Do we really need chest rigs?

[Indiana Camper]

Observation Time:

Does anybody find it interesting that we defend and rationalize closets full of medical supplies, rooms full of rice and beans, hundreds of guns, thousands of rounds of ammo, multiple communication equipment, faraday cages for electronics, solar and wind power for electronics, multiple ways to purify water, etc etc....

But somebody mentions chest rigs and we jump all over them...the same way most people would jump all over most of us here for other things we feel are important....just food for thought

[ShiaSurvivor]

Originally Posted by Indiana Camper

Observation Time:

Does anybody find it interesting that we defend and rationalize closets full of medical supplies, rooms full of rice and beans, hundreds of guns, thousands of rounds of ammo, multiple communication equipment, faraday cages for electronics, solar and wind power for electronics, multiple ways to purify water, etc etc....

But somebody mentions chest rigs and we jump all over them...the same way most people would jump all over most of us here for other things we feel are important....just food for thought

To be honest though, I just don't see the practical need of it for most people.

[TxRanchMedic]

Originally Posted by TDFbound

What other methods do you propose to carry a full loadout of magazines, first aid crap, navigation tools, and other stuff of your choosing where you can get to it at a moment's notice? I know some of you have deep pockets, but come on...

If you have an friend that is good with a sewing machine and a needle and thread, make your own concealed system. Take two heavy button shirts and sew them together in a way that would make pockets for the mags on the inside of the shirts (stitch together to make the pockets and cut/helm to make the access) . Remove the sleeves and sew the vest onto the liner of the jacket. You would be able to carry your mags in a pocket system that is custom fitted to the mags and keep the mags and other small items out of sight.

[MountainRecluse]

If you're serious about gunfighting and properly fighting with a rifle.....you need a chest rig. Its ESSENTIAL gear. Many things can be done without but a chest rig....or SOME organized system to carry mags is not negotiable...

Its like a sling...you need one....

Don't be the unsat dude scooby-dooing your pockets when the bullets start flying...seriously. Anyone here saying otherwise need to get themselves to a shooting course or join the military.....yeah....show up with mags in your cargo pockets.....see how well that goes over......

[kframe]

I was at a military surplus store, and they had Alice belts and abunch of alice clips for loading stuff on them. Can any one tell me about them? I looked at them and it looked like a great way to carry some ammo and other supplies on the hips. Sure i cant put to much there, but it would have a good supply on them. THey also had TONS of alice packs, any thoughts on them?

Of topic, they also had new combat and cold weather combat boots, worth the money??

[SCPigpen]

You can find a rig for a decent price. I have a china rig for the FAL and one my Bro gave me for the AK.

Doubt I'll ever use them but they do have a use.

[Greenbrier304]

If you have to do any traveling to your bug out location they come in handy. I feel the same way. If you dont need one whey spend the money.

[Burtenshaw]

While a tactical vest or plate carrier would be nice there are other alternatives. http://www.armygear.net/ag/store/0094b.html?id=RHVPPDCh

[Ritepath]

I hope not because that's about the last item I'll be buying. I would pick one up if I found one on the ground, I bet my son would love to have one.

[JoeKan]

Originally Posted by Burtenshaw

While a tactical vest or plate carrier would be nice there are other alternatives. http://www.armygear.net/ag/store/0094b.html?id=RHVPPDCh

That kind is in my price range Do you know what size mags would fit in the pouches?

[Nikos01]

Yes, yes you do.

As a few others have said, you need to have quick and easy access to your extra magazines if the worst comes to pass and you need to protect yourself or others. I don't care if it's LBE, Chest rig or vest, they were made for a reason and anyone who says it makes you a mall ninja is giving you deadly information. Anyone that has been in the military or even taken a real life rifle/carbine course understands the reasoning behind this. I would not put mine on unless it was needed and I can and have hidden it under a big sweater or a jacket. For the record I don't really give a crap what other people think and you shouldn't either. Be a man and buy what's best for you, whether it's a tactical vest or a pink tootoo.

[Doc_Shane]

Depends on what you see in the mirror, are you a fighter or do you intend to hide.

[MountainRecluse]

Originally Posted by Doc_Shane

Depends on what you see in the mirror, are you a fighter or do you intend to hide.

Sometimes the fight finds you......better finish what was brought.

[MountainRecluse]

And you seriously don't need to break the bank for any kind of mag rig....many cheap surplus or even $10-20 canvas rigs will work.....what's nice about the chest rigs....and I'm not even talking about molle vests and plate carriers....is that its light and easily concealable....out of the way in vehicles...so many advantages....


Or even stitch up your own.....you need to organize your loadout because that's how you train muscle memory....you have mags stashed in all sorts of places your hands will never find them with the rounds snappin and poppin around you...

[otto3333333]

How bout this,if he/she feels the need to run a molle rig then let him run a molle rig.You cannot determine his situational need any more than you can tie his shoes.My wife thinks my rig is overkill I think her carrying a folding AK in her day bag is.I respect others opinion but I'm not letting you pick out my condom's..they just like his molle 1 may be for pleasure the other for population control...just a thought

FWIW most things on my rig have nothing to do with "combat" but having access in front and sides to things I may need when out I can "unplug" stash it and nobody see it till I walk back into thewoods..

[MountainRecluse]

Its not about being a mall ninja or expecting to fight ww3....

....its about easy quick access to ammo when you have loved ones and yourself to defend.....anyone knocking such a valuable tool has never trained or been shot at...

Chest rigs allow all your mags to be up in your workspace when manipulating and reloading your rifle....your shaky hands will have less distance to travel when reaching for that lifesaving reload...

[MountainRecluse]

Your body tends to do all kinds of weird funky sh** when someone is trying to kill you....that's why training and muscle memory is so important.....chest rigs give you that ability to train your hands to reach for the same spot every time without thinking.....

[JoeKan]

So what do you think of this one? What size mags would it hold?

[JoeKan]

But I like this one the best. What say you?

[Wetwork]

I want to throw this out for discussion its related and I've been pondering a chest rig myself...

In the late 80's we had a family of rustler's drive out to our back 40, shot and killed 3 of our cows. Said family then proceeded to chainsaw off the bigger cuts and escape back to town (turns out they'd sell the meat). A family friend hiking found the bodies.
A few weeks later, the same rustler's hit my Uncles ranch about 20 miles away. (just a fluke) This time they shot at a bunch of kids riding dirtbikes. The kids fled to my Uncle's house, and the ranchhands and the police caught the rustlers red handed. After dozens of court dates, and courtrooms filled with cowboy hats, the perps when to jail, and my Father got one of the guns they used.

Flash forward fifteen years to me being recently retired military, back on the home ranch and my Father calls me in panic saying get your gun and get up to the house something's going on.

I threw on my body armor, strapped on my pistol, grabbed my rifle and headed out the door...it turned out to be exactly nothing but wierd car tracks in a place they should have never been, and were fresh. We never found out who it was.

Another time, I was elk hunting the late season on my ranch, sitting on top a butte glassing a basin. Anyway, at the end of this basin is a dirt county road and a car stop's at one of our gates. I'm watching this through field glasses. Our ranch is posted and our place surrounds this road on both sides for ten miles. So the car stops a guy in a business suit gets out, climbs over our gate and starts hiking towards me following the gulley at the bottom. So I shadow this guy for almost a mile and a half into my ranch. I slip down to about a hundred yards from him using pine trees as cover (they're big trees, not concealment). I yell at him, "What the hell you doing out here, this is private property". He just shruggs, turns around and walks the mile and a half back to his car. Looking back I wonder if the dude was headed out to a nice quiet spot to kill himself? It was a creepy feeling. Not, that I was in danger, I'm dead on at 300 yards. Just wierd.

Back to the ops post.....Would I be justified with a chest rig? I'm either horseback, in a pickup or on a ATV? We don't patrol except during hunting season for tresspassers, and poachers. So Dad calls freaking out, how much ammo would a rancher need? By the time LEO's would get here to help in any situation it's too late for anything. I am not Johnny Tactical, in fact I don't even wear camo hunting.-WW