The Assault Vest: Pros, Cons, and How to Best Deal With Both

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Psychlonic
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The Assault Vest: Pros, Cons, and How to Best Deal With Both

Post by Psychlonic » Fri Nov 13, 2009 10:01 pm

So, you want to use an assault vest eh? Wearing an assault vest, also known as a load bearing vest (LBV) requires a bigger deal of preparation and change in tactics than most people realize. Improperly prepared assault vests can rattle, scrape, hang up on objects, make lots of noise when opening pouches, drop items, irritate your skin, and even cause your reaction times to slow down for fear of doing any of the above.

The first thing you need to do is find the right vest. You're not going to do this looking online, you will need to go out in person, search surplus stores or anywhere with an assault vest selection.

Observe the vests. What material are they made from? You want an assault vest that's going to stand up to some abuse. Remember, you'll be dropping to the ground, rolling, brushing it against rough objects, and you do not want your investment to come undone - during the operation or otherwise. Assault vests usually cost a bit, make sure you're getting your money's worth. Take a good look at the stitching, make sure it's nice and heavy. Tug at it. Shake it.

Now what about those pouches? How do they secure themselves shut? Remember that you will be storing equipment into these pouches and you want to be able to access them silently and you don't want anything falling out on accident. BDU style buttons can potentially be totally silent, as are buckles. Snaps can be opened fairly quietly with some effort, as can zippers. Velcro is pure shit - loud, weak, and prone to tearing off after use and abuse, if you choose a vest that's optimal aside from velcro pouches, plan on cutting the velcro off and either sewing on buttons or riveting on snaps.

Another thing to consider with the pouches are how they are positioned and how big they are. Take the vest off the rack and put it on. Ideally, you want full arm and shoulder movement without disturbing the pouches and creating noise. Walk around for a second, swing your arms back and forth, hop up and down a couple times. Try to access the pouches and make sure you can do so comfortably, quickly, and silently. Also, make sure the vest can be adjusted to fit on you tightly and with minimal movement.

While you do all of this, listen to the vest itself. Is it creaking and stretching when you move? If so, you might want to try a different vest or plan on doing some personal modifications at home. Softer leather and some nylon configurations are typically quiet, but you'll find harder, almost plastic-like nylon is the loudest.

Finally, feel the shoulder straps. Make sure they're not going to dig into your neck. You can place material around them if they do at home, but you want your vest to be as ideal as possible without having to do a ton of modifications to it.

Finding the absolutely ideal vest may be an impossibility. One may have pouches and fasteners that you like, while another may wear more silently on your body. Keep your equipment in mind when selecting a vest as well, what's going into those pouches? Pick the vest with pouches that best suit your personal needs. Remember that you can modify the pouch fasteners, sew on quieter material between joints on the vest, and cut off any bulging pouches that may be on the side hitting your arm. However, it will take careful work and if you find you are unhappy with all options, perhaps an assault vest is not for you. Stealth is usually the last priority when making these things, so it's perfectly possible you won't be happy with anything you see.

OK, so let's say you've found a vest you like. You can either buy it on the spot, or you can take a close look at the tag and try to find it online cheaper. Again, you'll notice the price tag is going to be pretty steep for a decent assault vest, so make sure the purchase is worth it.


SO now that you finally have your vest, there's most likely a couple things you don't like. If you have velcro fasteners, do yourself a favor and cut them off. Do so without cutting into the vest material itself so you don't damage it. You should either sew buttons on, buckles, or use a rivet gun to attach snaps. You can buy any of these cheaply at your nearest craft or clothing store.

If your vest comes with huge pockets on the sides that are impractical for anything you might want to carry, you might want to cut them off. Make sure they don't comprise part of the vest body itself, and be certain that cutting them off will not harm the integrity of the vest in any way. Take a lighter to the area and burn off any excess material that might be left hanging around.

Your shoulder straps might have irritated you when you tried the vest on. If so, you'll want to sew on some form of padding around the straps. You can find good material from a donor backpack, felt, or any soft material. Wrap it around the strap completely and stitch it together on the outside, where it will be away from your neck. Remember, you'll be wearing this vest for hours and will likely be required to stay still and silent. The last thing you want is irritation driving you nuts.

Finally, your vest might make noises when simply worn on the body and you move around. This is likely the fault of the vest material rubbing on itself or against your clothing. To remedy this, you will need to line the underside of these friction points with a softer material. I personally find that felt or velvet works famously. Sew this material on with heavy duty stitching.
Always remember, more stitching is better. You don't want anything falling off at the scene, so the more TLC you put into your modifications is only going to make the vest better.


Alright, now you've picked your vest, you've meticulously adjusted everything to your liking, you've painstakingly sewed on modifications where needs, and now you can wear the vest while remaining totally silent and access equipment without a sound. Now it's time to consider gear placement. An assault vest is not a ticket to suddenly carry more fragile equipment without a care in the world. Remember that you'll be slamming down into the prone on top of your front pouches, and you'll be rolling both laterally, forwards, and backwards. You also need to balance your equipment. In general, you shouldn't be carrying so much stuff as to weigh you down immensely, but you at least want your right and left sides to be equal so that the vest doesn't sag. If your vest has a large rear pouch, you can use that for a water bladder, machete, bolt cutters, or more ideally just keep it empty and use your vest as a glorified backpack. Remember, it DOES come off. Also, make sure that you place items into your vest so that when you hit the prone, you do not have something that bulges out and slams into your body on impact.

Speaking of machetes and other long items, you'll quickly find that your vest affords you the ability to easily strap down more equipment. Let's say you pick a machete. Remember that you need to be able to do several things effectively: draw the machete, roll, and enter tight spots. If any part of the machete sticks out past the length of the assault vest, it will be prone so snagging. It can also cause the machete to bend horribly during a roll, leaving you with a useless chunk of metal. Finally, you may find that the only places you can strap it down to make it impossible to draw it out, much less place it back inside without taking the entire vest off.
Note that while I use the machete as an example, you can obviously see where the same ideas would apply to any other long pieces of equipment.

FINALLY! You're all ready to step out into the night. By taking all this time to carefully select and prepare your assault vest, you've alleviated the need to compromise many of your already established operating methods. The ONLY thing you need to keep in mind now, is that you have a slightly bulkier profile. This can prevent you from entering tight spots. The solution? Take the vest off, and put it back on once you are through. Easy.
With the right preparation before hand, this will become the ONLY drawback to an LBV, and if you adjust everything just right, you can probably get through the same areas just as easily even with the vest still on.

I've pretty much switched over to the assault vest exclusively, and I can honestly say that I've never noticed it's presence going through tight areas. I can see it being an issue in some super tight spots, but again, all I'd need to do in such a situation is take it off, go through, and put it back on. Mine comes off with two plastic buckles, it's not time consuming nor an inconvenience. Aside from it's use as an equipment carrier, the assault vest can also be used as a quick, small item loot carrier. Find something you like? Toss it in a pocket and keep moving.

I hope this is of assistance to anyone interested in going with an assault vest but is intimidated by it's potential problems. These can all be overcome. The real questions are, do you want to spend the money on such an item, do you have the need for so much storage capacity, and are you willing to spend the time required to set it up to perform as you need it to? The assault vest's main appeal is this: you get to carry more gear.

I agree with the idea that one should never RELY exclusively on their gear, but certain tasks are nearly impossible without it. You're not going to card a lock without either a tool to do so or a tool to make a tool. You're not picking a lock without picks. You're not spotting a magnetic switch without a compass. You're not launching projectiles at length with precision without a slingshot. You're not seeing at a distance without binoculars. You're not hearing the police without a police scanner. You're not talking to team mates who are working separately without a radio.

Do you have a need to do any of these things at the current level of operations you run? If not, keep the article in mind but it's my opinion your money is best spent elsewhere. The cheapest of the cheap LBVs run for $30, and the top of the line ones will go over $100. You will spend probably an additional $5-$10 on material for modification. But, if you've got everything else you need and you want the extra storage capacity, then don't be afraid of getting an assault vest.
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Re: The Assault Vest: Pros, Cons, and How to Best Deal With Both

Post by Ghost » Sat Nov 14, 2009 1:58 am

Nice. I've been considering switching from just a gear belt/pockets to either an LBV or a drop-leg platform. What are your thoughts on ALICE/MOLLE type vests? i haven't seen many in stores, but i'm guessing it would go something like this - pros would be a completely customized vest with pockets and pouches located exactly where you need them, but it seems like they would shift around a bit more and create noise. Any advice with those types, or should i stick to the drop leg carrier? that's sort of the direction i'm leaning in, but it's tough to find ones that aren't too bulky - something that is just as hard for vests i'd imagine.
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Re: The Assault Vest: Pros, Cons, and How to Best Deal With Both

Post by stealththief » Sat Nov 14, 2009 2:43 am

This reminds me that I need to cut the velcro off of mine, I've been meaning to do it. After reading this I want to add some softer stuff to area around my neck so it won't dig into my skin anymore.
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Re: The Assault Vest: Pros, Cons, and How to Best Deal With Both

Post by Psychlonic » Sat Nov 14, 2009 3:26 am

Therin the Hand wrote:Nice. I've been considering switching from just a gear belt/pockets to either an LBV or a drop-leg platform. What are your thoughts on ALICE/MOLLE type vests? i haven't seen many in stores, but i'm guessing it would go something like this - pros would be a completely customized vest with pockets and pouches located exactly where you need them, but it seems like they would shift around a bit more and create noise. Any advice with those types, or should i stick to the drop leg carrier? that's sort of the direction i'm leaning in, but it's tough to find ones that aren't too bulky - something that is just as hard for vests i'd imagine.
If you can carry everything you need in a drop leg carrier, I see no reason to deal with a load bearing vest for now. As for the MOLLE type ones, the one thing I like is that the vest itself is usually all one piece, so it doesn't have "joints" that make noise. I've tried them on but I've never seriously used one, so I can't comment further than that. ALICE clips never fit "perfectly" onto MOLLE gear, I've noticed a tendency for them to slide up and down a little. This could cause more noise output than you want, but on the other hand I could see the vest being relatively quiet as long as you weren't jogging, jumping around, or otherwise causing them to shake up and down. Unfortunately, as MOLLE gear is usually way overpriced, it's an expensive test to see what happens.
Knowledge alone is not power, it is the potential for power. That potential can only be unlocked through applying that knowledge and realizing the skill.

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