whats the best molle vest?

parallax · Feb 13, 2011

Hi my fellow shooters.
I recently did some training and on the last day, my molle vest started to disintegrate.
( it was a last minute purchase and was not of good quality).
whats a good name brand molle vest that i could hook myself up with.?
I know theres blackhawk,eagle industries,pactral,..I'm not really looking for the body armour, just a vest.
which ones the best?.. as i only want to buy this once..

spengo · Feb 13, 2011

Can't go wrong with Eagle.

If you've used your previous one hard enough to make it fall apart, I'd recommend against BLACKHAWK! They aren't really quite up to Eagle Industries quality.

idaho · Feb 15, 2011

Okay, I know there are forum rules about promoting businesses, and as a disclaimer I work for ATK, which now owns both Eagle Industries and BlackHawk! products group. Blackhawk is still a serious competitor in the market, now more so than before. Their stuff is actually made in the states again, most of it right south of here in Idaho, (meridian). Their quality is improving.

As for my opinion of a solid platform, I am an advocate of the MAV, Tactical Tailor. You can get a MAV new for around 50 bones, or even cheaper on Ebay, and in various colors. I like the MAV because you can customise the pouch layout to whatever your needs may be. On my second tour with one, and nothing but praise from this guy.

Dutchy556 · Feb 19, 2011

What all are you running on your vest? Vests are tacticool looking but I've never found them to be very functional. Depending on what you're actually carrying you might be better served by a chest rig, or if you're only running a few primary and secondary mags and some other small stuff you may want to look into a battle belt setup.

I would definitely choose a MAV or Eagle/SKD Universal rig or something like the BCM 03 harness over a vest.

I've ended up just using a battle belt (Blue Force SOC-C) with a few mag pouches, dump pouch, IFAK, gp pouch and a holster as I've found much more to be overkill for most of the training I do.

If you're dead set on a vest then I would say Eagle is probably a good bet.

spider · Feb 19, 2011

I like the eagle circa rig, its so easy to get into, where others feel like your going into a tunnel, the circa rigs let you slide into them from the side with all your gear still on it, also a warrior belt is nice to train with as well, as a secondary unit to hold all other gear and a couple mags, in case you had to ditch your vest.

parallax · Feb 20, 2011

Thnxs folks for the input, I like the molle setup, cause i can change so many ways,depending on what i plan on doing on each day.I checked out those ones with straps, but feel the straps might get caught on branches while low crawling., I dont nesessarily run that many mag holders, I like to run a first aid kit, shooting glasses holder, map and pen case. I already have all the strap on vest accessories anyone could ever need. just need a new vest... I think i am going with eagle industries with body armor and will buy the plates.

The Cheese · Feb 26, 2011

I have gotten a chest rig from Shaddox Tactical. Clay has been great and does a ton of custom stuff. He made me just what I wanted at no additional cost (just a couple slight mods to his regular chest rig). His stuff is sturdy and quality is really good. Plus its made in the US of A, in fact he's just down the road from me which makes it even better. I also picked up a Blackhawk STRIKE comando recon chest rig a while back. Its ok and the price was right, but I am not really in love with it. Lots of things I would like to change, but I might eventually get rid of it and get another semi-custom rig from Shaddox. Plus the blackhawk rig was made in Vietnam. I am all for capitalism, but I would rather that my gun stuff be made in America as much as possible. This way too, if something falls apart or I need a tweak made I know shaddox has got my back. He's a great guy to deal with.