Eagle vs. Blackhawk?

S

SIGarmed

New member
Ok folks. For those of you who've used both brands of packs,bags,hydration systems et cetera.
Which brand is better and why?
I notice that Blackhawk seems to have a lot of stuff I've seen produced by Eagle first. I'm interested in both brands though. Eagle even seems to be more cost effective.
 
Have a lot of both. I really can't see much difference between them. Only thing is I really do kinda like the rubberized Blackhawk zipper pulls.

I tend to buy whichever the local dealer is pushing. Quality-wise, not much to choose between them.
 
What sold me on Blackhawk was the explosion graphics on their website.

Kablooie! Pazow! Whoosh! Boom!

And the guys in nightvision! Yeah, TACTICAL!

team.jpg

See this fellow here? He's ULTIMATELY TACTICAL! KAPOW!

And the "tactical assault gloves" they started pushing right after September 11th, with Pres. Bush's quote "we will bring them to justice, or bring justice to them". That REALLY impressed me. :rolleyes:

Check out FMCO.
 
I have a ton of Blackhawk gear. I use it mainly for competition and during training classes.

However, I recently found out that BH is producing some of their line in Vietnam.

I will be buying Eagle in the future, so I will let you know how the Eagle stuff holds up.

Justin
 
I have had several pieces of Blackhawk gear in the last year and a half that has had bad stitching right out of the package. Before that I had no problem. I have a LOT of Eagle gear and it has been all excellent except for a spell of about 4 months during the first of the year when they were really pumping out the gear. The Eagle pieces I have received recently have all been great. I have a couple of Eagle A III packs, a Large Airborne pack, Drag Bag plus numerous cases and bags and a lot of their small pieces and holsters and they are all excellent pieces of gear. I have a couple of the CamelBak Storms and a CamelBak Mule and they are great, I have not tried the HydraStorm by Blackhawk so I can't comment on it. I dont care for the Nitaneon material Blackhawk uses, I think it feels cheap compared to the Cordura that Eagle uses.

If you are in a hurry Eagle might dissapoint you however, I have had items on order for 3-4 months before receiving them. Blackhawk has never made me wait for more than a couple of days.

I have also used High Speed Gear and SOE and they are both EXCELLENT.

Good Luck, Mike
 
Kablooie! Pazow! Whoosh! Boom! And the guys in nightvision! Yeah, TACTICAL! See this fellow here? He's ULTIMATELY TACTICAL! KAPOW!
Click to expand...

LOL That is the funniest thing I have read in a while!!!

SOE Gear is top notch BTW. Their web page has more holes in it than a muzzle brake though.
 
FMCO (see link above) makes good stuff. Their customer service is simply top notch, too. They've patiently answered each and every one of my questions regarding their stuff.

I've ordered a CamelBak carrier designed to work with the GI load bearing vest. I'll review it when I receive it.

Whereas Blackhawk...I dunno. I'm sorry, but all the explosions and stuff on their website just strike me as immature seeming. Like they're trying to appeal to the mall ninja crowd.

Kablam!
 
Sadly, I think Blackhawk has moved on to different pastures. All the cheesey ads and making their stuff out of country bothers me.
I think NightCrawler put it well when he says it seems that they are going after the "mall ninja" crowd.

Why in the hell would I want to carry foreign stuff into harms way if I have a choice? Since I'm paying for it I have a choice and I have made mine.

I have found several bags in the market here in Korea that I swear are Blackhawks. Don't even want them at the "special deal price".

I have an Eagle belt that has served me well for years. Recently bought the A III packs (large for me, reg for my XO). Haven't beat them up too bad yet. However, the use that they have gotten they have performed very well. He loves his and I am very impressed with the workmanship of mine.

Go with Eagle over Blackhawk.
 
I own a few Blackhawk pieces of gear, and a few Eagle pieces of gear. If you have to have your gear relatively soon, Eagle is out of the picture. I waited over 6 months for my AIII and the accessory pouches to finally get to me.

The forums over at www.lightfighter.com have a lot of back and forth about Blackhawk. The main beef people have with blackhawk, it seems, is the fact that they have a factory in Vietnam. The president of Blackhawk hangs out over at that forum and defends the choice to move over there. It's interesting reading.
 
On this matter

It would seem that most folks think I am very maligned against Blackhawk.

My biggest beef is that for the most part BHI items epecially vests and packs are almost stitch by stitch clones of Eagle products.

Earlier on, I asked Mike Noell some simple questions about his product, and he in turn deflected all of my questions without giving any substantive answers while also thumping out that his products were superior to High Speed Gear or SOE - not exactly ..

You can take it for what its worth, I will recommend Eagle over BHI any day of the week, better construction, virtually the same price, and even for those naysayers, its made here in the US

EGG
 
EAGLE

PERIOD

Blackhawk quality has gone down. I have tons of both and never had a problem with ANY Eagle. Can't say that about Blackhawk. If your Agency is buying the stuff, who cares? But if I had to put down my money , it would be on Eagle ONLY !!!

:D
 
I have bought several items from both companies. I prefer Eagle but I have to weight that with the wait of 8wks or more for their gear. If I need something now like a small or large airborne ruck, I must buy it from Blackhawk to get it in time.


AIRBORNE!

P.S. I never buy the Hydrastorm. I hate the bite valve. Always buy the camelback!
 
I have some gear from each, mostly luggage.

Blackhawk has good customer service- I bought a range bag (turned out to be Vietnam-made, but good quality) that turned out to be missing one insert component from the modular inner bag.

Received an entire second set of inner components- not just the one item- after my call.

I have an old, USA-made Blackhawk garment bag that has been dragged from Australia to England and all points between, and is still in good shape.

Downside of Blackhawk's bag nylon is that it seems to attract and hold cat hair... not a small consideration when one has two fur people who take an inordinate interest in the range bag when one returns from the range.

Eagle makes top-notch utilitarian gear, I have a briefcase and several rifle cases and other bag items from them. Their prices are competitive and they are made in the USA. Their nylon is also cat-hair resistant :)
 
I cant say that one is better then the other. But I do have the Eagle shooters pack. Its the one that goes on the buttsotck of the rifle which has a small pouch that fits a bilistic card perfectly along with other misc stuff. It has the bullit loops for 5 rounds. Then on the shooters side it has a moleskin padded cover. First it raises your cheekweld to aid in aligning the scope and it feels so damn nice :)

As for the quality it is top notch. Cant be beat. Tuff as hell, perfectly made. Strong as all hell. Looks good. Nothing but high praises for this bad boy.

I HIGHLY recomend this product and this company.
 
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