I know chest rigs have been discussed ad nauseam, however, there isn’t a lot of info regarding chest rigs and gear for women.
As I have posted before, I am building an AR for my wife. She has been shooting for a couple of years now and is wanting to take some carbine courses, pistol courses etc.
I am working on buying her the appropriate gear for these courses.
I am looking for specific suggestions for chest rigs suitable for a woman taking a few courses.
She would like a small, light rig. Something comfortable, allowing a lot of mobility. No real need to load it with a ton of stuff. Just enough to competently get through some carbine courses.
One note, she will be doing courses this year and next with her AR and her AK. So we are looking for a universal rig that can work with both AR/AK mags.
Thoughts on any other gear that would be of benefit to her during these classes would be great. Any suggestions for great courses in Arizona would be great too. We have a few picked out, but want to get in as many as possible.
Figure out what she wants to carry and got from there. I would suggest the Original SOE PALS Micro Rig with the H Harness. That would be a good starter rig and she won’t load it down too much. Yet she will be able to carry some gear.
The Shihan can carry more than it sounds like she wants to carry. Which is fine - nobody says you have to fill everything that is there.
Personally? I like my Shihan. I have yet to find any mobility issues with it.
But I’m also a bigger guy and like the option to carry a lot more than I’d really need. Quality wise, it’s just fine, and could work for her easily enough.
For classes, I strongly recommend against any pouch with a cover. Try to go with the “topless” mag pouches. The Eagle M4 LE chest rig hold 3 mags in kydex lined pouches and have additional loops or whatever you call to add additional Molle attached pouches should she have the need. Unfortunately, this rig doesn’t work interchangeably with the AK mags that you specified.
Is there a reason you’re wanting a chest rig instead of belt or different setup? Is she military or LEO where chest rigs are used?
I ask because IMO, if you’re not going to use a chest rig in real life, why train with one? For gun games and the like I’ve found belt rigs to be PLENTY, I rarely need more then two mags, and back pockets make great AR mag carriers in a pinch.
Just sayin’ there might be an easier solution to your problem. But is she needs a chest rig then that’s what she needs…I don’t have much experience there but do know the Tactical Tailor rig I had a while back served me well.
I went to chest rig by default, simply because that is what is typically recommended for carbine courses. No, she is not military or LEO. I grew up shooting, she did not, she likes it and I want to make the classes a good experience and get her squared away to where she can concentrate on the material, not fidget with inappropriate gear.
I am trying not to just hand her what I like and use, so I am looking for feedback.
I am certainly open to other options. She’ll end up deciding on what she likes with experience, just trying to start as close to “right” as possible with the basic gear.
Here is what i have found works well for alot of woman shooters i have seen…since they are used to carrying a purse i lean toward a sneaky/hawke bag etc… practical and simple easy on off and most are use to the movement of drawing items from it and the weight on there shoulders …
I would’ve phrased it a little differently but there is some validity to this. If your wife is more petite, say an A, or if she is more curvy, say a DD, then there will be different considerations in recommending gear.
Personally, I would think a belt rig might be more comfortable for a woman. I know for a fact my wife would not be able to wear any type of chest rig due to her size & comfort throughout the day. Women’s hips are also built differently so take that into consideration as well.
I had the wife’s plate carrier built around a set of her old duty armor by David Bosen @ Coyote Tactical. There are a couple of companies foraying into dedicated rigs for women, but they are few and far in between. I’d advise talking to CT and seeing what he says.
I was joking to be honest… but you bring up a good point. (possible side track). Women wear their “weight” differently than men. It took a good two years of training to teach my wife to actually lean “into” the gun rather than lean back like she was holding a baby on her hip. I would guess that it is totally natural for a woman to center everything over their hips (aka carrying a child). That’s why most times when you see women shoot for the first time, they’re doing the traditional “Charlies Angels” pose. I’ve instructed a lot of women in shooting, and the first thing I tell them is “lose the figure”!!! They often times take offense to that, but once they understand the reason behind moving their upper body forward, they get it.
Same goes for equipment. Most of my rudimentary teachings have to do with just that…What the F@#$ are you going to do now?
Honestly,women have more problems because they don’t want to believe that they can defend themselves, let alone be effective at it. Teaching people to be aware of their surroundings is far more important than teaching them how to sling on some body armor or a chest rig, in my opinion. Women often possess far more situational awareness than their male counterpart, as long as they are not distracted by other trivial things. Why would I say this? Because my wife can seriously point out a girl that I’m going to stare at LOOOOOOONG before I see her, and lucky for me… she does, simply because we understand the whole “looky, no touchy” rule.
My wife has pointed out danger far earlier than I’ve seen it sometimes, simply because we’ve worked on it. She doesn’t need a chesty rig to figure it out, she just needs her eyes and a bit of jealousy.
As for actual gear… I’d think your wifes build has a lot to do with it… take her to a shop or two… maybe you’ll find out that she really likes OD Green and that could be a whole new thread!!!
OK, not being an expert and my wife not yet requesting a chest rig, her are my 0.02 (after having outfitted many women for Cowboy Action Shooting; I know, different game…SAME ANATOMY!).
I would think that the plate carrier/vest (with or without plates depending on her preference of weight/stiffness) would be better because it would contain/compress/keep in check the boobs and provide an obstruction free (dependent on the cup size) environment in which to access her mags/gear.
Generally, women want the same things we want in gear with the exception being that they have different anatomy (thank God) to work around.
Check www.womenstactical.org and check out the gear setups these ladies are running and ask some questions (if possible).
By no means am I an expert and I hope I have not offended anyone but being in the medical profession lends me to speaking frankly about anatomy and to have a sense of humor about it in the process. Again, if offended I apologize and I hope the perspective helps!
Check out the Insurgant Chest Rig at onesourcetactical.com as well. It’s a lot simpler than the Shihan, has universal mag pouches with adjustable and removable flaps, a little PALS on both ends for IFAK or other gear, and comes with boh X and H harness carry systems.
Great link, thanks.
No offense at all, I’m quite proud that my wife has nice, feminine anatomy. Ha.
On a serious note, she is a full C, small D cup depending on how much cardio she is doing, so fit in that regard is a consideration.
I’ll check that out. I’m a member over at warrior talk, that’s where I came across the Shihan. Thanks for the pointer.
Thanks for the suggestion and the links. I actually sent BFG an email asking if the rig would take AK mags. They told me that it could, but that it may shorten the life of the elastic. How quickly does the elastic lose its elasticity? Is retention pretty good?
Thanks for the suggestion and the links. I actually sent BFG an email asking if the rig would take AK mags. They told me that it could, but that it may shorten the life of the elastic. How quickly does the elastic lose its elasticity? Is retention pretty good?
Given your intended use I would imagine it would last a long time as the elastic is very heavy duty. Retention is very good, it will even hold my duty radio securely. If you can stuff it in there its going to hold.
Plus it has a lifetime warranty so just send it back in a few years
Just surmising on why BFG said that concerning AK mags. The locking lugs on the AK mags could snag or cut into the elastic that makes up the mag pouches.
I’ve had cheapo “universal” mag pouches get ripped open by AK mags in the past.
That said, BFG is a top notch company with great customer support.
