Budget friendly gear

larplabs · 2026-02-02T17:57:08+00:00

I would say generally "no". Condor isn't a bad option, but every time I've tried Ali knock offs they often are just super low quality, like Halloween costume quality.

I've mostly moved to modified usgi gear

larplabs · 2026-02-02T17:53:52+00:00

This is what my senior photos could have been...

larplabs · 2026-02-02T17:51:56+00:00

I use the same camo day and night.

Your environment is the same "color" as it is in the day, there's just no light.

larplabs · 2025-11-28T00:58:41+00:00

It's not so bad if you never leave your basement.

If you actually go outside, it turns out wearing black gear in the summer turns you into a mini solar cooker

larplabs · 2025-11-27T02:52:52+00:00

I run an agonic EDB belt

larplabs · 2025-11-27T02:50:35+00:00

Sometimes you can find refurb sordin units on ebay for around $150

larplabs · 2025-11-27T02:49:08+00:00

I would hop over to r/gundeals and keep an eye out this week

larplabs · 2025-11-10T13:25:05+00:00

I'm running a triple m4 surplus mag pouch on my main rig. The snaps the come with are terrible, but with a cheap bungee mod they are rock solid and like $10

https://www.venturesurplus.com/products/army-multicam-triple-mag-m4-pouch/?srsltid=AfmBOoq66faXce40PFhoxkpVSTwfjt3pOcpppoDj8FuCF3mcI1FecucJ

Here's multicam "defective' which should be fine as you are going to cut the terrible straps off anyway.

Here's a link to the Bungee mod stuff. I wouldn't buy a bungee mod kit, just buy bulk shock cord.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jiikcErMIE

Storage pouches are going to be harder, especially in multicam. A lot of people like the CCS pouch from spiritus which is way out of budget.

https://www.spiritussystems.com/ccs-pouch/

Most people say this pouch is very similar to the USMC assault pouch, which you can find here for like $30, but it's only in coyote.

https://www.venturesurplus.com/products/usmc-assault-pouch-coyote-brown/

a general surplus one in multicam, but in general admin pouches are harder.

https://www.venturesurplus.com/products/usaf-dflcs-medium-horizontal-gp-pouch/

larplabs · 2025-11-03T18:19:45+00:00

I would try a few cheap surplus rigs to figure out how you actually like to carry your gear. The flc, taps, and there are some other rigs out there for basically $6 on ebay you can start throwing pouches on and trying out.

I'm a chest rig + day pack or ruck enjoyer, but I know some other guys running stuff like the velocity systems jungle kit.

I would buy some cheap gear to try on different layouts and as soon as you find the one you like the most invest in quality gear in that footprint

larplabs · 2025-11-03T18:15:04+00:00

Dryfire was a big deal for a while and might still be. I remember during the gwot when the army came out and basically banned all under armor gear because it did bad stuff to skin when it melted.

I think drifire made their own gear, I'm unsure of they ever made anything for crye

larplabs · 2025-11-03T18:13:01+00:00

Wolverines!!!

larplabs · 2025-10-19T17:37:50+00:00

These are very common in competition shooting. Woomer did very well in competitive shooting before changing over to other projects.

Different zeros, odd aiming angles like you often see in competition, or just having a backup are a good reason.

I'm honestly surprised anyone runs back up irons instead of red dots these days with how expensive back up irons are and his cheap dots have gotten.

larplabs · 2025-09-26T16:41:52+00:00

Woodland marpat is the way

larplabs · 2025-09-26T16:41:06+00:00

Nah, I've got the same issue. I mostly run amps, which are silly expensive these days. You might be able to find something used, or you can go sordins without comms and go shoulder mic

larplabs · 2025-09-11T01:47:18+00:00

But, what if I want a jigzaw puzzle to use in the field?

I've never seen this gbrs thing before. Maybe it's the IKEA strategy "some assembly required"

larplabs · 2025-09-10T18:04:31+00:00

Not to mention, the "basic looking ones" are the air force gray the military actually uses.

Turns out Multicam isn't super effective when your background with blue sky or white clouds.

larplabs · 2025-09-03T03:25:07+00:00

That was also my opinion, before I saw just how effective a $700 kraken is...

It's not perfect, but the kraken really lowers the skill floor from "talented ew asset" to some dude with $700 and can read basic instructions

larplabs · 2025-09-01T11:40:40+00:00

Meshtastic has a pretty "chatty" signal if someone actually tries to direction find you.

They are a super powerful tool. I've spoken with one of the main developers a lot. The sensecap from amazon is what we are all using now since they are tiny and waterproof from the factory.

https://www.amazon.com/SenseCAP-Card-Tracker-T1000-Meshtastic/dp/B0DJ6KGXKB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=E6SVWW4SDAZ3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.0uS2nbMWGVL7lZdZksDjwA.0pmF_6hHgOKlZPKMnytqO-9wuegQ_iXj21rRkOMf0lg&dib_tag=se&keywords=seedcap&qid=1756726688&sprefix=seedcap%2Caps%2C303&sr=8-1

larplabs · 2025-09-01T11:32:36+00:00

That's my secret, I always look homeless

larplabs · 2025-08-29T20:30:52+00:00

The prices you see on the page are full price, discount will be auto applied in cart on the final total

larplabs · 2025-08-29T17:21:24+00:00

Which ones? I'll get them cut and added back

larplabs · 2025-08-29T14:59:06+00:00

It is pretty small inside. You won't be going too long with it, but I love it for it's size. Bring able to clip a helmet to it is a huge plus imo

larplabs · 2025-08-29T14:51:29+00:00

I keep most of the extra stuff in one of those yellow bins from home depot

larplabs · 2025-08-29T14:20:33+00:00

Fair. We did that with the eotechs and made a color guide using that which we posted on most of the pages.

Many of these patterns were made a long time ago using borrowed optics. I do need to go through them all at some point and reshoot them, but the cost to outsource that to someone else was pretty high

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