By joesnuffie
Published: 23 October, 2003
Introduction
I’ve been wanting a crossdraw vest for a few months, but didn’t have the $100 to spend on a Blackhawk vest. I looked around since then and stumbled upon one this: http://www.airsoft128.com/cgi-bin/store1/AA-HDT-VEST009.html . Its low price was very attractive, and because of the savings, I also purchased a pair of goggles.
Initial Impressions
I wasn’t expecting a lot for $49.99, but I was very surprised when I opened the package. While it’s held together with a mesh fabric, much of the vest is a durable nylon. In many places, it is bound by several layers of this nylon. There are also several heavily reinforced areas that give you the impression that the vest is very durable and capable.
Build
The front of the vest has plenty of storage space for most needed field items.(List some of these items) There is a radio pouch near the left shoulder, three smaller pouches just below that and a pistol holster below those. On the right side of the vest are three M16 sized magazine pouches and a large utility pouch above them. The layout is very friendly and I found that all of the pockets were easy to access and held items securely. Straps along the bottom of the vest secure it to a belt. The straps have a metal snap button and are further secured with Velcro, which I found to be a great idea, since it prevents the belt from pulling the snap open.
The location of the pistol holster is perfect for me since thigh and hip holsters have always managed to get in the way and cause the pistol to be packed with mud when crawling. The strap holding the pistol in is adjustable and can accommodate Glocks, M9s, 45s and my CZ-75. The lack of a pistol magazine pouch was overcome by using a horizontal pouch on the chest. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked.
The back of the vest is lacking any sort of pouch, but is heavily reinforced and has several locations where items may be attached. The rear shoulders are also equipped with similar attachment locations and are also equipped with Velcro, which is to allow size adjustment. There is a nice touch on the back, between the shoulders, that looks like a pull strap, so you can drag me to safety if I go down. In reality, considering this is a $50 vest it makes a great hook when hanging your gear. It appears that the vest was designed to work with other types of tactical gear and clothing. I would be thrilled to find out what other gadgets can be attached to the back. It appears that any Alice clipped pouch should fit perfectly.
Size adjustment, for the sides, is done with elastic shoestring cords similar to how you would lace a shoe. At 6’2” 210 pounds, I found the vest to be quite oversized and had to resize. This was very easily done by pulling the cords tight and tying a large knot to hold the elastic strings in place.
Quirks and disappointments
The only major problem I found with this vest was the zipper in the front. The technical terms are that there is no top stop, allowing the slider to come off the tape (I checked a zipper manufacturer’s web site.). In simpler terms, there is nothing stopping the zipper from coming off the track. When zipped up, the slider came right off! This was solved by putting a small metal ring between the last two teeth on each side. It’s a silly flaw, and I hope not consistent with all of the vests. Also, the lack of a pistol magazine holster is a disappointment, but I will be adding a pistol magazine pouch to my belt to remedy this.
In Action
I had a chance to play a couple of games with this vest and it performed really well. My M16 magazines were easy to remove and replace and the pouch I used to hold a pistol magazine worked just as well. I used a Sony FRS radio and it fit perfectly into the radio pouch and it was in a perfect position. The vest stayed in position and nothing broke or tore even with a lot of running, diving and crawling. I’m happy to say that the vest was a solid performer all day long.
Conclusion
Overall, this is a great vest. I’m sure I would be infinitely more impressed with a Blackhawk vest, but with bills and a wife and child to support, I can’t always buy what I want. In this case, I got what I need (that reminds me of a song) and, now that I have it, I believe it really is what I want. If you’re on a budget and want a nice crossdraw vest, try this one out. Sure, it’s probably a Viper product, imported from STTi and made in a slave factory in China, but it fits well, looks great and really is worth the money.
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