Third party shoulder pads can cheaply and easily transform the comfort – and thus usability – of a PC. I recently looked at Ferro’s shoulder pads and now turn my attention to Crye’s offering in their AVS range.
The AVS (Adaptive Vest System) is like Lego and some of the components are cross-platform – like the Padded Shoulder Covers Set. This set isn’t to be confused with the shoulder covers which ship with the JPC 2.0 or the fully set up AVS itself. While the latter two carriers do come with shoulder covers – which are more like unpadded sleeves – the Padded Shoulder Cover Set is a different, more fully featured product.
Presented here in Multicam, my eye is immediately drawn to the stitching. OK, Crye’s gear is mass produced, so I can let them off a little. The shoulder pads are inexpensive and while there is nothing here which will cause the pads to fail, the quality is consistent with the low price. “Adequate” is probably the most honest thing to say. Having said that, the stitch count is impressive and there are bar tacks in all the right places.
Communications and hydro routing is managed with One-Wrap, which is a form of Velcro that I really like, being non-abrasive on the hook side.
The covers are structured in three leaves, closed with Velcro. They feature pockets which contain 0.25″ foam padding. This is fully removable.
The middle leaf feature both hook and loop Velcro strips, which add versatility when affixing the covers to the underside of a PC’s shoulder straps – all possibilities catered for.
Want more Crye reviews? You can find a whole list of them here. The list is updated as more reviews are published.
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