CWU-33 Survival Vest

Submitted by SGT Pigg

I am a grunt who fought with 3 I.D. in 03 and 05 in Iraq and was a Sniper in 05. I can tell you I used to spend up to four days at a time in OPs.  The R.A.C.K. gear is great, until you have to go prone with it on. As a sniper in a Mech. unit, I liked the Air Crew Vest the best. It is all MOLLE and you can set it up as long as you ditch the harness. Plus, you still have the back area for more gear when not mounted. I bought mine on E-Bay for about 40 Bucks. I don’t know how that can kill a pocket book at all.

ED -- SGT. Pigg, I assume you're refering to the CWU-33 Aircrew Survival Vest pictured above.  I agree, the all MOLLE construction makes it a better choice for hanging stuff on than would the RACK, but I wonder how well it would fit over body armor.  I have one of the older nylon mesh aircrew survival vests and to test the theory I tried to put it on over my interceptor (I used books in place of SAPI plates.)  It wouldn't fit.

Also, as you pointed out, the only place I've ever found these for sale (on line that is) is on e-bay, where they seem to be running in the $15-30 range.

Has anyone ever tried out one of these in the dirt beetle role?

Comments

[Dave]

Air crew, huh...?
This looks like a good choice for LE or civilian folks that wear lighter body armor and want something to hold a couple magazines or shotgun shells and some incidentals. This might be a good thing to have in your other hand when you bail out of a vehicle.

[Chris]

I used the Air Crew Vest during my deployment and found it to the best thing sense ...... well, sliced bread .... as long as you do 2 modifications. 1) You have to cut away the hareness, obvious reasons. 2) I cut the shoulder out of the vest. I placed the cut along the collar bone of the vest (if my memory serves my right) along the reinforced nylon seam. Then I used gutted Para Cord and laced the should back up. This, in addition to the adjustment capabilities along the spine of the back, allowed it to be worn over the Interceptor. I was lucky enough to find 6 at DRMO, so mine were free. WHat I liked was that I could take the vest off once I was inside the wire and could leave it all set-up for missions.

[Chris]

I used the Air Crew Vest during my deployment and found it to the best thing sense ...... well, sliced bread .... as long as you do 2 modifications. 1) You have to cut away the hareness, obvious reasons. 2) I cut the shoulder out of the vest. I placed the cut along the collar bone of the vest (if my memory serves my right) along the reinforced nylon seam. Then I used gutted Para Cord and laced the should back up. This, in addition to the adjustment capabilities along the spine of the back, allowed it to be worn over the Interceptor. I was lucky enough to find 6 at DRMO, so mine were free. WHat I liked was that I could take the vest off once I was inside the wire and could leave it all set-up for missions.