KIT REVIEW:

Combat Kit MAS (MOLLE) Pouches in British DPM (And the Tactical Tailor Modular vest in OD Green!)

"Sometimes, you get more than you expect for your money!"
By Roger Stenning

Assault vests are extraordinarily popular in both Airsoft and the military. There are loads to choose from, but not many (comparatively speaking) are available in British DPM camouflage patterns, or are of reliably good quality for Airsoft gaming or military service. Those that do meet these requirements are normally priced to severely dent your wallet, from £100 to £250, depending on where you shop, and if you get a 'Brand Name' item or not.

…However…

I've had a three of assault vests for Airsofting over the last few years. The first was the south African M83, a very good vest for the money, and reviewed here.

The second was the WebTex British PLCE Assault vest, and the less said about that the better, as I wasn't terribly impressed with the damn thing.

The Third (Which I still have) was the Wyvern All Arms Assault Vest (reviewd by Lance Jackass here), and a bloody good vest it is too, if heavy and sweaty on a warm day.

The new vest is an American MOLLE vest, made by Tactical Tailor. It's second-hand, and came with no pouches, but no problem there, as MOLLE pouches are readily available, in a variety of shapes and sizes. Then I set about looking for MOLLE pouches in British DPM. BIG mistake. I couldn't find any. There I was, thinking, "Oh, Lord, I've been and gone and done it again (no research before money burns holes in pockets), I'm gonna have to go OD green, damnit", when I was referred to http://www.ironclad-surplus.co.uk/, who are agents for Combat Kit of Norway.

Combat Kit are a new one on me, but appear to be reasonably well established, for all that. Their offices are in Norway, and their factory in Croatia. This, it seems, was the cause of the saga outlined below...

The saga starts...

Ordering the pouches was dead easy. IronClad accept PayPal, so after the request and quotation were exchanged, off went my PayPal payment. Sorted. NOT.

Three weeks passed. No news. Nothing in the post. So I contacted IronClad. It seemed the order hadn't even reached him yet, which was a hell of a surprise to both of us. Admittedly, it's early days for the Ironclad and CombatKit relationship (Ironclad only recently signed up to be a distributor in the UK for them), but even so, this was a bit much.

Anyhow, as the next week and a half went on, Andy, the owner of Ironclad, was kind enough to offer me a 10% discount, and, if even further delayed, some other compensation (kit). Six weeks on, and while Combat Kit were saying that they'd dispatched the pouches, nothing had even entered the country (we checked with HM Customs). God knows how they shipped it, but carrier pigeons are faster!.

Anyhow, at the six week point, after much scratching of heads and pulling of hair, we (Andy and I) agreed to cancel the order, as it had, truly, become a farce (not, I might add, on Andy's end, as he'd been bending over backwards to get my kit for me).

Imagine my surprise, a couple of weeks later, having received my refund from Andy (and a nice bit of kit by way of compensation for the farce, which, really, he didn't have to do!), he e-mailed me to say that the damned pouches had finally arrived, and did I still want them? Does a bear go poo-poo in the woods? YES, I wanted them - either that, or I'd have to go for my second (poorer) choice of OD Green pouches!, so we agreed a price (slightly reduced from the original price, due to the delay), and my PayPal payment was off to him (again).

And Royal Mail amazes...!

Two days later, at (get this!) 07:55 am, the postman knocked on my front door with my pouches! Before 9am? YE GODS! Methinks Royal mail can teach Parcel Farce a few lessons

Initial Impressions...

As I ripped open the parcel, I found the pouches I'd ordered. These were:

• 1 x MAS Double MP5 magazine pouch
• 3 x MAS M16 triple Magazine Pouches
• 1 x MAS Radio Pouch
• 2 x MAS single 40mm Pouch
• 2 x MAS Utility Pouches
• 1 x MAS Horizontal Triple Magazine Pouch

My immediate reaction was: "Where're the utility pouches?". I discovered that they were SMALL. Very small, in fact. There was no way my initial plan of sticking them on the back of the vest to hold my rations and mess tins would fly, seeing as they measured 4.5 inches x 6 inches x 3 inches, and a Large British Army Mess Tin measures 5.25 inches x 7.25 inches x 3 inches. Bit of a problem, that. Like trying to fit a quart into a pint pot - it just won't go.

So, instead, after a bit of quick thinking, they have become Pyro/small utility pouches, as they're just the right size for that!

The triple M16 pouches, however, were just as advertised, and are excellent, even down to the pouch closure fixings - you have the choice of using the plastic fastex-like clip on the front, or uncovering a velcro pad, and using velcro instead - or both! Just like a single PLCE pouch, but with MOLLE-style fixings on the back!

While the pouches are not divided at all, They take three Airsoft M16 magazines with MAGPUL grabs on them with ease (NOTE that 3 real steel mags without Magpuls will fit, but with Magpuls will be a tough fit, if then)!

Likewise, the radio pouch was as advertised, and holds my small Telecom 1000 PMR446 radio completely securely, and just where I want it - on my left upper back, with only the top inch or so of the antenna showing out; this then protects the perspex of the readout nicely, whilst at the same time shielding the 'call' button from accidental activation

The pistol magazine pouch, though, has a snag. The way the MOLLE fixings are oriented, I've had to invert the pouch, so as to be able to put the pouch on my right upper chest area, and use my left hand to get at the mags (cross-draw of mags); this is annoying, as I can foresee the MOLLE fixings coming loose under the weight of a full load-out, and dropping away (more on this problem below).

The M203 grenade pouches are fine, but with a similar problem on the security of attachment to the vest, in that they can come loose far too easily.

The MP5 double magazine pouch is interesting. It was obtained to hold my extended KSC G18 50-round mags, but I'm not at all sure that they'll be securely held in it - I'll have to test this out in a week or so, at my next game. I'll update this review at that time.

You can see the pouches (less the MP5 double mag pouch) attached to the vest in the photo on the right (ignore the black curly cable at the bottom right back of the vest, it's a MOLLE pistol lanyard from somewhere else ). You can also clearly see the grab handle on the upper back of the vest, too!

The layout is: On the Right side: Triple pistol mag pouches, below them both 'utility' pouches. On the left, both 40mm grenade pouches, and below them all three triple M16 mag pouches. On the upper left back, the radio pouch.

The design problem...

As mentioned briefly above, there's a problem. Unlike regular MOLLE, where a press stud is used to perform the final fixing of the pouches to the vest, CombatKit opted to use Velcro. Since no instructions were provided (I assume that CombatKit expect you to know what you're doing!), I looked at this in greater depth than simply sticking the pouches on, and hoping

Now, it DOES take a LOT of fumbling, but there's a way to fix the pouches onto a MOLLE vest with a fair amount of robustness. See the diagram below...

Now, MOLLE vests and pouches come with strips of webbing sew to the front of the vests, and the back of pouches. In addition, there are attaching straps made of the same webbing, sprouting from the top rear of the pouches.

What you do is thread the attachment straps alternating between the vest and the back of the pouch (in the order shown in the diagram). ON the Combat Kit pouches, there is velcro at the end of the attachment straps, and on the bottom most back straps of the pouch - on both the OUTside and INside edges.

At thread 6, once you've managed to get the attachment strap though the inside of the velcro-covered webbing strap, pull the strap nice and tight, so that both pouch and vest are tight against each other (not too tight - you'll compress the shape f both pouch and vest, and then your pouch will become misshapen!); now, just back the attachment strap with it's velcro edges onto the outside edge of the webbing strap's own velcro backing, and press FIRMLY. It should stay there, unless you really abuse the vest!

The photos below show both the incorrect manner of attaching them, and the correct manner.

The wrong way to attach MAS pouches...
The back of a typical MAS pouch (in this case, one of the small utility pouches), showing the attachment straps that terminate in Velcro pads.	Showing incorrectly fitted pouches.	Showing the result when incorrectly fitted pouches give way under load.
The RIGHT way to attach MAS Pouches...
Thread the attachment strap through the back of the velcro-covered bottom webbing strap.	Watch out for the velcro on the inside of it - it'll hang up there with ease if you aren't careful!	Fold the attachment strap, so that the two pieces of velcro (on the attachment strap and the back of the pouch) mate up, and press together firmly. Voila! attached!

 

Now, in theory, this is fine, but in practice, it is most defiantly not. With a full load out in the various pouches, I can easily see them coming loose, and dropping off the vest - especially in fast action during either Airsoft gaming or military use. The intermediate solution for me is to get the velcro replaced with press-studs, which will add to the cost, unfortunately. Now, recent British PLCE respirator haversacks have both a Velcro attachment, and, as a belt and braces approach, a press-stud fastening as well. While this may not be practical in such a small space on a MOLLE/MAS pouch, it's worth looking into, and a suggestion/feedback comment to this effect has been sent via Andy at IronClad, and should be with CombatKit very shortly.

Overall, though, I think these pouches are good value for money; they're cheaper than other makes (Including Tactical Tailor) when you factor in customs charges, dealer overheads, and so on, and aside from the both the delays in getting the damn things, and the velcro used on the attachment straps, I'm rather impressed with them.

Briefly...

So, in summary:

Pros…

• Cheap
• Stitching of good quality
• DPM Material 1000 denier, and matches other DPM clothing I possess.
• All pouches possess water drain holes (nice touch for the price!)

Cons:

• The Utility Pouches are SMALL. You couldn't even fit an MoD water bottle into them, let alone a small MoD mess tin. If you want LARGE utility pouches, get the MINIMI mag pouches.

In-game use, Ultimate Wargames, Oxted, Surrey, 16^th July 2005...

OK, I finally had the chance to use this new vest "in action" at the new Ultimate Wargames site near Oxted in Surrey yesterday (16^th July 2005) (site review here), and my wories about the pouches becoming detached were baseless - they're there for the duration, and the triple lock velcro is actually solid as a block of concrete! So much for that woprry :)

In use, before I went to using a humongous Beta C style mag for the games (I devolved to being the side's suport gunner, lol), I found the mag pouches to be excellent; one-hand closure was extrordinarily handy, since all you need to do it grab the pouchs' male fastex catch on the lid of the pouch in your fingers, find the mating female fastex clip on the body of the pouch, fit, push, and one solid CLICK later, pouch closed! MUCH better than free-hanging male/female closures, as found on most British assault vests!

The one problem I had was the radio pouch. My hand-mike connector kept coming loose, and its a real bugger to have to stop, take off the vest, and re-attach the cable to the radio on your back. the easy solution will be to tape the mike plug in place, so it's NOT a vest ptroblem, merely an embuggereance, but lesson learned, and the pouch stays where it is, out of the way of stray frontal fire

TO COME

Regarding the vest:

The Tactical Tailor Modular Tac vest is a mesh-based MOLLE vest. It sports MOLLE attachment strips on the back, and both left and right chest areas. There are small lidded pockets inside both left and right chest areas, good for maps or other small, thin documents (NOT TAM (the British Army's Filofax-sized Tactical Aide memoir folders!) or similar books, though, unless you like dents in your chest as you go down prone rapidly!). It also sports a series of pistol belt attachment loops, and a half-sized water bladder pocket on the back. I got mine for £50 second hand, by the way, which I consider good value for money, considering the make,and the fact that it had hardly been used.

Where to get this gear!

Tactical Tailor vests are available direct from from Tactical Tailor,

You can obtain the Combat Kit pouches in the UK, from:

IronClad Surplus
Web: http://www.ironclad-surplus.co.uk/
E-mail: sales@ironclad-surplus.co.uk
 
My sincere thanks to Andy at IronClad Surplus, for all his hard work and lost hair!

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