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Posted: 6/9/2007 3:32:37 PM EDT
| Anybody ordered from them? |
I would have to agree. I just checked out their site and it appears that they not only copy SOE desgins but HSGI and TAG as well....IMHO. Decent prices though. |
| I ordered a Surefire pouch from them a while ago. Last week I ordered a nalgene pouch and sling from them as well. I think they are a little slow on shipping things though. I don't know about them copying designs or anything but my understanding is that SOE became BDS Tactical. |
The story is long and complicated. His ex-wife mismanaged SOE and the quality dropped(the prices stayed the same though). When John came back, he started Original SOE, and the old company became BDS, a completely seperate outfit. BDS' gear is probably still a step up from regular production gear, but what I have seen is a step down from the gear that John made before he left and what he makes now. Some of the designs are the same and some have been changed. BDS, SOE, OSOE, or whatever. The company doesn;t really matter. If you want the best gear that can be bought, contact John Willis and he will make it for you, no matter what company he is with at the time. |
| I hope my stuff comes this week because I need it for a trip that I leave on next Monday. I like having a website to look at the gear I want to buy. Does John Willis have a site? How could I contact him? I always liked the looks of their products and heard good stuff about them. Didn't realize exactly what the change was and if quality had decreased. |
| Nevermind, I just found it www.originalsoegear.com I wish his site was fully developed and had pics of the products. Does he make all the gear himself? Is he kind of like EGL now, in that he produces high quality products but has more limited capacity than larger companies? |
John Willis stuff can be seen here: http://getoffthex.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/463106881/m/5761003613 |
The thing is about SOE is that you have to be patient. All his stuff is handmade and he does a great job. It took him 5 months to make my patrol vest and it was well worth the wait. |
I think he was referring to BDS and not SOE. |
Buy from John Willis! His gear is top notch primarily because he is a one man operation and his attention to detail is outstanding. I plan on getting the MWR from him in the near future not to mention utilizing him for most if not all of my future gear needs  RLTW |
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I have some pre- and post- John from SOE/BDS pieces, and for what I got, I didn't notice a big slide. My problem is if I'm ordering a piece of gear, I pretty much need it RFN, like "get it to the post office and en route to my local APO within about two days, please". I've only ever had the warning/lead time to go for bespoke custom pieces once. |
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I ordered some .308 mag pouches from BDS a few months back. There was a slight communication problem and the items did'nt ship when I was told they would. After the communication issue was resolved the items shipped with no problems. The mag pouches are tuff and I'm sure they will hold up. The price was good too. |
| I wont be doing business with BDS again. I placed an order on June 2nd for a sling and am still waiting for it. I sent an email asking about it and received a response on the 13th stating that it would be shipped by the end of the week. I placed order for AR related stuff from 5 other vendors on the same day and received everything within a week. BDS said that my multicam nalgene pouch was a specialty item and that it would be another few weeks for that. It's not like I'm asking for a custom chest rig or anything and they aren't a one person operation. I say take your business elsewhere. |
No I'm talking about BDS Tactical and not John Willis. I wont hesitate to buy from John after hearing such great reviews from everyone. |
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