Tactical gear - Plate carriers, chest rigs, belts, LBE, etc.

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Polock said:
I'm unfamiliar with are brands in general. Interested in hearing any opinions here about manufacturers to avoid or to gravitate towards
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There are a lot of good brands out there so it becomes really difficult to navigate and then if you do point out a brand that is known for lesser quality, you will have a bunch of people chime in that it’s worked fine for them so it’s really hard to sort through it all.
 
Pretend To Imagine said:
There are a lot of good brands out there so it becomes really difficult to navigate and then if you do point out a brand that is known for lesser quality, you will have a bunch of people chime in that it’s worked fine for them so it’s really hard to sort through it all.
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Yeah thats exactly why I'm trying to get some opinions here. I'm obviously doing my own research as well, but I like polling the crowd to see if anyone chimes in. Usually you can get some strong negative opinions that way which helps me.

Theres stuff like "Oh you shouldn't use Chineseium LARP stuff......EXCEPT for [this specific thing that works perfectly well for 1/10th the price]"
but also stuff like "This brand is high quality but you should NEVER EVER buy their [specific thing that's a complete lemon despite all their other products being well made]"
 
Blue Alpha for pistol/duty belts, Esstac for magazine pouches, Flatline Fiber Co for belt IFAK and dump pouch. For plate carriers, the Shaw Concepts ARC is good for heavier loads, and the Javlin Concepts A-JAC is good for lighter loads. For chest rigs, there are really a ton of options depending on what you want to carry. Same deal with packs.

The D3CRX would be a decent choice for 2-gun matches as it can hold 4 rifle magazines and 4 pistol magazines, but it creeps up in price once you add a harness and inserts. If you bought a Spiritus Micro Fight MK4, a harness & back strap, and inserts for 3 AR and 4 pistol magazines, you'd come in under what the D3CRX costs ($216 vs $270).

Another interesting option would be the Unobtanium Gear SLEDS placard that holds 3 AR magazines, plus their 5x pistol mag pouch that mounts to the front of their SLEDS placard, plus their H-harness, all which totals $178.

Yeah, there are a lot of options out there.
 
Samhain said:
The D3CRX would be a decent choice for 2-gun matches as it can hold 4 rifle magazines and 4 pistol magazines,
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I’ve had no issues in PCSL or USPSA just using an Esstac pouch that holds 2 pistol and one rifle mag. Some matches and divisions might necessitate more mags, but they have been the exception in my experience.

ETA: I also have a BFG 10 speed rifle mag pouch mounted to my Esstac pouch. It takes up zero room when not in use and I can add more mags if needed.
 
@Polock what do you want to know about manufacturers? There are lots of high quality ones out there now. Though some will be expensive. I just got the Acetac chest rig, it is absolutely not top tier quality but it's better than airsoft (which isn't as bad these days) and comes with all the accessories. Spiritus, Haley, Crye, First Spear, T.rex Arms, Velocity Systems, surplus TAPS rigs, are all good to go, and there are many, many more. Some of those companies will upcharge you a shit load, and some are very hype-beasty, but they'll all get the job done. Depends on budget and form factor.

Edit: all the brands mentioned by the other 2 are good to go. I have ESSTAC pouches. My AWS belt has been great. I am a MASSIVE fan of Eagle Industries surplus gear, imo it is THE starting point. The price to performance ratio is perfect, iland it's extremely durable if in new/good condition. They dont have a surplus chest rig unless you count their Rhodesian vests but they're getting very pricey. Really neat rigs though. Their old H harness is my current go to rig, although it's getting pricey too.
 
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French Dip said:
@Polock what do you want to know about manufacturers?
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I'm mostly fishing for general opinions and anecdotes - I'm such a novice when it comes to this type of gear that I don't know what I don't know.

As I've started working on this new training, its made me realize that while I'm pretty proficient at operating firearms, I don't actually know how to use them very well. I'm soliciting advice from anonymous internet people on an infamous drama website because I hope to maybe skip portions of this brand new learning curve I've gotten myself into.
Also maybe to promote some discussion too.
 
Polock said:
I'm mostly fishing for general opinions and anecdotes - I'm such a novice when it comes to this type of gear that I don't know what I don't know.

As I've started working on this new training, its made me realize that while I'm pretty proficient at operating firearms, I don't actually know how to use them very well. I'm soliciting advice from anonymous internet people on an infamous drama website because I hope to maybe skip portions of this brand new learning curve I've gotten myself into.
Also maybe to promote some discussion too.
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As far as using firearms, check out Ben Stoeger on YouTube. Also there is a firearms training thread on here.

The gear just supports the firearms for your use case which will be very different for competition, assaulting objectives, doing recon, etc…
 
Polock said:
I'm mostly fishing for general opinions and anecdotes - I'm such a novice when it comes to this type of gear that I don't know what I don't know.

As I've started working on this new training, its made me realize that while I'm pretty proficient at operating firearms, I don't actually know how to use them very well. I'm soliciting advice from anonymous internet people on an infamous drama website because I hope to maybe skip portions of this brand new learning curve I've gotten myself into.
Also maybe to promote some discussion too.
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Hop and Brass Facts on YouTube are great about talking about how weapons are actually used. Light Fighters Anonymous has some good stuff on infantry tactics. I'll try to think of more. Get a copy of the lateat version of the Ranger Handbook, it's kind of the go to resource for learning small unit tactics. Brent 0331 has a lot of good stuff too, including tactics, gear, etc. He also has a bunch of videos covering One Shepherd, and they're a great entry point for small unit tactics. His latest One Shepherd gear breakdown formed the basis for my gear selection, although all my stuff is the more modern MOLLE and not the old ALICE format.
 
The Grognard said:
FDF kit. Standard issue of Finland. Refer to the following pic.

View attachment 6339427
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fuqqqq :DDD
Loved the rk95.
It was only issued to like, uhh, 5-10% of conscripts back when i was in the service, i think? Special forces, some MPs, and tankers.
OH RIGHT and Kainuu Jäegers had them.
Nowdays they modernized old RK62 to accept optics and grips, some to accept suppressors.
 
Adolf Hulkler said:
It was only issued to like, uhh, 5-10% of conscripts back when i was in the service, i think? Special forces, some MPs, and tankers.
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Peacekeepers certainly have them as well, from what I've noted. Then again, they mostly spend their time in places where they never get to shoot anybody so a compact gun makes sense for them.
 
The Grognard said:
Peacekeepers certainly have them as well, from what I've noted. Then again, they mostly spend their time in places where they never get to shoot anybody so a compact gun makes sense for them.
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pretty sure the blue helmets use some of the rk62 "A" variants nowdays. Before that it was rk95 because they would accept optics and are overall better rifles than rk62.
But i talked to one reservist guy who was gunsmith for the FDF and his opinion on rk95 was "wobbly stock, softer receiver which wears out faster than rk62"
Caaaaaan relate to the wobbly stock.
 
Adolf Hulkler said:
pretty sure the blue helmets use some of the rk62 "A" variants nowdays. Before that it was rk95 because they would accept optics and are overall better rifles than rk62.
But i talked to one reservist guy who was gunsmith for the FDF and his opinion on rk95 was "wobbly stock, softer receiver which wears out faster than rk62"
Caaaaaan relate to the wobbly stock.
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It didn't help that they were made when the Tourula rifle factory was in the claws of 90's depression / neoliberalism and nobody was buying Valmets in a time when the market was flooded with surplus AKs. The 62 receivers are properly milled from a single piece of steel while the 95 receiver is based on the 76 receiver which is a stamped steel one which is substantially cheaper to make and lighter, but as you note, not as durable.
 
The Grognard said:
It didn't help that they were made when the Tourula rifle factory was in the claws of 90's depression / neoliberalism and nobody was buying Valmets in a time when the market was flooded with surplus AKs. The 62 receivers are properly milled from a single piece of steel while the 95 receiver is based on the 76 receiver which is a stamped steel one which is substantially cheaper to make and lighter, but as you note, not as durable.
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95 receiver is milled just like rk62
the stamped RKs never went into large production, most of them were exported.
he said the metal itself was softer.
Orite, i had the "unfortune" of meeting some of those surplus AKs with bakelite everything, dried factory grease, like its like someone threw the parts into a bucket of grease, then assembled it, and then oven baked it to make sure the grease hardens.
Thats what i get for "volunteering" to help a gunsmith.
 
Fair warning, UCP is going to go up in price because of resellers/pop-up milsurp stores buying it to pad their stock. If you were planning on keeping some for LARP or dyeing it for actual use you may want to do it now before it becomes impractical.

If you don't believe me, coyote TAP rigs used to be $50 tops just last year and now they're pushing higher than $70. Don't look up multicam TAP rigs.
 
Something I have wondered for a while is why are there not good and prolific options for people who have to do shit from a boat? I occasionally have to carry a fuckton of relatively light non-weapon shit in boats and it feels like the only good options for it are police duty belts and pilot kneeboards and even then don't quite work because now half my shit is hanging over the side getting exposed to spray and the other half is digging into my belly or thighs. Even "admin pouches" you can get anywhere are basically just extra-unergonomic fanny packs.
 
Pretend To Imagine said:
I’ve tried the Safariland Molle adapter. How are you setting yours up?
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Idk why I just got a notification about this. My setup is some 150 IQ 5D chess shit. I have a molle adapter on the hip area of the harness, then a QLS plate bolted to that. Then I have a thigh plate with a mid ride connector. The top of the connector has a QLS fork to connect to the LBE, and is permanently bolted to the thigh plate. Then I have another QLS plate on the thigh plate to attach whatever holster I have to it. The whole setup allows me to get a reasonable height on my holster, while only taking up 2 MOLLE slots. It also let's me remove the entire setup really easily, or move it over to a standalone belt if I don't want the whole LBE setup. I can also ditch the thigh plate entirely and connect the holster to anything else. It's a wierd and pricey setup but I haven't felt the need to tweak it at all.
 
Some guides stolen from nu-/k/'s /bag/ with updated revisions
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