During our SHOT Show coverage we told you about SOTECH’s Recce Vest based on the item issued to the British SAS for decades and officially known as the Pack, Lightweight Combat. Now, their modernized version is available for order.
SOTECH presents a high ride vest that rides above gun belts / LBE Harnesses and over plate carriers.
The Recce Vest was designed as a lightweight vest with large pocket capacity to be folded up in your pocket or pack. While this is ideal for recce applications, it is also well suited for SERE, narcotics eradication, motor bike use, and numerous other uses.
This vest has some improvements over the UK models with flap or shock cord retention on the two smaller front pouches – you can engage the flap, or fold it away to use just the shock cord. We also added a cinchable storm hood to the back pack for retention. The vest is made of 500D Cordura for lightweight durability. Removable foam insert providing padding for optics and electronics sold separately.
Features:
• 5 Compartments (4 front pockets, 1 Rear pack)
• Lightweight design, small buckles, ¾ in webbing
• Dimensions:
-Rear Pack- 10″ x 12″ x 4.5″
-Large Front Pockets- 9.5″ x 6″ x 2.5″
-Smaller Front Pockets- 5″ x 4″ x 1.5″
• Material: 500D Cordura Nylon®, Elastic, Small Polymer Buckles, Heavy webbing
• Made in the USA
sotechtactical.com/products/sas-recon-vest
Tags: S.O.Tech
Modern chest rigs and plate carriers are much more trim, this looks ungainly. But Ive never actually worn it…
Hi Gerard, the vest is designed to go over a slim plate carrier, and as the trend is to move battle load down onto a gun belt, this rides above that. And the idea is to provide large pockets to take your large ungainly loads such as optics, range finders, MREs, marker panels, etc and put them in a large pocket that is mounted to the body at a point of high center of gravity. And its generally used as a temporary carry option, as you don’t always carry those large objects. For those using it for a more permanent carry, such as a SAR medic or a motor bike operator, they will have to judge the vest once worn. I hope this give a little of our perspective in the design without sounding preachy about the vest. I appreciate your input.
As a slick armor guy who has rigged up several of these over the years by butchering molle ii duck vests I love this. Awesome rig to wear on QRF or guard as it can hold tons of ammo, medical gear or other equipment.
Nice one Jim!
Jim, I’m a paramedic with a rural municipal fire department that does quit a bit of SAR. Have you thought about making these in solid colors? This vest would be perfect for taking medical supplies and survival items on our longer rescues. Thanks
Yes, we are planing on making these CB, RG and Black to start. We are fielding this vest with medics in aviation, field, and SAR, so I’d love your input.
Will this b available in good colours? (Not MC)? I like what you’ve done mostly. But not the colour. OD would b awesome but FG would seem to match your more usual materials. Please!
My bad Ranger green not Foliage. But OD is still preceded , kidding, sort of.
Jim, will this be available in Ranger Green? Awesome piece!
Sorry, a white version might be popular too.
I would definitely consider one in ranger green, grey, or coyote. Multicam….not so much. Thanks for considering a different color.
Exactly the same here.
+1 on that! This is a great recon rig and E+E. Would love to see it in OD or coyote. I think I would pass out if M81 came to party.
Price is quite reasonable too.
This is not a progressive design, no serious end user would utilise this for a combat or recce rig.
The tribe has spoken – we will offer different colors. Coyote for sure and probably RG. I will check on availability of the light mesh in Ranger or Olive Green. Check back tomorrow! Thank you for the kind words and enthusiasm. I’ve had a prototype of this for about 3 years, and my friend (who is the same guy responsible for our tubular go bag design) got me to finally add this to the line up.
I’m going to second the vote for Woodland camo. I’d like to also recommend Desert Tiger Stripe’ and maybe sort of a respectful tribute to the Rhodesian SAS and Selous Scout camo patterns.
And British DPM would be nice as well. Arid version too.
RE: small pouches. 5x4x1.5 is HxWxD, correct? That’s more than the WxD of an FAL or AR10 type mag, so how loose are they with the shock cord retention or should we consider adding some foam or something for that application?
RE: rucksack straps/closure. The SSD photos from SHOT show two SRB straps to close the rear pouch but the entry on SOTech (reposted here as pic 3 of 4) shows one. Which is it.
Also, what is the design driver that keeps the rear straps form being full length, cinch straps for whatever load you put in the back?
I designed the small pouches so you can fit your fist in it to get small items out. We have a drop in pad that is designed to cushion delicate optics/electronics devices. So the larger pouch accepts the padding better than the original British pouches. The foam would also pad to tighten it up around rifle mags. The shock cord secures inside the large pouches and is adjustable by changing the knot length. You can fit 2 M4 mags, but that is alot of weight forward. Hope this helps!
The pack has double buckles on the final version.
And I will take a look at the length of the cinch straps on the back pack! Thanks for the input. I designed it this way to minimize weight, but I’ll take a look at what this would add.
Very responsive. I can’t wait to get one! Good on ya & your technical advisor.
I immediately thought “SAW/M240 gunner”. Large front pouches should be ideal for belted ammo. SOTECH Jim, I know you guys tried to stick to the original design and from there stems the “pack” design, but how about a PLCE bergen side pocket attachment for the back? Just seems more practical IMHO.
Interesting idea Pieter, I’ll take a look at that for the next generation!
Looks very well suited for what it’s designed for, recon. Consider putting a small pouch on top of the flap of the large front pockets, for a GPS or compass.