I have been using a chest rig for carrying rifle magazines for nearly
10 years now. I began using a Specter Gear (then called CQB Solutions) M-1 MK-1 Chest Carrier which I used for three
different rifles, an AK, an AR and a FAL, with the FAL being my
primary. The CQB Solutions chest carrier worked well for all three
thanks to a mag pouch that was as wide at the top as a .308 magazine
like the FAL or AR10, but tapered down at the bottom to the width of an
AR magazine. This meant that the shorter, but fatter, .308 magazines
would not fall all the way to the bottom and could still be easily
retrieved. The CQB Solutions rig has flaps covered each magazine and a
rubber/elastic band around each pouch. As such, you could run the
flaps for added security but the magazines would not fall our without
them. The flaps were attached inside the pouch with velcro and the
closure was also velcro, which allowed the shooter to either tuck the
flaps behind the magazines inside the pouches or to remove them
entirely. The webbing on the side was not MOLLE or PALS but was simply
a wide nylon strap that approximated the width of a belt, which allowed
the attachment of pouches intended for the belt to be attached to the
chest rig to add things like pistol magazines or multitool pouches
etc. Specter now makes a M-1 MK-2 Chest Carrier that has MOLLE on either
side for a more stable attachment system, as well as a MK-3 version that is all MOLLE so that
the user can totally customize the setup.
Some of the things I liked about the Specter system were:
Non-padded straps. This was a nice feature as it allowed the rifle
stock to sit in the pocket like it should and not have a pad to be
sliding around on or competing for space with. The straps were not
terribly slick either so there was virtually no slipping issue that
couldn't be corrected with a rubberized butt pad on the rifle.
Front Buckles on the straps. This allowed the chest rig to be easily
removed. Simply release one of the waist-strap buckles and the two
front buckles on the shoulder straps and the chest rig would drop
away. This was good both for shooting in warm environments where
removing the chest rig when not shooting allowed me to cool off quicker
as well as (thankfully never needed) the ability for a medic or doctor
to easily remove the chest rig should I ever be injured.
Modular pockets. Not modular in the sense of easily removed, but even
better in the sense that they didn't have to be removed to work with a
variety of weapons. This was before I realized that I am not sharp
enough to run multiple platforms on different days and I liked the
ability to have one rig that would work with all three of the rifles I
ran at the time. This was especially true with the FAL magazines since
they were, and still are, difficult to find pouches for.
Adjustable flaps. Hand-in-hand with the above in that they allowed me
to either configure them for the gun I was using or to remove them
entirely. I initially would leave them attached to the chest carrier
and tuck the flap behind the magazine furthest to my left as my
speed-load magazine. Eventually I got to the point that I just removed
all of them since the elastic bands worked fine to retain the magazines
and I got tired of adjusting the flaps.
Things that I found lacking in the Specter design included:
Magazine retention. While the flaps worked to hold the magazines in
place, they were slow. Hence I ditched the flaps and relied on the
elastic bands. The problem was that after a few months of using the
rig with FAL magazines it would no longer retain AR magazines as the
elastic bands were stretched out. A couple of months after that they
were even too stretched to hold the FAL magazines. At the time,
however, I didn't know of any other alternatives and just assumed that
the rig would have a certain lifespan for me and that I'd have to ditch
is once the elastic would no longer retain the magazines.
Buckles on waist strap. Obviously at least one buckle is required to
don and remove the chest rig. The problem is that with two buckles one
would wind up on the strong side and would interfere with where I carry
my pistol. The attraction to the chest carrier was, for me, the ease
with which it could be "grab and go" and work with my daily concealed
carry holster. The problem was that something as simple as a buckle
interfered with this. The solution would be to offer a right handed
and left handed version with the strap stitched on the side where the
pistol would be carried in lieu of the buckle.
New Kid on the Block
The Specter setup worked well for me for several years. I also fell
out of the serious shooting world for a few years and the chest rig
just collected dust in the closet as it wasn't needed for plinking at
the local static range. By the time I got back into competitive
shooting, my opportunities to do so with a rifle were limited to
after-thought matches after the local IDPA matches I was attending.
Fortunately after a few years with the IDPA club they trusted me enough
to begin to host my own carbine-oriented matches. By this time I had
traded in the FAL for the AR as a primary and had decided to focus on
the one platform to reduce confusion I was having trying to run
multiple firearms with different manual of arms. I was running the
spare mags for the matches strictly out of my pants pockets at this
time, with the thought that if I ever had to grab a carbine for
defensive purposes I would simply jam a spare mag in a pocket.
Around August of 2006 in preparation for a Pat Rogers EAG Tactical
3-Day Carbine Operator's Course in December of that
year, I dusted off the old Specter rig and ran it through a couple of
matches to see if I still liked the concept. At first I did not as I
was using a single-point sling and found that it conflicted with
retrieving the magazines. Once I changed the sling to a Blue Force
Gear Vickers Combat Applications Sling I found that the chest rig worked much better.
By this time technology had moved on and there were now multiple
players in the tactical nylon world. The pending sunset of the Assault
Weapon Ban was also causing a resurgence in military style firearms and
the use of same in competition and defense, which meant that there were
a whole lot more people testing the various designs and making
suggestions to improve same. Eagle Industries pretty much redefined the magazine
carriage world when they released their "FB" pouches and carriage
systems that used this design. The FB system is essentially a standard
pouch but with a kydex liner in the pouch that is then lined with a
felt-like material. The combination of the "felt" and the kydex works
to secure the magazines extremely well and the kydex means that the
pouch doesn't collapse when trying to re-insert a magazine. Because of
the retention of this design there is no need for flaps, bungies,
elastic, etc. to retain the magazines. I picked up one of these new
"FB" designs prior to the class and got a chance to try it out.
Eagle MF FB Chest Rig in original configuration
Things I liked about this setup:
Pouch Design. As mentioned above the kydex and "felt" lined pouches
really work well to secure the magazines. This design allows ample
security for my purposes and also allows quick retrieval of the
magazines when needed.
MOLLE attachment points. While I did not initially use them, the MOLLE
webbing on the Eagle rig proved to be a much more stable way to attach
pistol pouches and such than the wide single strap that the Specter
Gear chest carrier had.
Things I did not like about this design:
Waist-strap buckles. This rig had the same design as the Specter in
that the waist-strap was held in place with a buckle on each side and
it still interfered with my pistol draw. My solution was to cut the
buckle off on the right side of the rig and replace it with a lower
profile plastic clip that did not interfere. It worked very well and I
had no issues.
Shoulder strap pads. What I first thought would be a great idea proved
to be not so much. The strap was now thicker and because of this it
was competing with the buttstock of the rifle for space on my
shoulder. In some cases the stock would initially wind up on top of
the strap but during firing would roll off to the side which was more
than a little distracting. The padded straps also didn't stay put as
much as I'd like and dug into my neck from time to time.
Chest rig being run in 2006 EAG Carbine Operator's Course. Note the small clip behind the pistol that replaced the buckle on this side.
I continued to run this rig for most of 2007. I eventually added a
dual Eagle FB pistol magazine pouch on the support side for my 1911 magazines and a Strider DB knife on the strong side. I also tucked a Hideaway Knife under the double mag pouch on the
left side. I started noticing some compatibility issues with this
setup after awhile. Being 6'-1" tall and only 180 lbs., the side flaps
of the chest rig wrap around my ribs a bit on the sides. I started to
notice that the double pistol mag pouch was rubbing the inside of my
left arm, and the knife on the right side was starting to interfere
with my draw stroke. Neither of these are a good thing.
Original M4 FB Chest Rig after being "jocked up"
Keep It Simple, Stupid
Fortunately for me, Pat wrote an excellent article in the September
2007 issue of SWAT magazine called "Pre-Equipment Training Issues". He even put a picture
of me on the opening page of the article! The lightbulb moment was,
however, the caption for this picture which made mention of my role as
a non-LE civilian competitive shooter and how sensible it was that I
was using a plain chest rig. Plain. Not all jocked up. and so 8
months after the class it finally dawned on me why I was starting to
like my chest rig less and less; I had essentially voided it's
usefulness for me by adding all manner of other equipment that I had
little to no use for.
Opening photo or "Pre-Training Equipment Issues" by Patrick A. Rogers in the September 2007 issue of SWAT Magazine.
One to two months later, Eagle introduced a revised version of this chest rig which gave me the opportunity to start over from
scratch. I quickly ordered one of the new rigs from Polite Society,
Inc. as soon as they became available.
Some of the changes to the new version included:
Single-side buckle for the waist-strap. Finally! I could do away with
the jury-rigged clip I was using as they had given me what I always
wanted. The waist strap was now sewn in place on the right hand side
and only had a buckle on the left side. It was still easy to remove
and put on, but no longer interfered with my pistol.
Non-padded shoulder straps. Another good move. No longer was the
strap interfering with the buttstock of my rifle, and it actually cut
into my neck less as the sling was less likely to catch on the strap
and pull it in.
Addition of MOLLE to the shoulder strap. This was also a welcome
addition since Pentagon had recently introduced their MOLLE light and I
had been looking for a way to have a small admin light attached to the
rig.
New version with pistol holstered. Note the location of the pistol in relation to the waist strap of the chest rig.
New version with pistol drawn. Note the waist strap is stitched on in the location where the pistol was.
New version Eagle M4 FB Chest Rig with Pentagon Molle Light on left shoulder strap
After having the rig for a short time, I decided to try adding an Eagle single
pistol magazine pouch to the support side. This worked out well and was not as obtrusive as
the double pouch I had on the previous version. I kept the right side
totally clean to avoid any conflicts with the pistol or with the draw
stroke.
Current version Eagle M4 FB Chest Rig with Eagle single FB 1911 pistol magazine pouch
To date, the only thing I don't like about the revised Eagle version
are the large buckles on front. I just have no use for them. While
they don't really interfere with anything, I would prefer them on the
rear. When I want to remove the chest rig I would simply unclip the
two shoulder-strap buckles at the rear, and the single waist-strap
buckle on the left side and the whole rig would just fall away. I had
Diz address this one issue for me when he made my Custom AK-Magazine
Chest Rig. I have also
ordered an Eagle Multitool pouch again from Polite Society, and am
going to try running that on the strong side. If it doesn't interfere
with my draw stroke I'll keep it, and if it does then I'll get rid of
it.
I am now ever-mindful of getting carried away with jocking up a rig
like this. Just because there are MOLLE straps doesn't mean you have
to use them. It also doesn't mean that you need to use them. Keep
your role and intended application for the gear in mind at all times.
Just because you see a guy next to you on the line at a match or
carbine class with 6 rifle mags, 4 pistol mags, a knife, and all other
manner of gear on his rig doesn't mean you need them too. Pat
addresses this very well in his article mentioned above and it's good
advice well heeded.
