A look at the DPM Ops Vest – the latest addition to my load bearing cupboard. Cheap, basic, often overlooked. It’s one that most players will see on eBay and bypass because it’s not the latest, but it’s definitely one of the greatest. So I picked one up on eBay for £15 to do a little review on; of course, I’m not just going to review like most influencers who’ll do an unboxing vid and then quote some details off Amazon to tell you how many pockets it has and what denier cordura is used. I want to delve into why I’ve picked one up, based on previous event experiences, and why it might solve all your needs.

Firstly, a little about my play style. I like big games at big sites. Let me go and run with my team for 24hrs and put vehicles in. Give me a proper misison. If I’m going to travel for a game, it might as well be the full experience. I’m not one for a quick 6hr indoor session where I film some shit ass scopecam footage then go and fap over what NODs the other guys have and how well my Clawgear Raider pants wick the sweat off while I’m speed running through a garage with a tracer, hoping to score some sweet loot in a prize draw at lunch and collect patches for attending things.

Rewind to Defiant Events’ Op Irene, where I donned the iconic Delta kit for a full weekend last summer. I love this loadout, it feels great when you get it all on. Channelling the inner Gary Gordon while clearing buildings in style. However, 16 hours in was a different story and the discomfort was starting to affect my game. In the heat of summer, my baselayer tee was soaking and needed to be swapped out for a dry one – but this game doesn’t stop for lunch. So in a room upstairs, the helmet came off. The rifle slung around my neck was placed on the table. Then the backpack followed by the chest rig, which was pretty awkward in the dark. The ALICE belt order was a bit easier, although I had wires connected to the headset which was connected to myself. Then the plate carrier, also soaked with sweat, before I could get my shirt unbuttoned and the t-shirt off. I decided the drop leg pistol, which had been pulling my trousers down on one side, could also come off for ten minutes. I’ve now got a pile of kit on the floor. Now, the loadout is really good for ammo – I had mags galore. The belt order consisted of two ammo pouches (6 mags), a water bottle and medium (dutch, wasn’t exactly correct) utility pouch with the butt pack on the rear. The butt pack by the way is a fantastic space to keep spare clothing, such as a rain poncho, dry tee, gloves etc but isn’t much good for hard items. I’d kept hydrated but not particularly well fed, and this is where the problems had been throughout the event.

That one medium utility was the only useful space I had to keep my maps and admin, plus first aid kit, plus spare batteries, plus pens, plus a headtorch, plus two granola bars that had ripped and then leaked sticky treacle-covered grains all over everything. Although I was fine in a firefight, for 24hrs I was living out of this single pouch which wasn’t easy with gloves on having to dig around for what I needed. Suddenly, I hear grenades coming in and a firefight erupts downstairs. All my kit is strewn everywhere and despite grabbing the rifle and engaging in my t-shirt, the squad is quickly overrun and I’m the last man standing which doesn’t last long against the enemy team. Then I have to ask them if they mind giving me ten minutes to get dressed again before returning to base…

A better solution then is needed for longer games. The ALICE kit has been seen a lot of use at skirmish, where it suits the short games to carry mags and little else, but for bigger events I want some more utility space and something that isn’t so hot, sweaty and awkward to run. I need something that is a one-piece solution instead of separate belt and chest components so it can quickly come off and on when needed. Cue Instagram and a picture from one of my all-time favourite players – Colin Neale. Colin does some superb British loadouts and has a vast array of kit to show off, well worth a follow.

The man makes everything look cool but I took one look at the Ops Vest and my first thought was that somehow, I didn’t actually own this absolute staple of British surplus kit. More importantly though, it looked like it would do a job in bigger games, so I had to pick one up. I’m aware that there are a few slightly different versions of the vest from different manufacturers, and I have no idea what version I have, but the design is largely the same. The vest was developed in the late 1990’s and saw use in that irrefutably ally early 2000’s Iraq/Afghanistan kit era before everything went MOLLE and Multicam, and kit got boring. And unlike the wave of Temu-made plastic plate carriers flooding UK Airsoft stores, this thing saw extensive use by Special Forces in Afghanistan and there are several good reference pics of the SBS using them at Tora Bora, so it’s been tested at the highest level, not just on kitchen floors.

It’s a waistcoat type design with the carrying capacity of a full belt order, but mounted up on the sides and chest rather than all around the waist. The back is free which is very handy for vehicles (I had an awful time with the ALICE kit trying to squeeze into a Snatch Land Rover with a full buttpack), but also more comfortable if you want to add a daysack to carry camp kit. I know some players would argue that you want to be as high-speed, low-drag as possible and extra carrying capacity is unnecessary if you’re not using it, but I’d much rather have it there in case I do need it and keep pouches empty, than to be in the middle of a game and have nowhere to put stuff or have to leave essential kit back in the car park because I have no way to carry it.

To try it out, I’ve loaded the vest with the heaviest stuff in my gun bag for a typical game day, and I’ll go through all the pockets.

On the left (if you’re wearing it) are two triple mag pouches with dividers, which hold the mags securely and prevent any rattle. I run G&G metal mids for most of my guns which are STANAG based, and although they’re a bit longer they still fit. 6 mags is more than enough for most events. There’s a big utility pouch further back which will take an Osprey water bottle nicely, and a chest mounted pouch which fits a Baofeng UV5R with an extended battery. The whip antenna is perhaps a bit excessive here although I could easily attach a relocation cable and move that around, but at least I’ve packed a radio. There’s still space for a spare battery inside, maybe some AA batteries for other bits or a Twix. Already the left-hand side is giving me the carrying capacity of most chest rigs on its own. So imagine being able to double that.

The right hand side isn’t quite a mirror image – the bit I love with this vest is that instead of even more ammo carrying capacity, it replaces the mag pouches with two utility pouches. This is a godsend for any milsim or full day game, because it’ll take snacks and spare bits and pieces, ammo, speedloader, spare clothing, brew kit or whatever you want really, but for this test I slapped some chunkier and fully loaded 7.62 mags off my MC51. As with the left, there’s another lovely big utility pouch which I’ve filled with two bottles of good quality ammo and there’s still room inside for a hat or something. Glorious. The chest pocket on this side is ideal for keeping pyro handy for all your breaching needs, please excuse the mini smokes but I’ve expended everything I had in the way of disposable pyro in the last game. I’d obviously swap the 7.62 mags out for more important things for a longer game but I wanted to really weigh the vest down to see how comfortable or uncomfortable it is. And once it’s on, the weight spreads out really well around the body – a lot of that is probably thanks to the wide, flat shoulder straps which are just so much better than the thinner plate carrier type straps that most players are used to, even with all the gel and foam comforters added.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

Two very large zipped internal pockets are ideal for flatter items such as maps, radio frequency sheets, notepads, pens, ration packs, even more mags or whatever else you can think to stick in there. One the left is a built in pistol holster which is a nice touch, on the right a square mesh pocket to help keep you organised. I might make some longer paracord pullers for the zips to make the internal pockets even easier to access. And on that note I’m relieved that there’s no velcro in sight (it’s a stealth thing) and the vest has fastex buckles which I find easy to use and clip back together with gloves on. In a hurry, it’s easy to pick up and sling the vest on and run without necessarily needing to fasten it up, so you can get yourself and your gear to safety. Unlike a chest rig, you can unclip the front buckles to go prone and not have to leave your kit behind. The mesh back is obviously very breathable in warmer weather or more intense engagements, and there’s plenty of straps to adjust this to fit you so it doesn’t bounce around. It’s just really well thought out.

I know a lot of players like molle because it’s customisable, but with the Ops Vest being so versatile with its pouches it’s not like you need to swap anything about – unless you run something that doesn’t use STANAG type mags. It’s a cracking piece of kit and I’m very impressed with how comfortable it is, and as with all surplus you’re saving a lot of money compared to Airsoft copies.

Next on the list will be a(nother) decent daysack to carry my camp kit in, if anyone has any suitable old school recommendations (30-50l) please drop it in the comments. As well as any suggestions for any mods to the vest; I’ve seen quite a few online. Big thanks to Colin for the constant inspiration – please go give the guy a follow.

GWOT loadouts incoming.