I know, I know that this has been discussed in too many an airsoft forum, and too many an airsoft blog. But this issue of buying cheap gear, and usually are rip-offs of the high quality designs, won't really go away, no matter how you wished it to be. It will always come out in any discussion about gear whether in military and airsoft communities.

In airsoft, a lot of us are guilty, and we better admit it, that we do buy these rip-offs to achieve that loadout/look that we want and we'll also grudgingly admit that any purchase of a cheap copy of that Crye Precision JPC means a loss of revenue for that company, which also means money lost that could have been devoted to further development of even more reliable gear. If you want to talk about being patriotic and helping the U.S. economy, lost money that could be devoted to hiring American workers.

Having  read the Mad Duo of Breach, Bang and Clear's Weekly Rant called "Flight Of the Condor", they also illustrate the issue of quality and prices of gear that cannot be trusted and appear inside Military PX Stores. Perhaps it's a policy of the Defense Commissary Agency of providing affordable stuff inside PX or Base Exchanges, but the Mad Duo propose that really high quality gear that service men and women will be relying on should be the only products that will be available at these stores, and provided that they also be offered at reasonable prices.

In the case of Airsoft, it is still very much debatable, but most players agree that ripping-off designs are bad, but a lot would still condone it just to get that "loadout" at a cheaper price. However, there are areas where there should always be no compromise, and those are safety gear that should protect sensitive parts of our bodies especially our eyes, hands and feet; and gear required in emergencies such as carabiners and paracords.

Where do you think airsoft players should not skimp on?