Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

[ThatblokewiththeScar.]

Hello.

I like many of you received an email saying that the above plate carrier was on sale, Yippe! So after lying to the wife I put in an order for one post-haste.


What is it?

Well it's a plate carrier! This means it's a tactical garment that holds mags and pouches etc and has housings front and back to allow the use of Ballistic plates (bullet proofing) not really much use for us but this is real world kit and these things are important if people are shooting at you with live ammo.

The carrier has six bungee retention mag pouches as well as full Molle webbing on the front and back. The carrier is the over the shoulder plate type as opposed to the vest type many of us have. It also differs from the RICAS type of carrier in that it is much less bulky and weighs a lot less.

What is it made of?

The material is 1000D Cordura which is a very heavy canvas bag type material. It feels and indeed is very good quality and will I suspect stand up to a substantial amount of abuse. The vest is covered with 1inch webbing this means just about every type of Molle pouch will happily find a home on here somewhere. All the stitching seams (get it! SEAMS) to be very well done and is double stitched. The plastic buckles also appear tough, although I would imagine that if anything is going to let go on this then it will be the plastic bit's.

What do you get?

Well the Vest itself Looks like the normal chest rig setup that we all know and love. The difference's here are that it has a Back Panel to house the ballistic plate and a series of integrated Bungee mag pouches in the front cummerbund. These pouches Will hold a variety of magazines, as you can see in the pic's from left to right we have two MP5 Long mags, Two P90 Mags and Two M4/M16 Mags. Also on the left is an MEU which fits extremely well as does a Glock 18, M9, MK23 etc. This vest will also accommodate the bigger 7.62 mags from the AK and M14 to the G3 range.

Officially the vest can hold up to 10 x M4 5.56mm mags or 6 x 7.62 AK Mags though the M14 mags are a bit of a squeeze both they and the G3 mags sit quite happily in there. The pouches are surprisingly deep! I had to pull the M4 mags up for the photo's otherwise you would not of seen them. The bungee straps are adjustable via a Velcro patch (see pic's) and can be removed completely if required. It should be noted that the outer two pouches are a very tight fit and only one M4 mag can be carried here. But these two pouches do make excellent holders for Back-up pistols, smoke/flash-bangs, mars bars etc.

The upper chest plate is foldable being attached by two press-studs but is difficult to fold and immensely uncomfortable to wear like that. It has a secret compartment behind the Molle Loop's held shut with Velcro. It is big enough to almost swallow my MEU but will suffice for documents itineraries as well as wallet's, car keys, mobile etc. Behind this is the Ballistic plate carrier pouch. This vest is supplied with Two stand in plates made from heavy foam wrapped in a thick tent like materiel. I personally will remove these when playing as I am big enough around the middle without adding another inch or so. The removable back panel has the same though larger housing for the foam plate and can be removed at will.

The shoulder straps are nice and wide and have adjustable padding, that for now seems comfortable enough. The shoulder straps also have two D-rings for attaching whatever you attach to such things. The adjustment on this vest is Huge! I doubt there is anyone that needs this amount of adjustment! One size does indeed fit all.

The inside of the vest is lined with that mesh that keeps you cool and the mostly flat lining will sit well over whatever you choose to wear (if anything).

Is it any good?

It's made by Warrior and it's only forty quid! What do you think!

There is no denying the quality of this vest. When you consider that a Viper Chest Rig with no pouches will set you back about £30 and a Webtex about £40 and they don't come with integrated pouches or plate carriers or the back panel then this has to be a bl**dy bargain. Plus I just bought it so I'm not likely to say it's pant's now am I.

This rig will hold most if not all the Mags we use from MP5 to P90 how many systems can say that? It is comfortable to wear and having a higher cut means you can sit down without it smacking you in the chin. You can still add lots of pouches and a BlackHawk Cross-Draw if you so wish.

Should I by one?

Oh My Yes! :D:D:D

[Swordfish]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

Nice post. Ive been looking for a p90 vest for ages, Can you only fit one mag in each pouch or can you fit 2 in face too face? Do the middle 4 puches all fit p90 mags in? Looks like the buckle might get in the way?

Awesome review again, nice pics!

[ThatblokewiththeScar.]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

Hi. It is just about possible to squeeze 2 P90 mags into the center pouches but it doesn't really work. The vest will however carry Six mags with no problem whatsoever (see pic). You can't use the bungees on the P90 mags but to be honest I will probably remove the bungee's from this vest unless I use one pouch for a pistol or radio. The mags are held in quite firmly but pull out far easier than any other P90 pouch I have ever tried. They do stick out quite a bit but I cant see them falling out unless you start diving over bunkers etc. If for no other reason than to hold P90 mags this vest is worth every penny. Glad you liked the review will try and do more as time allows :D

[Swordfish]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

Thanks for the pic. I will prob try a Pantac P90 puch on the front or just get some shock cord and redo the bungees, looks like it should be a simple rethread.

[ThatblokewiththeScar.]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

It's not so much that the Bungee's are not long enough (which they are not) it's more that if you want a fast reload you need to have the mag round side up and of coure this means that any Bungee will just slide of the top! You could put the mags in the other way round but that means turning them before putting them in the gun. My son (who only use's P90's) does not wear a vest prefering a drop-leg with the pouches on that, is considering getting one of these simply because of how quickly a mag can be drawn and reloaded.

[spetsnazdave87]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

Its worth noting that Warrior have expanded on the RPC design and combined it with their 901 range to create the 'Centurion'- basically a plate-taking 901 chest rig with integrated pouches for up to nine mags!

[bravotwozero]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

I got 10 into mine.

[Swordfish]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

It's not so much that the Bungee's are not long enough (which they are not) it's more that if you want a fast reload you need to have the mag round side up and of coure this means that any Bungee will just slide of the top! You could put the mags in the other way round but that means turning them before putting them in the gun. My son (who only use's P90's) does not wear a vest prefering a drop-leg with the pouches on that, is considering getting one of these simply because of how quickly a mag can be drawn and reloaded.

I did think of drop legs but it worked out more than the vest and TBH I hate things on my legs when trying to move quickly. So the vest is ideal. I mainly play CQB so i dont need the bungess, im either standing or kneeling, however for woods and stuff Bungess would just add some security. I can always use my old SAAV, but i find the kidney pouches awkward as hell.
You said the Mags are secure though so i've ordered one in Tan :D It will also work with the rifle i get after crimbo too!

[ThatblokewiththeScar.]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

I think it is hard to beat this design for over all practicallity. I still have my eye's on a full set RICAS but my next purchase will probably be a Black TMV. Later this year if I get to play some longer games this vest will I am sure come in to it's own as it allows the addition of many pouches and as the back plate sits well above your belt it wont interfear with water bottles, dump-pouches etc.

[lothario]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

OK well mine arrived yesterday and i have a small problem with the design, while there great for Aramlite type mags the slight hook on the side of my Aug mags does at the moment cause problems pulling the mags back out as it catch's on the inside of the pouchs , and the extra bulk means you can only get 6 mags in the vest.

I am currently loading all the pouches and leaving them for a few days to let them take the shape to see if it fix's the problem having released the bunjie retainers it does seem to have eased the problem a little but we will have to see.

also once the vest is on the curve of it going round my body does increased the tension on the mags again.

still for other mags its awsome just not so much for the aug type.

[ThatblokewiththeScar.]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

I used to get the same problem with the AUG mags. Didn't matter what pouch they always caught on something! Leaving them in stretch a little is a good idea. What do you think of the fake plate inserts in or out?

[Fizzy]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

What do you think of the fake plate inserts in or out?

On mine, I left the back one in, but took the front one out.

[lothario]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

as above removed the front plate for now, but mainly to reduce the overall tension to ease mag release as above and left the back one in.

usually i dont have a problem with Aug mags in anything else, even plce pouch's. its simply due to the fact that the front pouch's are actually just one long pouch with about 2" of webbing stitched in to the top of each to create a devide, as a result it creates an edge inside that my mags catch on.

for any smooth sided mag they seem sweet though its a really nice bit of kit and pouch's are nice and deep ideally suited to armalite mags with magpuls on.

[Swordfish]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

Got mine. For p90 mags, the fact that the tension increases when you tighten the straps is good, makes them very secure. I leave the front plate in as helps with the tension. Been trying to work out were to put some utility pouches atm as well. Proving difficult.

[spetsnazdave87]

Re: Warrior W-RPC-7 Plate Carrier in O/D

I received my Centurion... really really nice. With replica sapi plates installed and the backplate strapped on it fits together very well, I think it'll be even more comfortable when I get some soft armour for underneath. Theres a zippered pocket between the rig and the mag pouches, which is good for stuffing bits and bobs, but its full of molle loops as well so if you wanted to put open-topped mag pouches and stuff in there you can do that too

Ill do a full review once my camera starts working again!