Need a little help deciding what chest rig to get.
I have been looking at both the Esstac Chest Rig (Boar)
and the Eagle Universal chest rig.
I want a good chest rig to hold at least 6 or 8 AR mags + 4 or 6 pistol mags, Esstac shotgun cards (2), hydration carrier on the back, and a holster.
Are these 2 good choices?
I want one that I can use for AR, AK, 12 GA, and pistol.
Thanks for any help.
I would go with Esstac Boar series since that is much more customizable than the Universal which is basically fixed with little customization - but its inexpensive. If you want more customization those rigs cost more. You wont be able to mount a hydration on the Universal, theres nothing on the back. The Universal Rig also says you can only use one 7.62 mag in the pouches when it double stacks for 5.56
With the Esstac Boar you can buy the different back panels to change it from holding AR mags to AK mags, pretty nifty. Seems like a lot of stuff you are trying to carry so one of the bigger boars would give you the real estate. I have the Esstac Trim Boar since I am a smaller build guy and it only has 4 mags in the backpanel. Just gotta look at the gear you want to add and the rig to see if you have the real estate.
I would highly recommend getting KYWI inserts to replace the bungee on all pouches. Some Esstac pouches already include them. They are snag free, great retention, you can adjust the height by cutting the plastic and mounting the insert higher. They make KYWIs for both 556 and 762 mags.
One thing i noticed with my Trim Boar is when I put one of these rifle/pistol mag pouches on, it sticks out a lot since its basically a triple stack. I’m a skinnier guy so doesnt take a lot to make it look like im pregnant. Maybe you arent skinny. Might feel weird to some when you lay prone. I put two of these on so I can have additonal 2 rifle mags and 4 pistol mags. If you get a rig with enough rifle mags on the back panel you can just get pistol mag pouches on the front instead of the combination pouches so it will be thinner up front.
http://www.skdtac.com/Esstac-KYWI-Single-M4-Pistol-Mag-Pouch-p/ess.227.htm
If you want to carry a hydration carrier, you would need the back harness. It adds padding too so you can carry that gear more comfortably.
http://www.skdtac.com/Esstac-Padded-Harness-Boar-Series-Chest-Rigs-p/ess.523.htm
6 mag back panel Bush Boar Rig
http://www.skdtac.com/Esstac-Chest-Rig-Bush-Boar-p/ess.504.htm
762 backpanel that you would need if you wanted to swap to AK mags
http://www.skdtac.com/Esstac-762-Chest-Rig-Back-Panel-p/ess.536.htm
Load Bearing Boar is huge with a lot of real estate, you wont need that back harness since it already includes a large back panel. Another one to consider
http://www.skdtac.com/Esstac-Chest-Rig-LBB-Load-Bearing-Boar-p/ess.520.htm
I really like the Esstac LBB. It’s pretty much has what I was looking for. I’ll add a couple of Shotgun cards and pistol mag pouches.
Thank you for the information.
dont forget a dump pouch
Good info…I was looking at an Eagle as well.