Vest help

[DangerDan]

Simple an easy. All I wanna know are the differences of these two vests.

www.ebairsoft.com/black-molle-assault-tactical-cira-vest-p-149.html

and...

www.ebairsoft.com/cirs-standard-version-black-p-2024.html

I'm looking for this to be a universal vest an to take on the many roles on and off the field. I do in fact know I want a full wrap around vest with MOLLE system included

[t9w0rd]

For that much money, save up more and get a Flyye Plate Carrier with Cummerbund. You can get the one that includes pouches or doesn't. shop.ehobbyasia.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=flyye+style+plate+carrier&x=0&y=0
I wouldn't recommend black gear either.

[Knief]

The difference between those two is that the first one is a maritime CIRAS and the second is a Land CIRAS (it's labeled incorrectly on their site). Compare to these:

Maritime:
www.skdtac.com/Eagle_CIRAS_Maritime_Armor_Carrier_p/eag.590.htm

Land:
www.skdtac.com/Eagle_CIRAS_Land_Armor_Carrier_p/eag.550.htm

In my experience, the Land CIRAS gives you a bit more space for pouches and it's a bit easier to put on. But the differences in those areas isn't very significant, as both give you more real estate than just about any other style of vest, and both are harder to put on than just about any other style of vest. If you're looking to do an impression, different units use each one and in different colors. So if you're looking to fit a specific loadout, you'll have to do some research to see who wears what.

I noticed that both of the vests you linked to are black. Trust me, a black vest is a mistake. Head out into the woods and look around. How much of what you see is pure black? The answer is nothing. Short of volcanic rock, of which there isn't a ton in Michigan, black is a color that just doesn't appear in large patches in nature. And in fact, because it's so dark and so bold, it actually stands out almost as well as brighter colors like reds and blues. Black in nature stands out prominently to the human eye because we naturally know that it's out of place. So if you get a black vest, you will be spotted and targeted very quickly and easily. If you had a green or tan vest in the same situation, you might have gone completely unnoticed.

Maybe you're planning on using it for CQB, so you think you don't need to worry about that. But the same holds true indoors, even in low light situations. Even in low light, black stands out as darker than the surrounding walls, where as just about any other color would blend in much better. The only situation in which black doesn't stand out is if your environment is painted black as well. Or I guess if your enemy is blind. Most of the CQB fields I've seen have concrete or block walls and plywood bunkers. Very little of CQB most fields is actually black. That's why most police forces and SWAT teams use navy uniforms rather than black uniforms. Navy, because it's a lighter, disappears in low light.

If you're interested in a black because you think it looks cool, I would venture to say that that's likely because a lot of movies and video games dress their characters in all black. But they do that because it looks good in film. Black is a strong color, and a large force of soldiers in all black with high tech gear is a great cinematic demonstration of power. Those black uniforms are a cue to the viewer, which is why they keep using that cliche. They also use a lot of camera and editing techniques to make those soldiers in their all black uniforms look stronger, faster or cooler than they would if they just set the camera up at eye level and did the whole thing in one take. On the airsoft field, that's a lot closer to what you and others see. Black gear doesn't look strong because we're not viewing it through a medium designed to make it look strong. It looks hot and obvious. And more often than not, it's a dead giveaway that the buy wearing it is a complete newb. Experienced players have learned long ago that black is awful on the field, so they've moved away from it.

[DangerDan]

Im more so looking for a vest that would be universal. I know Black is not the way to go but it works with every type of under lay camo. Going from green to tan, I don't want to have to buy two of the same vest but in different colors. I like my gear to be in the same place as it was last.

What can I do??

[t9w0rd]

Get tan it will work with almost all camo's and look good.

[Knief]

Yep, tan. Coyote Brown might look a smidge better than khaki with the darkest of green camos like M81 Woodland, but otherwise, both look solid with anything.

With ACU and Arid MARPAT*:



With M81 Woodland*:


With Woodland MARPAT up front*:



With Multicam:



Those are the big ones, and they all look pretty fuckin' nice to me.

*Credit to the first half of the first post of the ODA gallery thread. I knew I could count on you.