise on the ak platform)

 

i've tried the different types, but very quickly settled on the belt rig then a mate got me into the russian stuff and frankly the smersh just goddamn works.

 

that said, i'm not adversed to reloads that take longer than 0.33ms so i'm not so fussed on quickdraw pouches and the like. Used to run that stuff but i've learned the mag still being there when you need it trumps speed of access.

[Impulse]

11 hours ago, Adolf Hamster said:

that said, i'm not adversed to reloads that take longer than 0.33ms so i'm not so fussed on quickdraw pouches and the like. Used to run that stuff but i've learned the mag still being there when you need it trumps speed of access.

 

Yeah, this. This is especially true for bush cosplayers, as you shouldn't be needing to do speed reloads if you're doing your job properly. I really like my pouches that hold my mags nice and snug and secure and have never found myself in a position where I think to myself "damn, I wish I could've done that reload half a second faster..."

 

However, I have been in the position of losing an expensive pistol mag with an upgraded lip seal thanks ot less secure mag pouches.

[Skara]

1 hour ago, Impulse said:

 

Yeah, this. This is especially true for bush cosplayers, as you shouldn't be needing to do speed reloads if you're doing your job properly. I really like my pouches that hold my mags nice and snug and secure and have never found myself in a position where I think to myself "damn, I wish I could've done that reload half a second faster..."

 

However, I have been in the position of losing an expensive pistol mag with an upgraded lip seal thanks ot less secure mag pouches.

It's more about not letting shit into the magazines than reloading faster.

[TheFull9]

I'd say I probably spend the first 3-5 years trying different configurations, after that I pretty well settled on what I know works in 95%+ of situations.  Obviously nothing is ever perfect, but I tried a ton of stuff, went to a few dozen games and had it fairly dialled in.  All my PCs have had the same basic pouch layout for a long time now.  What I want is easily accessed quickly without any inhibitors and I don't carry kit that never gets used.

 

Probably the only significant change was a a few years ago moving from all regular pouches to using placards to easily change for mag types, then a short while later getting rid of all the placards and just having a few spiritus rigs with a set of inserts and now everything is catered for.  Not much optimisation left to squeeze out at this point.

[Adolf Hamster]

5 hours ago, Impulse said:

 

Yeah, this. This is especially true for bush cosplayers, as you shouldn't be needing to do speed reloads if you're doing your job properly. I really like my pouches that hold my mags nice and snug and secure and have never found myself in a position where I think to myself "damn, I wish I could've done that reload half a second faster..."

 

However, I have been in the position of losing an expensive pistol mag with an upgraded lip seal thanks ot less secure mag pouches.

 

i am indeed a forest man at heart.

 

way i see it, no matter how quick the reload is you ain't doing it standing in the open without the other guy shooting you, so if you have to hit cover anyway then what's an extra few seconds?