Thanks to a friend of mine 'bcasbi', I have the opportunity to publish his review of the VSO Smersh
The VSO (витязь спецоснащение // Vityaz Special Purpose) is a Belorussian Company, with a distribution office in Poland. The company’s profile is the „eastern block’s” military suits and accessories, and their main target is the airsoft community.
So after this intro let’s start with the important things: What is the VSO Smersh like?
The fabric is the same as the SSO/SPOSN . I got this information from Greg-„VSO UK” facebook admin. The fabric is a bit shiny, but not that glossy-cheap way, and it’s good at all! We’ve ordered five sets in the same time, and when we received the package from the postman, we only could say: WTF…?!
We’ve only found 5 butt-packs instead of the Smersh sets…. So We’ve opened the butt-packs and realized that the VSO guys are professionals in packaging, I might say only the guys from the HK webshops can do it better. Only the narrow belt was outside of the buttpack.
After opening the „BP”, this was the view:
The wide belt’s sutures are strong, but it has no padding inside. IMO
it’s not a must for me, the shoulder straps carry the most of the
weight. The D-rings are all made of metal, quality pieces.
The narrow belt is a robust and strong , with Velcros on both ends. The
plastic buckle is nice, not that knock-knock-break style, strong and
flexible material. It will never decluth. The size is pretty easy to
set, and was easily set between. (maybe less and more, but I only had
these two teammates in these ultra sizes.)
An other main component is a shoulder harness. It is thick-padded, wide
enough and soft touch. Ont he outer side it has some molle-like sewings
(or maybe a cousin of the molle, from Russia). You can put flashlight,
bayonet, anything or whatever. In front of the chest there’s a metal
fastener, what is easy to set. Under this fastener there’s a nice and
soft fabric, so this will never harm You or your suit. But You can
remove it in a second if not needed. On both sides there are D-rings,
and You can attach the fasteners of the butt-pack to these. This way
You’ll be able to put your „BP” right in front of You, and this will
help to search inside for your accessories.
The Butt-pack is fairly big, and can be set on many ways. There are two
5cm wide strips on both sides, just one more place to thread things. On
the bottom side there are approx 80 cm long straps, wick You can use to
carry a sleeping bag or a poncho. In the inner side there’s a symphatic
thing: The inside layer is the same fabric than on the outside, and it
can be tightened with a plastic button. You can even wear this BP like a
backpack if needed. The top has two layers, and between these there’s a
pocket closed with Velcro. The mouth of the pocket is narrow, but has
more space inside.
Two AK magazine pouches are included in the set. 2 AK magazines can be
stored inside (the caliber no matters) easily, but after removing the Velcro-fixed spacer one more magazine can be fit. So this way 3
magazines can be carried in one pocket, and still easy to use them. So
overall 3+3 magazines can be stored in each pouch. Grenade pouches are
there for You on both sides. There’s a thin string with a metal button
inside, what will fix the things inside. I put my ham radio in for the
photos. Between the grenade and the magazine pocket there’s a place for
the flares. The rubber ring will hold the flare quite well. The pouches
are fixed to each other, so this will minimize the movement and the
wobble while running.
The last part of my set is the medic pouch. I can’t tell a lot of thing
about it. Velcro-fixed, so You can use it wherever needed. Simple,
strong, perfect.
The set contains VOG pouches, but I don’t have it. It wasn’t necessary for me.
Overall I am totally satisfied with this product. It exceeds my expectations, comfortable, nicely modular and I can carry everything what I need for an airsoft game.
