Edition VI | Shopping List | MARSOC 2010-2011

So, you want to do an impression, but you are on a tight budget? You want to get to know all the basics and continue from there? Well then, I think you’ve come to the right place.

On this first edition of ‘Shopping List’ we’ll be walking through the basic setup of a MARINE RAIDER kit in the 2010 till 2011 timeframe. We will be going over some images, highlighting some parts and give you some feedback on how to start things and then proceed form there onwards. We will also be talking about some channels where you could discuss your progress and ask for feedback on how to go even further in creating your RAIDER impression.

So, let’s start off.

Marine Raider?

Yeah man, Marine RAIDERS, they are the USMC’s special forces unit. They are quite a new unit in the game as far as SF forces go. But they be kicking ass overseas, doing stuffy-stuff for some years now.

We will not dive really into the unit itself and it’s history. I recommend do your own research on the Raiders first and maybe get back to this article when you’ve done that. I will post some more info and pages where you can be brought up to speed about MARSOC, who they exactly are and what they do.

In this article we’ll be focussing on the 2010-2011 time period. This is the period that’s dominated by Eagle Industries Khaki / MJK / SFLCS gear sets. Some FROG and MCCUU Desert MARPAT (NOT AOR1!) clothing. MICH helmets and the Block II setups. So, you could just finish reading here, or continue further for some more info and more extensive kit lists and pic breakdowns. Don’t expect a complete A-Z guide. But we’ll be talking about the basics of the kit and some more budget friendly brands and options. This should be a ‘beginner / low-budget’ impression. Targeted at people getting started or for teams to be inspired and step up their game. So, let us dive into it right now!

Helmet, starting from the top

The helmet you’ll see the unit wear the most is a;

tan ACH / MICH 2000 helmet. It’s a helmet that’s readily available in real deal form or as a repro version. Realsteel prices, I would assume, are around $200 - $350 USD, defined by condition and size. Repro ones are insanely cheap and can be found almost everywhere on the Asian market for example AliExpress. The only thing you should worry about when buying from Asia is the sizing. Will the helmet fit your head? Most often the only available option is: “one-size-fits-all”. But in truth it’s more “one-size-fits-some”.

On the helmet you’ll most often see a;

Norotos 3-hole NVG shroud. You can find a real one online. For Americans it’s easier than for people outside of the US #thanksITAR. Luckily, replicas are readily available on the Asian market.

Put a Norotos TATM on there if you like. It’s not something that is constantly being worn,. although some operators rock these things during the day as well.

Other various details and items that you could use are:

Surefire HL-1 helmet light (replica available)
Goggle Retention bands
MS2000 strobe sometimes seen (replica available)
Petzl headlight.
This is kinda hard if you want it to be specific and correct, you would be looking for an older gen that was used in the 2010-2011 era. But as these things will be harder and harder to get. You could get away with a new gen as a placeholder. It’s up to you to decide.
Add Velcro, a lot of Velcro
Or tape, a lot of tape.

I would say that with a rough estimation the stuff would cost around this. *

Helmet - $200-350
Norotos 3 hole - $40-80

But if we opt for the cheap way:

Helmet – $50-80
Norotos 3 hole - $10-25
Surefire HL-1 - $30
MS2000 strobe – $6-20

Prices are based on things that we could find on eBay or easily accessible web shops. Sometimes you can find things cheaper in (Facebook) sales groups, etcetera. But for the sake of simplicity, we did a quick browse on (US) eBay.

1st line, let’s cross this

Ok , you might be thinking; what is the 1st line? Let me explain. The load carrying set is divided in 3 lines. You have the 1st line which is the belt setup, the 2nd line which is the plate carrier and then you have the 3rd line. Which will be a backpack for example. The 3rd one I would say is optional and not really something you would focus on most of the times. For milsims, sure, but for dayskirms, nah.

The first line is also quite easy and not too expensive. Most of the stuff you’ll find on eBay, are not ITAR or can even be found in your local dump store. You have the regular rigger belt setups, the war belts and of course the fanny pack swag.

So, let’s go through each one:

Riggers belts are the normal belts you will wear to keep the pants up. But it’s also a thing operator attach some gear to. Like holsters, (pistol / mag) pouches and other stuff they might need. Sometimes they use a separate belt that goes over the belt that keeps their pants up. Sometimes they just have all the stuff directly attached to their pant belt. This can be a little cumbersome, especially if you’re changing pants. As you’ll have to undo every pouch on the belt before you can switch to your new pants. And the pouches are able to move around more if you have not fastened them with, for example, a rubber band.

There are many brands to choose from, Blackhawk Industries is quite common. There is also London Bridge Training (LBT) and some other brands. But it’s not something you’ll go wrong on when picking one. Find one that fits your needs.

War belts are belts that have some form of molle. You wear these over your pants. This makes the war belts easy to take off, switch a layer of clothing and don them again. Personally, I’m a huge fan of these. The molle allows for securing the pouches good and tight. Most often war belts are padded, making them more comfortable than the riggers belt. The padding in conjunction with the wider profile distributes the weight more evenly on your hips. They’re not that expensive and can be found really easy on eBay. The Eagle SFLCS one for example.

Fanny packs are also quite common. Some operators wear them over their battle belt, others use just the fanny as a standalone item. Fanny packs have multiple uses, from IFAK to GP pouch to whatever you may want it to hold on the Airsoft field. The correct, issued, Eagle Industries one, is quite rare to find unfortunately. This makes it an expensive option repro’s are available, but again. They seem to be more often out of stock, rather than in stock.

Fanny packs are sometimes accompanied by a multitool pouch or Tourniquet on the waistline. When used as an IFAK, operators have been seen to have drawn a cross on the pack as IFAK identification.

Pouches are used in all forms and sorts. Mostly you will see the Eagle Industries SFLCS series of pouches. They are the most common ones in this era, but there are some other pouches you will not really recognise from the SFLCS series, for example the CSM dumper. Most of the operators have kept this one from their Marine Force Recon (MFR) roots and kept it when switching to the MARSOC teams. Another thing you will see is, of course, the holster for the M45A1 service pistol.

Also, pouches are often designed with a purpose in mind. For example, a M60 pouch is designed to hold M60 magazines. But you could easily repurpose this into a General Purpose (GP) pouch or any another kind of use. The motto ‘Marines make do’ is something you should not take lightly. If you can find a different purpose for a pouch, there is a chance a crayon-eater would have thought about this too.

There are other types of pouches and brands used, but I’ll give you some homework to discover these yourself.

Rough estimation for these parts would be something along the lines;

Rigger’s belt - $8-40
War belt - $30
Eagle Fanny pack – $90-130
Pouches are all over the place, but I think that a rough estimate of a ‘cheap’ pouch and the most ‘expensive’ pouch would be somewhere between $10-100. Depending on quality and stuff.
CSM dumpers are quite expensive for around $80
SDS dumpers are a good replacement option for less than $40.

You are now 2nd in line…

Ok, the first line is the plate carrier. I think this would be the most crucial piece of gear and should be the first thing you need to invest in.

You have some pretty popular choices like the Eagle MBAV and the MAR-CIRAS being the most common. An RBAV is sometimes seen but not really that common. Then you’ll have the option of a chest rig in the form of an Eagle RRV and that would then be combined with a PACA as the armour layer. There are some extra things here and there, but this is part of the homework assignment.

Then of course you have the pouches that go onto the plate carrier. Same goes here for the pouches of the 1st line. There are pouches that are common, and you’ll have pouches that are not common or are a personal / private purchase of the operators. But if you want to start off, go with the Eagle SFLCS pouch series, as that is what they got issued at the time. Again, they are plentiful and cheap. So, for more budget minded people, it is a good starter. And you can always add new pouches later that are more exotic or interesting.

But for a basic pouch set that you’ll see on most the rigs, that would be something along the lines like:

- Triple M4 mag pouch
- Double M4 mag pouch
- Single M4 mag pouch
- Smoke pouch
- MBITR pouch
- Frag grenade pouch
- Hydro bladder pouch
- IFAK pouch
- 9x3x5 general purpose (GP) pouch (hard to find online)
- 9mm pistol pouch (kydex)
- M4 kydex pouch

Most of the items above are easy to find and some are rarer / harder to source. Most of them can be found quite cheap if you have some patience, and there are some dealers in the EU that could also help you source them.

Again, you want to start on the bottom step of the ladder and work your way up. You don’t need to go out and buy everything in one go. And for the rarer pouc hes, there are Chinesium counterparts that you could use as a placeholder. It makes your rig look good and “finished” and later on, you can change these

Chinese / repro pouches out for the real deal. If you so desire.

Rough estimations regarding prices:

MBAV - $90-250 depending on size. If you’re a S/M size, you’re on the good side of the money pool.
MAR-CIRAS - $80-140, again depending on size. But a lot cheaper than the MBAV fortunately.
The PACA is currently not listed as this is quite a rare item online and something you won’t be able to import in the EU. Unless you can find one without the armour inserts that is. I would say they go from $180-250 depending on version and condition. But a Chinesium copy will do just fine for bb wars.
The pouches will also, again, vary from $10-100 depending on which ones you’ll buy.

My 3rd line is better than your 3rd line

We’ll discuss it really quick here. 3rd line options come in 3 forms. Packs, Hybrids and backpacks.

Packs are storage method that is attached straight to your plate carrier. They are usually Molle mounted to the back. Making it so that when the carrier is worn, items inside are accessed by teammates rather than yourself. A quite common example of a pack you can strap to the plate carrier is the MAP (Modular Assault Pack) from the SFLCS series.

Then you’ll have the Eagle Industries BTAP being not so common, but it’s a nice hybrid between the MAP and a bigger backpack. This one can also be attached to the plate carrier itself, but I think it’s purpose is better served as a backpack.

Lastly you have the backpack options like the Eagle Patrol pack and some other civilian packs that are used by Raiders. Again, ‘Marines make do’ is something you can use here. Some MARSOC operators bought normal off-the-shelf backpacks from Kelty or The North Face during operations. Like a daypack in some cases e.g.

Rough estimations regarding pricing;

- BTAP - $170-200
- MAP - $80-110
- Patrol / Civilian backpack - $80-150. This is a steep slope; you can’t use every civilian backpack and there is a lot of logical thinking and reference checking needed. Look more at outdoor brands not necessarily your backpack from high school. And please do not let it be a vibrant colour. That is just asking to be spotted.

Clothing

For clothing it’s not too difficult. MARSOC is a unit that is part of the United States Marine Corps (USMC). So, they’re also wearing a lot of the USMC clothing as they get these issued as well as normal marines.

So, for clothing you have a few options that are really easy to source and quite cheap:

FROG clothing sets in Desert and Woodland MARPAT.
MCCUU clothing sets in Desert and Woodland MARPAT
BDU clothing sets in M81 camo pattern.

MCCUU’s and FROG’s are the standard issue for the USMC. The MCCUU is quite old and has been phased out by the FROG in most cases. But the MCCUU could be a cheap alternative for people that want to save some extra bucks. Please be warned that MARPAT and AOR are NOT THE SAME. This is a misconception some beginners have made. And I was one of them. The thing to spot the easiest is that the MARPAT fabric has the USMC crest in the fabric. For AOR it has the USN (United States Navy) crest embedded. Also, the AOR are like 9/10 times more expensive, while the MARPAT sets (especially FROG desert and MCCUU Desert & Woodland) are pretty easy and cheap to find.

For the MARPAT woodland set in FROG there are some astonishing prices going on eBay. It has to do that USMC marines don’t get the woodland FROG’s issued in the same quantity as the desert ones. It’s a quantity meets demand kinda thing.

If you want Woodland MARPAT, go with the MCCUU set. Maybe let your mom, grandmother or local tailor have it raidmodded and then use that. Unless you’re able to spend 200,- on a FROG set in woodland.

The M81 BDU’s are the most common during deployments. MARSOC used them specially to blend in with the partner forces, as they all have the M81 camo patterns as their standard issue camo clothing pattern. The BDU’s can be a little harder to find from time to time. But I would advise to have a look in your local dump store. If you want to go an extra mile, have the ones that are raidmodded or have them be raidmodded yourself (again, mom, grandmother or local tailor are your friends in this case).

Oh, and let me point out. That if you’re not a ‘normal / average’ sized person. You’ll be having trouble on either finding your size or paying a lot of extra money for that uncommon size. So just beware of that.