Home
I don't have good pictures YET; will post them..
as some of you guys know, there are Korean made knockoff LC equipment for the commercial market; in many surplus stores, they are either priced the same or more than USGI gear, in a few, they are a few dollars cheaper than the USGI equipment; this thread focus only on the knock-offs from Korea/Asia, not on the commercial LC equipment available through Eagle, Blackhawk, or London Bridge Trading; or even Tactical Tailor and FMCO.
examples of known Korean knock off pouches and gear;
buttpacks,-these do not use fastex/ITW-Nexus buckles, that is an easy way to tell compared to the MLCE buttpacks and Field packs from the 80s for the M1967 contract specs
LC belt/harness (often you will see that they also sell the M1967 style H harnesses) there are 3 examples of the LC belts I have come across, and own two...one has the white metal M1956 style buckle, another has the side release buckles, but plastic keepers, and the third uses the dark green buckle pieces and white metal belt keepers where the USGI gear has brass belt keepers; also the material on them are weaker and easier to deform around the white metal grommets
belt extenders-Merc recently bought one that had dark green buckles but fit his gray buckled LC belts; the one I had did not fit the LC belt, yet fit the green buckled RUCKSACK belt that came on my 1976 contract LC rucksack
M16 triple magazine pouch
Shotshell pouch-truth be told, they're marketed by Rothco and are not that great of pouches for shotguns, the ones I have, 5 of them LOL are for trap shooting and only retains the bottom 1" of each shell, and pops them out way too easily; I plan on making a bunch with bandoleer webbing to retain more of the shell bodies.
rubberized E-tool cover-there are a few from Korea, but many I've seen in store are marked Germany or HEER and are in the same greenish gray color as their G3 pouches, the Koreans are a brighter green than the NATO/USGI green-blue pouches
LBVS- they always come in 3-5 colors, bright olive green, black, tan, desert 3 colors and 6 colors(HARD TO FIND!) the easiest thing to tell its Korean is the tag on the back of the vest, as well as white "made in korea" tag attached to the same green tag;
number 1 way to tell; COLOR. the colors are often a little off, or a brighter shade of Olive but not blue at all; or they are black or a shade of desert tan.
secondly, they have small stickers on some buckles, saying Made In Korea; others have a white tag inside the pouch saying the same thing.
third, the snaps are weaker on the canteen covers; and the lining looks like a mix of batting with threads in them; rather than the fur lining; some have green synth fur lining that feels slippery and cheap.
the majority of the knockoff pouches and gear does not have "US" stamped on them.
here is the hard part. there are some photos of US guys with the 3 color LBVs, and with the tan Y suspenders and tan belts; even though those are NOT USGI, they were bought since they blended better with the DCU uniforms and were cheaper or easier to use than the MOLLE systems at the time.
as some of you guys know, there are Korean made knockoff LC equipment for the commercial market; in many surplus stores, they are either priced the same or more than USGI gear, in a few, they are a few dollars cheaper than the USGI equipment; this thread focus only on the knock-offs from Korea/Asia, not on the commercial LC equipment available through Eagle, Blackhawk, or London Bridge Trading; or even Tactical Tailor and FMCO.
examples of known Korean knock off pouches and gear;
buttpacks,-these do not use fastex/ITW-Nexus buckles, that is an easy way to tell compared to the MLCE buttpacks and Field packs from the 80s for the M1967 contract specs
LC belt/harness (often you will see that they also sell the M1967 style H harnesses) there are 3 examples of the LC belts I have come across, and own two...one has the white metal M1956 style buckle, another has the side release buckles, but plastic keepers, and the third uses the dark green buckle pieces and white metal belt keepers where the USGI gear has brass belt keepers; also the material on them are weaker and easier to deform around the white metal grommets
belt extenders-Merc recently bought one that had dark green buckles but fit his gray buckled LC belts; the one I had did not fit the LC belt, yet fit the green buckled RUCKSACK belt that came on my 1976 contract LC rucksack
M16 triple magazine pouch
Shotshell pouch-truth be told, they're marketed by Rothco and are not that great of pouches for shotguns, the ones I have, 5 of them LOL are for trap shooting and only retains the bottom 1" of each shell, and pops them out way too easily; I plan on making a bunch with bandoleer webbing to retain more of the shell bodies.
rubberized E-tool cover-there are a few from Korea, but many I've seen in store are marked Germany or HEER and are in the same greenish gray color as their G3 pouches, the Koreans are a brighter green than the NATO/USGI green-blue pouches
LBVS- they always come in 3-5 colors, bright olive green, black, tan, desert 3 colors and 6 colors(HARD TO FIND!) the easiest thing to tell its Korean is the tag on the back of the vest, as well as white "made in korea" tag attached to the same green tag;
number 1 way to tell; COLOR. the colors are often a little off, or a brighter shade of Olive but not blue at all; or they are black or a shade of desert tan.
secondly, they have small stickers on some buckles, saying Made In Korea; others have a white tag inside the pouch saying the same thing.
third, the snaps are weaker on the canteen covers; and the lining looks like a mix of batting with threads in them; rather than the fur lining; some have green synth fur lining that feels slippery and cheap.
the majority of the knockoff pouches and gear does not have "US" stamped on them.
here is the hard part. there are some photos of US guys with the 3 color LBVs, and with the tan Y suspenders and tan belts; even though those are NOT USGI, they were bought since they blended better with the DCU uniforms and were cheaper or easier to use than the MOLLE systems at the time.
