Tactical gear - Plate carriers, chest rigs, belts, LBE, etc.

Pretend To Imagine said:
I like everything about LBE except trying to use a pistol with it.
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Well, I live in a big town that's got a lot of forested areas. I don't really find a pistol useful out in the woods, so I'm not concerned with not having space for it on my belt rig. If I really wanted to keep it on me for whatever reason, I'd keep it in my pack.

French Dip said:
Plate carriers are great for quick, vehicle-born actions, or sentries.
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Yeah, it was really the shift to mechanized infantry that resulted in moving to plate carrier and chest rig setups.

French Dip said:
Our soldiers are probably moving back to belt kit
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This video would indicate that it's definitely possible:


This is the rig they're testing. The various component product pages are here.
 
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Samhain said:
I think the Russians are still using the SMERSH here and there?
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Bulkier belt kits like the SMERSH don't seem to be as popular for a static trench war situation.

Recent footage shows more western-style belt kits now on both sides. It comes down to availability and logistics, so there are a lot of plate carriers, sometimes with added soft armor.
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Samhain said:
Well, I live in a big town that's got a lot of forested areas. I don't really find a pistol useful out in the woods, so I'm not concerned with not having space for it on my belt rig. If I really wanted to keep it on me for whatever reason, I'd keep it in my pack.
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I train pistol and rifle, so I want one rig that can host both.
 
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French Dip said:
America went to plate carriers because in the desert wars they were doing a lot of urban warfare where they were more likely to get shot, and where they had vehicles stationed nearby. It's also why a lot of vetbros came back telling everyone that 6 mags was a standard combat load. When you kick in a door and clear a house, you're not going through 6 mags, and you can get more out of your hummvee when you're done with that house. Plate carriers are great for quick, vehicle-born actions, or sentries. Our soldiers are probably moving back to belt kit, just like they're painting all the tan tanks back to green. We got super specialized for one specific conflict. Carriers can be used in many niches in any conflict but they aren't the baseline.
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A lot of information and instruction regarding PCs and chest rig setups was born out of combat experience in the Middle East. This has some caveats most aren't considering. First, guys are telling those without similar combat experience to setup their gear a la SUT out of the Ranger Handbook (a recommended read for all). This assumes support or other logistical elements that simply aren't guaranteed for non-mil stuff. You have to do your homework and consider your environment and what you suspect your mission parameters are going to be. Be clear about your constraints because there's no medevac if you get fucked up.

Second, a lot of guys are far too optimistic about their engagement capabilities. Most of us, including me, aren't training enough in our kit and the vast majority of us never use the crucible of competition as a diagnostic tool.

I write all that to support the point I ultimately want to make: many, many different gear combinations and setups can work quite well if the person implementing them is sufficiently skilled and has the will to do whatever must be done. I suggest folks consider cultivating skills to the level sufficient that they can confidently execute whatever it is they want to do, then maintain those levels before getting too wrapped up in the minutiae of gear selection or configuration. At a minimum that'll open your eyes to what'll work for you, what doesn't, and what doesn't matter.
 
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I'm in the UK. I keep getting adverts for those super small handheld bow and arrow kits.

D'ya reckon that with a bit of bodging they'd be OK for things like rabbits and pigeons? (might be a need something a bit bigger for a deer, like a housebrick or summat)

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Narr Then said:
I'm in the UK. I keep getting adverts for those super small handheld bow and arrow kits.

D'ya reckon that with a bit of bodging they'd be OK for things like rabbits and pigeons? (might be a need something a bit bigger for a deer, like a housebrick or summat)

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You should consider creating a thread about archery. I honestly know nothing about it, but there may be other people on the forum who do, and it is a relevant topic for the self sufficiency board.
 
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Pretend To Imagine said:
You should consider creating a thread about archery. I honestly know nothing about it, but there may be other people on the forum who do, and it is a relevant topic for the self sufficiency board.
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I don't know enough about it to start a thread tbh. You're right tho, it would be very interesting.
 
@Dean Pentel I'm glad you brought up competitions. There are Run N Gun events and many other similar ones popping up all over the place now, especially in the south east of the US. I cannot encourage you guys to do them enough. You run in your gear for about 3 miles, shoot combinations of pistol and rifle at about 6 stages, do practical shit like unknown distance shooting, dragging medical dummies to safety, covering and bounding, it's crazy how well I've learned from doing them and I've only done 3. My gear setup has changed dramatically, so has some of my clothing, and even my rifle has changed as a result of it. I thought a red dot was fine until I got blown the fuck out by stage 6 about a year ago, where they stuck a white target in lightly colored grass 300 yards away and I couldn't see shit. Now I have a magnifier. I also know I need more treadmill time to get back some of the cardio I've lost. If you can't find anything like that nearby, do airsoft and set your gear up practically, even if it isn't set up for adhd speedsoft like the kids do. Use 30 round mags in gas powered guns for a more realistic feel. Or just go camping with your gear. Run movement drills in the woods where legal. Use the Ranger Handbook, it's free and waterproof paper copies are cheap.
 
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French Dip said:
@Dean Pentel I'm glad you brought up competitions. There are Run N Gun events and many other similar ones popping up all over the place now, especially in the south east of the US. I cannot encourage you guys to do them enough. You run in your gear for about 3 miles, shoot combinations of pistol and rifle at about 6 stages, do practical shit like unknown distance shooting, dragging medical dummies to safety, covering and bounding, it's crazy how well I've learned from doing them and I've only done 3. My gear setup has changed dramatically, so has some of my clothing, and even my rifle has changed as a result of it. I thought a red dot was fine until I got blown the fuck out by stage 6 about a year ago, where they stuck a white target in lightly colored grass 300 yards away and I couldn't see shit. Now I have a magnifier. I also know I need more treadmill time to get back some of the cardio I've lost. If you can't find anything like that nearby, do airsoft and set your gear up practically, even if it isn't set up for adhd speedsoft like the kids do. Use 30 round mags in gas powered guns for a more realistic feel. Or just go camping with your gear. Run movement drills in the woods where legal. Use the Ranger Handbook, it's free and waterproof paper copies are cheap.
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Where are these events in the south east? I’d love to attend one
 
Badungus Kabungus said:
Bulkier belt kits like the SMERSH don't seem to be as popular for a static trench war situation.
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That makes sense. I've watched quite a bit of combat footage coming out of Ukraine, and most of those trenches are super tight spaces, and a lot of those guys are already bulked up from all the soft armor they wear. My own belt rig is about 3" wide out on each side. Adding roughly 6" around my waistline doesn't sound like much, but I'm already a stocky dude, and moving through some doorways in some of the old abandoned houses in my area requires me to blade my body a bit to make sure nothing on my belt gets caught against door frames.

Trench warfare is already hellish enough. Then you've got all those suicide drones zipping around overhead. Nightmare fuel.
 
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Pretend To Imagine said:
Where are these events in the south east? I’d love to attend one
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Here's the event list for the biggest one. https://thegunrun.us/collections/tickets
You'll have to look around for other stuff near you, they don't really have a name that they all fall under like 2 gun yet unfortunatly. Ask around, especially at any event you go to. The owner of the gun run is always happy to share the names of other runs so you could email them or find them on IG.
 
Samhain said:
That makes sense. I've watched quite a bit of combat footage coming out of Ukraine, and most of those trenches are super tight spaces, and a lot of those guys are already bulked up from all the soft armor they wear. My own belt rig is about 3" wide out on each side. Adding roughly 6" around my waistline doesn't sound like much, but I'm already a stocky dude, and moving through some doorways in some of the old abandoned houses in my area requires me to blade my body a bit to make sure nothing on my belt gets caught against door frames.

Trench warfare is already hellish enough. Then you've got all those suicide drones zipping around overhead. Nightmare fuel.
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I have the SMERSH PKM kit (bulkiest of all the SMERSH kits) and it snags on everything if I'm making my way through dense brush and getting in and out of vehicles. Trenches would be even worse.

As for drones, it's a fucking nightmare. Whenever I think about where drone tech is heading, I want to dig myself a bunker. Really only way to deal with drones is to go underground. The new fiber optic ones are completely impervious to EW.

Meanwhile here's what passes for tactical gear in the ME.
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French Dip said:
Here's the event list for the biggest one. https://thegunrun.us/collections/tickets
You'll have to look around for other stuff near you, they don't really have a name that they all fall under like 2 gun yet unfortunatly. Ask around, especially at any event you go to. The owner of the gun run is always happy to share the names of other runs so you could email them or find them on IG.
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Thanks for the link. Nothing super close to me at the moment, but I’ll keep checking.

Did you see this one? https://youtu.be/RxzUIhbDOm4
 
Bummer said:
Training kit it will work but the solid colors are normal NIR compliant so you will glow under IR.
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I'll be honest with you. If someone is aiming at me under IR while I shoot in my backyard something has gone seriously wrong. I didn't know the township went that hard
 
French Dip said:
There are Run N Gun events and many other similar ones popping up all over the place now, especially in the south east of the US. I cannot encourage you guys to do them enough. You run in your gear for about 3 miles, shoot combinations of pistol and rifle at about 6 stages, do practical shit like unknown distance shooting, dragging medical dummies to safety, covering and bounding
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Came in this thread to ask a question but I wanted to second this real quickly before that. I have an inlaw who's a retired high-speed fancypants ooperator. This is how he recommends training your marksmanship - go for a mile run, then shoot, then go for another run, then shoot, etc.

Yours Truly 2095 said:
I didn't know the township went that hard
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Not that they have IR on their guns, but they will have them on their drones. Its a trivial cost, has good political optics (THOSE MILITARIZED POLICE WITH THERMAL SCOPES vs "We can perform search and rescue operations more effectively with this new drone!).
Not that I have any beef with the police, I'm a law abiding citizen in a gun loving part of the country.

French Dip said:
If you like you're gear, throw it all on, go out doors (with rifle if possible) and run around. Get tired, sweat, pretend to shoot your rifle where able and actually shoot it where able (legally). You WILL find problems.
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Also seconding this - it always surprises me how you can be as prepared as possible and think through everything thoroughly and you still end up learning about problems when you actually go out and use your equipment.

Now that I've mass replied, time to necropost.

I'm about to start up 2 gun training (among some other things), and I need a rig. I've been recommended the D3CRX for my needs, but what I'm unfamiliar with are brands in general. Interested in hearing any opinions here about manufacturers to avoid or to gravitate towards - specifically about rigs, carriers, backpacks, pouches, that sort of stuff. That's what I'm in the market for right now. I've already seen some people mention some stuff in passing, but I was hoping for a more focused answer.

I've already been burned once with buying a duty belt without doing my due diligence.
 
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