Looking for a chest rig/plate carrier

[30calDeath]

For the longest time I have held off on a plate carrier/chest rig due to the fact that I am not military or LEO and I didnt want to be that "tacti-cool" looking idiot shooting his gun. I have finally gotten over that for a few reasons. I was looking at Mayflower Research and Consulting products but am not sure they have exactly what I need. They probably do but at the same time I am not exactly sure what I need.

I was looking at something like this but this seems to be a basic chest rig with no provisions for body armor?
http://www.mayflower-rc.org/store/7034/33/Recce-Chest-Rig-(HK417).html

It would be nice to have a rig that I can add pieces of body armor to later for one reason or another. I am looking for something that can hold 6-8 7.62pmags plus some 45 mags. Again like Thermal/NV some of this stuff is pretty vague to me and would like the Hide's help, thanks.

 

[broylz]

that's quite the loadout of ammo. with that much weight, I would make sure to go for known quality.

 

[Dogtown]

Mayflower is good to go, but that 417 rig is specific to the HK 417/MR762 because of the magazine profile, but it may work for your mags. It'd be worth a call. The latest model has the buckles that allow you to just snap the pouch assembly directly to their plate carriers. Win win.

 

[ptrlcop]

If you are not getting armor now, I would go with something like the linked chest rig. Later, if you get armor it can interface with the mayflower PC via the swift clip system.

Getting an armor carrier and using it without armor is suboptimal because it will not hold shape without the armor and your load will flop around. Also, I would rethink running so many mags on your PC/chest rig. 6-8 mags of 7.62 is HEAVY. If you truly need to have that much ammo I would suggest 3-4 on your rig and the rest in a pack. HARD dudes who are in top shape and wear this gear for a living don't carry that much ammo on their 2nd line gear due to the significant reduction in mobility. Normal earth people would be even more encumbered by such a load.

 

[30calDeath]

Mayflower is good to go, but that 417 rig is specific to the HK 417/MR762 because of the magazine profile, but it may work for your mags. It'd be worth a call. The latest model has the buckles that allow you to just snap the pouch assembly directly to their plate carriers. Win win.

This is what the description says Due to the size of the HK417 magazines this chest rig will accommodate several different types/quantities of other types of magazines.

If you are not getting armor now, I would go with something like the linked chest rig. Later, if you get armor it can interface with the mayflower PC via the swift clip system.

Getting an armor carrier and using it without armor is suboptimal because it will not hold shape without the armor and your load will flop around. Also, I would rethink running so many mags on your PC/chest rig. 6-8 mags of 7.62 is HEAVY. If you truly need to have that much ammo I would suggest 3-4 on your rig and the rest in a pack. HARD dudes who are in top shape and wear this gear for a living don't carry that much ammo on their 2nd line gear due to the significant reduction in mobility. Normal earth people would be even more encumbered by such a load.

You are correct I will not be buying armor for now, that is another subject I need to do some research on. That chest rig that I am looking at holds 6 mags. Thanks for the info like I said I am just a regular civi that is in decent shape. Not badass though. With the above responses from you and Dogtown I think I have it covered, thanks!

 

[Dogtown]

Do your research on armor and don't skimp if you're expecting it to save your life. I saw lots of soldiers early on in Iraq who were running armor every day and still didn't understand simple concepts like "you can't run a level III plate without IIIa panels underneath."

 

[30calDeath]

Do your research on armor and don't skimp if you're expecting it to save your life. I saw lots of soldiers early on in Iraq who were running armor every day and still didn't understand simple concepts like "you can't run a level III plate without IIIa panels underneath."

Any good links to companies I should be looking at?

 

[herro_prease]

how much do you want to spend?

 

[herro_prease]

"you can't run a level III plate without IIIa panels underneath."

please elaborate?

 

[Dogtown]

Plates are designed as "in-conjunction" or "stand alone". In-Conjunction plates are only rated when run in front of level IIIa soft armor panels while standalone plates can be worn by themselves. Back in Iraq between 2004 and 2005 I saw a lot of conventional troops do stupid shit like buy plate carriers and run their SAPI plates in them without any IIIa protection. Like I said, do your research. Some plates are designed to take a single hit, while others can take multiple. Many expect to shatter, deform or spall on impact so having IIIa panels underneath are either required to meet that protective rating or are just a damned good idea.

 

[Papa Zero Three]

For the longest time I have held off on a plate carrier/chest rig due to the fact that I am not military or LEO and I didnt want to be that "tacti-cool" looking idiot shooting his gun. I have finally gotten over that for a few reasons. I was looking at Mayflower Research and Consulting products but am not sure they have exactly what I need. They probably do but at the same time I am not exactly sure what I need.

I was looking at something like this but this seems to be a basic chest rig with no provisions for body armor?
Mayflower Online Store - Recce Chest Rig (HK417)

It would be nice to have a rig that I can add pieces of body armor to later for one reason or another. I am looking for something that can hold 6-8 7.62pmags plus some 45 mags. Again like Thermal/NV some of this stuff is pretty vague to me and would like the Hide's help, thanks.

You have gotten some good info so far here. Given what you are asking for though, you are asking for 2 things and there is nothing out there that fits your bill exactly. As mentioned, you can go with the Mayflower setup as a chest rig and add the armor carrier later, that is probably your best bet. With that said, you can also buy a simple chest rig and add the pouches you need to it and wear it as is until you decide to move to a plate carrier. At that point, move your pouches off of the chest rig onto the PC and you're good to go. What you will find though is that most guys don't want to move shit around from chest rig to PC all the time. So what ends up happening is you have a chest rig with pouches set up the way you like it and a PC with armor set up the way you like it so you can grab either one on short notice.

If you're going to look for a dedicated chest rig, look to SOE as they have everything from bare bones to prebuilt pouch/pocket set ups. It sounds like the Mookie war rig might be something that interests you. Configure it how you want with the PALS version or choose from the existing designs. Original S.O.E. Gear

For PC and armor, I recommend TYR tactical. They make a variety of different vests but what I like most about their systems is that it's scaleable. Meaning you can configure it as a bare bones plate carrier and add additional pieces to scale it up to what ever your armor requirement is and have full on protection. I've used the PICO MV for quite some time now and had it configured in several different ways all with the same vest, something that I couldn't do with other brands.

If you decide to go with a Chest rig and separate pouches first, or even if you go with two dedicated systems, I recommend you go with pouches from HSGI as they can be adjusted to fit just about any magazine size or object. This gives you way more versatility and again, keeps you from having to have a dedicated rig set up for Ak, AR, 45, 9mm etc as all you have to do is adjust the pouch to the mag being used and go.

 

[ArmaHeavy]

There are also setups that connect directly to a plate carrier or armor setup, and eliminate the need for two different set ups.

It's in the link below, and there are other brands that are similar in concept so look around.

MAP Modular Assault Panel

 

[Shaggyback]

Bypassing the "why" of all this...

Find a decent chest rig that fits your needs. Then, later on down the line, if you decide you need armor, get a plate carrier. You can run the chest rig over the plate carrier like a lot of guys do. Or, if you go with a modular chest rig, you can just take the pouches off of it and place them onto the plate carrier.

 

[30calDeath]

Bypassing the "why" of all this...

Find a decent chest rig that fits your needs. Then, later on down the line, if you decide you need armor, get a plate carrier. You can run the chest rig over the plate carrier like a lot of guys do. Or, if you go with a modular chest rig, you can just take the pouches off of it and place them onto the plate carrier.

I received a lot of great responses in this thread, I now have a better idea of what I want/need. What is your question? Hopefully I can answer for you.

 

[Shaggyback]

LOL. I have no question.

Focus on this part of my post:

Find a decent chest rig that fits your needs. Then, later on down the line, if you decide you need armor, get a plate carrier. You can run the chest rig over the plate carrier like a lot of guys do. Or, if you go with a modular chest rig, you can just take the pouches off of it and place them onto the plate carrier.

 

[herro_prease]

Plates are designed as "in-conjunction" or "stand alone". In-Conjunction plates are only rated when run in front of level IIIa soft armor panels while standalone plates can be worn by themselves. Back in Iraq between 2004 and 2005 I saw a lot of conventional troops do stupid shit like buy plate carriers and run their SAPI plates in them without any IIIa protection. Like I said, do your research. Some plates are designed to take a single hit, while others can take multiple. Many expect to shatter, deform or spall on impact so having IIIa panels underneath are either required to meet that protective rating or are just a damned good idea.

Roger that, thanks for spelling it out. All the plates I've shopped were all standalone, in fact I'd never even seen an "in conjunction" plate. Good to know.

 

[Dogtown]

Standalone plates tend to be heavier than in-conjunction and while I've been out of the game since 2008, I think you'll find the vast majority of plates that do not specifically say "stand alone" are in fact in-conjunction. Most years I wore the plates in a carrier over a low-vis IIIa vest but there are also plenty of IIIa panels cut to fit plate carriers as well so you don't need a full soft panel vest underneath.

 

[30calDeath]

LOL. I have no question.

Focus on this part of my post:

Find a decent chest rig that fits your needs. Then, later on down the line, if you decide you need armor, get a plate carrier. You can run the chest rig over the plate carrier like a lot of guys do. Or, if you go with a modular chest rig, you can just take the pouches off of it and place them onto the plate carrier.

This is exactly what I will be doing

 

[Makrel Jaxon]

Just wondering if you are still looking for a plate carrier I have a former army issued intersepter vest acu pattern I would let go for a good price comes with the ballistic attachments I.e neck groin throat protectors


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[yetigoode2]

Love mine from TAG.

 

[SnakeDoctor27]

Plate Carriers and Tactical Gear

 

[Kamkaze]

Love my banshee

rifle plate carrier