Plate Carrier assistance

[axisofoil]

Ya I guess I would like to go with a ciras type vest. I just hope they got ones that can fit larger guys. And no I'm not going to use any plates then.

That's not a plate carrier.

A. Doesn't need to be if a CIRAS vest is fine...
B. It carries plates with operator cuts (reads... soft armor around the kidneys + strike plate in the chest). Not the most useful in real life... but it is still a PC.

[azsarge]

Ya I guess I would like to go with a ciras type vest. I just hope they got ones that can fit larger guys. And no I'm not going to use any plates then.

That's not a plate carrier.

A. Doesn't need to be if a CIRAS vest is fine...
B. It carries plates with operator cuts (reads... soft armor around the kidneys + strike plate in the chest). Not the most useful in real life... but it is still a PC.

That was a chest rig, and has no provisions for the carriage of armor plates.  perhaps you posted a link to the wrong vest.

Busta, the LV RACKS are nice.  There are alot of options for 2nd line equipment load carriage.

This thread WAS about plate carriers, and now we've discussed just about every other type.

[axisofoil]

Well, the OP has plenty of opinions now. lol.

And, yes, that vest or chest rig or whatever you want to call it, WILL hold operator cut plates. I own that vest. every other store that stocks it lists that as a feature, but honestly, nobody wants operator cut plates, so it's not a great feature. lol.

[azsarge]

Well, the OP has plenty of opinions now. lol.

And, yes, that vest or chest rig or whatever you want to call it, WILL hold operator cut plates. I own that vest. every other store that stocks it lists that as a feature, but honestly, nobody wants operator cut plates, so it's not a great feature. lol.

More like, anyone with operator cut plates wouldn't carry them in some shitty asian vest. :lol:

Being a front-opening vest, I don't see how you could hang your plates without losing them every time you don or doff your kit.

If you have it, I believe you that it can be done.

[axisofoil]

Well, the OP has plenty of opinions now. lol.

And, yes, that vest or chest rig or whatever you want to call it, WILL hold operator cut plates. I own that vest. every other store that stocks it lists that as a feature, but honestly, nobody wants operator cut plates, so it's not a great feature. lol.

More like, anyone with operator cut plates wouldn't carry them in some shitty asian vest. :lol:

Being a front-opening vest, I don't see how you could hang your plates without losing them every time you don or doff your kit.

If you have it, I believe you that it can be done.

Exactly.
Lol. It's terrible for holding plates... but it can be done. Sorta. lol. It's only soft half-plates around the front bottom part, and a hard strike plate at the top. But If I was going to be being shot at... I wouldn't go cheap on the vest. It works great for airsoft though.
Side note... is doff the opposite of don? I've always wondered what undon-ing was actually called, lol.

The nifty part about a front-closer, is that i can go through thorny bushes forwards or backwards and not have it pull off any velcro like ciras vests use... although it does mean you can't center a molle pouch over the front of the vest without putting it on the chest panel.

[azsarge]

Exactly.
Lol. It's terrible for holding plates... but it can be done. Sorta. lol. It's only soft half-plates around the front bottom part, and a hard strike plate at the top. [...]
The nifty part about a front-closer, is that i can go through thorny bushes forwards or backwards and not have it pull off any velcro like ciras vests use...

What kind of ballistic protective plates do you have that this will hold?  

Have you ever worn an Eagle Industries CIRAS with a ballistic protective armor package?  

You are not making any sense, and I think you are out of your lane.

[axisofoil]

Exactly.
Lol. It's terrible for holding plates... but it can be done. Sorta. lol. It's only soft half-plates around the front bottom part, and a hard strike plate at the top. [...]
The nifty part about a front-closer, is that i can go through thorny bushes forwards or backwards and not have it pull off any velcro like ciras vests use...

What kind of ballistic protective plates do you have that this will hold?  

Have you ever worn an Eagle Industries CIRAS with a ballistic protective armor package?  

You are not making any sense, and I think you are out of your lane.

I haven't worn an EI CIRAS, no. I have seen the same style (I realize that high-quality PC's and vests are likely much better about it) with the giant velcro panels on each side, rip open (not tear, just have the velcro come un-done) when moving backwards through thorny bushes.

And, I'm not going to sit on here and argue whether or not the vest I showed will hold armor. It can. It's not the best solution for it, far from it in fact, but it is possible. Also, it isn't what the OP was looking for when asking about them.

[Ganef]

Fat boys look silly in plate carriers. PCs tend to be no more than 8molle columns wide (=12") and on someone with a belly circumference exceeding 50" this looks like a thong on a beach ball. Without a cummerbund it also has limited capabilities, and with a huge belly equator to traverse the thin cummerbund bands tend to loose support and dip. Armor vests tend to look better, but be careful not to look like the hero from the internet.

The nice thing that bigger guys have going for them is that they can wear big chest rigs and can make good use out of them because they have a wider front platform than us skinny guys who can maybe fit 3 mags flat across before mags wrap around our sides. I would suggest that you start with a cheap platform to test out nice pouches before you drop coin on a armor vest. The vests are only as good as the pouches you put on them.

About armor in vests for airsoft... unless you are training and have real plates or real weight, don't bother, (or unless you have a ciras because the back portion tends to bunch if there is no hard armor to support the structure) it will only make you hotter in summer games, and restrict your movement. If you wear gear to be cool, you are doing it wrong.

for clarification... too all and axisofoil

There are two types of CIRAS vests, land and maritime. I can see how the maritime version could have some of the velcro get snagged while crawling backward through bushes, however that should not discourage you from buying it, it is good kit. The land version, properly worn would not have such a problem.

If you are tallking about armor vests like the BAE carrier, CIRAS, IOTV, Spartan II, etc... they are vests that hold both soft and hard armor. PCs are just for plates and maybe some specifically cut backings.

"operator cut" is an outdated and meaningless term, you need to go back to school and learn about BALCS cut soft armor vs. LE type, and different types of armor plates. If the term esapi is new to you then speaking about armor is wayy out of your lane.

Also, I would like to see a picture of your armor configuration in your chest rig, perhaps in a different thread though.

[Ranger_Robby]

I haven't worn an EI CIRAS, no. I have seen the same style (I realize that high-quality PC's and vests are likely much better about it) with the giant velcro panels on each side, rip open (not tear, just have the velcro come un-done) when moving backwards through thorny bushes.

I have both bad copied CIRAS's and an Eagle CIRAS and I've never had this happen. The panels are flat on the Eagle CIRAS and the replicas, not puffy like the OETech that was shown earlier which would be more likely to catch (that BTW is not a CIRAS design, it's not releaseable in which the 'R' in CIRAS is and the front panel connects completely different on that and other vests I've seen being sold as CIRAS's). Even if there is a mag pouch in the side panel you are working against the entire panel of velcro because the pouch would pull towards the middle of the velcro panel due to the position of the MOLLE attachment, it would have to be pulled practically from the pull tab on the bottom of the panel it's self at about 90 degrees to come even close to undone as again you are working against the whole panel's hold. I've practially walked through trees forwards and backwords and never had a snag like you describe with either the Eagle or the copy. It would have to be the worst quality velcro in my opinion to do that, or maybe you are thinking of a different design.

[azsarge]

You two are well-spoken, but are beating a dead horse.

Kid was out of his lane.  He doesn't know if it's raining or Tuesday, and he's trying to tell us about armor packages.  Us that have them, and wear them for more than BB gun fights.