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Belt & Chest Rig

Barn Side

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 16, 2012
222
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I’m join in the process of reenlisting as a grunt and just wanted to hear what others regard as the best belt and chest rig going around? I’d like the option of attaching a Safailand holster to the belt.
Cheers,
 
Wouldnt bother with chest rigs, unless you plan on regularly donning it on and off, in the prone for long periods of time, change loadouts for different missions, or plan on wearing it without plates. Chest rigs typically add to much bulk, and generally dont hold enough mags for a typical grunts loadout. Id forgo the chestrig and stick with standard molle pouches.
 
You didn't say which Branch or Unit. If recently enlisting and regular infantry, I don't think you'll get to use your own kit. I don't think even the Rangers get to use unissued equipment. I doubt the current USMC infantry will allow it either. These rules were relaxed in the early stages of OIF and we saw some Army units running around with some hokey equipment but supplies were thin and some units had to make due. This has generally been done away with unless you happen to be CAG or DEVGRU.

In Tikrit in 2005, a US Army NG or Reserve unit came in (can't remember which) and thought it would be cool to run around with scoped M14's.....problem was, they didn't know how to use them. Myself and a former USMC 8541 were the counter-snipers (DDM's) for our Team protecting DoS personnel and the Army asked us to help spin them up on how to use them. One guy replaced his issued Leupold Mark 4 with his personal Leapers scope that he used to hunt deer back home. He went on to tell me what a great scope it was. I strongly urged him to put his Leupold back on......shit like that is why non issued equipment is usually not allowed.
 
I was planning on keep my front relatively free so it wouldn't interfere with the prone.
I managed to do it with my old webbing by putting all the gear on the sides or back.
 
In relation to unissued kit there used to be a bit of leeway with webbing or chest rigs. I have seen blokes told to use their issued webbing, but they were usually donning ridiculous chest rigs.
 
Putting things on the back? How're you going to reach them when you need them?

On my plates carrier I have a shingle for 3 rifle mags. I carry a blowout kit on one side & comms on the other. I carry an ITW FastMag (rifle) on my support side. Plus the one already loaded into my rifle I have 5 mags on me. The mag on my belt only gets used if I have to reload like NOW!

I carry a few more items on my belt but they bear no relevance to this particular topic. I mentioned some of this in your holster thread.

If you have any further questions feel free the PM.
 
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I was planning on keep my front relatively free so it wouldn't interfere with the prone.
I managed to do it with my old webbing by putting all the gear on the sides or back.

how often do you plan on going prone?

personally i would rather place priority on getting my weapon reloaded quickly and having easy reach to shit i need over my ability to go full prone.

that being said, you can still get prone with plates and mags on youre chest.........youre not gonna get as low obviously, but you can still set up a stable shooting position laying ontop of a few mags.
 
Don't worry about these things, the good thing about the mil is that they generally issue you what they want you to wear.

Unless you have a reason to think you'll be in a unit that gets to wear whatever they want, or you join the DoD security contractor MasterRace (DoD-SCM) anything you spend money on is staying at home.
 
To answer the ops question I'm personally looking at getting 1 of the HSGI belts with a cobra buckle. Not done loads of research on plate carriers as my issued carrier is alright, the most popular I've probably seen is the crye precision JPC.