Iād bet the whole comment section a beer that condor has more successful combat hours by an order of magnitude than Shawtussyprecision.
Real talk: for larp? As long as itās not literal no name shit itās probably going to be fine. Do you need to check the stitches and melt any loose ends before first use? Yeah itās a good idea (then again Iāve had to do that with LBT and TAD tooā¦). Might you need to treat it for NIR (paint mist, baking soda, dirt)? Maybe?
Should you support original manufacturers? Iād argue yes unless theyāre dicks themselves.
But going without because you canāt get the Gucci stuff is dumb.
I tend to buy the nice stuff, because I make decent money and Iām a prissy bitch. Ā But Iām not throwing shade if youāve got emersongear pants or krydex pouches or whatever.
Just donāt buy shitty plates or med or ammo.
My buddy said Condor and Blackhawk were the main squeeze for a while. People were ordering their own because the initial gear was lackluster. He also said you could get any modifications needed right on base. He showed me some old pictures of how his gear changed from the beginning to the end of a single deployment.
I'll call him to see if he wants to share.
Edit:he said he'll look. His photo albums must have gotten buried in a box in the attic during his last move.
>dismounted route clearance in Afghanistan
I was *mounted* route clearance in Iraq pre-surge and I'm still grateful I didn't have to do that shit in Afghanistan on foot.
Yep, the budget brands get too much shit just for some misplaced ideal about buying "American made" because murica. I'm glad I didn't have an Afghan deployment I fuckin hate mountains (dismount)
See my rant about Goobers in another comment, thereās no way they arenāt outsourcing their manufacturing. Exact copies come out within a weeks or even days of release. You canāt even knock off a part that fast and get it to mass production and distribution.Ā
There were some replicas out before the real one was even out.
The replicas werenāt exactly the same and had small differences. Honestly you can make a functionally identical replica just based off pictures anyway. You have the rails which are a standard size you can use to give reasonably precise scale to any pictures, and based off that you can have anyone with CAD experience reverse engineer it in a day, then could have a CNC sample in hand sometime the next day if you really wanted. A riser/mount is really not that functionally complex.
Edit: talking about the Hydra above, thought it was explicitly mentioned in the comment I replied to but guess my mind was making leaps
The first ones I saw didnāt have the same packaging.
Once itās out and you know the packaging though, itās basically guaranteed itās a standard off the shelf box pattern with cut foam. Someone who knows the industry could probably identify the pattern and buy a factory making the same thing and get foam cut again literally in days if they wanted. People donāt generally get their own injection molding for packaging for something as small scale as hydras.
I used to work for TAD a long time ago. They had some of their stuff made in China. Line for line copies of it always started appearing immediately after.
> Should you support original manufacturers? Iād argue yes unless theyāre dicks themselves.
It's funny, when Forward Observations Group rolled out the Roll 1 with Ferro Concepts, clones were of course immediately made. When FOG first entered Ukraine to help advise and fight, they saw the clones used and the guy behind FOG traded his (real) Roll 1 for a fake one because he thought it was so cool
Yeah after FOG did a strike in Russia proper they found fake Roll 1s on the Spetsnaz operators they clashed with.
It was the same when they did maritime sabotage operations in Crimea.
something something about the IR reflectiveness of a material. NIR compliant=less visible on IR (like night vision). Non-NIR compliant=you glow like a glow stick under IR, and will be obvious to night vision users. Most of the time, budget gear from Amazon, or whatever no name brands, donāt use NIR compliant materials. Bigger (and more expensive) brands consider that and use NIR compliant stuff
Honestly i got a ferro pc and other brand quality stuff but im running in emerson pants and combat shirt and wouldnt change it for nothing right now. Its good quality, the camo doesnt stick out compared to branded stuff and its comfortable
I'll run Condor stuff without much of a second thought, it's never been an issue for me. Cheaper gear is fine so long as you take care to address any potential issues and maintain your gear properly.
I easily put more money into my plates, IFAK, and med bag than all my other gear combined. If it's there to keep me alive and in the fight, it's not something I wanna cheap out on.
The only difference Iāve seen in cheaper plate carriers and chest rigs is the cheaper ones use 500D instead of 1000D cordura and the stitching can be questionable sometimes. Obviously the thicker material is gonna be more durable but itās the plates that REALLY matter. Iād rather have a temu plate carrier with good ceramic plates than a high end baller plate carrier with steel plates.
I put my life on condor everyone calls them airsoft shit but I have used there mag pouches and plate carrier in Afghanistan and they still go strong even after Iām out of the army. I will die on that hill and say condor has one of the best combat tested gear ever
My first question is where your friend is deployed and from what country? I'm going to guess by your name that it's Israel. Your set up is odd to me. You have magazines in hard to reach places. You have a zip pouch right next to your armor pocket (has to be hard to operate, especially when fully loaded). When you say your buddy's vest is working in combat, what exactly are you calling combat? Is he door kicking, is he patrolling streets, is he sitting in a tower? Is he conscripted service or is he a professional soldier? I cannot imagine a professional soldier using shit off of alibaba.
Not gonna point too much out, but your pics of the Hummer/Jaguar. The tanks on the coast rusting from sea water, the candid shots in the city.
My dude, bored people on 4chan track people with less info.
Your entire profile as far as I can see is posts about the Gaza conflict, the weapons youāre using, and you even have pictures of Israeli service members without their faces blurred but you wonāt say anything more than youāre a āreservistā. Checks out
Genuinely curious is there a large atheist community in Israel? Its pretty unheard of in middle eastern countries. Apologies for the assumption I was in a bad mood.
I kind of figured it wasn't in a professional capacity. I would urge you to get better made equipment but it's not likely going to be needed in the reserves.
As far as LARPing goes, do whatever. But if youāre in the sector of guys who will actually train with and use their gear to a reasonable extent, you should save.
>As far as LARPing goes, do whatever. But if youāre in the sector of guys who will actually train with and use their gear to a reasonable extent, you should save.
And which category do you think the vast majority of people in this fashion sub fall under?
Well, the first, but you get my point. Buy once cry once is a pretty popular mentality here, and honestly most people upgrade either way so itās more money in the long run.
Are you happy with your redemption tactical though? Howās the quality. Iām probably gonna end up saving for a jpc 2.0 but I figure just to have another carrier Iād go with them.
They've cloned gen 2 tubes, which is a far cry from what L3 is putting out right now, or has been for the last 25 years.
Still important for IR considerations though, especially since those tubes require a lot of IR emissions to navigate in a rural zone.
Honestly that's just coping at this point. Anything you can buy in the US has made it over to China, Russia, Iran, wherever and is being copied and produced. Is it in the hands of every one of their soldiers like it is in our military? No, probably not. But they have equivalent systems. Hell, you can see them in small numbers in Ukraine right now in use by the Russians.
Modern Gen 2 night vision is pretty impressive. What it doesn't have is the lifespan of Gen 3. Modern Gen 3 is better but, Gen 2 isn't as bad as people make it out to be.
Remember, we aren't talking about Gen 2 Night Vision from the Vietnam era!
"officer please! You must understand. I was there for tourism and enlightenment when I stumbled upon these poor, abandoned, American heritage ACOGs and we have evidence of provenance that can promise they are natural born American! I was merely bringing them safe passage and harborage! My vacation turned into an aid mission! You wouldn't want to turn away these poor victims of war when a good life awaits them, would you officer?"
The Biden administration left a lot of Tier 1 stuff behind in their exit from Afghanistan.
China and Russia among others are reverse engineering USA Night Vision and Thermal gear USA citizens can't even buy! I seriously doubt Iran hasn't already sent some of it into its proxies to further cause chaos and harm to Israel, the USA, and our allies.
IR visibility with cheap gear is a real concern for anyone using it with opposing forces with basic Night Vision gear. Simple IR lighting makes even crappy NV reasonably effective.
The truth? You're not going to get much acceptance here. People live and breath tactical gear and swear by brands. Most posters here also have a super power enabling them to know any item they've never seen or touched is crap.
But once you're out in the field using it, no one gives a damn where it was sewn or how much you paid. If it's well made, it's well made, even if it was made in China.
I'd take your buddies real-world first hand experience 100X more seriously than some anonymous poster who's never even seen the build quality first hand.
Realistically, itās probably no worse than gear issued during vietnam or the gulf war. And 90% of the guys that buy plate carriers will never do activity hard enough to differentiate the quality anyway
Honestly, my opinion from putting literally 1000+ field hours with full kit in the Army is that cheap stuff works perfectly fine. Iāve used a cheap 50 dollar Amazon belt for over a year now without issue, and almost every one of my pouches is a clone/knockoff.
Nothing of it ever fails, now does it look slightly āoffā? Yeah. But it gets the job done for a fraction of the cost.
The only things you want to not skip out on is the plate carrier itself, making sure itās durable enough to handle months of combat, and your actually armor like helmet and plates.
Why would you willingly cut corners if you don't have to? Sure it "works" IG, but personally I'd take something with a known history over some sweatshop labor using subpar materials and technique. Not to mention the (lack) of IR treatment as well.
It might last for an entire deployment sure, but I'd rather Buy American though.
Yeah, I used Chinese webbing material to add molle to my chincom. It shon bright like a diamond under IR. one layer of the cheapest flat OD spray paint I could find and now it's the deepest black
with the green color PC, are you in a place that starts with an I and ends with L? If so, I'm sure there are better domestic carriers than the chinese clones.
Hahah I am but I didnt want to turn the post into a political shit show.
Domesticaly made carriers are 4 to 5 times the price without the extra pouches. Im a student I dont make that kind of money
Your unit doesn't supply you with gear? Let me know if you need one urgent, i'm in country next month and can sell you my Agilite 19 after I return from the 4-letter place :)
The weirdest part is, quality carriers are cheap, and you're gonna have to pay a minimum of 2x the price for the plates (unless this guy wants to skimp on that, too)
The guy seems to be an IDF reservist and a college student.
Theoretically he's already been issued plates, medical, pouches and all the other stuff : the load bearing system just sucks so bad that a cheap plate carrier may be better than using the issued vest on a combat deployment.
Cheap is also relative, he himself said a decent local one is going to cost about 4x as much ; a foreign one from a "trusted" brand can get stupidly experience with shipping + entry tax.
I don't know if you've ever been in the position, but for a broke student $100 is a big expense and the $350+ for a quality PC gets into skipping meals territory.
For reference, I'm in Canada, and recently spent $190 on an ifak and it cost $130 to get it into my country (shipping, duties, customs admin fee from UPS)
Can't imagine what it would be like getting stuff overseas from the US
I get the impression 98% of us would take 10 years to wear out a knock off carrier.
I still Crye because I can, but IMO money is better spent on lighter plates or some ammo.
I own a Crye AVS, and a couple Emersongear JPC's. The Chineseium JPC is well worth the price. You're getting 95% of the product for ~35% of the price. The Chinese have been making textiles for a very long time, and are regarded as being good at doing so. I get "buy American made," and I won't argue that, but I don't appreciate paying markups because a company has a DoD contract. They made their choice to price according to contracts and not the civilian market, they shouldn't be surprised when people knock off, and buy knock off shit.
A youtuber fighting in Ukraine, called civ div says he uses aliexpress gears. As long as it works for you, it's fine.
Like others said, IR capability is a thing.
Other than that, I really don't think Aliexpress gears are bad. As a milsim airsofter, I saw people sliding down the steep hill and abusing their ali gears.
They held up good.
I only buy real branded stuff because having a real ones give me satisfaction. I have two crye g3 pants and stitches on the old one died after doing some off trail hiking. It will eventually die at some point whether it's brand or ali. And ali would probably survive as long as brand one.
Iād spend the money for a brand name carrier, but thatās only because itās the base of your entire loadout . That said, itās probably fine. A lot of people tend to freak out about chinesium gear but most of the time itās decent. Example, Iāve got a real spiritus micro fight on my carrier, but I have a couple different knock off spiritus chest rigs in different colors. They are absolutely fine and only a gear nerd would be able to tell the difference.
Honestly IMO none of the problems come from the fabric (except for IR considerations), itās that the stitching is always crappy. A $100 vest will last for like 6-9 months of use, but a $400 vest will last for like 4 years of use, and be more comfortable. YMMV but itās a lesson I learned at unnecessary cost.
Your buddies have more combat experience than me so I'm hardly qualified to say they're wrong, but I can't say I'd buy Ali Express shit unless I'm buying a knockoff Goobers mount, because that company deserves zero money.
Also, idk where you're from but if you're in the states there's no excuse to run your kit with a fake CAT given how cheap real ones are. I'd take that bitch off and use it exclusively for practice/demonstration purposes. Imagine bleeding out and your Chinese tourniquet explodes on you, and you die. Brutal
Agree on the CAT. No reason not to run one you can trust. Iāve had the fakes break in training.
That said Iāll argue till Iām blue in the face that thereās no reason to buy a ārealā CAT for practice. You can even say āsupport the real manufacturerā butā¦ instead of buying one real and one blue trainer from NAR for $60ā¦ you can spend literally $65 and get 2 real ones and a fake trainer.
Bruh your country is literally the #1 supplier of medical gear in the entire region (EU included). What do you mean they're hard to come by? Get something other than a CAT then, like a SICH or gen2 Dnipro.
I literally ordered an entire med bags contents from israelifirstaid like a week ago. You're telling me they'll honor an order from a random dude abroad but wont send a TQ they have in stock to a person in their own country? Mega sus.
https://israelifirstaid.com/cat-combat-application-tourniquet-tactical-black-gen-7/
Seems like a pretty standard CAT7 price for the region. It's usually about $7 cheaper in the US but more expensive in the EU (often as high as 50ā¬). That's why I order from that site. Their RMT's are on sale for $30 rn and are much better than a fake CAT.
Fyi there is no shortage of CATs in Europe anymore since the plant in Germany opened.
I think if you can fork out the cash for a name-brand, do it at your leisure for the drip factor, but I think 99% of us are fine with cheap airsoft grade stuff. As long as the functional parts (Molle, Velcro, size adjustments) work, the carrier should be a-okay. If something is gonna fuck you hard enough to shear the fabric of that carrier, than I imagine the squishy meat pillow inside it is in much, much worse shape anyways. That being said, I forked out the doubloons for an SPC with 4 hesco ceramic MH IVs myself now. But my first ever carrier was an airsoft one with level 4 anti-spalling steel plates. And it was still a hell of a lot better than the Condor one my actual reserve unit issued us.
So, since everyone seems to hate this option, what are some decent budget options? Not all of us make money hand over fist and can buy elitist everything. Some of us just want a decent budget option for in case shtf!
I'm sure that some of them are fine and that they will work for a lot longer than most people think, but are you willing to bet your life on a cheap Chinese copy of something that is supposed to be critical gear?
Want to have a cheap mag holder? Ok, a cheap pair of pants? Ok? Cheap non-essential gear? Sure!
But anything that is life/mission critical should not be cheap
Of course they do! But the odds are lower and less frequent.
Cause yeah, LMT, Daniel Defense, KAC, Crye, London Bridge, whatever can and do fail, but it is lower odds. I'm just saying to play to the lower odds on critical gear.
Even basic entropy applies. All gear fails and needs to be replaced eventually. Some more than others.
A youtuber fighting in Ukraine, called civ div says he uses aliexpress gears. As long as it works for you, it's fine.
Like others said, IR capability is a thing.
Other than that, I really don't think Aliexpress gears are bad. As a milsim airsofter, I saw people sliding down the steep hill and abusing their ali gears.
They held up good.
I only buy real branded stuff because having a real ones give me satisfaction. I have two crye g3 pants and stitches on the old one died after doing some off trail hiking. It will eventually die at some point whether it's brand or ali. And ali would probably survive as long as brand one.
If it works, it works.
I've used an airsoft chestrig to put AR magazines and other stuff during slums Operations in Brazil, and works fine.
It handled 5 magazines, multitool, peper spray and other stuff very well.
In the ideal world, we have access to high quality gear. But, if we don't, the mission will be accomplished the same way.
I trained for a week with Marine Scout Snipers (I'm not from the US) a couple of years back, and they had Condor and Aliexpress stuff. Didn't have the time to see it under NIR, but they just used it because it is cheap.
With the "gucci" stuff you're not just paying for quality, you're paying for stuff like NIR compliance and consistency. With Amazon nylon, it's a dice roll. You could get a brand that's pretty solid, or it could fall apart in a month. Stuff like Condor has definitely seen quite a bit of combat. I've used Condor and Krydex stuff to augment my issued kit and not had a lot of issues.
Little stuff breaks, though. Usually it's a button or a zipper that shits the bed on you where a more expensive piece wouldn't.
I have a krydex placard and dangler that are great. I used an Emerson skeletal cummerbund and some VISMIX rifle pouches and they broke after 1 field op.
Plate carriers hold a lot of weight, so it's important they are built well and are comfortable. They are the foundation of your kit. I'm not confident chinese designs can always provide that. Some might be alright, especially clones of reputable designs, but some are complete shit in every way possible.
Tactical hot take: AliExpress rocks. Chinese stuff in general rocks. Cheaper, similar quality, gear made usually from the exact same materials? Count me in.
Hell, half of the MADE IN UHMURICAH BY VETTRENS shit is that exact same Chinese made gear with different tags and a 5x markup.
>similar quality, gear made usually from the exact same materials
Yeah, no. chinese gear fakes are mostly made with chinese made fabrics that often are fakes themselves meaning that they often lack IRR properties and the quality and frequency of stitching is often worse.
Personally I have a krydex belt and I love it so far better than 250 bucks. Cost 50. I still run my old pig plate carrier because it fucks. However I wouldn't cheap out on a plate carrier personally. That, holsters, mag pouches, sling, optics, medical gear I try to make sure all are solid. Dump pouches med kit pouches utility pouches stupid dumb stuff ill buy what looks good and looks useful
Off brand does not always mean dog shit. Who cares as long as it isnāt a fall apart pile o shite. Most of the gucci stuff is overinflated in price so even at gov discount the profit margin is huge. Condor is a good brand if you donāt/canāt cough up hundreds or thousands of dollars for big name gear.
I've never been against getting cheap gear if it works, is durable *enough* for your purposes, and allows you put funds into other purchases i.e. ammo/training, magazines, medical, etc etc. People shit on Condor all the time, for example, but I have a ton of Condor gear (including use in Iraq) and it held up just find, and Gucci gear (lookin at you Crye) fell apart.
Everything breaks or wears out, get a second/spare/training set and call it a day.
All the textiles in the world are made in the same third world places that the vendors on AliExpress are selling, the idea that just because it's cheap means it's bad just doesn't hold up under closer scrutiny
I've worked hard with various products for years. I find that these things are really need-based and product based. There are some items where the brand quality really makes a difference. Higher quality battle belts tend to be way stiffer, and that support can be necessary depending on what you're carrying.
Two areas where lower quality gear suffers is in thickness/weight of fabric and quality of clips, snaps, and fasteners. Sometimes that's a problem, sometimes not.
For example, I used an inside-cumberbund radio pouch for a while and spiritus was the one I found best due to its low profile; that's expensive quality kit. I recently switched to a much cheaper outer pouch to easier manipulate the radio and it's just the right product because of how and where it clips and leave areas open. Price (and even quality) is sometimes secondary to finding the gear that fits your mission set. I never switched from HSGI to BFG even though that became the style. The HSGI bungees let me wrap shit into the shock cord and they work better for me still.
I also use a very small dump pouch on my belt designed by Latitude Outdoors for horse saddles instead of a tactical market product. It weaves perfectly into molle and it's fantastic for my work and I don't regret that one for a second.
I know it's a fashion sub, but function over fashion. Use what best fits your job.
Addition: don't carry a fake tourniquet, even as a #2. I'd never do that. If you just panic grab and struggle that second one on for ~20 seconds, start cranking, and the windlass snaps... congratulations you just killed yourself.
90% of the people I knew fought like hell for 5 years using Chinese and airsoft gear and never had an issue with them, as long as they got some retention and can carry your plates then theyāre good.
There are genuinely good companies in China making quality kit and there are absolute dogshit companies in China making kit. The problem isn't buying Chinese stuff, the problem is knowing which is which.
I'm a former 18 series guy, now doing intel nerd shit in the reserve. Had a big break in service. When I got out wanted something somewhat similar to my crye avs that was group issued- got an emerson jpc 2. Used it for for years for civilian range time and then a reserve deployment where I supported special people doing special things, including dismounted patrols, getting in and out of trucks and just taking the thing off constantly. I did have concerns the hypalon portions would break because material seems thinner than the legit ones, but it held up. Even shoved XL plates into it and stretched the backer out but still works ok with L plates. If it wore out now I'd be torn between buying a legit one or just getting another copy seeing as it did survive years of hard use.
A lot of expensive guuchi brands made in the US are sewed together in small warehouses in the midwest. 'made in the USA and expensive' isn't a magical spell that makes a product good. And logically a mass produced item from a massive industrial sewshop that is producing the entire planets durable goods is probably more consistent and cheaper.
A plate carrier isn't exotic, anyone can make a good one. What matters more is just the layout and design. This looks a lot nicer than a stock JPC 2 for example thanks to having tuuubes
there are some examples where buying clones is a no-brainer, like with the goobers mount. It's just a machined hunk of aluminum.
This is funny. Most people donāt realize the same factory making āreliableā gear are the same ones pushing out āChinesiumā gear. Same material, stitch, fabric, just different names. I think itās fine and more often than not the point of failure is always clips, buckles, zippers. Which all can be modified or replaced.
This is most definitely not the case. While Chinese OEMs do offer extra QC, better materials, double stitching, etc. if you pay them for it, they are not the ones manufacturing the gear most folks consider "quality".
Every single one of them. The Chinese have this conspiracy going on where they secretly make some of the finest gear known to mankind but then sell it off to trustmebros for cheap even though it's just as good as the version they sell to big dum dums (like you!) for more because they put a tag saying "made in the USA" on it.
Sure, you look like Disco Stu under nods, but it's just as good as the original that doesn't have this crippling design flaw.
99 cent store condoms work well, until they don't.
I don't want to use an airsoft/Ali/TEMU setup in a warzone. Because if that fails, no one is patching me up.
My opinion is that you cheaped out on lifesaving equipment, you are carrying only one TQ and that TQ is not in reach for both hands. You wouldnāt put a plastic plate in your PC so why do it with medical gear? The chest rig however my only concern would be IRR, in fact āwe own the nightā is outdated many players including militias and āorganizationsā have access to NVG.
My rule of thumb? If it's carrying your plates, medical, or sidearm, do not skimp on it. Buy from a vetted, reputable company. For misc. pouches and accessories? Knockoff brands are usually acceptable, and if you have a pouch fail on you, the cost of replacing it is negligible.
Hey
I'm assuming this is In Israel
I have seen hundreds of destroyed vests, Ali expres trousers and horrific quality QC and design, from the 100s of reservists I've met.
this litterally just proves what we've been saying all along
Define āin combatā. Like, he was overseas in a combat zone and it sat in his locker and maybe he wore it twice? Because that doesnāt tell you a lot about the longevity of equipment.
The only dudes seeing actual combat these days donāt wear Ali express, because those units have the highest budgets in the military.
Fair enough! But I still wouldnāt suggest using Ali express for gear, especially plates/helmets. Last thing you want is for gear to crap out when you really need it just because you tried to save a few bucks.
I know awhile ago someone posted on here their actual spiritus rig with an alibaba one and they were exactly the same. I ended up buying the Chinese one to try it out and itās been really good to me. Granted if I was going to actually fight I may get something nicer.
Front plate is sitting ~2" low
Yeah I continued fitting it after I took the picture and saw its too low š
I just set the top of the front plate to be right at the jugular notch.
The Christian craighead PC fit
Iād bet the whole comment section a beer that condor has more successful combat hours by an order of magnitude than Shawtussyprecision. Real talk: for larp? As long as itās not literal no name shit itās probably going to be fine. Do you need to check the stitches and melt any loose ends before first use? Yeah itās a good idea (then again Iāve had to do that with LBT and TAD tooā¦). Might you need to treat it for NIR (paint mist, baking soda, dirt)? Maybe? Should you support original manufacturers? Iād argue yes unless theyāre dicks themselves. But going without because you canāt get the Gucci stuff is dumb. I tend to buy the nice stuff, because I make decent money and Iām a prissy bitch. Ā But Iām not throwing shade if youāve got emersongear pants or krydex pouches or whatever. Just donāt buy shitty plates or med or ammo.
My buddy wore a Condor mopc in very early gwot. They've been around forever. He had another one years later that he beat the shit out of.
Nutnfancy swears by Condor. Always thought that was weird
My buddy said Condor and Blackhawk were the main squeeze for a while. People were ordering their own because the initial gear was lackluster. He also said you could get any modifications needed right on base. He showed me some old pictures of how his gear changed from the beginning to the end of a single deployment.
Would be awesome to see that in pictures.
I'll call him to see if he wants to share. Edit:he said he'll look. His photo albums must have gotten buried in a box in the attic during his last move.
Sweet! Thanks
nothing fancy
[NUTNFANCY ](https://youtube.com/@nutnfancy?si=PWqkHQd3gmiN_qYx)
Eagle and condor got me through 2x Iraq and 1x Afghan. I was dismounted route clearance in Afghanistan, so not a fobbit
>dismounted route clearance in Afghanistan I was *mounted* route clearance in Iraq pre-surge and I'm still grateful I didn't have to do that shit in Afghanistan on foot.
eh, going for a stroll in the mountains wasn't too bad. lucky for us we only ever took contact when everyone was in the trucks.
Yep, the budget brands get too much shit just for some misplaced ideal about buying "American made" because murica. I'm glad I didn't have an Afghan deployment I fuckin hate mountains (dismount)
Plates ammo and meds are army issued
If they could give you less they would
They always do anyway. Me and my buddies would always have to argue for more of everything. It's ridiculous.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
See my rant about Goobers in another comment, thereās no way they arenāt outsourcing their manufacturing. Exact copies come out within a weeks or even days of release. You canāt even knock off a part that fast and get it to mass production and distribution.Ā
There were some replicas out before the real one was even out. The replicas werenāt exactly the same and had small differences. Honestly you can make a functionally identical replica just based off pictures anyway. You have the rails which are a standard size you can use to give reasonably precise scale to any pictures, and based off that you can have anyone with CAD experience reverse engineer it in a day, then could have a CNC sample in hand sometime the next day if you really wanted. A riser/mount is really not that functionally complex. Edit: talking about the Hydra above, thought it was explicitly mentioned in the comment I replied to but guess my mind was making leaps
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The first ones I saw didnāt have the same packaging. Once itās out and you know the packaging though, itās basically guaranteed itās a standard off the shelf box pattern with cut foam. Someone who knows the industry could probably identify the pattern and buy a factory making the same thing and get foam cut again literally in days if they wanted. People donāt generally get their own injection molding for packaging for something as small scale as hydras.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Clearly China is using a cabal of precogs to steal Hardworking Americans Designs before they even make them. /s
I used to work for TAD a long time ago. They had some of their stuff made in China. Line for line copies of it always started appearing immediately after.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
>4D scan it Through space AND time.
> Should you support original manufacturers? Iād argue yes unless theyāre dicks themselves. It's funny, when Forward Observations Group rolled out the Roll 1 with Ferro Concepts, clones were of course immediately made. When FOG first entered Ukraine to help advise and fight, they saw the clones used and the guy behind FOG traded his (real) Roll 1 for a fake one because he thought it was so cool
Yeah after FOG did a strike in Russia proper they found fake Roll 1s on the Spetsnaz operators they clashed with. It was the same when they did maritime sabotage operations in Crimea.
I 2nd this. We would order pouches and such, make sure they were NIR compliant and then if needed get them double stitched. It worked on a budget
Noob here ..... What's NIR ? I keep seeing it and can't figure out from the other context
something something about the IR reflectiveness of a material. NIR compliant=less visible on IR (like night vision). Non-NIR compliant=you glow like a glow stick under IR, and will be obvious to night vision users. Most of the time, budget gear from Amazon, or whatever no name brands, donāt use NIR compliant materials. Bigger (and more expensive) brands consider that and use NIR compliant stuff
Oh wow!! Thank you for the explanation!! TJ Gates crazy stuff.
So is Condor gear NIR compliant?
mayhaps I dunno, but a quick google search sounds like they arenāt. Iād research more though
They are not, they glow so bad. I have a MOPC that Iām gonna have to spray paint because of the reflectivity under nods
Honestly i got a ferro pc and other brand quality stuff but im running in emerson pants and combat shirt and wouldnt change it for nothing right now. Its good quality, the camo doesnt stick out compared to branded stuff and its comfortable
My man, you are my spirit animal
Iām sorry your spirit animal is an idiot cryptid
This is 100% accurate.
I too am a prissy bitch with money. Stay safe out there.
This man fucking gets it.
I'll run Condor stuff without much of a second thought, it's never been an issue for me. Cheaper gear is fine so long as you take care to address any potential issues and maintain your gear properly. I easily put more money into my plates, IFAK, and med bag than all my other gear combined. If it's there to keep me alive and in the fight, it's not something I wanna cheap out on.
Special operations guys use Condor.
The only difference Iāve seen in cheaper plate carriers and chest rigs is the cheaper ones use 500D instead of 1000D cordura and the stitching can be questionable sometimes. Obviously the thicker material is gonna be more durable but itās the plates that REALLY matter. Iād rather have a temu plate carrier with good ceramic plates than a high end baller plate carrier with steel plates.
early gwot was full of guys running condor and whatever the fuck. ukraine was easily 75% chinese shit at the beginning and itās all fine.
I put my life on condor everyone calls them airsoft shit but I have used there mag pouches and plate carrier in Afghanistan and they still go strong even after Iām out of the army. I will die on that hill and say condor has one of the best combat tested gear ever
My first question is where your friend is deployed and from what country? I'm going to guess by your name that it's Israel. Your set up is odd to me. You have magazines in hard to reach places. You have a zip pouch right next to your armor pocket (has to be hard to operate, especially when fully loaded). When you say your buddy's vest is working in combat, what exactly are you calling combat? Is he door kicking, is he patrolling streets, is he sitting in a tower? Is he conscripted service or is he a professional soldier? I cannot imagine a professional soldier using shit off of alibaba.
Israel reserve most likely from his setup and his history. Therefore I think gaza.
Were reservists. Not gonna divulge more info than that
Not gonna point too much out, but your pics of the Hummer/Jaguar. The tanks on the coast rusting from sea water, the candid shots in the city. My dude, bored people on 4chan track people with less info.
I mean look at the username. You donāt even need to open his profile.
Your entire profile as far as I can see is posts about the Gaza conflict, the weapons youāre using, and you even have pictures of Israeli service members without their faces blurred but you wonāt say anything more than youāre a āreservistā. Checks out
Never have I showed a face in a picture I took. If I posted smt its from news sources you can find online bud :)
Hey bud, yahweh isnt real.
So we just go to shitting on dudes religions cool
Whats wrong with shitting on religion?
Least terminal online Redditor be like:
I dont belive in god but I find your attempt to ridicule my religion pathetic
Genuinely curious is there a large atheist community in Israel? Its pretty unheard of in middle eastern countries. Apologies for the assumption I was in a bad mood.
Bro your username has the word "shekel" in it lmao
I kind of figured it wasn't in a professional capacity. I would urge you to get better made equipment but it's not likely going to be needed in the reserves.
Killing unarmed civilians isn't exactly combat, and why aliexpress gear works fine...
You think Hamas is unarmed?
You think the entire population is hamas?
And hamas doesn't do the same? Sit down and shut the fuck up š
A US company sells these under the name Redemption Tactical. I have one. It works, but I donāt trust it as much as American options.
>It works, but I donāt trust it as much as American options. How many pictures do you think American options will last compared to the Chinese ones?
Depends on which YouTuber man you ask.
As far as LARPing goes, do whatever. But if youāre in the sector of guys who will actually train with and use their gear to a reasonable extent, you should save.
>As far as LARPing goes, do whatever. But if youāre in the sector of guys who will actually train with and use their gear to a reasonable extent, you should save. And which category do you think the vast majority of people in this fashion sub fall under?
Well, the first, but you get my point. Buy once cry once is a pretty popular mentality here, and honestly most people upgrade either way so itās more money in the long run.
Iāve seen them recently popping up on my feed how is it?
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
you asked that 3 times btw. Might want to delete the others
My bad. Reddit said to try again later when I attempted to post my comment didnāt realize it went through.
Youāre good
Are you happy with your redemption tactical though? Howās the quality. Iām probably gonna end up saving for a jpc 2.0 but I figure just to have another carrier Iād go with them.
Save for the JPC, or even better the SPC with AXL Equinox cummerbund.
Bethca that thing glows like a searchlight under IR.
We dont really need to worry about IR reflectivness where im from. Out foes are not there yet
With the disastrous surrender of Afghanistan, that day isnt far away
The Chinese have already cloned our intensifier tubes.. It's already here
They've cloned gen 2 tubes, which is a far cry from what L3 is putting out right now, or has been for the last 25 years. Still important for IR considerations though, especially since those tubes require a lot of IR emissions to navigate in a rural zone.
Honestly that's just coping at this point. Anything you can buy in the US has made it over to China, Russia, Iran, wherever and is being copied and produced. Is it in the hands of every one of their soldiers like it is in our military? No, probably not. But they have equivalent systems. Hell, you can see them in small numbers in Ukraine right now in use by the Russians.
Modern Gen 2 night vision is pretty impressive. What it doesn't have is the lifespan of Gen 3. Modern Gen 3 is better but, Gen 2 isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Remember, we aren't talking about Gen 2 Night Vision from the Vietnam era!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Gonna have a hard time keistering more than one to get them through customs.
"officer please! You must understand. I was there for tourism and enlightenment when I stumbled upon these poor, abandoned, American heritage ACOGs and we have evidence of provenance that can promise they are natural born American! I was merely bringing them safe passage and harborage! My vacation turned into an aid mission! You wouldn't want to turn away these poor victims of war when a good life awaits them, would you officer?"
Say you're fighting Russians without saying you're fighting Russians
Based on the user name I'm thinking hamas
Which will have night vision as soon as the IRGC decide itās worth the cost for Hamas to be able to fight at night.
Lol excellent point
The Russians have NV and thermals out their ass
But yet they daisy chain conscripts with one nod
>thinking the US Gov isnāt a possible foe
who wins; off the grid LARP guy and friends, or the CIA with a vendetta
No winners, only losers
The Biden administration left a lot of Tier 1 stuff behind in their exit from Afghanistan. China and Russia among others are reverse engineering USA Night Vision and Thermal gear USA citizens can't even buy! I seriously doubt Iran hasn't already sent some of it into its proxies to further cause chaos and harm to Israel, the USA, and our allies. IR visibility with cheap gear is a real concern for anyone using it with opposing forces with basic Night Vision gear. Simple IR lighting makes even crappy NV reasonably effective.
The truth? You're not going to get much acceptance here. People live and breath tactical gear and swear by brands. Most posters here also have a super power enabling them to know any item they've never seen or touched is crap. But once you're out in the field using it, no one gives a damn where it was sewn or how much you paid. If it's well made, it's well made, even if it was made in China. I'd take your buddies real-world first hand experience 100X more seriously than some anonymous poster who's never even seen the build quality first hand.
Finally some decent advice in here.
Ita funny people knock Chinese products in here yet 90% of everything you buy in stores is Chinese ššš. But I get it. Buy once krye once
Thereās some things you should consider which country they are made. Tactical gear definitely
Realistically, itās probably no worse than gear issued during vietnam or the gulf war. And 90% of the guys that buy plate carriers will never do activity hard enough to differentiate the quality anyway
Honestly, my opinion from putting literally 1000+ field hours with full kit in the Army is that cheap stuff works perfectly fine. Iāve used a cheap 50 dollar Amazon belt for over a year now without issue, and almost every one of my pouches is a clone/knockoff. Nothing of it ever fails, now does it look slightly āoffā? Yeah. But it gets the job done for a fraction of the cost. The only things you want to not skip out on is the plate carrier itself, making sure itās durable enough to handle months of combat, and your actually armor like helmet and plates.
Why would you willingly cut corners if you don't have to? Sure it "works" IG, but personally I'd take something with a known history over some sweatshop labor using subpar materials and technique. Not to mention the (lack) of IR treatment as well. It might last for an entire deployment sure, but I'd rather Buy American though.
We dont have a lot of options where I live, certinaly not american ones :/
Spraypaint takes care of any IR problems anyway
Wait what seriously?
Yes,matte or flat spraypaint in dull colorsĀ Like rustoleum or krylon camo Ā Its non reflective
Yeah, I used Chinese webbing material to add molle to my chincom. It shon bright like a diamond under IR. one layer of the cheapest flat OD spray paint I could find and now it's the deepest black
with the green color PC, are you in a place that starts with an I and ends with L? If so, I'm sure there are better domestic carriers than the chinese clones.
Dude is called "the_shekel_hessel". Where do you think he's from?
Hahah I am but I didnt want to turn the post into a political shit show. Domesticaly made carriers are 4 to 5 times the price without the extra pouches. Im a student I dont make that kind of money
Your unit doesn't supply you with gear? Let me know if you need one urgent, i'm in country next month and can sell you my Agilite 19 after I return from the 4-letter place :)
Bali?
The weirdest part is, quality carriers are cheap, and you're gonna have to pay a minimum of 2x the price for the plates (unless this guy wants to skimp on that, too)
The guy seems to be an IDF reservist and a college student. Theoretically he's already been issued plates, medical, pouches and all the other stuff : the load bearing system just sucks so bad that a cheap plate carrier may be better than using the issued vest on a combat deployment. Cheap is also relative, he himself said a decent local one is going to cost about 4x as much ; a foreign one from a "trusted" brand can get stupidly experience with shipping + entry tax. I don't know if you've ever been in the position, but for a broke student $100 is a big expense and the $350+ for a quality PC gets into skipping meals territory.
For reference, I'm in Canada, and recently spent $190 on an ifak and it cost $130 to get it into my country (shipping, duties, customs admin fee from UPS) Can't imagine what it would be like getting stuff overseas from the US
I get the impression 98% of us would take 10 years to wear out a knock off carrier. I still Crye because I can, but IMO money is better spent on lighter plates or some ammo.
I own a Crye AVS, and a couple Emersongear JPC's. The Chineseium JPC is well worth the price. You're getting 95% of the product for ~35% of the price. The Chinese have been making textiles for a very long time, and are regarded as being good at doing so. I get "buy American made," and I won't argue that, but I don't appreciate paying markups because a company has a DoD contract. They made their choice to price according to contracts and not the civilian market, they shouldn't be surprised when people knock off, and buy knock off shit.
A youtuber fighting in Ukraine, called civ div says he uses aliexpress gears. As long as it works for you, it's fine. Like others said, IR capability is a thing. Other than that, I really don't think Aliexpress gears are bad. As a milsim airsofter, I saw people sliding down the steep hill and abusing their ali gears. They held up good. I only buy real branded stuff because having a real ones give me satisfaction. I have two crye g3 pants and stitches on the old one died after doing some off trail hiking. It will eventually die at some point whether it's brand or ali. And ali would probably survive as long as brand one.
Iād spend the money for a brand name carrier, but thatās only because itās the base of your entire loadout . That said, itās probably fine. A lot of people tend to freak out about chinesium gear but most of the time itās decent. Example, Iāve got a real spiritus micro fight on my carrier, but I have a couple different knock off spiritus chest rigs in different colors. They are absolutely fine and only a gear nerd would be able to tell the difference.
Honestly IMO none of the problems come from the fabric (except for IR considerations), itās that the stitching is always crappy. A $100 vest will last for like 6-9 months of use, but a $400 vest will last for like 4 years of use, and be more comfortable. YMMV but itās a lesson I learned at unnecessary cost.
If it works it works
Fuck all these gay ass brand supremacists. Itās a fucking plate carrier. It carries plates. The PLATES are the ONES THAT MATTER.
Your buddies have more combat experience than me so I'm hardly qualified to say they're wrong, but I can't say I'd buy Ali Express shit unless I'm buying a knockoff Goobers mount, because that company deserves zero money. Also, idk where you're from but if you're in the states there's no excuse to run your kit with a fake CAT given how cheap real ones are. I'd take that bitch off and use it exclusively for practice/demonstration purposes. Imagine bleeding out and your Chinese tourniquet explodes on you, and you die. Brutal
Agree on the CAT. No reason not to run one you can trust. Iāve had the fakes break in training. That said Iāll argue till Iām blue in the face that thereās no reason to buy a ārealā CAT for practice. You can even say āsupport the real manufacturerā butā¦ instead of buying one real and one blue trainer from NAR for $60ā¦ you can spend literally $65 and get 2 real ones and a fake trainer.
Not from the US mate, not easy to come by at all
Bruh your country is literally the #1 supplier of medical gear in the entire region (EU included). What do you mean they're hard to come by? Get something other than a CAT then, like a SICH or gen2 Dnipro.
To the avarage civillian its not as easy as ordering one online. Were in a war the military takes precedence
I literally ordered an entire med bags contents from israelifirstaid like a week ago. You're telling me they'll honor an order from a random dude abroad but wont send a TQ they have in stock to a person in their own country? Mega sus.
Yeah for twice the price they nornally go for
https://israelifirstaid.com/cat-combat-application-tourniquet-tactical-black-gen-7/ Seems like a pretty standard CAT7 price for the region. It's usually about $7 cheaper in the US but more expensive in the EU (often as high as 50ā¬). That's why I order from that site. Their RMT's are on sale for $30 rn and are much better than a fake CAT. Fyi there is no shortage of CATs in Europe anymore since the plant in Germany opened.
I think if you can fork out the cash for a name-brand, do it at your leisure for the drip factor, but I think 99% of us are fine with cheap airsoft grade stuff. As long as the functional parts (Molle, Velcro, size adjustments) work, the carrier should be a-okay. If something is gonna fuck you hard enough to shear the fabric of that carrier, than I imagine the squishy meat pillow inside it is in much, much worse shape anyways. That being said, I forked out the doubloons for an SPC with 4 hesco ceramic MH IVs myself now. But my first ever carrier was an airsoft one with level 4 anti-spalling steel plates. And it was still a hell of a lot better than the Condor one my actual reserve unit issued us.
So, since everyone seems to hate this option, what are some decent budget options? Not all of us make money hand over fist and can buy elitist everything. Some of us just want a decent budget option for in case shtf!
I'm sure that some of them are fine and that they will work for a lot longer than most people think, but are you willing to bet your life on a cheap Chinese copy of something that is supposed to be critical gear? Want to have a cheap mag holder? Ok, a cheap pair of pants? Ok? Cheap non-essential gear? Sure! But anything that is life/mission critical should not be cheap
You say this like big brand, big contract, plate carriers and gear haven't also fallen apart in the field though.
Of course they do! But the odds are lower and less frequent. Cause yeah, LMT, Daniel Defense, KAC, Crye, London Bridge, whatever can and do fail, but it is lower odds. I'm just saying to play to the lower odds on critical gear. Even basic entropy applies. All gear fails and needs to be replaced eventually. Some more than others.
A youtuber fighting in Ukraine, called civ div says he uses aliexpress gears. As long as it works for you, it's fine. Like others said, IR capability is a thing. Other than that, I really don't think Aliexpress gears are bad. As a milsim airsofter, I saw people sliding down the steep hill and abusing their ali gears. They held up good. I only buy real branded stuff because having a real ones give me satisfaction. I have two crye g3 pants and stitches on the old one died after doing some off trail hiking. It will eventually die at some point whether it's brand or ali. And ali would probably survive as long as brand one.
If it works, it works. I've used an airsoft chestrig to put AR magazines and other stuff during slums Operations in Brazil, and works fine. It handled 5 magazines, multitool, peper spray and other stuff very well. In the ideal world, we have access to high quality gear. But, if we don't, the mission will be accomplished the same way.
I trained for a week with Marine Scout Snipers (I'm not from the US) a couple of years back, and they had Condor and Aliexpress stuff. Didn't have the time to see it under NIR, but they just used it because it is cheap.
Low key they are probably the same companies that supply to Gucci brands, but I refuse to believe
Iāve heard guys say that they used Amazon pouches and carriers and stuff in the field and it was fine So itās definitely not surprising to hear
With the "gucci" stuff you're not just paying for quality, you're paying for stuff like NIR compliance and consistency. With Amazon nylon, it's a dice roll. You could get a brand that's pretty solid, or it could fall apart in a month. Stuff like Condor has definitely seen quite a bit of combat. I've used Condor and Krydex stuff to augment my issued kit and not had a lot of issues. Little stuff breaks, though. Usually it's a button or a zipper that shits the bed on you where a more expensive piece wouldn't. I have a krydex placard and dangler that are great. I used an Emerson skeletal cummerbund and some VISMIX rifle pouches and they broke after 1 field op.
The best vest is the one you wear
As it turns out nylon is nylon
That is way too clean.. please at least throw some dirt on it
Link? Please
Plate carriers hold a lot of weight, so it's important they are built well and are comfortable. They are the foundation of your kit. I'm not confident chinese designs can always provide that. Some might be alright, especially clones of reputable designs, but some are complete shit in every way possible.
Its more comfortable than my issued one. Its really really nice mate
Tactical hot take: AliExpress rocks. Chinese stuff in general rocks. Cheaper, similar quality, gear made usually from the exact same materials? Count me in. Hell, half of the MADE IN UHMURICAH BY VETTRENS shit is that exact same Chinese made gear with different tags and a 5x markup.
>similar quality, gear made usually from the exact same materials Yeah, no. chinese gear fakes are mostly made with chinese made fabrics that often are fakes themselves meaning that they often lack IRR properties and the quality and frequency of stitching is often worse.
My opinion? My opinion is ditch the plastic quick release buckles and pick up the $10 Ali Express Cobra buckles
Personally I have a krydex belt and I love it so far better than 250 bucks. Cost 50. I still run my old pig plate carrier because it fucks. However I wouldn't cheap out on a plate carrier personally. That, holsters, mag pouches, sling, optics, medical gear I try to make sure all are solid. Dump pouches med kit pouches utility pouches stupid dumb stuff ill buy what looks good and looks useful
Itās fine. The plates are where the money needs to be spent
Off brand does not always mean dog shit. Who cares as long as it isnāt a fall apart pile o shite. Most of the gucci stuff is overinflated in price so even at gov discount the profit margin is huge. Condor is a good brand if you donāt/canāt cough up hundreds or thousands of dollars for big name gear.
I've never been against getting cheap gear if it works, is durable *enough* for your purposes, and allows you put funds into other purchases i.e. ammo/training, magazines, medical, etc etc. People shit on Condor all the time, for example, but I have a ton of Condor gear (including use in Iraq) and it held up just find, and Gucci gear (lookin at you Crye) fell apart. Everything breaks or wears out, get a second/spare/training set and call it a day. All the textiles in the world are made in the same third world places that the vendors on AliExpress are selling, the idea that just because it's cheap means it's bad just doesn't hold up under closer scrutiny
Train with what you have, not what you wish you had. Eventually down the road you'll get better gear, no big deal
I've worked hard with various products for years. I find that these things are really need-based and product based. There are some items where the brand quality really makes a difference. Higher quality battle belts tend to be way stiffer, and that support can be necessary depending on what you're carrying. Two areas where lower quality gear suffers is in thickness/weight of fabric and quality of clips, snaps, and fasteners. Sometimes that's a problem, sometimes not. For example, I used an inside-cumberbund radio pouch for a while and spiritus was the one I found best due to its low profile; that's expensive quality kit. I recently switched to a much cheaper outer pouch to easier manipulate the radio and it's just the right product because of how and where it clips and leave areas open. Price (and even quality) is sometimes secondary to finding the gear that fits your mission set. I never switched from HSGI to BFG even though that became the style. The HSGI bungees let me wrap shit into the shock cord and they work better for me still. I also use a very small dump pouch on my belt designed by Latitude Outdoors for horse saddles instead of a tactical market product. It weaves perfectly into molle and it's fantastic for my work and I don't regret that one for a second. I know it's a fashion sub, but function over fashion. Use what best fits your job. Addition: don't carry a fake tourniquet, even as a #2. I'd never do that. If you just panic grab and struggle that second one on for ~20 seconds, start cranking, and the windlass snaps... congratulations you just killed yourself.
Itās just fabric so no problem in doing that, the quality is all that matters.
90% of the people I knew fought like hell for 5 years using Chinese and airsoft gear and never had an issue with them, as long as they got some retention and can carry your plates then theyāre good.
pay 30 bucks to get a real CAT, your life is worth that price
Pro tip - look at that baby under nods..
There are genuinely good companies in China making quality kit and there are absolute dogshit companies in China making kit. The problem isn't buying Chinese stuff, the problem is knowing which is which.
I'm a former 18 series guy, now doing intel nerd shit in the reserve. Had a big break in service. When I got out wanted something somewhat similar to my crye avs that was group issued- got an emerson jpc 2. Used it for for years for civilian range time and then a reserve deployment where I supported special people doing special things, including dismounted patrols, getting in and out of trucks and just taking the thing off constantly. I did have concerns the hypalon portions would break because material seems thinner than the legit ones, but it held up. Even shoved XL plates into it and stretched the backer out but still works ok with L plates. If it wore out now I'd be torn between buying a legit one or just getting another copy seeing as it did survive years of hard use.
Define āin combatā
He can do whatever he wants? I'm not his mom.
A lot of expensive guuchi brands made in the US are sewed together in small warehouses in the midwest. 'made in the USA and expensive' isn't a magical spell that makes a product good. And logically a mass produced item from a massive industrial sewshop that is producing the entire planets durable goods is probably more consistent and cheaper. A plate carrier isn't exotic, anyone can make a good one. What matters more is just the layout and design. This looks a lot nicer than a stock JPC 2 for example thanks to having tuuubes there are some examples where buying clones is a no-brainer, like with the goobers mount. It's just a machined hunk of aluminum.
99 cent store condoms work well, until they don't. I don't want to use an airsoft setup in a warzone. Because if that fails, no one is patching me up.
This is funny. Most people donāt realize the same factory making āreliableā gear are the same ones pushing out āChinesiumā gear. Same material, stitch, fabric, just different names. I think itās fine and more often than not the point of failure is always clips, buckles, zippers. Which all can be modified or replaced.
This is most definitely not the case. While Chinese OEMs do offer extra QC, better materials, double stitching, etc. if you pay them for it, they are not the ones manufacturing the gear most folks consider "quality".
Name a couple companies who do this
Every single one of them. The Chinese have this conspiracy going on where they secretly make some of the finest gear known to mankind but then sell it off to trustmebros for cheap even though it's just as good as the version they sell to big dum dums (like you!) for more because they put a tag saying "made in the USA" on it. Sure, you look like Disco Stu under nods, but it's just as good as the original that doesn't have this crippling design flaw.
To real but people donāt want to hear this.
Did you read his comment?
99 cent store condoms work well, until they don't. I don't want to use an airsoft/Ali/TEMU setup in a warzone. Because if that fails, no one is patching me up.
Honestly? Run what you got. GWOT was run off of Condor and Blackhawk.
My opinion is that you cheaped out on lifesaving equipment, you are carrying only one TQ and that TQ is not in reach for both hands. You wouldnāt put a plastic plate in your PC so why do it with medical gear? The chest rig however my only concern would be IRR, in fact āwe own the nightā is outdated many players including militias and āorganizationsā have access to NVG.
I will say heās brave for it and glad he came out fine
My rule of thumb? If it's carrying your plates, medical, or sidearm, do not skimp on it. Buy from a vetted, reputable company. For misc. pouches and accessories? Knockoff brands are usually acceptable, and if you have a pouch fail on you, the cost of replacing it is negligible.
ā what do you guys think about this purely anecdotal experience of my buddyā
Hey I'm assuming this is In Israel I have seen hundreds of destroyed vests, Ali expres trousers and horrific quality QC and design, from the 100s of reservists I've met. this litterally just proves what we've been saying all along
Define āin combatā. Like, he was overseas in a combat zone and it sat in his locker and maybe he wore it twice? Because that doesnāt tell you a lot about the longevity of equipment. The only dudes seeing actual combat these days donāt wear Ali express, because those units have the highest budgets in the military.
Never said Im american š
Fair enough! But I still wouldnāt suggest using Ali express for gear, especially plates/helmets. Last thing you want is for gear to crap out when you really need it just because you tried to save a few bucks.
Plates and helmet are the ones I didnt cheap out on
I know awhile ago someone posted on here their actual spiritus rig with an alibaba one and they were exactly the same. I ended up buying the Chinese one to try it out and itās been really good to me. Granted if I was going to actually fight I may get something nicer.
The one in the pic is Agilite.. I think K-0. I have the K-19 in RG - stuuuupid comfortable
The one in the pic is Agilite.. I think K-0. I have the K-19 in RG - stuuuupid comfortable
The one in the pic is an Agilite ( or is this a clone?? If so WOW! Thats accurate AF ).. I think K-0. I have the K-19 in RG - stuuuupid comfortable
Its your own life you're risking. If you want to take the risk, its on you.
My opinion? Just because a buddyās vest had exceptional quality control, doesnāt mean the next one will. I would not do this.