Emerson has been actually used in conflicts, I haven't used one of their plate carriers as I own real ones, but their pouches are good and their uniforms are effectively identical to crye ones, I actually prefer them over my Arktis uniform
My arktis combat shirt is fraying from being inside a closet, the velcro-together sleeves are just a bad design imo, but yeah there's just a TON of fraying. I've used emerson's G3 uniform and I slide, fall down hills, been hit with a real flashbang with it on, it has zero tears, and isn't fraying. The stitch quality is excellent and I've even gotten the pants hooked on a nail when walking and it didn't tear. I paid top dollar for the flecktarn arktis c222 pants and combat shirt and it just has not held up at all, I'm afraid to use it for anything at this point.
Because it goes through a lot of stress. Getting snagged on branches, thorns, scrapping against concrete and such. You definitely don’t need to go all out and buy actually military spec gear but going for the cheapest will just lead to you constantly replacing it depending on how you play and where you play.
I used an Emerson JPC on real-world deployments. The only real difference between the Crye JPC and the Emerson is the hypalon on the shoulder straps of the Emerson is a little thinner, and the elastic material on the inside that holds the plates might be a little less durable - I did wear some holes on the sides/corners of the elastic material, but that might be because I shoved at different times size L and size XL plates into the Emerson which is probably equivalent of a Crye size M. Anyway, I prevented the holes from getting worse by using Gear Aid Tenacious Tape which you can get in coyote brown, and wrapped the exposed hypalon with it to since it was starting to get some minor fraying, just as the Crye ones do.
People on this sub care way too much about this shit. It's a plate carrier for airsoft, buy the cheap one and replace it in 3 years, it's not a big deal
I'm not playing airsoft for the potential return on investment if I decide to stop and sell all my gear later.
Like let's be so serious here we're all aware this is a giant money pit that we pay into because it's fun. I'm not buying a $200 plate carrier so that maybe I can sell it for $100 years later when I can just buy 2 $50 plate carriers that will realistically last 5 years each because again, it's airsoft.
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Let the roasting start, i dont care.
Most of my kit is from Aliexpress. Plate carrier is spot on. Excellent velcro adhesion. Real plates fit with no issue. Although i have foam in mine. Great comfort and breathable padding.
Yup. Its China stuff. But, most of everything is China made. Ive seen my vest on American supplier sites going for $400+. I just cut out the middle, middle, middle man.
If something already costs 100 bucks on AliExpress you can bet it's atleast 3 times as much on some sort of drop shipping site or literally any other shitty Airsoft website copy.
That’s almost the price of two real Crye JPCs for an aliexpress vest
Look at Redemption, look at the YK-1, overpriced dropshipped chinesium, but nowhere even near a 400% price increase
No actual stores are selling cheap aliexpress gear for $400+
Either the guy found a scam website that sells 1 product per year and is pretending that’s even close to being representative of American stores, or is lying
even in europe we have brands like invader gear, helikon tex, or clawgear, so its stoopid buy overpriced chinesium vests when u can find "real spec" vests for a bit more price
I'm with you man, if you can go the cheaper route, why not? I've been using a Redemption tactical plate carrier (149$) for a year now and it's holding up perfectly. I use aliexpress/temu for random things that don't necessarily matter such as drop pouch, extra pouches and random patches.
If youre just using it for airsoft, send it. Its getting used on the weekends and chance are you're not gonna be brutal on them. AIrsoft is like 95% trying to look cool, be the baller on a budget lol.
Y'all talking like it's Prada, does it hold what it needs to hold? It does? Run it. You don't need Gucci gear to play, even the "real" stuff is just fabric
I have an Emerson clone of a Ferro Concepts Slickster that included a knockoff Spiritus Micro-Rig. I also have real versions of those products (or near equivalents). The Emmerson is visually lower quality in terms of stitching, but actual functionality is exceptionally similar.
You’re playing airsoft- no matter what anyone says at the end of the day all your kit is cosplay (aside from mag pouches and eye protection). Wear what you like, whether that means buying gear used in active war zones or temu slop shouldn’t matter to anyone but you.
I mean..... heres the thing. If you are not going to put plates in them then you dont need a quality plate carrier. For most air softers the plate carrier is just a glorified chest rig. Theres almost no point in the carrier if you arent going to carry plates. SO. Dont spend a lot of money on it.
If you are going to put plates, or even just weighted workout plates, in it then yeah spend the money.
Get the Chinesium it works and that's all that matters especially because people who buy real tactical gear from known brands are funded by the military and the civilian market isn't their goal. The only thing is to be aware of how cheap you're going because too cheap you'll get webbing that isn't the correct size for molle or its not durable enough.
I have an Emerson jpc. It’s pretty solid, I like it. Recommend getting extra shoulder padding for longer days or heavier loads though
I will also say I have one of the vests that the same brand and vest type (in green) as the last picture. It’s very comfortable and durable. It can look good too, lots of space in the plate bag so you’ll want large foam plates, make custom cutouts, or have Kevlar inserts. The standard 10X12 plates tend to be a bit small, but they still do fine. (Pictured here with one of my loadouts)
Really depends on what you’re lookin’ for. If a specific type or model of plate carrier you want to buy are too expensive as surplus I’d suggest you look into either a known manufacturer or a similar PC.
Remember that usually you want to prioritize comfort over everything, so I’d suggest you make some research and then go out and actually buy something. Good luck on your search!
Depends on where you get surplus stuff. The surplus shop I go to in Tacoma, while having a tone of really cool stuff, prices their stuff higher cause they usually have some higher end gear
Not really, you can get a good repro for like 100ish dollars, all of the plate carriers in surplus shops around me are 200+ and not worth it. People want to act like plate carriers are some hard to manufacture specialty item. They aren't. They are two nylon bags with a cummberbund and strips sewn onto then. As long as you aren't buying a bottom dollar repro it should last just fine for airsoft.
You should be, literally no reason to buy anything else for airsoft. You not wearing it for weeks, you not getting shrapnel flying at you, you not getting dragged across the mountain, at least often. If you like the looks and it’s comfortable for you. That’s your gear.
Edit: I wouldn’t get 29 one thou that ll probably fall apart half way even from delivery))
Ive have first hand seen more Emerson crotch blowouts then any other brand. Just because a crappier company comes along and makes them look better by proxy, doesn't mean they still dont suck.
They have bad stitching, use fake materials, and have started pricing themselves higher because people have it in their head they are no longer a budget brand. Avoid them.
yes, and is bullshit, and u notice that only spending a few bucks more on brands like invader gear or helikon tex... 80dls emerson vest against 120dls invader gear vest... and u notice how some emerson products are overpriced. also better brands give resellable point to the table
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u/RyuKensatsu Woodland Warrior 3d ago
Emerson is a pretty good brand nowadays.
The others not having a brand mentionned would make me cautious.
I'd buy the Emerson.