Christian, it isn't how much ammo you carry, as how many hits you get with what you have. 
If I was on a tight budget, I'd spend on more mags and guns and ammo and use old cheap surplus gear. Cammies and pouches get thrashed anyway.
ALICE stuff is cheap, and effective.
Chip
I only buy what I can afford by selling something I have. THATS my airsoft budget.
About hitting what you can with a few mags, you're right! But it also means you don't need to reload as often. On a
good day, I get 10 kills per mag. Times 9 and thats alot of red rags.
With firearms, I'm the same way, but my efficiency goes up substantially. On the crew-served range, I qualed expert with the 249 and had 16 rounds left on the belt. If those little green e-silhouettes were people, thats 36 less people to shoot back at me. If I had even more ammo. . .you get the point!
When it comes down to it, PALS is better in that it allows a more customizeable loadout, that can carry more specific items, with much greater comfort! To carry what I did at Lion Claws with ALICE gear, I'd be one sore MFer come Monday morning. ALICE is a paint in the ass, and it's not that comfortable. It works, but PALS works better.
