Quote:
Originally Posted by lurkingknight
if you're interested in trying out different configurations, cheaply made junk with nicer pouches is probably a good way to experiment. Little investment for the base pc itself to see if you like the style, and then if you change your mind you don't lose much money or time in going to the next style you want to try. Pouches can be kept and moved to the next plate carrier. This is where I feel cheap china made stuff has a place. You see guys changing their gear once every few months or a season all the time. Imagine buying a lbt 6094 at 700$ and deciding you want a jpc for 400$ 6 months later. You have to sell that lbt, maybe it sells for close to what you paid, but maybe you buy a 50$ clone of a 6094 and you're only out 50 bucks. Maybe you sell that to a kid for 20 at a local field right away. 20$ is an easier sell than 600 or 650. After you try different layouts or styles of carriers, maybe you decide on one and you can go out and buy the real one.
Those are 2 examples of real gear that's been cloned. It will work for a season of gentle/casual use and beyond that, it owes you nothing.
The flipside is that if you know EXACTLY what you want, then you can go out and get it for however much, tyr tactical pico (no clone exists) and it's like 1200 bucks or something ridiculous, but you know you'll use it until your knees fall off your body. Nice gear is nice. It will more than likely outlast any long term interest or use in airsoft. Real stuff is designed and made to be worn every day, being dragged over rocks and dirt and trees. Chinese made stuff looks ok for a few months and may come unstitched in a year.
Take what people tell you about resale value with a grain of salt. Items fake or real are only worth what people are willing to pay you for. If it takes 7 months to sell a plate carrier you don't want, you have that much money tied up in a dead asset because you want to maximize what a lightly used item is worth, whereas a cheaper one that may not last a few years is not going to break the bank and you can deal with it however you want and not cry over it. You could end up with an oddball real carrier that nobody likes the style of and you might not be able to sell it at all if you decide you don't like it.
I have cheap condor pouches I bought 5 years ago that are still in use. I also have 2 condor vests still in good shape after 2-3 years of use.
The pricepoint in which you should start considering real stuff is probably around the 200-250$ mark in usd. Condor makes a couple modular plate carriers in the 100-150$ cad range, that's probably as high as I would go before looking at real stuff like the banshee or mayflower.
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Good advice, but a major limitation to that is the pattern/camo of the plate carrier. If you want common patterns (Multicam, solid ranger green or coyote brown, etc), then for sure, real steel gear is always very much worth it. However, if you're like me and like special snowflake or civilian patterns like Pencott or Kryptek, good luck finding real steel kit in it and your only option is looking at high-end repros like UR-Tactical.