What is a Chest Rig?

A chest rig is a tactical garment with pouches worn against the body and secured with a harness retention system, designed to store extra gear or magazines without taking up precious pocket space. Their roots go back centuries in bandoleers or shot pouches.

There can be numerous advantages to choosing a modern chest rig. Chest rigs offer more versatility in loadout options and are a cost-cutting alternative to having multiple plate carrier configurations. Let's examine some of their benefits below.

• Lightweight: Since a chest rig only covers the pouches you would use on the front side of a plate carrier, you save weight from not using all its features. This is beneficial when trying to reduce armor usage due to an activity being less important - hunting, long-term observational periods, high altitude operations or target shooting are examples where this might come in handy - you have most of your gear ready without all that extra bulk or weight associated with an armored carrier.
• Plate Carrier Compatibility: Chest rigs offer two distinct advantages when it comes to plate carrier compatibility; not only can they mount to MOLLE-clad carriers like our Concealment Plate Carrier but they can also mount directly to non-MOLLE carriers (such as our Concealment Plate Carrier ). Therefore, chest rigs have greater compatibility than most MOLLE pouches!
• Scalable Loadouts: As with plate carrier compatibility, having multiple chest rigs configured for mission-specific tasks increases your adaptability in battlespace with minimal gear. For instance, having a medic-centric chest rig at hand in case temporary duties require you to fill that role temporarily before transitioning over to assaulter/grenadier types is invaluable in quickly switching your loadout on demand - the number of preconfigured rigs available determines your rate of change!

Considerations when assessing your individual needs should always be kept in mind, such as armor-free plate carrier usage as a possible substitute, and chest rig interface considerations related to plate carrier use:

• Reduced MOLLE Surface Area: When considering mounting platforms with limited MOLLE areas, plate carriers with pouches configured and armor removed (to reduce weight) may provide better mounting solutions than others due to increased MOLLE surfaces; for instance allowing backside hydration carrier usage and cummerbund MOLLE real estate.
• Pouches: Many commercial chest rigs feature pouches permanently attached, but these same pieces may also be purchased individually and mounted using MOLLE at lower costs than an entire preconfigured system.
• Pouch Size: It could be that your mission requires specific pouches that no commercially available chest rig has available - for instance, most chest rigs will accommodate 5.56x45 and 7.62x39 magazines but most won't accommodate.308 magazines.
• Your armor and carrier may not need to be more modular than is necessary: home defense or vehicle employment could suffice with what limited flexibility there will be in the way of loadout options for it.

Now that we've discussed the modularity and advantages of chest rigs, as well as some key considerations when purchasing one, let's explore potential employment and mounting options:

Independent Usage: Donning a chest rig is similar to donning a backpack; simply put your arms through both harness loops, secure any waist-level securement points (ensuring these are open), and put on any footwear necessary. Once it's on you body, take note of where the placard (main area of rig or magazine pouch area) sits on your torso depending on personal preferences; H-harness adjustments may need to be adjusted so the placard sits high or low enough on torso according to personal preference based on personal preference compared with plate carriers which cannot be adjusted either high up on chest or low down in abdominal area based on what works for each individual user based on personal preference alone.

Slick Carrier Usage: Utilizing a chest rig with a plate carrier without MOLLE can be simple and straight forward, all that is required is placing the carrier or vest first and following these steps to put on armor - once done and adjusted according to your dimensions it's ready!

MOLLE Carrier Usage: Mounting a chest rig to a MOLLE carrier may take multiple steps, but once in place it can prove worth your while. Here is what to do:

1. Determine if Your Carrier Has MOLLE Webbing: These sections should be pectoral level on your carrier and typically appear at its outer edges to the left and right sides, usually towards its peciolar. They will stand out because they're sewn differently than the rest of the webbing; if this applies to your carrier then continue onto step 2. Otherwise if it does not have these sections you will either need to wear the included harness over it as per Slick Carrier Usage bullet-point above, or acquire an adapter such as here (available here).

2.Unlatch the harness: Once all six clips have been disengaged, separate your rig from an H-harness with waist strap, as this step should complete configuring of your harness.

3.Remove two clips from the H-harness: It doesn't matter which two female-style clips you select as long as both can be unhooked from their clasps by pulling slack from straps at buckle slots to reveal splits in their bars (and splits under them, which reveal female-style clips). To dismantle, pull back slack from strap to reveal split in bar of clip underneath (in this instance). Once this split has been identified, compress and finagle the strap until half of it slips under it (needle nose pliers or flathead screwdriver can help here). Pull backwards while feeding it back through. Keep the remainder of the harness handy: depending on how you configure your chest rig, additional buckles may be necessary for lateral securement (more on this later).

4.Attach the Clips to Your Plate Carrier: Once you have removed and stored the clips from step 3, they should be attached to your plate carrier using MOLLE attachment points on either its pectoral level vertical sections or by using its split bar mounting point. At this time, install any buckled adapters needed (if using an adapter in link already has buckles on it, attach adapter unit at this time) using pectoral level vertical MOLLE sections at pectoral level for MOLLE attachment point installation using pectoral level vertical MOLLE sections so chest rig can vertically snap into place on plate carrier via its split bar attachment point before vertically snapping into place on carrier using split bar mounting point on carrier split bar mounting point on split bar mounting points for stability during vertical snapping.

5.Acknowledging Your MOLLE Wing Extension Options: Most find that removing MOLLE wings when employing on a carrier beneficial as they get in the way of cummerbund placement; however this decision ultimately falls on operator preference. However when using them it requires two additional swift clips on either side of your cummerbund so the MOLLE wings can lock down securely (see step 6a below). Establish Lower Chest Rig Securement to Prevent Lateral Sway: Securement options will differ depending on if MOLLE extensions are being used; follow Step 6a below if utilizing or otherwise follow Step 6b for optimal securement.

• If you are using wing extensions, two female clips from your H-harness must be repositioned in order to mount them correctly on the cummerbund's MOLLE webbing at its rear portions. Once this has been accomplished, male clip wing extension male positions can simply snap into these new female receptacles to position your four clips exactly where they would be if placed directly over your carrier.
• If your plate carrier features a removable cummerbund flap or uses MOLLE webbing with Velcro over the cummerbund flap area, simply remove the hook backer and two MOLLE wing extensions on your chest rig and connect the remaining portion of it into the loop material in the cummerbund flap area once your cummerbund has been secured again. There is no need for side clips; rather the Velcro securement and pectoral level buckles should provide sufficient retention of gear.