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Post by dannusmaximus on Dec 15, 2014 19:33:56 GMT
Also, in keeping with the thread, and because I'm too lazy to get my tactical man-bra out and take pictures, here are two action pics of my 'no profile' rig in action (double click them to make them bigger):  In the above, you can see the FAK I keep on it, and the way the rear waist belt and shoulder harness thingy sits. 2 single AR mag pouches and 2 single pistol pouches are molle'd to the front as well, riding slightly left and low of center, visible in the below pic.  'Zat's pretty much it. Everything is scabbed together from Specter pouches. Here are some pics of the actual rig stripped down from the website:   This isn't exactly a go to war rig, and wasn't intended to be (on account of me not seeing myself going to war). It IS however, a nice, light, stripped down rig for use at classes. I have toyed with replacing the single AR mag pouches with double pouches, but can't really justify the expense. In previous classes, I've just stuck extra mags in my pockets if I thought I would need them for a particular evolution. I have also vacillated between wearing the pistol mags on my belt versus the chest rig, and would probably add another single AR mag pouch on the chest rig if I decided to to that as a final solution. I've worn this setup in two Milcopp classes and another few classes, and it's sturdy. Pricey, though, in hindsight. When I put this together there weren't as may quality options available as there are now. Link to the Specter gear site is as follows: Specter website |
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Post by Browning35 on Dec 15, 2014 20:31:59 GMT
Browning, I was skimming through this thread and my head nearly popped because at first glance I thought you had an M246 SAW propped up next to your nylon. And I'm all like "Holy shit! Texas is cool and Browning must be a rich sumbitch!!" Lol, no. I wish. Not that cool and I'm definitely not rich. - In the first pic of yours is that a blue padded shirt or sleeve on your right arm? Brand/make? Cause I've been looking for something exactly like that. |
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Post by dannusmaximus on Dec 15, 2014 20:58:13 GMT
In the first pic of yours is that a blue padded shirt or sleeve on your right arm? Brand/make? Cause I've been looking for something exactly like that. That is this: www.mcdavidusa.com/Product/6500R/MCDAVID_Hex%E2%84%A2_Shooter_Arm_Sleeve.aspxI went about 1/2 way through a floor at a fire and caught myself on the tip of my right elbow. Hurt so bad I though I would pee myself, and caused the bursa to swell up like a ping pong ball. Now, everytime I tap my damn arm on something it swells up again, hence the arm sleeve. I generally wear it on-duty or if I otherwise anticipate a chance of hitting it, and it's nice on the range if I'm shooting bench or prone because of the padding. The snug fit feels good on my tendinitis as well. Jeezus I'm falling apart... I think I got mine at Dick's sporting goods or some other big box store. They aren't hard to find. Really superb piece of gear. I wasn't aware that they were a popular thing for basketball players to wear until some wits at my station started calling me LeBron. Captain Maximus assigned them toilet swabbing duty that night, and such shenanigans ceased...  |
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Post by Browning35 on Dec 15, 2014 21:01:22 GMT
Awesome, thank you. You da man.
(I'm falling apart as well)
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Post by as556 on Dec 15, 2014 21:02:47 GMT
I was going to make a joke about basketball players wearing those, too. Guess I'll bite my tongue, I hate cleaning toilets.
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Post by dannusmaximus on Dec 15, 2014 21:42:14 GMT
I was going to make a joke about basketball players wearing those, too. Guess I'll bite my tongue, I hate cleaning toilets. It was double jokey-joke because it's well known around my station that I can't stand watching sports on TV and don't really follow any sports teams period. Not uncommon for me to be wandering around the station in a sort of TV sports hell because every single one of the 5 or 6 TV's there are pegged to some awful ball game. Rank has it's privelages, but be prepared for fisticuffs if you try and wrest the remote from somebody's hand... |
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Post by as556 on Dec 15, 2014 23:39:06 GMT
Ah, that makes a bit more sense now. I like college and pro football and that's about it, basketball is alright but I don't really follow it except trying to catch the score for the Blazers. Man, I gotta say after seeing your picture closer up you look uncannily like my girlfriend's step dad (the FD LT)..anyway nice chest rig and rifle. I like the 14.5 pinned barrels. Got my hydro carrier. Little bit longer than my plate carrier, but that's ok. Stitching seems very good. This is the first Blackhawk product Ive had, I'm impressed. Definitely worth the $10 I paid. It holds a 100oz bladder.  |
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Post by Gingerbread Man on Dec 19, 2014 14:33:50 GMT
Ok, let's talk reloading from chest rig. I have one pouch that I designate as my 'reload' pouch. I refill this pouch from the other pouches. If possible I almost exclusively load from my 'reload' pouch. I believe strongly in doing things the same way and economy of motion.
Thoughts/Wha chu do?
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Post by dannusmaximus on Dec 19, 2014 14:55:00 GMT
My solution is to be cheap/lazy, and only have a chest rig with two single mag pouches on it. Empty goes in pocket or on the ground, next mag is whichever one I grab. Repeat X 1 then hope that GBM is carrying enough ammo to get me out of whatever predicament we've gotten ourselves into...
I like the idea of having a dump pouch for partials and empties. That seems like a legit solution to the reload question. I don't know how comfortable running around with a bag full of 4 or 5 partial mags slapping around your thigh or ass is, however, because I've never used one.
Muscle memory when it comes to shooting is a good thing, generally. Do you constantly bump forward your loaded mags into your reload pouch? If so, how many are you moving around at any one time? I think that moving 6 magazines forward into different pouches every time you reload would be burdensome.
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Post by omegaman on Dec 19, 2014 15:14:21 GMT
The reload pouch from a chest rig/PC is a fairly common practice. The issue Molle mag pouches we had when I was in varied from the old-school woodland camo snap closure to coyote tan velcro closure, and many Marines would set one up a a speed reload pouch by tucking in the flap...and then subsequently bump mags into that pouch between courses of fire. I have set my gear up like that before and have no issues with it.
The bigger issue with speed reloading, is just training on grabbing the mag the same way consistently...no matter where it is on your person. Magpuls and ranger tabs work great, but make sure they are on all of your mags. That said, you do not always have the luxery in a gunfight to administratively re-position your mags. However, sometimes you do. The bulk of gunfights I have been in, I was wearing an Alice belt/suspenders with Alice mag pouches (3 mags per pouch, 2 frags, 1 pouch on each side)--often, after initial contact and fighting towards cover I would quickly bump over mags from my right side to replenish the vacancy on my re-loading side (or just pile them all up beside me with a few frags, fun times). Many of us had been trained to reposition mags and do tactical reloads during lulls in firefights...so this was all second nature (especially after the first couple of gunfights--you find out what works). We would also spend hours during training just working on speed and tactical reloads, building muscle memory--I know for a fact this has saved lives (mine included). Again, focus on grabbing and inserting the mag the same way, everytime, not necessary from the same dedicated "speed reload pouch". (personal note: I have won every speed reload contest I was in while wearing the old-school Alice pouches--snapped.)
Which, upon thinking about it, brings me to another point. I do recall seeing many Marines fumble for mags after one reload due to only practicing 1 reload from the same pouch and not having worked enough on reloading from pouches that had been closed or positioned elsewhere. Again, the best way to remedy this is practice practice practice. One of my favorite techniques is having a buddy load your mags with varying amounts from 3-10 rounds, ensuring that you will need to go thru all your mags during a course of fire--not just the most convenient.
So, yeah, all my rambling aside, a dedicate reload (or speed-reload using vernacular from my era) pouch is a valid and often used technique. Configure around your mission, train accordingly, and party on.
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Post by Gingerbread Man on Dec 19, 2014 15:32:16 GMT
I don't bump all mags forward. I just take next available and put it into the 'reloading' pouch. In 'emergency' reloads I just grab next available but if I can reload the 'reload' pouch, I will.
Yo' dawg, I heard you like reloading your reloading pouch...
And yeah, you need a mag Dannus, just ask. LOL
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Post by omegaman on Dec 19, 2014 15:36:12 GMT
Running a battle belt/ range fun set-up. Oh, this was my bachelor party  Redeyes handling the range officer duties (before double-fisting PBR and moonshine):  I like using the battle belt for casual range time. I can get some good training in and have plenty of reloads on hand (4 rifle, 4 pistol) for multiple drills. Why a belt and no chest rig? 'Cuz it is sexy and South Carolina is hot. A sweating thru a loaded chest rig takes the fun out of it (hey, I am fat lazy civilian now, so what!?  ) |
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Post by omegaman on Dec 19, 2014 15:48:56 GMT
The only pics I have from 2005 Iraq are all these puny shitty images, so if any of you wizards out there can hook it up with a re-size, that would be radical...for me and the internet! Anyway, loaded-for-bear patrol pic: My flak carried my Ka-Bar and 40mm for my M203 and (as previously mentioned) my mags, frags, canteens, and IFAK are on an Alice belt/suspender LBE worn over the flak. This worked great. My primary reason for going to the Alice setup was how well it carried and distributed the weight of my fighting gear for doing 4+ hours foot patrols thru a hostile city with 120+ degree temps. Also shown, my beloved SMAW and thermobaric round. Assault pack was loaded with C4 and linear breaching charges. Again, any help with the pics would be great:  Another bad pic from that era, showing the Alice gear better while I am having too good a time fucking up some haji's house:  |
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Post by omegaman on Dec 19, 2014 15:56:20 GMT
This pic was taken during the first week of my 2005 Iraq deployment, a few months before I switched over to Alice gear. Here, my gear is all on my flak. I found this to be very uncomfortable. The boxy pouch on my left side held 4 mags. A concept that worked well during training, when I mostly deployed a SMAW and worked as part of a gun team. After a few gunfights, I found carrying all my mags in one large pouch wasn't ideal. My homie next me has an M16A2/203 and Benelli shotgun.  |
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Post by omegaman on Dec 19, 2014 16:02:43 GMT
Unmotivated Friday at work, so MOAR GEAR PICS!!!  
Iraq 2008, I am working waaaay off the reservation. This is when I started using a belt more. Hard to see, but my belt carried my M9 and mags, frags, smoke, dump pouch, compass, gps, and IFAK. Idea being I could drop my chest rig and flak (but grab my radio) and boogie fast outta dodge while calling for air support and marking my position.
Chest rig is my favorite, TAG gladiator. Carries 6 mags flat across the body w/integral hydration carrier. Simple and useful. The fanny pack is clipped to my flak and carried 40mm.
Goddamn camel fuckers:
Same operation, bad pic, but showing some of the belt gear:
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Redeyes handling the range officer duties (before double-fisting PBR and moonshine):
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