ALICE Webbing

From Left to Right : Ammo pouch (3x30rnd Stanag, 2x Frag Grenade on outside), Dummy M9 Bayonet Replica, 1QT Canteen Pouch, Butt Pack/Pouch, 1QT Canteen, Ammo Pouch, Compass/Field Dressing Pouch.

I spent the first year of my Airsoft journey playing in ALICE webbing, and I must say if it hadn't been for the pursual of a different style of Force Recon loadout due to vanity, plus a lack of funds to warrant having to sets of Load bearing equipment, I'd still have my good old ALICE platform. Highly regret selling it.

This post wont be a review of the pouches themselves and their respective brands - if there is demand this may come at a later date -  but for now I want to talk about the platform itself and how it was the start of my airsoft life. For anyone interested, the majority of the pouches as well as the belt and suspenders were made by Miltec and bought from Flecktarn.co.uk who sadly no longer sell all these parts. The Buttpack and Field Dressing pouch were bought from Soldier of Fortune. The Bayonet from Hong Kong via Ebay.

After my first Airsoft game I decided I wanted to take on building up an accurate representation of a real military unit, partly because I found the typical skirmish atmosphere wasnt suited to what I wanted from the game, partly because I'm a realism nerd, and lastly to fill the gap inbetween games with something to do. I knew I wanted to play along the lines of stealth/reconnaisance, but I also knew I didn't want to follow the crowd with a typical SAS/Delta Force/Navy SEALS rig. I spent some time trying to imagine what I could do before I had a eureka moment. When I was much younger, around 13, I had taken up running ; I had also compiled a list of USMC cadences to listen to whilst running due to aspirations of joining the Royal Marines but the British sadly lacking running cadences. Anyway, whilst listening to the cadences on youtube, I noticed a picture of some Marines who later transpired to be Force Reconaisance Marines :

Force Recon. Marines on a training Exercise. The Marine Circled being who I took inspiration from.

They had the mean and green look I wanted, they wore belt kit which was what I wanted to wear, they weren't as commonly portrayed as the SEALS, and more imporantly for me they were American so it could never be misconstrewed as a Walting attempt.

Onwards to the forums I went, armed with this reference image and the question, "What are these Marines wearing?" It wasn't long before I got some replies which colluded with my suspiscions of ALICE webbing due to the use of ALICE Packs ( The Large green Ruck's the Marines are wearing).

Within two weeks of finding out, I had acquired a replica set of ALICE Webbing and had assembled it, tried it on, took apart for adjustments and re-assembled more times than I could possibly count. It distributed the weight perfectly across my hips and shoulders meaning I barely noticed I had it on despite at times it weighing if memory serves me 8-10kg. Unfortunately at the time, due to still being at school and "funding" issues it would be another year before the base of the impression was completed - To say I was excited was an understatement!

The secondhand ICS m4 had just arrived and I couldn't wait to post a Loadout picture on AFUK and Arnie's! ( Don't worry the brim of my boonie got trimmed!)

 The Force Recon guys on Arnie's disagreed with eachother whether my reference image was actually ALICE webbing or an FLC with ALICE pouches but it didn't matter to me, I was chuffed with my new kit. It was comfortable, I could run in it, crawl in it and be an all round airsoft ninja as much as I felt like doing - though again, I would have a long wait before I found that out, due to the ICS being broken and the seller being a scam artist, but that's a story for another post!


When I got to my first game in my ALICE webbing, I was nervous to field test it. I had only played once before and it was a big jump from blending in clad in DPM and a DPM tac vest to now being the only guy on site in a USMC kit, my little 16 year old nerves were on the go for sure.  Fortunately a few rentals got talking to me about my kit and I began to relax. They stayed along with me for the day and the four of us made a pretty sweet little team!

Ol' ALICE served me well that day, she carried everything I needed and didn't dig in anywhere or cause me any discomfort. I was afforded a good level of agility, and being so easy to remove meant I could get into crawl spaces/ climb up onto firing points really easily. Crucially though, everything was within reach and easilly accesable.I loved it! Some more modern webbing set's I have tried have been a bit fiddly to get into in the heat of the action. My only criticism of the ALICE webbing that day was that when running it bounced about a good bit, making plenty of noise and hitting me in the posterior with the buttpack. Thought this was my own fault for not adjusting it correctly, soon remedied and bringing me up to actual ninja status.

I'm using hand gestures so you can tell these guys are getting sound advice!

Whilst writing this I've come to the conclusion I'm going to have to pick up another set of ALICE webbing now I've left school and can afford to have more than one set of equipment at a time. I'd still have my old set if I hadn't give into the assumptions that ALICE webbing was incorrect for a Force Recon loadout, years later it's come to light that it's more than correct with it often being used in place of modern equipment or combined with the FLC vest.

Hope you've enjoyed reading. Stay tuned till next time !