Platatac Peacekeeper Mk.4 M81

My love for the Platatac Peacekeeper started in 2017, bored stiff in South Sudan and scrolling endlessly on social media. The guys from Stirling airsoft’s Sabre callsign had been wearing them for a while and had uploaded lots (and I mean lots) of photos displaying the Peacekeeper in a variety of “ally” situations and aiding its popularity in the UK. My only issue was that I didn’t need any more Multicam gear and had not long bought my M81 Haley D3. So, a year went by, I had a disastrous attempt to run a PRC-152 off of the D3, swapped to a Mayflower UW Gen 4 and promptly never used it (although it seemed excellent). Then the miracle, as a contract overrun, Platatac released a limited number of woody Peacekeepers. Que childish excitement and impulse spending. No ragrets.

I was interested in the Peacekeeper for its unique design featuring a built in “hotdog” pouch, and Platatac’s own vertical utilities, spread out over a large area giving the same size and coverage of a plate carrier, with the comfort and breathability of a chest rig. The first thing I did with the Peacekeeper was to toss the original harness. It was an X harness and therefore shit. While I am a strong advocate for companies supplying their products with H harnesses wherever possible, I am less bothered about this with Platatac as their CHICOM Y harness is an available and affordable alternative which anyone who owns a Peacekeeper will tell you is an absolute essential.

The actual layout of the rig is excellent, with high mounted magazine pouches to keep them visible and room for extra pouches on the blank MOLLE fields giving the Peacekeeper even more room for expansion. On the back of the rig are 3 large mesh sleeves and an internal pocket running its full width which can also take a triple magazine shingle should you want to carry your bodyweight in magazines. For me this is a bit much, and would prefer to not have the MOLLE fields, like the Slick Peacekeeper offered by Platatac. That being said if I were using this in a real-world scenario the extra room to carry gear would be a welcome addition.

The pouches on the Peacekeeper are mostly sewn on versions of popular pouches sold by Platatac. The vertical utilities are one of the key features, being able to hold a PRC-152 in the internal radio pouch, or 1L Nalgene sized water bottles. The smaller zippered pouches on the outside are perfect for small items such as radio batteries and navigation gear, although they can be awkward to open due to their location, so I would have preferred the flap closure featured on the older versions of the Peacekeeper. Another key feature of the rig is the hotdog pouch, not offered on the slick variant. This is very useful for rapid access as it sits directly below the magazine pouches and can hold grenades or dems kit. Finally, the magazine pouches are identical to Plat’s helium whisper M4 pouches. These are the part of the rig I like the least, as I think the sidewalls of the pouches are too low, placing more reliance on the elastic for retention. This causes bunching at the opening of the pouch which can make it hard to reinsert magazines. If the sides of the pouches were taller, and the elastic looser I think I would be happy with them.

Having used the Platatac Peacekeeper over the last year I am definitely happy with it overall. It is a comfortable and well-built piece of gear that lends itself to long range “green” warfare. I never had a chance to use this professionally before leaving the Army, and so am limited to experience relating to airsoft, but recently ran around Stirling airsoft’s “The Trees” wearing it for a weekend. I really got along with it and didn’t have any issues with it being unbalanced or moving about while running. I would definitely like to get it tailored to remove the MOLLE fields though, as I don’t think I will ever be in a situation where I need to carry everything but the kitchen sink, and can run my PRC-152 in the included utility pouches. The bottom of the Peacekeeper is also set up with a Velcro sleeve to allow the use of a dangler should you need any more space in a pinch.

In conclusion I am a huge fan of the Platatac Peacekeeper. It’s a versatile and comfortable rig with quite a unique feel to it. There are some tweaks I would like to make but they are not essential, although if any tailor out there who isn’t Mael Eoin feels up to the task then please get in touch. If you want to get yourself one of these then Platatac have done another run of Peacekeepers in M81 but will sell out quickly if they haven’t already.

Thanks for reading this review, if you have any questions head over to my Instagram @thegeardocrow and send me a message.