Aftermarket Kit Manufacturers: Where to go for good gear

[tacsit]

As I said in the thread regarding day packs there is a lack of understanding of good aftermarket kit primarily due to lack of experience with such kit. Quite understandable due to the majority view in the CF that the kit that's issued is good enough. That is a sore spot with me but one I will not delve into in this thread. Rather here I'll post a simple list of which companies make the best gear, so if you want gear that will actually hold up to the rigors of the battlefield, look no further. Note: this list I'll check back on and update now and again as I'm going purely off memory at this point and I'll surely forget the names of some companies that should be on here as well as write up incorrect links. My apologies for that, just bring such mistakes to my attention. The focus will be on tactical nylon products (webbing, chest rigs, rucks, etc.), as no weapons modifications are really tolerated in the CF and WRT knives, well, those are a very individual thing. Just look at the specs of a blade and that should tell you most of what you need to know.


Eagle Industries - www.eagleindustries.com
SOTECH - www.specopstech.com
London Bridge Trading - www.londonbridgetrading.com
Special Operations Equipment - www.soegear.com
CQB Solutions - www.cqbsolutions.com
Drop Zone Tactical - www.dropzonetactical.com
ARUC Systems   - www.arucsystems.com
Kifaru - www.kifaru.net
Danner - www.danner.com
Wellco - www.wellco.com
Tactical Tailor - www.tacticaltailor.com
Paraclete - www.paracletearmor.com
Snugpack - www.snugpack.com
Arktis (be careful with this one, there have been QC issues with Arktis, but those products which do not suffer are excellent) - www.artkis.co.uk
Blackhawk STRIKE line www.blackhawkindustries.com
Camelbak - www.camelbak.com
Surefire - www.surefire.com
Under armor - www.underarmor.com
Tactical Assault Gear - www.tacticalassaultgear.com
Tactical Assault Systems - www.tacticalassaultsystems.com
High Speed Gear Inc. - www.highspeedgearinc.com
Hatch - www.hatch-corp.com
Lightfighter Tactical - www.lightfighter.com (the only place to buy the RAID assault pack and the best distributor of tactical gear on the planet)
Wiggys - www.wiggys.com

Note: Canadian Peacekeeper makes some good gear... if all you do is carry around an FMP. I would not, put plainly, trust my life to any of their stuff purely because of their lack of experience making tactical nylon products. However, if you do have your heart set on CP gear of a tactical nature, I would advise you to look at only their nukebag or their OPS pack. My comment is in no way meant to paint the company as a shoddy one. Rather I point out that their packs lack features many do from the above companies and their quality (for the most part) while good, is not at the level of those listed above. Nothing I have posted here is beyond the purview of my personal experience and that backed up by acquaintances and friends who have combat tours under their belts. Hope this list is of help to some .

 

[Firepower]

blackhawk industries is good, i missed it in there, till after i posted a link to it lol

I've picked up a few after market things here, they aren't to bad, a little pricey though. You can order a catologue from them.

 

[tacsit]

With respect Firepower, the list I posted is for companies whose gear will step up and not fail on the battlefield. I have heard way too many stories of Blackhawk gear failing on exercises to trust it in times of war. The one exception to this is the STRIKE line of equipment produced by Blackhawk. If you buy a piece of gear and it performs well on exercise that is not necessarily a good judge of whether or not it will handle the real thing. Granted, I am not saying gear from the companies I listed will 100% of the time never fail. Rather their quality is superb and thus their pieces of kit that do fail fail much less than those from other companies (i.e. Blackhawk).

 

[Farmboy]

Excellent list.

However I question stories about the Blackhawk gear failing.

 

[Firepower]

I've used their line of Hellstorm protective gear for awhile(mainly knee pads an gloves), an never had any problems. An I've read some of the after action reports from units in Iraq who recommened the US Army buy something similar for knee pads as most found the standard issue ones to stiff, an they also make mention of the leg drop system instead of issued holsters. For the most part I don't trust that MOLLE/STRIKE gear, I just picture those pouches ripping off easily an stay away from any thing that utilizes that system. They do offer a life time warranty on the stuff(except for protective wear, that only has on year), so I suppose if you had any trouble you could send it back.

 

[Armymedic]

Any Canadian sites (other then CdnPkpr), or atleast Companies that will take Cdn $?

 

[scm77]

http://www.sealsactiongear.com is Canadian.

 

[tacsit]

Farmboy, I'll get in touch with some people and get back to you with some anecdotes

Firepower, imho the jury is still out on the hellstorm product line by Blackhawk. I've heard stories of it crapping out pretty early, while others have had good luck. That's why I put Hatch Corp on the list, as their aviators and operators gloves I've yet to hear a negative thing about (I have their operators gloves in OD and am in love with them). As for the PALS method of attaching pouches to vests or other products with PALS webbing on it your fears are groundless. Once the pouches are weaved on properly they are on there rock solid. No flop, no bounce, and they most certainly do not rip off gear. I have not heard a single story of pouches ripping off of gear and the only possible thing I can think of is that what I've heard from those I know in the USMC who were issued the MOLLE vest which is of subpar quality and thus the mesh backing of the vest itself ripped, not the pouches themselves. The PALS attachment system allows for true modularity and exceptional security of attachment; much better than the old attachment of the 82 pattern webbing or the attachment of the side pouches of the TV. If it helps make your decision any easier, hundreds of thousands of US servicemen (and several members of our own JTF-2) trust the PALS attachment system to keep their pockets on their rigs.

Armymedic, Drop Zone Tactical (www.dropzonetactical.com) which I have on the list is a Canadian company (situated in Alberta) and a great one at that. Excellent customer service and good products. Unfortunately the site is updated at a very slow pace mainly due to the business of the company itself, as they are frequently busy fulfilling government contracts which are quite large. I know their aftermarket ruck shoulder straps have been purchased by PPCLI (don't quite know which batt., I imagine 3VP) in company sized lots. They also provide a 20% discount to military personel, another good reason to give them your business.

Scm77, stay as far away as you can from Seals Action Gear. If you want to wear their stuff while sitting at your desk or playing airsoft commando then that's fine, but my list is meant to represent gear that you can trust your life to, and I would rate Seals Action Gear at the bottom of the barrel. Don't take my word for it, look at a couple of the posts in the "Day Pack" thread.

If I may I would like to make one comment. If you are a true professional and you are willing to spend your own money on aftermarket gear you had better spend money on that which will not crap out on you when the feces hits the rotating blades on the two way range. If you skimp on your gear I garuantee you that it will fail at the worst possible moment. Can't forget the everpresent Mr. Murphy. If you take your work seriously, you should buy serious gear.

 

[Infanteer]

Armymedic, Drop Zone Tactical (www.dropzonetactical.com) which I have on the list is a Canadian company (situated in Alberta) and a great one at that. Excellent customer service and good products. Unfortunately the site is updated at a very slow pace mainly due to the business of the company itself, as they are frequently busy fulfilling government contracts which are quite large. I know their aftermarket ruck shoulder straps have been purchased by PPCLI (don't quite know which batt., I imagine 3VP) in company sized lots. They also provide a 20% discount to military personel, another good reason to give them your business.

Yup, and the owner is a good guy too, very helpful.

Scm77, stay as far away as you can from Seals Action Gear. If you want to wear their stuff while sitting at your desk or playing airsoft commando then that's fine, but my list is meant to represent gear that you can trust your life to, and I would rate Seals Action Gear at the bottom of the barrel. Don't take my word for it, look at a couple of the posts in the "Day Pack" thread.

Yup.  They lie; I purchased a rig off them under the impression that I was paying top dollar for real CADPAT (which they advertise), and I got FAKEPAT pouches on a the material they make CF laundry bags with.

 

[scm77]

Scm77, stay as far away as you can from Seals Action Gear. If you want to wear their stuff while sitting at your desk or playing airsoft commando then that's fine, but my list is meant to represent gear that you can trust your life to, and I would rate Seals Action Gear at the bottom of the barrel. Don't take my word for it, look at a couple of the posts in the "Day Pack" thread.

Thanks for the heads up.  I didn't say that they had quality stuff, I just said they were Canadian.  Now I know not to go there.  Unless I need some Gucci kit for some backyard commando raids.

 

[Farmboy]

Tacsit

The reason I question it is because I use alot of Blackhawk gear. None of it has failed.

The only company I have heard though that has constant praise is Drop Zone.

One funny story was when I was at a sniper match and talking to two guys one of which had an Eagle drag bag. I struck up a conversation about how he liked it. He went on and on about it and bad mouthing the Blackhawk one, either not noticing I was carrying one or not caring.

Later that day I heard alot of swearing, well it seems that the zipper was falling off his bag 

I have a couple of Eagle products and will say it's top notch.

Most of the bad mouthing from Americans is because Blackhawk is made off shore while Eagle is made by Americans.

It's also funny you praise Lightfighter so much, but they carry Blackhwk gear. If they were concerned as you say with top notch profetional gear, why carry Blackhawk if it's so bad?

 

[devil39]

Wolverine Supplies - http://www3.mb.sympatico.ca/~jhipwell/

I bought my Eagle Industries drop leg holster from them.   Great holster, if I had to buy another I would buy the exact same one.

 

[tacsit]

Farmboy, gear from the top notch manufacturers like Eagle Industries is not free of defects as I said before. Now, let me rephrase. I do not think Blackhawk Industries is at the bottom of the barrel. Far from it, they're fairly high up. But I would not feel comfortable trusting my life to their kit based on the numerous stories I've heard (and yup, I'm working on getting those anecdotes). Lightfighter carries Blackhawk gear because unlike gear from other companies the wait time for gear from BHI is quite shorter because BHI has a bigger manufacturing base and Lightfighter is like any other business, they're there to make money. You're right, many Yanks do have a thing against BHI because their stuff is manufactured outside of the US, but I harbor no such problems with the company, and my view is one based purely on combat effectiveness. As I said, BHI's STRIKE line is top notch. Now, also keep in mind that gear from other companies tends to be better thought out and have better features than lots of stuff from BHI as well.

 

[combat_medic]

I would also highly recommend Drop Zone Tactical. Their Recce Smock, while pretty expensive, is a stellar piece of kit. They have so many orders coming in right now that they're a few months behind in delivering them, but the wait is worth it. They also have some pretty high speed patrol packs and the like. And the CADPAT you get from them is real; not some crappy reproduction.

 

[Noyon]

www.sealsactiongear.com is a good site. I just ordered a few products, any idea how long it'll take to get to Ontario (Toronto Area) VIA Purolater or whatever they use?

Also will I get hastled by superiors for having none issued equipment?

You'll have to excuse me, Im just a recruit!  ;D

 

[Gunnar]

I am not a soldier, nor was I ever a member of the CF.  But:

Everything I have heard about non-issued kit is that once you have passed your basic, you go with what works, and provided it makes sense, nobody really hassles you about it.  At one point (or maybe still?) a lot of our guys used American issue rain gear in the field because ours was lousy.

However:  Basic is all about training you how to use CF issue equipment, and familiarizing you with its advantages and shortcomings.  From everything I have heard they will give you a hard time during Basic, but not afterwards.  Point being:  Once you know your shit, you are given the freedom to make responsible choices, but as a recruit, you don't get choices.  Just say "Yes, Staff" and do what the nice Corporal told you to...

My opinions amount to a canteen of warm spit should a serving member of the CF correct me.

 

[tacsit]

Noyon, do you even READ the previous posts in this thread?!  :

 

[Noyon]

Noyon, do you even READ the previous posts in this thread?!   :

Umm.. yes, and no where did I read any information about a recruit being able to wear none issued gear. Question is have you read the previous post? 

 

[condor888000]

I think he was talking about the reviews seals action gear had been getting.

 

[Noyon]

Ahhh I see! Oh well, I just ordered a Gun sling and Goggles.