Viper LA Special Forces Vest Review
For my 1st skirmish, I wore a pair of combats and a jumper. I was armed with a MP5 and carried a spare mag. It was quickly apparent to me that for a one off skirmish this was ok, however in future I would need to add a vest to my kit.
Due to on going costs of building up my kit which included the purchase of my 1st AEG, I decided to purchase a Viper LA Special Forces vest. This vest is available in Olive Green, Black or the choice that I made – Woodland DPM.
I paid £35 for this vest from a local army surplus store, however the it can be purchased online for between £25-£30 from most airsoft retailers. Occasionally I have seen new Viper LA vests sell on eBay for £20.
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Made from 600 denier cordura the Viper vest appears to be well stitched together, initial impressions are that this vest will take a fair bit of abuse out in the field.
I found the vest to lightweight and easy to put on. Adjustment of fit is made my altering the lacing on either side of the vest. The supplied lacing is quite long so this can accommodate larger people. A plastic toggle is used to hold the lacing in place, any spare lace may then be cut off or tied back. |
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Adjustments are also available on the shoulders of the vest via Velcro straps to ensure a snug fit. |
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Once adjusted the vest is very comfortable to wear. Body movement did not feel restricted, and I found most of the pouches were easy to access.
The addition of the belt to the vest was useful as this helped to hold the vest in position. |
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Magazine Pouches
This vest offers 6 magazine pouches. (3 either on either side of the vest). These pouches are of adequate size, and can easily accommodate M14/M16 magazines, and although a tight fit i can even squeeze my G36 magazines in to these.
One of the problems I did find, particularly with the larger G36 mag’s was that when using the far left and far right hand side pouches it was difficult to quickly remove magazines due to the positioning of them under the arm.
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Partially retracted G36 Mag |
G36 mag’s and water bottle |
However I did find these pouches were handy for other items, one of which I used for a water bottle (which i find handy if I fill with additional BB’s) and the other for M16 magazine style speed loader. This still left me 4 pouches for the G36 mag’s. I have also in the past used one of the pouches as a holster for my pistol, the Velcro cover holding this securely in place.
Utility Pouches
Other pouches on this vest include:
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Large Utility Pouch – The largest of all the external pouches will easily fit a bag of 3000 BB’s additional magazines or is even large enough to fit a couple of small BB grenades. |
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Small Utility Pouch – The flap on this pouch can be tucked inside, the Velcro used to hold the flap in place can then be used to attach a Velcro patch or the included 9 shell loops cartridge holder attachment. |
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Radio Pouch – The radio pouch on this vest is a little on the small side. I am able to fit my Nikkai PMR but anything bigger than this would have to be either stored in the large utility pouch or one of the magazine pouches. |
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Map / Admin Pouch – Two Velcro pouches are available inside on the left and right hand side of the vest. Useful for storing maps, however as access to these requires you to unzip the vest its not something you want to keep doing during the middle of a skirmish. |
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It may be possible to fit additional pouches to the back of the vest as there are some attachment loops available. Unfortunately it would appear that the loops fitted are of the ALICE variety and it may be more difficult to obtain the type of pouch or accessory you are after. It’s a shame Viper did not use standard MOLLE loops for which accessories are more readily available. However I have head MOLLE pouches can be fitted with a little fiddling. |
Belt
Unlike some other vests the Viper LA vest comes with a free belt. Adjustment of the belt is done via Velcro and the belt is large enough to fit larger people like the vest itself.
The belt is fitted to the vest using the belt loops attached at the bottom. Velcro strips are also included on the loops which grip a length of Velcro that runs the entire length of the belt, ensuring the belt does not slip around your waist.
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The belt buckle / clasp is made from plastic. The design of clasp include a push button that must be depressed before you can pull this apart. This extra button ensures that there is no way the clasp will accidentally open, however it does make if fiddly to open the belt.
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Conclusions
I have used this vest on several skirmishes. So far the vest still looks like new and none of the stitching has become loose.
The only issue I have found with the vest is with the zip, which i find can work its way down during a skirmish. It could be the vest could do with me adjusting it slightly better, however I have seen this happen to other people as well. A work around would be to stitch some lace or string at the top of the zip and tie it to the zipper.
The lack of support for MOLLE pouches is not a major issue, however it does restrict the customisation you can do to the vest. Limiting you to either find suitable ALICE pouches or adding pouches to the belt.
Although I have recently purchased a new ciras style vest I would certainly recommend the Viper LA vest to anyone on a small budget or anyone looking for a tactical style of vest.
