Having recently written my winter loadout review it seemed – for a short while – like the British weather was going to skip spring altogether and go directly to summer. But, apparently, the recent hot weather was a rouse and we are not back to good old spring overcast days, with threatening showers. The key word, though, is 'unpredictable', and as likely as not we could end up airsofting  in some very warm weather, overcast or not.

Spring Bekas

The new Russian BDU set – BEKAS – is the uniform of choice for this season, but I hasten to add that this is in no way a compromise in quality.  Maybe you think that Russian kit means ‘cheap’ and ‘shoddy’, but that old Soviet stereotype is well and truly obsolete when you actually see Bekas kit first hand.

Left: Russian Army 'Tiger' Bekas, with Team AKA badges. I found the colours ideal for shadey woodland. This set is from Red Soldier, in the USA and cost £50 including the shipping. Click on picture to enlarge.

Bekas are superbly made, easily better than my British Army Soldier 95 BDUs! There are some many well design touches to this uniform set, so much so that one finds oneself reading the labels to double check that this is indeed ‘made in Russia’.

Two particular features jump out as being inspirational and highly practical. First of all there is the mesh venting at the armpit and crotch areas of the suit, which allows the circulation of air to these areas. Next there is the integral ‘gators’ that tuck into your boots, allowing the elasticated trouser bottoms to ‘blouse’ at the top of the boot. No need for either draw strings (which inevitably come loose) or ‘trouser twists’.

Small things, but which show that the Russian Army no longer ‘makes do’ these days. I’d highly recommend the Bekas – available in a variety of camouflage – over any Western BDU, and would say that the quality of manufacture easily equals premier companies like 5.11.

My choice of camouflage for spring is the Russian Army Tiger design, ideal for the spring woodland sites – with their shaded green foliage.

Load carrying

Webbing wise, I am completely inseparable from my Russian M23 Pioneer chest rig at the moment. It is the ideal load carrying compromise for airsoft, in my opinion, where the airsofter does not require a complete infantry webbing ensemble, with all its superfluous pouches. Neither is the chest rig as restricting as a vest type rig, allowing plenty of ventilation and movement.

The M23 keeps everything up front and immediately available, but it does have enough pockets to stash all those little accessories that the airsofter just cannot do without. Most of all, though, it allows me to carry up to eight AK mags, and is – again – superbly manufactured, so won’t fall apart after even the most abusive treatment.

I do add one additional pouch to this setup, however, a canteen holder. As the weather starts to warm up, a litre canteen of water is indispensable (refilled from additional water bottles kept back at the Regen point).

And that’s very much it, as I have trimmed down the amount I carry since I first started aisroft. Anything else required has to be small enough to fit in the Bekas plethora of pockets, or it is kept back at Regen.

Protection and accessories

Even after all the games I have played since I started, I have not come to any firm decision about face/eye protection, and the best system to use. Goggles and glasses offer a good compromise between a level of authenticity and a level of protection. Face masks don’t fog and offer the best level of protection, but do somewhat spoil the loadout impression.

Left: Not ideal - because of my 'big heed' - but the mask provided plenty of ventilation and protection, a degree of tactical camoflague (without having to resort to messy camo face paint) and didn't steam up. I just need a bigger one!

The only system I will not accommodate is the shooting glasses style ‘protection’, as I just do not believe they offer anything but the most cursory protection at all. And I will not take chances with my eyes.

So my general rule of thumb is, if goggles suit the loadout I am trying to achieve, I will go with them. But where protection is the utmost goal (if I fancy a bout of close quarters action, for example) then a facemask is what I wear.

Ankle supporting military boots are a must (still using my cheapy Tracpacs, but I am considering an upgrade as I am a little unhappy with the fitting.).

Unmentionables

Something new I tried out is a change of underwear! No, I don’t just mean that I finally changed my underwear, I mean that I tried some of those specialist sporting base layer togs.

I bought some of the Under Armour Heat Gear range to try out, as there is nothing worse than bunched up sweaty undies on a warm day. Having tried them out I can honestly say that I am impressed. You kind of get used to products that promise much, but which don’t really live up to the publicity material – but Heat Gear really does do what it says in the blurb!

Left: Under Armour Heat Gear - I was somewhat disappointed that this T-Shirt did not give me the physique it shows in the picture! The gear is available in black, white or olive drab.

Initially, you might find them a little more fitted than you are used to – putting them on, it felt like that opening scene in ‘Batman and Robin’ where they are shoe horned into those rubber second skins! But after a while, you forget about them – the compression shorts ‘keep everything in place’, if you know what I mean, and the T-Shirt is very comfortable.

Both items do what they are designed to do – they mop up the sweat, and suck it away from the skin to the outer layer, where it is in turn soaked up by your outer layer or evaporates. It made a very pleasant change not to have to put up with that pool of cold sweat at the base of my spine on the long drive home. The Under Armour gear felt completely dry, and thus I was a lot more comfortable through out the day.

Conclusion

So there you have it. The theme of this loadout seems to be, comfort, coolness, ventilation and light-weight. And to be honest, aside from a change of camo this setup might very well do just fine for my summer loadout too, with just the addition of a hydration pack of some sort.

(Spring loadout first used on Sunday 11th May, 'Dark Horizons' themed event at South Yorkshire AIrsoft Proteus Camp.  Restricted ammo, weapon of choice: CYMA AK74.)

Supplier links:

> Bekas: www.redsoldier.com, set: £50
> Under Armour www.sofmilitary.co.uk - set: £40
> Badges: In Stitches, Scarborough, £32