Swimmers Headset With Military Style PTT (Talkabout Version) - ArniesAirsoft

Author

orca

The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla

Registered: September 2004
Location: Behind the Orange Kurtain, So. Kalifornia.
Posts: 1,263

Review Date: 18/7/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �50.00 | Rating: 8

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Price vs the Real setup.
Cons:

Toy Soldier Swimmers Headset
With Military Style PTT (Talkabout Version)
Manufacturer: Toy Soldier (Hong Kong)
Type: Electronics

The Toy Soldier Swimmer Headset With Military Style PTT (Talkabout Version) is a replica of the Selex TASC1 Headset. This version is made by Toy Soldier, the same shop that makes 12" Military Figures.

I purcahsed this from Den Trinity in Hong Kong.

The model I ordered was the Motorola Talkabout version and worked flawlessly out of box. This headset is PTT (Push to Talk) and the PTT switch is visually modelled after the the real version, but functionally it's just a pressure switch.

The headset has 3 velcro adjustable straps and can be work over or under caps and under boonies and helmets. This is a single sided left ear piece. The boom mic works well and there are no obvious wiring problems with the unit (The tell tale "crakling" when wires and and connector shift position) I'm not going to purposly test the Toy Soldier version of headset for it being waterproof though.

Under helmet you have to thread the boom and cabling through the left side of the para style chinstrap. But its very comfortable when all is in place. I prefer a headset over a throat mic. It's a very positive physical connection and visually you can direct your voice volume towards the boom mic rather then pushing on neck sensors.

Edit Aug 2006.

I scored the Toy Soldier Dummy Radio to go with the Swimmers Headset. First off, it's HUGE it will not fit into my BHI radio pouch ;( It also turns out my specific Motorola Talkabout won't fit within the unit ;( And unlike what Dentrinity's descritpion of this Dummy Radio as a BB holder... it won't even work well as that! But it looks good on the collection shelf form a distance ;P

Here are the usable internal dimensions of the Dummy radio:

1.9375 inches Wide
8.125 inches Tall
1.25 inches Deep

http://www.digitalwastelands.com/bbimages/airsoft/toysoldier/ts-hs05a.jpg

Biohazard 92F for size comparison.

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http://www.digitalwastelands.com/random/sig-old/g36c-01a.jpg

Putting my money where my mouth is...
OMFG The A.I.C.S. is NOT an L96, AWP or AWM!!!

PlasticMag

Registered: September 2004
Location: Not Georgia. Thank god.
Posts: 4,850

Review Date: 7/3/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Cheap replica of the Swimmer headset, good audio quality, looks the part, decent wiring, widely adjustable, Toy Soldier offers a wide product range to accompany it
Cons:	A bit overpriced at MSRP, not as durable as other headsets, mostly plastic construction, useless dummy radio

I ordered mine off of a seller on eBay who was selling it for $86 shipped with Buy It Now, basically brand new in box. I suspect that it is either new or VERY lightly used.

The unit is comprised of three parts, all of which are permanently fixed together: the headset, the PTT assembly, and the radio interface.

Let's talk about the build quality of each piece as we go down the list, and the pros and cons of each bit.

The Headset
The headset is your bog-standard headset with a boom mike. No fancy whistles, no fancy gadgets, just pure functionality. It is comprised of a head strap (one to go over your head, one to go around the brim), an earcup (which isolates whichever ear it's placed on fairly thoroughly from ambient sounds), and the boom microphone. The boom microphone has a good and solid, yet flexible, wire attached and has decent audio quality. It's definitely not a cheap microphone, but it's not a mil-spec unit by any means. It's also not waterproof. The biggest drawback is that the microphone must be very close to the mouth to pick up noise unless you feel like yelling.

The Push-To-Talk Switch
The PTT unit is a fairly durable unit, but it's more durable because of an abundance of glue than anything else. I wish this would have been metal, but I suppose Toy Soldier wanted to cut cost. The toggle is metal, as is the clip on the back, but that's it. Also on the back is a sticker indicating which direction to press the 'toggle' (as it's a momentary switch, and not a true toggle switch). The toggle is a bit hard to press, and may feel like it wants to break, but it won't. I accidentally snapped the top wire assembly off of the PTT unit (I had a stupid moment) and the wiring inside is bare, which worries me, but it does the job so I'm not going to complain too loudly. Some hot glue fixed the wiring back up and the unit appears good-to-go.

The Radio Interface
I'll be honest. This part SUCKS. It's a fake top cover for the Toy Soldier MBITR, and it's impossible to easily remove from the radio jack. If you want to remove it (as I did) it'll take some creative 'prying' and a willingness to throw that top cover piece away (don't worry, it's not like you actually need it, since the dummy MBITR has a spare top cover).

Build quality on the unit overall is decent, but not stellar. It's better priced in the $50-$90 range (which is what I paid for it), since it really is about half the quality of the equivalent DevGru replica (which costs roughly $170 shipped once all your parts are together).

That said, for what I paid, and for what I wanted, it really is a 9 out of 10-star product.

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Airsoft needs more PT belt.
Vz61 Silencer Adapter Wanted!