AmmoTech90
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
- 799
- Points
- 1,010
I just thought that I would put up some pics of the vest that I got through ICE Tactical. Overall impression of the manufacturing quality is that is very good, solid stitching, on par with other well made kit I have seen. What I ordered was the vest, hydroback, three triple mag pouches, med gp, 1L nalgene pouch, two smk pouches. I received all that plus two frag pouches (thanks Derek). The hyrdoback does come with padding, but it is easy to remove to reduce bulk for when you have CBA.
The clips and zips are all very robust, in fact the clips are quite stiff at first but I've either gotten used to them, or they've got a bit more flexible with use. The only awkward part is the bottom central clip to close the vest, thats a pain to reach with CBA and full mag pouches.
I have worn it for a day of convoy drills, and a morning on the range. You have to push a bit to put three mags in the pouches, but they come out easy and the second and third ones still feel secure if you don't close up the pouch right away, especially if you use the elastic band inside the mag pouch.
This pic shows the overall vest, the first aid pouch is one from CPGear, the rest is from ICE.
This pic shows the mag pouch with two mags in it. There is a piece of bungee around the pouch, and an elastic strap inside to retain the mags
This pic is the same, but with three mags in
You can put the mags in sideways, or front to back. Notice the velcro, there is a silencer strip.
Previously I have deployed with 82 pattern webbing, the LBV, and the Tacvest. None of them are great, but realistically for my job they met the minimum requirement (sort of, not really). The real reason why I need a custom vest like this is the magazines I will be carrying. They are not standard CF mags, they are a bit bigger, and as these photos show, the kit that the CF issued me does not cut the mustard. As well it doesn't carry enough mags.
Here is my beautiful, issue, ARPAT LBV that was kindly issued and will be staying at home.
Here it is with one mag in the appropriate place
And here it is with the mag pouch closed, would you trust a small strip of velcro?
Edit to fix pics not showing up
The clips and zips are all very robust, in fact the clips are quite stiff at first but I've either gotten used to them, or they've got a bit more flexible with use. The only awkward part is the bottom central clip to close the vest, thats a pain to reach with CBA and full mag pouches.
I have worn it for a day of convoy drills, and a morning on the range. You have to push a bit to put three mags in the pouches, but they come out easy and the second and third ones still feel secure if you don't close up the pouch right away, especially if you use the elastic band inside the mag pouch.
This pic shows the overall vest, the first aid pouch is one from CPGear, the rest is from ICE.
This pic shows the mag pouch with two mags in it. There is a piece of bungee around the pouch, and an elastic strap inside to retain the mags
This pic is the same, but with three mags in
You can put the mags in sideways, or front to back. Notice the velcro, there is a silencer strip.
Previously I have deployed with 82 pattern webbing, the LBV, and the Tacvest. None of them are great, but realistically for my job they met the minimum requirement (sort of, not really). The real reason why I need a custom vest like this is the magazines I will be carrying. They are not standard CF mags, they are a bit bigger, and as these photos show, the kit that the CF issued me does not cut the mustard. As well it doesn't carry enough mags.
Here is my beautiful, issue, ARPAT LBV that was kindly issued and will be staying at home.
Here it is with one mag in the appropriate place
And here it is with the mag pouch closed, would you trust a small strip of velcro?
Edit to fix pics not showing up