Ginger’s Tactical Gear is a pretty young Polish brand that has so far focused solely on sewing gear for military units and formations. This year, however, GTG has decided to conquer civilian market. The first product that has fallen into the hands of retail clients is a plate carrier.
GPC, or Ginger’s Plate Carrier, is a functional, modular vest for ballistic plates, which offers a wide range of configurations addressing the needs of an individual user.
CONSTRUCTION AND CRAFTSMANSHIP
The GPC was sent to us in an esthetic cardboard box. The vest itself has been additionally packed in a thick plastic bag. The box also contained an embroidered patch and a set of stickers with the producer’s logo.
The GPC is made of original Cordura® 500D. Our piece is in PenCott® GreenZone camouflage, but of course there are other patterns available. Entirely made in Poland, Ginger’s gear impresses with the attention to details, including neat seams, stitches strengthened in critical places, or omnipresent emroidery. We have been greatly surprised by the manufacturer as our vest has been provided with an embroiderd logo of Gear Addicts – a small thing and it can bring a lot of joy 🙂
The vest is offered as a base (two panels – front and back – joined with shoulder straps), which can be matched with any of the dedicated front flaps and cummerbunds (full offer to be found here). We have chosen a kangaroo front flap for three ak/m4 magazine slots and a three-band skeletal cummerbund with MOLLE straps.
The GPC can easily fit ballistic plates (unfortunately, we could use only dummy plates, both hollow and heavy ones).
The front panel features a replaceable flap attached to the base with a solid Velcro. In addition, it has been secured through the use of two snap fasteners that are to prevent from accidental opening.
The kangaroo front flap features three rows of MOLLE straps divided into six loops. It can fit up to three STANAG or AK mags. Internal compartments have been made of elastic straps. Additionally, mags are kept in place by shockcord with strap handles.
Above the flap we find two-row MOLLE mounting platform. The lower and longer strap has been divided into six loops, while the upper and shorter one – into four. The straps have been additionally provided with Velcro for attaching patches, name tags and other insignia.
The back panel has been equipped with six-row MOLLE mounting platform (five straps divided into six loops and one shorter strap – into four). We can also find here the already mentioned straps with Velcro for insignia. The panel also features an emergency drag handle.
On the inside, both panels have been lined with inserts made of solid mesh for better ventilation.
Shoulder straps are quite wide, hence they distribute weight evenly, even with a heavily loaded vest. They have been also provided with some extra Velcros for a hydration system hose.
Shoulder straps can be adjusted by pulling off a special “sleeve”, which is, however, pretty tight and makes the process quite difficult. The producer chose this solution to keep the low profile of the straps. Nevertheless, we found out that in the near future GTG is to release dedicated comfort pads, to be purchased separately.
Three-band cummerbunds (side panels) that we chose for our set have skeletal design and provide a three-row MOLLE mounting platform (with eight loops on each strap). They give good ventilation, while elastic tapes (in the rear part of the cummerbunds) not only make them stretchy, but also guarantee the comfort of unrestrained breathing. Additionally, the cummerbund straps have been strengthened with plastic inserts.
The cummerbunds are attached to the base with strong Velcros, accessible after lifting the flaps on both panels.
USE
We’ve had the GPC since March this year. At that time, we had the opportunity to test the vest in Multicam® pattern, with elastic M4 cummerbunds and SPEED M4 front flap (see pictures below).
Since the vest proved to be a very fine piece of gear, we decided to order it in our favourite PennCott® GreenZone camo. Undoubtedly, the biggest advantage of the plate carrier from Ginger’s is its modularity, hence we wanted to try out the version with straps in MOLLE system, which gives greater possibility to attach additional elements (such as ammo or cargo pouches ).
Fully configured vest ready for action!
The vest has been worn by a few members of our team and everybody has agreed on one thing – it’s very comfortable and light. It distributes weight very well (both in the case of plates and some additional equipment). The aforementioned inconveniences connected with the adjustment of shoulder straps were mainly connected with the fact that the vest had more than one user, which simply forced us to adjust it every single time.
The stiffened skeletal cummerbunds work great, keeping in place even heavy pouches, and the applied Velcros are really strong and reliable, which makes it almost impossible for any equipment to change its position.
PenCott® Princess in the field, or Klaudia wearing new GPC from Ginger’s (fot. Marek Pracz a.k.a “Markowe fotografie“).
Furthermore, the vest has turned out to be very durable. We’ve been using it for more than six months in various weather conditions (in sun and rain), and we haven’t noticed any ripping seams, wears and tears, or even fading colors. The materials used are of the highest quality, which matches the standard of craftsmanship.
Summing up, the GPC is a very good plate carrier mady by the Polish manufacturer. We highly recommend it to everyone looking for a product offering a wide variety of configuration possibilities and future modifications. We cannot wait to see the next, hopefully equally successful, tactical gear from Ginger’s 🙂
Advantages:
+ comfort,
+ durability,
+ lightweigt,
+ attention to details.
Drawbacks:
– shoulder straps adjustment.
|
SPECIFICATION:
|
|
Products by Ginger’s Tactical Gear may be purchased at gtg.com.pl
/Roger/
Translated by /Coral/
