[Groombug]

In addition to the reasons stated above, authentic gear usually carries a heftier price tag because:

1. Authentic gear, or the stuff replica gear is patterned after, also has high costs because it is usually backed up with a full, no-questions asked, lifetime warranty. Eagle, Paraclete and HSGI all have top-notch customer relations. If something they made broke or failed, they take it as a failure of the company to ensure quality products and will do everything in their power to rectify the mistake.

How many replica gear makers back their shit up with warranties of any kind? If your Proud RAV falls apart, who are you going to email? Is Proud going to pay the shipping for your RAV back to Asia, and the return trip back to you, express overnight? Are they going to replace your broken RAV with a new one?


2. Authentic gear is also usually the product of extensive R&D and field testing by authentic BTDT shoot-n-scooters. The Paraclete RAV and Eagle CIRAS, to name a few, didn't just materialize out of some cordura lover's head out of nowhere. There was feedback from the community, demanding an armour-LBV combination that could be doffed quickly in emergencies, and also utilized this new shit called MOLLE. Paraclete and Eagle said "Yeah, we can build one" and set about consulting and developing these products. They're STILL R&Ding and testing. If you look at RAV 2002 and RAV 2005, there's a huge difference. Improvements and input from the community for community needs. Part of the bigger price tag is because companies need to recoup those R&D costs, just as any other business would after pouring that kind of money into it.

What R&D did Phantom do for its CIRAS? It was one guy scouring ebay for a cheap REAL CIRAS, having it shipped to Asia, where a bunch of guys fondled and took it apart, reverse-engineered it, and then promptly made their own. Ever wonder why Chinese antibiotics look remarkably similar to Pfizer's, but is exponentially cheaper? Skipping R&D is a great way to cut costs. Why develop your own shit when you can copy someone else's, and you know there is a definite demand for that product?


3. Authentic gear companies' biggest customers are not civilians. It is the military, and the military demands best bang for buck. While we're buying CIRAS for $400, the US military is procuring them at $150 (loose example). On top of the rig itself, Eagle also has to supply a billion pouches in various denominations (to kit out, for example, the Eagle gonzo deployment package). Did I also mention they have to deliver on time, sometimes thousands of items in a few weeks' notice? Mass-produced as it is, Eagle (or any authentic gear maker) is not like Ford, with production plants everywhere. Most companies have one plant, and they make every product in their inventory on one shop floor. Some orders are easy to handle, for example, to kit out one particular NSW group. Others, like the Spartan II, is now standard issue for the entire USMC. That's a lotta cordura, and a lotta machine time. Civilians are not discouraged, but they do pay a higher premium for these products, because the companies must ensure they can deliver to Uncle Sam on time and on budget.

What other group does replica gear cater to, except for avid airsofters and maybe cheap-ass collectors? They don't have any deadlines, they have no repercussions if they don't deliver x quatity in z time. They may mass-produce their products, but like above, there's no start-up R&D costs. In the end, this fully-commercialized model means costs can cut everywhere, and the end consumer (us) gets the bargain. If I was a soldier waiting to deploy in a month, I would want my kit ASAP, not whenever stock becomes available. If I was an airsofter planning for a summer of fun, I can probably afford to wait a little, and there is no consequence in it being late.


4. Authentic gear makers also, differing from company to company, do custom orders for non-inventory stuff. There are a number of 'niche' demands in terms of specific gear oriented for one or two specific tasks that call for something other than what is commercially available. LBT and SOE are two particular companies that have a ton of custom stuff that sometimes never make it to market. If you think 1961A was hot stuff, there's more where that came from. These custom orders (often as little as 10 items, or 1, if you're in the 'in' crowd) have to go through an expedited R&D, prototype, and final design in a matter of weeks, and there is unlikely to be any further production of the item after the group that demanded it has gotten their stock. It costs a lot. You've got to recoup costs somewhere, and it ain't going to be charging the military more money.

When was the last time replica gear companies made custom anything? From what I remember, I think it was a magazine pouch that was an ugly gangbang between two existing pouch designs, and even then it was pulled off with classic copycat style - performs like shit since no forethought was put into whether the design would actually work. If you don't have to set aside a part of your production line and stock materials for the possibility of custom orders, suddenly you're a hell of a lot more streamlined. Sounds like cost-cutting to me.


In the end, the reason why authentic gear is more expensive is because it is oriented to a different market and have a number factors that drive up costs for civilians. Replica gear is made specifically for airsofters and are not tied down or held back by other priorities.