Whether you’re off to a paintball game, the shooting range, or a hunting trip, you need a reliable tactical vest with a holster. I’ve tested and ranked the best tactical plate carriers on amazon.
FYI, Prices and ratings are accurate as of time of writing.
1. Feyachi - Tactical Bulletproof Vest
Highlight: Quick release.
Helpful review: What I expecting much here? No. So I was pleasantly surprised. This vest's simple approach makes it perfect for an affordable and effective tac vest. It comes with several pouches and holsters, that stay in place under heavy use. What I mean is, you can wear this crawling on the ground, take it hunting, run through the scrub oak, and you'd still return with all of the stuff you put in the different pouches and holsters.
This vest will be unique on the range to keep stuff on the line and free my hands. The size is one size that adjusts to most. Again, the included pouches and the holsters are very well made and of very high quality. They will hold magazines and items, and will tolerate heavy use. This will work perfectly under everyday range use, including paintball or airsoft play. The other thing that will make this vest welcome for most shooters is its build material. If it is used for paintball or airsoft, remember - a heavy sweatshirt under it will be needed to stop the sting.
The vest is definitely heavy duty. The release mechanism has a magnetic system that is really cool and makes it really comfortable for everyday use. It carries belt-mounted items very well, and helps distribute the weight from the tons of gear that can be added between the shoulders and hips.
Let me add a few more words about that magnetic release mechanism. When you put on this vest, there are magnets that are attracted to the clips. You have buttons that release either the side pads or the shoulder pads. So as far as user-friendliness, the magnetic release makes this vest superb in comparison to others I've owned.
The vest will be a full torso length, including the belt in the design. Some wearers of this style vest that stops just under the ribcage have a comfort level issue.
As men's fashion wearers, a vest should go to the beltline, not stop halfway. The plate carrier-style vests stop short to allow items carried on the duty belt to not interact with the vest and the plates. If this short length is not used, removing magazines gets impossible at times, especially if the shooter is crouching undercover. This vest wears and fits like a regular vest and does not need to stop short due to not holding plates of any kind. So you can understand now why I'm so excited about it. It looks cool, and easy to run in. It offers many options for different uses, so I highly recommend it. — Brandon Rubin
Get it from Amazon now: $129.99 & FREE Returns
2. OneTigris - Military Vest
Highlight: Ideal for Airsoft and training.
Helpful review: This tactical vest is a plate-carry replica, meaning it holds plates designed to take the sting out of airsoft, not stop real bullets. For training, this airsoft tactical vest will be great and will hold up to many hours, probably years, of wear and tear running through the bushes and crawling along the ground if you are into that level of airsoft.
The same holds true for paintball; this tac vest will perform the job it was designed for a long time. The adjustable features will ensure it fits most average-sized players. However, for larger-than-XL folks, this vest will not work. The advertisements show the size range clearly, so this did not surprise me, nor did I expect it to fit bigger buddies.
The adjustable cummerbund works just like a true plate carrier. It will adjust for the initial fit when everyone is breathing normally and then adjust to allow heavy breathing after a few intensive bouts. The vest is designed to allow gear to be worn and deployed for a tactical belt or gun belt if it is used for police or security training as well.
Pockets, magazines, and carriers are attached to the vest via Molley Loops and Velcro. From what I have gathered while looking into this vest style and gear, I see that nearly anything with Molley will hook onto this vest. The Velcro cuff must carry lightweight items as the Mollie loops run right across most of the Velcro, making less connection between the hook and loop tape. Above the Mollie is a pure Velcro section that will hold almost anything you put there, so long as you don’t mind it touching your chin. This seems to be a favorite place to attach morale patches or name tags. The morale patches are great for camaraderie, and many are great fun, but they also make a lovely target to aim at; that choice is yours. — John A. Hicks
Get it from Amazon now: $99.98 & FREE Returns
3. vAv YAKEDA - Mag Carrier Vest
Highlight: Lightweight and versatile.
Helpful review: This tactical vest is different from the others. Instead of having dedicated external magazine pouches, it is made with large pockets. The pockets are zippered shut. The chest area has an extra-large pouch and a smaller one that fits below it. This vest will work great for EMS providers, especially the EMS I provided for many years on industrial sights. Whatever I decide to use this vest for in the future, having all the stuff I need at hand and easily removable for maneuverability or accessibility to the equipment will be a huge plus.
This tac vest is made as an H harness, and things are attached to it, but it is not a vest. This is the way I like to have load-bearing gear made. I think the reason I like this approach better is my body shape. With a broad and round shape, an H harness will fit me more than trying to fit me into a vest. The harness style will not be comfortable or spread the weight as well as an actual vest; that is the nature of the design. Think of this tact vest as wearing a backpack on your front. The
The way this vest is made and the pouches in the front will limit my ability to do things up close. The vest is also designed to attach more stuff to the pouches, which will take up a lot of up-close space. The included magazine pouches leave a little to be desired; they will work to hold extras when I am on the range, but that’s about it.
This vest is exactly what I want for ATV riding, especially in the fall when I may need warm gloves and hats for quick use as the weather changes, then changes back to warm. Having all of this handy right in front of me makes a simple pullover, and puts them on option versus pullover, stopping the machine, getting stuff out of the box on the back rack. The price for this tactical carrier is so low it is worth the shot to see if it will work, and if I don’t like it, I can always hang it on my passenger seat to hold stuff and keep it handy in the car. — Christopher W. DeVore
Get it from Amazon now: $59.99 & FREE Returns
4. Marmot - Lightweight Tactical Vest
Highlight: Full zipper front closure.
Helpful review: This tactical vest uses a front zipper and a quick-buckle belt. To put it on, it works like a backpack, even filled with gear, mostly loaded magazines. I pick it up, stick my arms through, and hike it to my shoulders. After getting it all set on my shoulders, I zip the front, click the belt, and am ready to get to the line and shoot.
The Marmot is not trying to be anything more than a place to hold stuff. There are no plate holders, pouches, or Mollie loops, just many places to store ammo. The pouches are held on the vest by Velcro patches. I can move different mag pouches to various areas using this modular setup. I desire to get more shotgun shell carriers for shooting traps. The vest has a right shoulder shooting pad that will not absorb much recoil, but it will keep the wear to a minimum from the recoil pads on the shotgun and keep the body tissues from getting bruised due to the recoil pad folding the skin when pulling the buttstock up to the shoulder.
The shotgun shell holder has exposed elastic loops to hold 12-gauge shells and a pocket to hold items behind the shells. I think I have a place to stash some eyeglass cleaner packets so my vision does not look like I am looking through an oil slick after about 20 rounds. If I did not want to carry a wallet, this would be a good place for ID and some cash for the vending machine.
The kit comes with a detachable holster for a cross-draw style. The holster is an OK build but made to fit the general size of the gun, so it is nothing special. It attaches to the vest via Velcro and is not secure or solidly attached. Due to the hook-and-loop attachment, it can sit vertically or horizontally, but it is still a poor way to secure the gun to your body.
The kit also has a nice belt in the vest and some pouches to fit that. On the left shoulder is where the owner's manual will say it fits a radio, and it does that very well. I can fit one of the little walkie-talkies we use on the range or in the ATVs, and its location near my ears makes it easy to hear when someone calls me. The one hang-up I wish someone would address is making this radio pouch more of a cell phone pouch.
The vest's material is heavy-duty mesh, and the adjustment straps are simple to strap and buckle. The hang-up with this setup is the leftover strap length and where it goes. I fixed this with the old-fashioned garage fix of black electrical tape. The shoulder adjustments are the same, and some may say they are overly simple; I say they did not offer a fix for a problem I did not have. The shoulders have D rings sewn in to attach a knapsack with a quick-release snap. — Robert McAvoy
Get it from Amazon now: $59.99 & FREE Returns
5. FIREGEAR - Tactical Vest for Men
Highlight: Designed so one-size-fits-most.
Helpful review: One day, I was thinking about carrying stuff on my four-wheeler when heading to the backcountry, and my mind stopped on tactical vests. So, like most folks in the world, I went on Amazon, as well as to the local big-box sporting goods stores, and looked and thought long and hard about how tactical vests would work for me and what I do.
This vest immediately caught my attention because of the sizing ability they claimed. The vest has M4 (AR15) magazine pouches built on a three-in-one panel. The kit also comes with some Molle soft pocket attachments. The soft pocket attachments are singles so I could put them anywhere I felt I needed one. One great feature this vest is designed with is the movable and unique Rapid Open Connectors in place of clips or buckles to keep the vest in place. The vest also has a drag loop sewn into the top if needed.
The vest's body is made with 1000D fabric and feels very tough. I have not run it through the scrub oak for a year or so to see how it holds up yet. The vest is also built with some breathable features, which I greatly appreciate. The breathable material is 3D mesh airflow material and is placed to make the wearer as comfortable as possible when wearing this vest. The shoulder strap caught my attention the most. The shoulder straps are padded and wide; this displaces the weight and makes the time spent in the vest very happy.
This thing is covered in Mollie attachments, being one of the universal ways to add gear carrying until it weighs more than I can pick up. This vest is also designed to hold plates front and back in case someone feels a need to add this protection. The tactical vest is like a jump kit turned inside out. My only hang-up with adding stuff to the outside of this vest is that it can be ripped off in the brush and trees. I have not had stuff ripped off, and I know no one has, so this is just an observation of something that could happen. — Cam Coleman
Get it from Amazon now: $49.99 & FREE Returns
6. GLORYFIRE - Combat Vest
Highlight: Detachable pistol holster.
Helpful review: A new one to me with a tac vest is a removable cummerbund that will ensure the vest does not interfere with a duty belt if that is how you carry your items. This vest is also a paintball or airsoft load-bearing vest.
It is made to hold M4-style magazines or AK-style magazines in the rifle holders; the pistol magazine holders may be better suited for flashlights or batons than loaded pistol magazines. The pistol magazine pouches are a bit too loose for running and jumping around, so make sure you feel good about putting pistol mags in there for your gun model.
The material is made of heavy-duty 5000 D fabric, and they use high tensile strength thread. That’s great to hear. What exactly does it mean? That means the material and threads can deal with a lot of heavy use, so heavy stuff will not pull the threads apart. The pouches and holster are attached by Mollie and not Velcro, so the pistol holster will stay on the vest instead of falling off with anything more than a slow walk. Speaking of the pistol holster, it is switch-handed, able to change from right-handed to left-handed with simple changes, and secures solidly to the front of the vest.
The pistol holster will work for a cross-draw style action but will not sit at any angle; it will only sit with the barrel vertically. This is good for keeping the gun off the belt or another gun handy, just in case. Why would someone need two handguns? I live in Utah, and I can, that’s why. I prefer a more canted or even horizontal barrel for a faster and smoother draw, but then the muzzle points to the person on my left, so I carry the chest-mounted gun in condition one, chamber empty.
One point to make about this vest is that the paperwork says its sizes range from small to XXXL. Then they say with the Retro Kit, the waist size can expand to 85 inches. To me, that seems like wishful thinking or a very lousy-fitting vest. I did not spend the money to find out because I don’t need an airsoft vest more than a review to see if this one will do what I need it to do. — Anthony D. Bowling
Get it from Amazon now: $59.99 & FREE Returns
7. vAv YAKEDA - Airsoft Vest
Highlight: Breathing channels designed to keep the player cool.
Helpful review: This is another air-soft training load-bearing vest. The magazine pouches work well for rifle-style magazines, and the pistol magazine carriers are snap-shut styles of keepers, and to me, that is looking for a way to lose magazines. The pouches are made to attach to Mollie loops and have more Mollie loops sewn. I could stack stuff on this vest until I could not lift it to put it on.
This vest is not made for full-figured players, so my neighbor's son inherited it right after I reviewed it. The armor plate carrier pockets are the right size to carry plates, but this is an airsoft vest and should not be used in an arena that requires steel plates. Use the airsoft plates to keep the bruising down, and you will be fine.
To a negative point or impractical point anyway, this vest has mag pouches on the back. Unless I do much more yoga, I must remove the vest or have my partner retrieve a magazine. It seems as if a restock of ammo and magazines is to be carried. They should have built a way to attach a rucksack-like pouch that could be removed and get my stuff out of it.
The padded shoulder straps make carrying weight placed in and on the vest very easy, as well as how the vest forms the body and distributes the weight for a vest to hold all the magazines while at the shooting line at the range. This thing was excellent, and kept all my gear on my person and not lying behind me in the dirt and sagebrush. But keeping all my items on me, I also did not worry about things disappearing when I was focused forward on targets. — Robert Pike
Get it from Amazon now: $105.99 & FREE Returns
8. MG FLASHFORCE - Tactical Shooting Vest
Highlight: This vest works like a tool belt.
Helpful review: This vest has a map or purse-like pouch that can be mounted to the Mollie loops. The pouch on the outside of the map is covered with Velcro. I can only think this will hold name and morale patches. I did see some patches that would be great to have on a Tac Vest. For patches, it is a blood-type patch. Usually, they are put on the hat of a shooter or in the laces of a shooter's boots.
The front of the shoulder area is also covered with Mollie loops, so radios or a radio microphone can be hooked up to this area, which works well for communications. When I was in the ARMY, we carried our trauma bandages there on the LBE (Load Bearing Equipment). The LBE I am talking about was a set of heavy suspenders attached to the duty belt that carried all the weight. We also held the angled head flashlight on the LBE shoulder straps.
The sides and shoulders are attached utilizing a quick-release buckle like we have all seen on gun belts; just a pinch, and it is released. The side panels are velcroid on wide straps; then, the buckle snaps together to ensure the vest is tight and secure. The vest is also equipped with a drag handle sewed to the back, just lower than the nape of the neck. The handle sewn in this area will work great to lift the head of the victim but will make it harder to drag a full-sized person. The other issue is that a handle placed in this area will make a great handle to pull a person to the ground the hard way, and the wearer is nearly impossible to stop.
The sizes range from Small to Double-XL, and that is all. This vest is made for what is called average-sized folks. For people with smaller frames, this vest will fit better and not make them feel like they are wearing a box. This vest does not have a place to insert panels of any kind, so it will not take the sting out of paintballs, but it will also not hold all the heat inside the shooter's vest. So, if you play airsoft or train force-on-force style in the heat of the summer, this one will be the best choice for you. — Jeff Gilbert
Get it from Amazon now: $38.99 & FREE Returns
9. GZ XINXING - Military Tactical Vest
Highlight: Hydration pack pocket.
Helpful review: This setup is the only one I have reviewed that had a hydration pack pocket built into it. Not a plate pocket that can hold a hydration pack but a purpose-built pocket. The vest material is made from a heavy-duty non-stretching style of mesh. All mesh will distort when pulled; that is the nature of mesh material. Many tactical vests made from mesh use a lesser-weight material, and the mesh will stretch when pulled. The mesh that can pull is also weak when the vest is loaded with heavily loaded magazines and other gear.
The kit comes with a one-size-fits-most pistol holster. The holster is attached to Velcro, so that is not a will in my book. If the vests that use Velcro to hold the holster on the vest used a strap to ensure it is safely secured to the vest, I may change my mind unless they attach the retention strap with Velcro. The way everything is attached with Velcro allows this vest to be assembled in whatever way fits the shooter and the use of this vest.
The vest does not have plate pouches, so again, if you're used to paintball, wear a heavy sweatshirt or get used to showing off some bruises. The vest does use Velcro on the sides, so the shooter can move pouches or pockets to the side and not have everything out front or buy more pouches and load it up until it's hard to walk. The vest zips up to the front, putting it on as quickly as a jacket.
The kit comes with a very thick, heavy-duty nylon belt that is secured to the vest by keepers. Get a set of keepers and hook the belt to the pants belt, and it will stay in the exact place it is supposed to stay. Inside the vest are two document pouches, as the manufacturer calls them. I don’t know why anyone would need a document pouch besides a map and compass if I find myself in an unfamiliar place.
One thing I must disclose about this vest is that it is very inexpensive and made of materials, especially pouches and pockets. If this vest is used as it should be, it will work fine. If this vest is put into a harsh use environment, it may come undone and fall apart. This vest is one of the few I have seen that states out loud that it is machine washable. I don’t think the pouches should spend much time in the washer, but the vest that gets all sweaty can get washed and keep it clean and sanitary. — Kim Crawford
Get it from Amazon now: $39.99 & FREE Returns