Help adjusting a chest rig

**auschip** · Posted On: 11/01/2008 6:44pm

HSGI makes a side plate carrier that may help (along with the water bladder that was already recommended).

http://www.hsgi.us/proddetail.asp?pr...2FSSPCA&cat=10

**vigilus** · Posted On: 11/02/2008 9:11am

Side plate carries thats a great suggestion. Actually I'm going to see about picking up some side plates. I'm not sure if they will protect me when I'm peeking my head in culverts and **** looking for IEDs but it will make me feel better. I need to find a place that makes it in Arid CADPAT pattern Camo otherwise it might look odd. I know that sounds a little sill but the look cool factor is always paramount with this stuff :)

A buddy just picked up the larger Wasatch vest and I tried it on. Fits awesome. I bought the Weesatch because I read a lot of reviews saying the Wasatch was just too big. I fucked up though, rereading those old reviews I based my decision off of, many of them were from paintballers and air softers. No doubt many being 140 pound kids and people who aren't using soft body armor. Nothing wrong with, I should have paid more attention.

I'm going to try attaching my camel back to it (instead of just throwing it on when I dismount) hopefully that pulls the weight off.

Yrkoon9, if you're allowed to say what's your job or position? I'm not sure how American infantry work their crews for mech ops

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 11/05/2008 5:05am

GS,

I am a platoon leader for an infantry company. I am officially a tanker, but we have no tanks. Just the MGS and Strykers. Doesn't matter anyways. We all do the same things here. Partial dismounted patrols and partial mounted.

I don't do long dismounted patrols. We have vehicles for to support us nearby. So I keep my assault bag with food, water, mags, and junk in that. I only take the bare minimum - honestly with the amount of **** I have to carry including elbow pads, kneepads, eyepro, camelback, magazines, grenades, radios, groin and neck protectors on the vest, etc I can't chase anybody down. So I try to be as light as possible. Unless it is absolutely neccessary it stays in the vehicle.

I have heard many stories about guys starting their deployment carrying all the cool-guys **** but by the end they aren't carrying anything.

The SF guys have the right idea. Plate carrier and person preference according to the particular mission. They are light and mobile because that is the kind of enemy we are dealing with.

**Lord Skeletor** · Posted On: 11/23/2008 12:51pm

Well...thought I'd post one of my rigs set up for 5.56. It's got a Paraclete plate carrier w/ Class IV multi-strike rifle plates, OpTactical 5.56 pouches, 6 Mags (8 is too goddamn heavy), Utility Pouch for my ITT PVS-14- two boxes of breaching 12 Gauge powdered slugs (for door breaching) and breaching tool, Radio Pouch, Triple Pistol Mag Pouch, Glock 23, Sig 556 w/ Galil Folding Stock/EoTech, a couple of lightsticks, and switchblade.

Normally...I've got this one set up for 7.62 for my Galil ARM, but I recently had a training school which required 5.56 and heavy armor...so it was a pain in the ass to take the 5.56 pouches on and put them on the vest with mags...yeah, I'm a lazy fucker. :qleft5:

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 11/27/2008 4:00pm

The IOTV we wear isn't built very well for customization because of the quick-drop capability. I've tried several configurations and none are very good. This one carries my MBITR radio, PVS14 NODS, (9) 30x5.56 magazines, (1) 15x9mm magazine, Gerber multitool, wolfhook, diving knife, a few chemlights, 1 smoke grenade, M9 pistol, and my medical pouch on the backside.

**AlphaFoxtrot51** · Posted On: 11/27/2008 4:21pm

Holy **** you guys are carrying a heavy load? Even as a SAW gunner my vest NEVER looked like that.

1.) Get a drop holster for that side-arm...there is never a reason to have it attached to your vest. That just makes for an awkward and difficult deployment.

2.) Your gear should be mission specific, everything you'll immediately need goes on your vest. Everything you'll need for prolonged engagements or missions goes in your assault-bag, or possibly even you butt-pack.

**mrm1775** · Posted On: 11/27/2008 6:04pm

Originally Posted by Yrkoon9

The IOTV we wear isn't built very well for customization because of the quick-drop capability. I've tried several configurations and none are very good. This one carries my MBITR radio, PVS14 NODS, (9) 30x5.56 magazines, (1) 15x9mm magazine, Gerber multitool, wolfhook, diving knife, a few chemlights, 1 smoke grenade, M9 pistol, and my medical pouch on the backside.

How does that new vest compare to the old Interceptor?

***Cassius*** · Posted On: 11/27/2008 10:38pm

Originally Posted by Yrkoon9

Christ I'm glad we don't use those things. They are not pleasant to wear for an extended period. Thankfully, our kits our customizable (and a lot more comfortable than the IOTV), but they have a quick release for if you get fucked up.

**Yrkoon9** · Posted On: 11/28/2008 2:48am

Originally Posted by AlphaFoxtrot51

Holy **** you guys are carrying a heavy load? Even as a SAW gunner my vest NEVER looked like that.

1.) Get a drop holster for that side-arm...there is never a reason to have it attached to your vest. That just makes for an awkward and difficult deployment.

2.) Your gear should be mission specific, everything you'll immediately need goes on your vest. Everything you'll need for prolonged engagements or missions goes in your assault-bag, or possibly even you butt-pack.

Do what?

Mission specific? I run 3 missions per day. Everyday. Somedays they bleed together into 1 long 24+ hour mission. There is no such thing as mission specific for us. We could be dragging one of our vehicles back to the FOB on some routine BS and get called to secure an IED for 6 hours until EOD arrives. I might be on patrol in the middle of the day and end up on the rooftop of the government center providing overwatch in SKT's at night.

My load isn't that heavy. And most of my "other" gear is sitting inside my Stryker. ****, I don't even carry frag grenades.

My M9 is attached to my vest because that is my personal preference. I have a drop leg holster and I don't like it. I guess it was cool when we first got in country and were living on a FOB, where I could just walk over to the chowhall without my M4. But on daily patrols that leg holster chaffs my tender inner regions. I prefer the chest rig because I am half-way out of the vehicle hatch quite a bit, and my M4 is bulky and clumsy up there trying to aim around pope glass and netting. The M9 can be drawn quickly and fired if someone gets up on my vehicle, rather than reaching down through the hatch and trying to bring it back up.

The IOTV does suck. No doubt about it. Everyone wants the IBA back. Badly. But "statistics" show that when soldiers get wounded, people haven't been ripping the body armor off to check for chest wounds, and medics ended up treating arm/leg wounds and not looking for the sucking chest, etc. Thats what they tell us anyways. I will say that I was the first guy in my platoon who got his quick-release tab pulled. Always fucking with the lieutenant. Left it sitting in the backseat of my truck and they got me. It's a huge pain in the ass. The neck protection doesn't stay in place, the sideplates fall out. The thing is a piece of ****. *BUT* it does distribute the load better than the old IBA. So when you are out on an 8 hour patrol you don't lose feeling in your arm the way I used to. You cinch it up and more weight rides on the hips. There are always pros/cons to everything.