Land Version Armor Carrier - ArniesAirsoft

Author

Cromdog

Registered: October 2004
Posts: 121

Review Date: 30/8/05

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �76.00 | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	It is the only replica of its kind. Its a bargain compared to real deal.
Cons:	It is a repro vest so qulaity isn't the best.

Updates at bottom

When i saw that the Eagle Ciras was being replicated by Proud for 129USD. I went nuts, that a lot cheaper than the real deal that goes for hundreds more. A couple of days later the vest was sold out. There was a huge demand for such a rare vest.

Anyways I finally got it after restock and when it came. It was all assembled wich was nice, but it was too big. So i got a free pull of the relase system. The vest fell apart! Wow pretty cool... The release system is nearly identical to Eagle's as it comprizes of the different parts of the vest: internal cumerbund, external cummerbund, and the two vest halves. They all have a piece of cord fed through grommets in them and secured at the top by the ONE relase cable that runs to the front of the vest. One tug on the release and the vest comes right off.
Quality wise the vest is pretty good for a reproduction vest. The PALS channels are all in line and stiched fairly well. I can imagine the vest taking plenty of airsofting punishment.
The vest fits extrenely well with the internal cummerbund and the padded shoulder straps. The two work togeter to keep the vest tight to your body and weight distributed.
The vest is a great option for airsofters looking for a vest with plenty of PALS webbing. usually, most go for FSBE replicas, but this is a change from the usual and is more comfortable, funtional and its just so good looking. And besides many US MArine units are straying from FSBE and using CIRAS. So stay up to date and get this vest, its well worth the money.

UPDATE
Okay so I decided to take some picutres with the new pouches as they look a LOT better. Also, I've gotten some questions on the color of the vest, It is darker than standard OD but it still looks okay, The camera makes the colors seem a lot different. It looks a lot better in person. Also to whom it may concern the sling is homemade and is attached to the realse system, so one tug of the pillow and EVERYTHING including weapon falls away. Last picture is to give idea of how it looks in a full loadout. I've also been asked about vest sizing. It looks small but it fits tight yet comfortable, and it can be adjusted a lot. I have the vest a couple notches avay from the smallest fitting and there is many, many inches to expand on. Just wanted to get better pictures out and fill in questions about the vest. Feel free to Message any questions.

Dist

Registered: June 2005
Location: Kent
Posts: 382

Review Date: 3/1/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 7

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Tough, Well made, Modular, comfortable
Cons:	No instructions, Does not come ready made, can be expensive including pouches.

To start off, i had some problems even recieving this item from WGC due to UK customs and WGC not sending the complete paperwork, But thats another story and not for this review. Once i finaly got the box containing the Proud Armor Carrier i was supprised to see that when i opened it, there was no instructions what so ever. Now, this was expected with the pouches that i also baught, because attaching molle pouches to a molle vest isnt exactly rocket science, BUT, trying to assemble the armor carrier IS rocket science!

The Vest comes in multiple parts. Theres a front and a back, 2x shoulder pads, 2x modular side panels, 2x elasticated non-modular side pannels, a long wire attached to a small panel, and a spare panel (which i still have no idea what is for).

Now, putting this vest together took me a good few hours due to the lack of instructions, i didnt even know which side of the vest was which at first! And without instructions its impossible to know if the wiring system is done correctly. Once it was all finaly assembled (and to this day, im still not sure if its done correctly) it is a very good armor carrier, theres lots of molle straps available to attach all the pouches yourll need, ive got a hydration carrier on the back big enough to fit my 3L hydration system, ive got 2 large utility pouches either side of that, and on the front ive got 3 ammo pouches on each side, each ammo pouch able to holde 2 m16 mags +1 pistol mag. And since they are all Proud pouches, they are all the dark green colour, which in my opinion is a very nice colour, it goes nice with any camo patern.

If you need a modular armor carrier that is tough and can fit pouches for everything you will need then this is the thing to get. So far the only downside i have had with it is that it is complicated to put together and comes with no instructions, but after its full assembled theres nothing to worry about.

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LameBoy

Registered: March 2005
Location: Warsaw, Poland
Posts: 35

Review Date: 31/5/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �63.00 | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	that pr0 marine look
Cons:	the vest release cord gets so tight it won't even budge, but is that bad?

the price above is without the shipping costs which were about 25-30 GBP

first of all, to help all the people who get one of these, the assemby instructions - from the maritime version, found on the web after the link in Shinjit Noir's Phantom CIRAS maritime review at airsoft canada.

http://www.finnrappel.fi/EagleCiras1.jpg
http://www.finnrappel.fi/EagleCiras2.jpg
http://www.finnrappel.fi/EagleCiras3.jpg

the main differences from the land version on these pictures is the fact that when you assemble the outer, wider molle equipped panels they stick out to get velcroed at the front, under the flap. I also recommend to fasten the elastic, thinner inner band on the front, under the flap, and then fasten the molle side panel on top of it before closing the flap down.
As almost everything has been said about these vests all that I want to add from myself is that I'm 6'2", and about 180lbs and still the regulation is set to the tightest position as it can be and the vest fits ideally, meaning that if you're larger you shouldn't have any problems with fitting it on(if you're higher it might be a problem), on the other hand if you're smaller this might be an issue as this sort of vest should fit tighly and firmly.

as for the front panel, in the 2 vests that I examined(mine and my friend's) the molle tape row at the very sides of the chest are too narrow to fit any pocket's fastening tape. That's why with the arrangement
-------- the best you can get is -CDCDCD-
-------- -CDCDCD-

and the very sides are unusable, well, you can stick a swiss army knife pin or a fulton. as long as it's not molle equipment.

Another feature not mentioned in the previous reviews is that the chest part holds a nice pocket. It's a go throug pocket, with a velcro closing on both sides, to one of which you fasten the quick release cable. It's perfect for carrying a cell phone or a wallet. I did, nothing fell out and it's really a great spot for such things, even though one side might seem open since the cable release handle doesn't completely close the velcro on one of the sides, still it really is a safe place for a cell phone.

Another useful thing I found about this vest is that when you open it up, normally when undressing no animal will harm or attack you since the sound of 5 5"x6" velcros unripping from each other scares them away effectively :D

as for the use it is very comfortable, the regulation allows for very accurate sizing(after many assembly/dissasembly sessions) but it's worth it. It does not interfere with wearing a backpack, or even a backpack and a backup AEG.

The color is very nice, very slightly darker that the coyote brown on my MCCUU woodland, and an interesting fact is that I saw original Eagle mag pouches in coyote brown, and everybody noticed that they are visibly brighter in color. Definitely an advantage as the vest doesn't stand out in the foliage, really a good shade choice, they can be PROUD of themselves Wink

the material is not supposed to be cordura(some cordo-nylo or whatever), still everybody who saw it thinks it is cordura, it looks like it, feels like it and takes dirt like it. The only weak spot are the tapes that are sewn over the edges of the shoulder pads and some other elements, once they get in contact with velcro they start to show wear, clearly those are nylon.

there is also the mystery part, being the small cushion-like pad next to the cable release, I didn't know what to do with it so I stuck it to a velcro on my chest Wink

now it looks like the release cord is there, and it really isn't, nice way to prank a prankster trying to stip me off it with one quick release pull, and quite a shocker when he rips it of and hears that he broke some seriously expensive stuf ect Wink

you get the point.
As for the release cable itself, the funny thing is that once you wear the vest, the paracord loop holding the panels together with the cable at the back gets so tightened by the sheer weight of it that the cable is almost impossible to move. Meaningly I was literally afraid to pull it harder, wondering whether the cable will surrender, my hand or the vest... don't know if it's a con though, the quick release system in airsoft seemed like a gateway to stripping jokes at every event Wink

and probably when the going ghets tough in real life you aren't afraid to pull with full force, so maybe that's how it works. Meaning, once the vest is off, lying on the table the cable goes out, but when you put it on the physics of it stretching and pressuring the cord-loop system to tighten...

that seems to be all, maybe I'll think of something more as more wear and cons might appear

nevertheless a great piece of gear to buy, well worth the money, while that pr0 marine look you get is just priceless Smile

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