US GI Load Bearing Vest LBV LBE

[SharmanAJUSMC]

ok i know you guys are all hyped up on your highspeed cyote brown chest rigs and stuff, however newbies should concider a used or new government issue Load Bearing Vest. I can personally attest to this gear as i spent some years using it in the Marine Corps.

there are two basic kinds of GI LBV, one is a molle vest basically and one is a vest with propriatary mag pouches.

the vest will hold six m16 style mags, and has two frag pouches. you must combine this gear with a duty belt (often refered to as a pistol belt) which you can use to attach any of the gi pouches or canteens. there are d rings on the back for holding a butt pack also.

this gear is really good, and VERY inexpensive, i got two gentlely used on ebay for $5 each!  similar deals can be had check out ebay.

the best thing about this gear is that it is designed to carry heavy loads, i doubt even the most fanatical airsofter could wiegh it down with as much gear as you do in real life, but he someone did they can rest assured that it will distribute the load evenly and still be comfortable.

take my word for it, high speed gear is cool to look at and to wear but not to buy, why spend so much on a vest when you could dump that money into some more mags, or bbs or what have you.

[Firehead]

I too was issued one of these. The newer "enhanced" version is a piece of shit. Mag changes are a pain in my ass, and the shoulder pads are way to fuckin' big. I hate rucking with that thing on, the pads run up on the neck, and when you got a sunburn, that shit hurts. Performing a quick mag change is nearly impossible. I found that the grenade pouches are utterly useless. IMTing with frags in the pocket starts to hurt after a while. I'm having modification made to my issue LBV, hopefully that will improve EVERYTHING wrong with this LBV.

[SharmanAJUSMC]

damn you guys got a shitty underfunded unit then, even the corps dropped the old school lbv for the interceptor vest a couple of years ago. I assume your a reservist, or station at huchuca (yes i spelledit wrong do i look indian to you?) why unit are you with?

[SharmanAJUSMC]

you should have been wearing your flak/sapi plate carrier under your lbv so the grenade pouches would not hurt you.....

[Firehead]

I'm in the ArNG. My what? I don't have one of those(I got a flak jacket, but we never wear it during training, especially becuase it does nothing to stop bullets).

I'm in the 1/158th Infantry Regt, Charlie Company. We are getting deployed in January, so we are going to get tons of new/good shit.

[SharmanAJUSMC]

we were still using the old flaks and lbvs when i first joined, when i got to 1/8 -first battalion eighth marine regiment, we were issued the new interceptor vest, which has molle attachments physically on the vest itself, and also carries the sapi plates (small arms protective inserts) im pretty sure its currently what the army is fielding in iraq and afg. i find it appauling that you are a grunt (infantry) going to iraq, and you don't even train with flaks, it makes no difference that they dont stop bullets, they are heavy, you should know you will be loaded down a helluva lot with gear and shit, and what do they do to prepare you? This is my whole problem with the army, undertrained, and if you arent a grunt you barely get any combat training at all! WTF! look at what happened with that convoy that that piestawa was killed in, they didnt properly maintain their weapons, as a result they were in a hostile area and took casualties instead of inflicting them.
im not a recruiter, i dont give a shit what service you join, but for all those concidering the military, you WILL go to war, so who would you rather fight with over trained overly aggressive Marines, or anyone who doesnt recieve the same? All you army guys dont take offense to this, i have great respect for anyone who has or will serve in any of our fine armed services, but I spent the last few years as an instructor on the Marine Air Ground Combat Center, in 29 palms -- where US and foreign forces go to CAX (combined arms exercise), and believe me the old addage (sorry my spelling sucks today) "the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war" is absolutely true.

[aztacgunfighter]

I fondly remember our 27 mile forced march into the sand at 29, we had every piece of gear in our inventory. two extra camies sets, 6 pairs of socks hygene stuff for a week, canvass "shelter half" way before the three man tents, poles, guy line, rope for the repel hrst teams Cold wheather gear, sleeping bags both types......so on and so forth.This was '98 no way would we even think of going into the feild with out flaks, OMG. Court martial your self now! We knew it would take all night and that this was an 'administative' movement. On paper we had to prove our 987 man unit could move that far and then stage a sustained fire fight.

My pack weighed in at 90 pounds, not to include the flak, kevlar, gas mask, weapons, ammo , if issued, dummie rockets, water, food......We could have been plucked out from the desert straight to the shit if the need had come up.

"Train how you will fight" was the saying. But I think what has already been said is true, 'if it was good enough for our fathers to use during real combat' and it is cheap enough for me to buy why wouldn't I use it for airsofting?

[SharmanAJUSMC]

I agree with you whole heartedly, and if what fire said is true it doesn't suprise me anymore that the army takes such nasty casualties, as a Marine NCO I feel that Army NCO's not requiring AT LEAST all of your personal protective gear is outrageous, I would love to personally correct those idiots who obviously care nothing for the soldiers in their charge.
But I guess thats what separates the Marine Corps from the Army, I remember my kill hat, (the meanest Drill Instructor in your platoon) told us our first week on the depot (MCRD San Diego) what the difference between the Army and The Corps, "The Army has soldiers, The Marine Corps has professional soldiers" Once again I am NOT trying to incite some kind of a Marine vs. Army horseshit, just stating my opinion and personal experiance.

As always, Semper Fi gunrunner, I can tell you were (and still are) a hardcharger, damn motivating to think we both humped the same hills, for pretty much the same reasons-heres a quote I picked up from somewhere.
"Another beautiful day in the Marine Corps! Every meal is a banquet, every paycheck a fortune- I love the Corps!"

[Titan]

You are right on some instances Sharman about the army but in some other observations you are a mile off the mark.  You gotta understand that you have been brainwashed with Esprit De Corp and nothing anyone says will allow you think there is a troop or unit better than yours.  I was a Jarhead myself back in the day so I can say that to you without your crazy meter exploding.    1st FAST Co. out of Norfolk. back when it started out but I also spent time with 3/75th Ranger Regt. when I did my army time and there are a lot of units that are trying to come up to speed.  However if we needed a platoon of cooks and band members to rush a building I'd probably pick my team from the Corps anyday.

[SharmanAJUSMC]

Well, you should have said what i was a mile off the mark of, i would be interested to know. Guys in the Army love to say Marines are brainwashed, whatever you happen to think doesnt really matter to me in that respect as people who think that cannot be talked out of it, but I have done quite extensive cross training with the Army, and my observations stand. Nothing against you guys, as i have already said you have nothing to prove. As a former instructor though, I find stories I have heard about training to be quite disturbing. and better to have a bunch of cooks and band memebers know how to fight than having the soldiers in your convoy not trained sufficiently to properly maintain their weapons in a combat zone, its the Army's training command that is to blame for blunders like that, and you should know damn well that rangers get the good training a regular army grunt does not.

[SharmanAJUSMC]

what was your MOS in the corps ?

[JoJockAmo]

who gives a *****!

Go to few places try out some gear, buy something that functions and works for YOU. And cost shouldnt matter, high or low, if it works it works.

[Titan]

Guys in the Army love to say Marines are brainwashed, whatever you happen to think doesnt really matter to me in that respect as people who think that cannot be talked out of it

No disrespect meant bro, I was brainwashed myself.  Units like 82nd, 10th mountain, stryker brigade, and 25th ID are really starting to get their shit together, they just don't have the pride in service that the average jarhead does.  As to your mos question I started off as an 0311 and then went to 8152.  WOuld now be known as a 54 I guess since back then they didnt' give us a different designation if we went out for Fast.  Stay safe and thanks for serving we need about 40,000 more like you for when Iran and N. Korea decide to act the fool on the same schedule.

[deathbydanish]

Just curious, you are referring to an IIFS vest right? Like this one: