Posted by Michael on November 03, 1998 at 17:16:00:
This is a copy of the form letter that I send out probably
5-10 time a day every other day whenever someone emails
me with questions about the tac vests that I make.I hope that
some of you may find this informative.
Regards
Michael
I can make the following vest types out of the following materials for the
following weapons with the following closure types(that was a mouthful
wasn't it?)
Materials:
1000 denier Dupont Cordura
400 denier Dupont Cordura
16oz cotton "duck"canvas
Heavy nylon mesh(small weave)
heavy nylon mesh(large weave,good for Ghillie ragging)
Colors/Patterns:
Black
OD Green
Charcoal
Navy
USGI Woodland
Tigerstripe(Vietnam era)
Tree Bark
Real Tree
Pouch closure types
SAS type straps with Fastex buckles
Heavy nylon coated Stainless Steel #10 snaps
Velcro
USGI pinch closures(like an M-16 mag pouch)
Pull Ring Zippers(sounds a little slow but it's not)
Mag Pouches(you can add as many to each vest as surface area will allow)
30rd 5.56 mags
40rd 5.56 mags
100rd 5.56 daul drums(C-Beta)
120rd 5.56 drum(chinese)
30rd 9mmSMG mags
75rd PPSH/MP5 drum(CS metalworks type)
30rd 9mm pistol mags
20rd 9mm pistol mags
50rd Calico mags
100rd Calico mags
30rd AK mags
40rd AK mags
75rd AK drums
100rd AK drums
20rd 7.62NATO mags
25rd 7.62NATO Galil mags
30rd7.62NATO mags(G-3/FAL/etc.)
75rd 7.62NATO dual drum(CS metalworks type)
Large M-60 belt can
Small M-60 belt can
Barret M82 10rd mags
Barret M95 5rd mags
USAS 12 mags
USAS 12 drums
Saiga 12 mags
shot gun shells
40mm rounds(short)
40mm rounds(long)
.50BMG rounds(single pounds on triple elastic loops)
USGI smoke grenade pouches
Rifle grenade pouches
DefTec flash bang pouches
Multitool pouch
GPS pouch
Camelbak 70oz(or 90oz if your vest is large enough)
10x12 Hard Plate pockets
12x14 Hard plate pockets
pistol holsters(kydex or nylon)
Alice clip attachments
Knife sheaths(kydex or nylon)
Thermal locator pouch(life finder)
NV module pouch(ITT F6015or equivelent)
1qt GI canteens(perfect for Survival foot tabs or pocket Distiller)
2qt GI canteens(good for loose GPMG belts as well)
Bolt Cutter pouch(over the shoulder)
Machete sheath(over the shoulder)
If I have not listed a pouch you might need(special radios,mags,etc.)
let me know.If I don't have it I can make a pattern for it from
your special object.I have made some special medic's vests that
have the same pouches as a USGI Corpman's bag but arranged on
the right side(mags on the left) of the vest for easy access.I
have also made concealable models(with and without Armor
for use with pistols,SMGs and AOWs.I can do any split you want,
example:Medic's/AK mags,EOD/MP5,MP5/30rd FAL
any combo is possible. If you are interested you should start thinking
about what kind of vest you would like and how you want your gear laid out
on your armor. The type of armor panels that you want to use will effect the
way
the vest is laid out(regular vest panels will require that you pull it over
your head to get it on)If you want to do just a tac vest without armor it
will reduce the cost
significantly and will give you the option of front opening(even
though my T-shirt style/pull over quick arming system is just as quick or
quicker
and allows the use of your standard duty armor panels in your tac vest)I've
never done
a vest by mail order(I get most of my customers through word of mouth in
Oklahoma
Texas ,Missouri and Arkansas) but I think that I have a solution,Take your
armor carrier
and lay it out on a large piece of butcher block paper and trace it out as
adjusted for your use.
Then I want you to put on your armor and visualise where you would want your
gear to
be when you reached for it.Once you have that figure out you can take your
mags and assorted gear
and lay them out on the paper and trace out the outlines of the gear EXACTLY
where you want it to
be(make sure that you can reach it when you have the vest fully loaded)You
will have the option of
stacking your gear in single,double or triple thickness but you don't want
to go over board
on the gear though(Triple thickness 30rd FAL mags require some monkey long
arms to get to all
of them and gorilla stoutness to carry fully loaded)I am trying to get high
resolution images
that I can send out to people that are interested in my vests,I should have
them up by next week.
Before you decide to spend the money to have a full custom vest made(about
$500,still cheaper
than a custom tailored sport coat though)you may want to consider my
multiuse pattern tactical armor carrier
($200 without armor panels,$325 with USGI vehicle crewman's vest panels,$450
with Safariland
duty panels)It has eight rifle mag pouches each will hold three 30rd MP5,two
30or40rd M-16,one 20 to 30rd
G3/FAL magazines.this in addition to three,four and five(depending on your
size)
20to30rd pistol mag pouches on the chest and an expandable rear pocket/pack
that is large enough to hold
two large telephone books or four 1qt USGI canteens.This vest pattern also
has the hard armor plate pockets
front and rear as well as a pouch for a 70oz(or 90oz depending on your
size)Camelbak Hydration system.
I hope that this answers some of your questions until I can get those high
resolution images done.
I'll forward those as soon as I get them done.I ho[pe to have a website up
and running by January.