I am looking for a low profile ammo carrying system suggestions. I am going to use the suggestion from a sticky on this page to help lay out the criteria.
I’m looking for a:
Ammo carrying system which holds 4 AR 15 magazines (PMAGS), possibly room to expand with a small medical kit. Possibly a chest rig or a “war belt”
I’m a civvie/military/LE/etc: Civilian
The primary usage of this item is for Carbine courses and general range practice.
I’d also like to use it for SHTF. As outlandish as this may sound if god forbid something happened where I needed to conceal this under a jacket I could.
I need it to fit/carry 4 AR 15 magazines and if possible a small med kit if possible.
I need it for this weapon:
AR 15 usually using 30 round PMAGS
I prefer it to be made out of:
As durable a material as they can be made out of. I can break any thing.
My budget for this item is Preferably around $200
I’m looking for it in these colors:
I live in Northern Va. I am a civilian. I will not be using this for duty use but would prefer green or coyote. I would prefer to avoid any camo patterns if possible. I do not own any camo gear or other tactical gear. I am a civilian and won’t wear something I have not earned the right to wear.
I care/don’t care if it looks ‘tactical’: I would prefer it to look as low profile as possible without sacrificing durability and comfort.
I need/don’t need it to be low profile/concealed etc: I would prefer it be low profile.
I have already looked:
BCM 03 MSF: This is the number 1 contender so far. I like the low profile layout but do not like how high it rides. I do not know if that can be adjusted. This looks like a good ready to use piece.
BFG 10 Speed: I like how simple this system is but I do not like that it does not appear to have as much support as the BCM MSF or other chest rigs. This one is also not expandable at all to carry a small med kit.
Tactical Tailor MAV: This is nice because it is what you make of it. Unfortunately due to my lack of experience with chest rigs I wouldn’t know where to begin to set this up properly.
If it’s a sizing/fit question, provide your height, weight, build, waist size, inseam length - whatever sizing information is relevant to your question.
In terms of sizing I am 6’1 225LBS. I wear a size XL shirt and jacket if that helps at all. I have a bit of a spare tire around the belly area after this last year I am working on getting rid of. I don’t know how this is going to effect the fit of a chest rig.
If it’s a comfort question, state the conditions you want to use the garment under - dry/humid/wet, hot/cold.
This will be used in Va so the weather can range from freezing cold to hot and muggy. Most of my shooting is done in doors but I imagine most of the classes I will end up attending in the coming years will be held outdoors. I will normally just wear a cotton tshirt underneath this stuff or a jacket if the weather requires it. Normally I wear jeans and a glock 19 IWB at 4:30. When wearing the rig I will probably wear the pistol holster OWB at 3:00 or figure out something else.
Any other relevant information about your personal preference, usage etc that will help others narrow down their answers to your question.
I am a civilian who has no idea where to start when it comes to this stuff so any advice is appreciated. From the resources I have read on this forum and learning through lightfighter I have narrowed it down to the top three choices I mentioned above but if you guys have any advice I would appreciate it. My aim is to have a simple and durable ammo carrying system. I am open to any ideas.
I like the USGI Enhanced Tactical Load Bearing Vest (NSN 8415-01-296-8878). I bought one off e-bay for less than $50.00. The web belt is separate, but it wasn’t too expensive either. This seems to fit your criteria.
The good news is: I got it to adjust to my size without having to replace the laces. I can also zip up my winter coat over it, something I can’t do with most other gear. I wear a size 40-42 jeans, depending on style, and I usually wear 2XL anything else. I’m not obese, but I do have more gut than I did when I was in my twenties (I’m in my forties now). I’m over six feet tall.
The bad news is: it’s heavy and bulky. I want to carry a handgun and canteen on it, but I’m considering not doing so.
For 200 dollars you should be able to build a good rig. One thing I might have missed. Do you want your pouches to be open top, shock cord top, flaps??? This is important.
Personally, i would search for “Gear load out” there is a huge thread where people post pictures of their gear load out and you can pick up some great ideas there. Many will post a description of it, (components, and sometimes cost). For ME personally i have a plate carrier, but if looking at a chest rig i would go for a molle one, and put HSGI Taco’s on it which is how i have my plate carrier set up. Very versatile, you can add/subtract/move pouches and add whatever blowout kit you want.
Especially if its your first rig, chances are you’ll want to move things around until you get it just right. Guys that have been running and gunning with kit on for a while can buy purpose made rigs, because they know exactly what they want, and where they want it. It doesn’t look like your in that category (i’m not ether).
BFG 10 speed pouches dont do it for me because i can not, for the life of me, put mags back into the pouches with one hand. This type of thing has to be found out the hard way. If you can find ANY sort of rigs at a store near you or that a friend has, i would go and try them on. Its worth the drive. Even if it only helps you decide what you DONT want. Practice putting mags in and out, drop your rifle and see where it goes, (does it hang up ext?).
Also, cant find the link- but user RobS has a webpage called Tactical Yellow visor. He wrote a whole article on “load carriage” equipment. Very interesting and informational to watch his whole progression and see what he ended up with.
I would prefer open topped magazine pouches. The MAV would be nice for the modularity of the system. I’ll look at the loadout thread stickied in here some more and get some ideas.
I am a huge proponent of armor in conjunction with a load-carriage system. A good setup does 3 things:
Helps you make holes (feeds the gun)
Stops holes (armor)
Fixes holes (emergency medical equipment)
If it doesn’t do those three things for me, I really have to question my need in strapping it on for an incident that requires me (or might require me) to expend the ammo load-out.
If one was to purchase a system made for carrying armor would it have to have plates installed in order to carry the ammo loadout or could you start off without the plates ?
I thought about this option a little bit. An older firearms instructor I took a couple of classes with at a local range used to wear soft armor during instruction. I can see the advantage of that when training but never gave it much serious thought because I don’t do this for a living.
It’s not recommended to use a PC without armor but I will admit I have used my PIG PC with great success minus the plates. I did it in the beginning in order to practice loading my AR & pistol and just move around. Once armor is added things like shouldering your weapon become effected but training solves all problems… If your gonna buy a PC you do need to train with the armor in and become as proficient with it as you are without it.
It is better to use plates in it than not to as you will have sag with a full load without plates to stabilize the platform.
It’s still do-able though.
Setups I have used:
Eagle PC
SPC
Tyr PC
SKD PIG
They all have their benefits, and unless you are going to wear one for several hours a day professionally they all work pretty much the same.
While I agree with F2S that if you’re going into a fight and planning on wearing load carriage on your torso, having armor in it makes sense, there are times as a non-LE civilian where I want only the load carriage, or only the armor. Because of that, this is the system I use.
how it rides depends on how you adjust the straps. you can wear it high or low. you can tuck the flap inside the pouch and have the mags exposed. note that they will not have any retention.
I also see the value in using the rig simply to bring more ammo to the line during training, and if your most expected/most probable use of the carbine is without putting anything on the Battle-Bra makes sense.
My above comment is more oriented to the concept of using the setup in a fight or anticipating a fight.
I would go to skd and get the eagle all Molle chest rig and 4 x hsgi tacos. Under $200, very durable, lightweight, customizable and somewhat concealable.
og556, is something like a Mini Sneaky Bag, TT Active Shooter Bag, or one of the Hawkepak options out of the question? As a civilian I’ve thought about how I would deploy armor and some load carriage and I keep circling back to concealable armor and an external bag of some sort.
Eagles 4x mag chest rig is the most low profile chest rig I’ve seen and very affordable if they still make it.
Hawkepacks makes some really affordable and well made man purse style rigs that are low profile
I like F2s’s “holes” approach alot, but dont personally run armour as it increases the bulk to the point of not being plausibly concealable.
If you want low profile any number of civilian type messenger bags or sporting gear can be pressed into purpose.
If you want functionality something a bit more martial is in order, and starting with a simple chest rig is a good place, you can work up from there.
Personally I like the flaps as they keep crap out of the mag, keeps stuff from snagging and catching and dont take up much more time during reload. Thats just based on crawling thru the brush and dirt and water that gave me that requirement. YMMV
Gear is personal and based on your experience. the more you train the better of an idea you have what you like or need. A lot of guys settle on the chest rig tho IME
I thought the bag idea was cool, until I tried it. Several times. With multiple bags. All they did was flop around, dig into my neck with almost nothing in them…
To answer the question about using a plate carrier without armor,
I bought a SKD PIG when i had the money, and strapped taco’s to it. This was my “chest rig” for quite a while. I didn’t have money for plates but thought i would eventually, so this was a system i could grow into as funds allowed. Eventually i found a deal on plates and popped them in.
You could go this route, buy like a TAG banshee or something economical and then add your preferred pouches. If it lacks the support without plates you could always make fake plates out of a 15 dollar sheet of kydex. I havent done it, but i’ve worked with kydex and all you would need is a knife and a heat gun to get the curve similar to a 10x12 sapi cut. You can also buy trainer plates. but that is adding more money that could just go towards real plates.
My pig was fine without plates- plenty stiff for a full load out. (thats what she said)
I have the SPEC OPS MOUT rig that I bought from their website for $20.00 when it was on sale. Holds 4 PMAGS or 8 USGI Mags and is laced with molle. It’s pretty low profile when you’ve only got 4 mags in it.