What is quality?
What is quality? According to the American Society of Quality, quality is –
1. the characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs;
2. a product or service free of deficiencies in“fitness for use;” or in a “conformance to requirements.”
You see the problem lies in a consuming public not knowing what really constitutes well made gear.
If you have condor gear in any color outside of multicam or ATACS AU and it was purchased between 2012-2013 then chances are it was made with us made MC and Atacs raw fabric out of Duro and Schott Performance.
That said, the geometry and methods used to construct their products are substandard at best with frequent deviations from specifications (most noticeably in PALS channel formation)
Sometimes the stitch length is as big as 4 stitches per inch on major surfaces up to 6 SPI, when your break strength is about 11lbs per stitch it does count when you start applying a warload.
Take a ruler alongside your stitches and see for yourself. .. measure the pals Webbing too, 1.5″ on center, 1″ gap in between
Rarely do you see any reinforcement to critical load bearing or contact surfaces (where material exposed to plate surfaces, or where Webbing is interfaced with platebag)… any sewn down Webbing should be finished in such a manner that there are no exposed ends to fray out and render that Webbing useless
It is stitched up just to be functionally able to act in its intended form, to hold a plate in a static form… but due to movement and the way things move in a dynamic sense, stress loads previously not present upon the sewn structures will suddenly undergo loading that will exceed stitch capacity and then pop goes the article.
Dimensionally speaking ALL pouches should fit exactly in between one or more pals channels and NOT extend beyond into another channel on either side
So is all this worth it to you? If you rationalize a 50.00 condor plate carrier as good enough, then I would submit that you need to reassess what is critical instead of getting something just because someone else is getting one too
That said, this is what I set out to compare yesterday… I bought a Condor Gunner release able PC, and a Mayflower / Velocity Scarab Light PC to compare both ends of the cost/build spectrum in terms of what 100.00 retail gets you and what 315.00 will get you.
First off, the Condor Gunner release able PC
“New with tag”
5 Stitch per inch throughout
Rear face of PC
Top half of rear face with “drag handle”
More on that later
That drag handle, a single thickness of 17337 webbing and it’s already pulling away from body face… not reinforced nor does it extend throughout the body of the pc to distribute it’s loading
Stitching to “taper” the handle.. not quite symmetric
Unreinforced joint interface… at least bartack or run multiple stitches through to keep in place
Loose thread from and unreinforced joint
Poorly prepped piece of loop with non-symmetrical stitching
Pals spacing… deviations
Front cbund flap with “kangaroo pouch” outboard channels are larger than spec
Stitching on QR pull tab
Stitch alignment and lack of symmetry against pc body edge
That close to edge increases likelihood of seam failure
Unfinished raw edges of nylon, and velcro… along with loose stitching
Deviations of PALS “gap” spacing. . Should be 1″
Gap spacing… should be 1″
Cbund flap / kangaroo pouch… unfinished… leads to unintended bulk and a failure point
Another view of joint of kangaroo pouch… this will tearout since it isn’t reinforced
Another view of joint, raw edges could simply be dealt with by rolling in the finished edging and then stitching down
Already pulling apart… not even had a player loaded
Front platebag flap… note unevenness of stitching
Platebag joint
Plate bag closure loop… it’s sewn onto the space mesh externally to mate with the hoop on flap. Problem lies in the material piling when exposed to hook snagging. Also note the stitching to the left… that’s for the two inch wide strap that hold the plate in
Detail of stitching through the spacer mesh for the loop inside the platebag. This means your plates are suspended by the spacer mesh only and is not reinforced
Detail of flap retainer strap… misaligned stitching
Hook side of front cbund flap/kangaroo pouch… all that loose threading was there at purchase time
Loops idea of front cbund attachment… notice lack of stitch “squaring” symmetry and non alignment of stitch boxes – off center
Single lines of stitching hold Velcro loop in place excess overhang can snag and tear out, and the closer the stitch line is to the edge… higher chance of tearout
Overhang .. should not be this much
Loose thread and misaligned stitching
The single point release derived from CIRAS SPR, uses a 1 in Webbing tab in lieu of a ripcord and dacron loop assembly. Once stacked, this assembly adds a full 1.5″ of depth to your setup
Unfinished edge on reverse side of SPR cover flap
Obverse of SPR cover flap
Stitching on cummerbund extension. .. note high tension cased malformed stitching “loops around Straight taut thread” appearance
Shoulder pads assembly
Shoulder strap with QRV release tunnel… showing exposed melted end rather than a folded over end to prevent friction fraying
Now the Velocity Systems Scarab Light PC (medium SAPI) but fitted with VS ULV 4mm plates
Scarab with front cbund flap removed. Non releaseable system no drag handle
Full width bartack on PALS
Representative stitch line found through this rig
8 stitch per inch
Stitching parallel to edging with reinforced layer joints
Laser cut finished edging on shoulder straps
Loop finishing… almost boring regular straights and alignments
Loop Webbing detail
Dimensional regularity
Reinforced points, but nowhere is the mesh lining stitched through
Rear face showing stitching alignment
Layering reinforcement where a second layer comes to an end over another
Bartack closeup
Bartacked pullflap
Channel alignment
Let’s stitch AND Bartack a cummerbund extension!
[…] CONDOR, Fox outdoors, voodoo Tactical, UnderTheGun and Rothco (Here is further input on the subject https://primaryandsecondary.com/what-is-quality/). Vests are a non starter, as are anything that has cross draw holster. Keep it simple and don’t […]