...So, I'm looking at tactical vests for work right now.
I originally got a Condor Modular Operator Plate Carrier for the Guard to use as a Load Bearing Vest, which a few guys there swear by:
SPOILER: Show
And for the most part, I like it, not the least of which is the $70 price tag. The thing is, which they did NOT indicate, was the fraying: this thing frays like a son of a bitch.
Threads...everywhere. Very irritating.
Which is a shame, because I actually like the full MOLLE setup for the loops, the cummerbund method for putting it on (much more secure than a zipper: my issued LBV is functionally useless now because the zipper catch pulled itself apart, and the clips can't be tightened to the point that the LBV is secure in tactical movement), and just the way it feels. It sits right.
That being said, I paid $70, and I got a $70 LBV.
Now, I'm looking at a much more expensive, but much BETTER LBV: the Aegis Plate Carrier:
SPOILER: Show
They look the same, but are functionally very different, the most obvious being a lack of integrated side pouches for side plates (essentially, there are four plates a Soldier can be expected to wear: a front plate, a back plate, and if they're being very tacticool, two smaller side plates).
That being said, I've seen only one other Soldier in our entire Battalion using it. That Soldier, however...was recently inducted into the Order of Saint Maurice (one of the highest honors outside of the official military award system for an Infantry Soldier: essentially, a lifetime achievement recognition), is a career Platoon Sergeant and E7 (a senior NCO who is still a field leader), and one of the most respected Infantry Soldiers in the Battalion (much less the Company).
The point is, when this guy wants to talk to me, I stop what I'm doing to listen.
His personal rig is one that I drool over, and he has invested a lot of time into the arrangement of it, with magazine pouches, grenade pouches, extra material pouches, and an integrated camel back, all arranged so that all he needs to do is slip the whole thing on like a shirt, tighten the straps, and he's ready to rock.
This would be appealing to me, but the whole thing is $170.
Which, I don't mind that price. I spend twice that on boots, and if you want equipment that works, you need to pony up. The thing is, I want TWO of these.
I need load-bearing vests for both my jobs (since the ones issued really don't work well in the actuality of field conditions, go figure). So, my search for the perfect LBV may continue, but in the meantime, I may just pony up that $400 plus to have quality.
EDIT: While Secret Squirrel is a somewhat remembered Hanna Barbera character, today it's used as slang to mock the 'operator' mentality of a lot of tactically inclined organizations that really wish they were Delta Force and really, really aren't.