CQB Setup ... Chest Rig or Plate Carrier

morm4400

morm4400

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Next month will be my first CQB, I have buy myself a Serpa Holster for my Glock, with a CR Speed belt and Comp-Tac Mag pouch.

But for the PMAG of my DDMK18, should a use a simple chest rig or a more rigid plate carrier ?

What's the pro and the con ?

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Plate Carrier have molle at the back for Camelback but is more heady and can be very hot.
Chest rig is less heavy, but no camelback and I feel it move more on the chest.
 
Try one, the other, and both at home. Dry fire and practice reloads and different positions with different combinations of kit. Also consider that this is Canada and you may be wearing a jacket for half the service rifle season. I personally prefer a slick plate carrier with a chest rig on top. If it's cold, I'll wear the jacket over the PC under the chest rig.
 
Wear what works for your game, weather, conditions, clothing (Parka, jacket, rain gear, rain pants), ensure whatever you rock interacts with all you other gear. And finally wear all that stuff you have decided to wear UNDER MATCH Intensity. That is, everything works on your home range under practice conditions, but who is to say you are practicing with the match adrenaline dump? :eek:

Case in point: I love mounting my holster (right side is my strong side) on my 5.11 Vtac vest. Works well during the draw at my home range and (non-firing practice) in my basement. Then during an October CQB match (read: rain jacket) with extra clothes on since my summer home club and / or warm basement practice sessions, my strong arm no longer had the mobility to reach higher on the draw with my extra layers on! Surprise!! :eek: I've since mounted my holster lower on the battle belt with a Safariland UBL (universal belt loop hanger thingymajig). So much for my beloved 5.11 VTac vest and my SDS Fighting Load Carrier holster mount.

I learned this the hard way, under match intensity. Another case in point: I was slamming the 5/30 magazine into the AR mag well with more enthusiasm, something I had not expected in practice. So come game day/week, the intensity levels varied. All good learning.

Set up your gear bag/ rucksack/assault pack on the line so that you can add layers or peel of layers in between shooting and safety relays/responsibilities /tasks. With all those considerations, now you can steer closer to a decision to rock a plate carrier or chest rig. :)

Don't be afraid to try different slings also. Have them in your shooting bag/kit/gear so that you can swap the slings during different skills and drills relays. Find what works for YOU and only you.

More anecdotal stories: I love my SONY Camcorder sling (Camcorder has long stopped working and has been ETrash binned) since it has 360 degree swivels on BOTH ends and it also has another 360 swivel on my stolen-from-my-snowboard-leash buckle that super easy to manipulate especially with wet gloves on (don't be scared to try this). I learned that I love this buckle even with my DaKine mitts-stolen-from-my-son's-national team days.... :p

Then upon suggestions from a brown unit in Petawawa, I tried the Magpul MS3 and I like it, great colour, nice feel, but the Magpul buckle is harder to employ with wet and cold gloves. So I keep that MS3 for summer/spring warm weather matches. ha ha ha ha ha
I keep BOTH slings in my CQB kit bag! :evil:

Final case in point:

I love networking with Ganderite...For you newbies, don't be fooled by that funny smile on his face. He's not a DCRA Hall of Famer because of his joviality. He kicks ass when he needs to especially in Match 4 with the 5 pistol shots to the head, reload, 5 more pistol shots to the head time frame. He CAN shoot and shoot very well.

He and I try to modify our gear so that we don't spend lots and lots of money. I don't think he realizes that he inspires me a great deal to try the "cheaper" method/modifications FIRST before heading out to Darren / Farmboy at One Shot Tactical for some HSGI or Blue Force Gear kit.

Ganderite employs some of the minimalist looking rigs, and still manages to KICK my ass! :eek: Good on him!!!


I'm not issued this gear so I can therefore buy what I want/ need/perceived needs. No authority figure here at the matches to remind/tell/convince you to blouse your trousers. (it's an old joke) :cool:

Hope this helps the match preparation. Lots and lots of newbies out there learning! :wave:

Barney
 
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Both what Bolivar and TT said. For shooting in the hot summer months, I would just run the chest rig and save the plate carrier for the colder shoots as you will melt with it on when it's hot out.
Regards
 
Its a personal thing, you need to test each out and find what works for you.

I ran a simple vest when I started, then talking with other and watching I slowly expanded.

I now run a simple HSG (High speed Gear) padded belt with everything on it.

For me its simple and easy to use. I can add/remove layers of clothing depending on the weather and drop the belt when I need to hit the head.

As everyone said use what works for you.
 
I like the battle belt setup too. I run it with my vest. It's handy to have a belt that fits over your gear regardless of what it is, as you and and subtract layers through the day.

If I could I wound go with just the battle belt but I shoot kind a weird (rifle right, pistol left) so I can't make all the mag pouches and my holster work for ME with the belt alone.

OP - my original comment stands...but I would lean toward the chest rig due to weight savings personally.
 
I used a minimalist plate carrier and battle belt for CQB last year and it worked pretty well. I found it was a bit heavy for SR and switched to just using the battle belt with an H harness to mount my hydration pack.

I will have to run the pistol on a drop leg platform I guess, because I would rather have one rig for both CQB and SR.

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Tactical teacher said "Ganderite employs some of the funniest looking rigs,...."

My rig is NOT "funny looking". It is fast and comfortable.

It is not "welfare" kit. It is "minimalist". A fancy word for "cheap". It goes well with a Norico rifle with a $100 scope.

CQB kit only has to be fast when standing. Service Rifle kit has to function prone, with more rifle mags, so if you need the same kit for both, build a SR kit.

There are three main elements to my kit. First is a proper stiff holster belt. An Uncle Mike's Duty Belt. (Cost about $25 on ebay.) This was suggested to me by one of the shooters who noticed that my regular belt was having issues. Since I am egg-shaped, I wear suspenders to make sure the belt stays up. ($12 at Mark's Work Warehouse.)

Because the pistol belt does not have to be cinched super tight to stay in place, it is comfortable and easy to rotate 6 inches during the Modified Prone, so I don't lay on the pistol.

I use an Uncle Mike's Kydex pistol holster on the belt. I prefer the location on the belt, rather than a drop leg, because my other pistol sports require a belt holster, so my muscle memory only has to know one draw. If I wore a drop leg, it would be set as high as possible.

My magazines are worn in a chest bib. $17 from Keep Shooting. It has 3 pockets. The two outboard pockets carry my rifle mags. My rifle mags are doubled, so that is 4 mags in 2 pockets. The fifth mag, the 4 rounder, goes in my back pocket where it can't be drawn in error.

The two pistol mags are in a plastic paddle holster tucked into the middle pouch of the bib.

When re-loading, the distance from the mag pouch to the gun is the absolute minimum distance. The gun mag well is only a few inches in front of the pouch. I can look down and see everything.

The bib is rather heavy when full of loaded mags, so the neck strap felt uncomfortable. Not visible in the pictures is my "tactical bungee cord" which hooks on the back of the neck strap and goes down to my belt. This takes most of the weigh off my neck.

One other element of my kit is my glasses. The right lens is optimized to focus of the pistol front sight. The scope focus is adjusted for sharpness when using this lens. If you looked through my scope, it would look blurry.

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Ganderite - you rock...I am starting my first season of CQB next month with TT's Petawawa clinic and I have adopted and embraced your "minimalist" approach. Thanks to guys like yourself, Barney and Bolivar this whole experience is much less intimidating than I thought it would be...Can't wait to get on the range with you all...
 
Here is a picture taken last weekend. Here is how I used the chest rig:

before we start the match, we load, on command, a pistol mag and a rifle mag. The pistol mag on my hip get loaded. the mag to be loaded against the clock is in the chest pouch, close to my hands for the reload.

The 4 rifle mags are doubled. The one in the outside pouch gets loaded first. The one loaded against the clock is in the center pouch, close to my hands.



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Ganderite: I love you! Well you know what I mean... your rig works and works for YOU! Its minimalist, it works, it's affordable, and I'm super glad that we have you to steer all of us in this direction! It was great seeing you this past weekend. We have a great community! :wave:

Cheers,
Barney
 
Innavedaw said:
Ganderite - you rock...I am starting my first season of CQB next month with TT's Petawawa clinic and I have adopted and embraced your "minimalist" approach. Thanks to guys like yourself, Barney and Bolivar this whole experience is much less intimidating than I thought it would be...Can't wait to get on the range with you all...
Click to expand...

You said it.... get on the range with all of us. The hardest part about any game/competition/effort is getting off the fence and out of our existing comfort zone. Nobody grows while inside their comfort zone. We only grow when we are stressed (hopefully positively; that's our own choice); and in this case it's competition. :) Usually it's with others and for many of us it's a challenge to minimize the mistakes. Folks that keep their mistakes down win the matches, it's quite simple! That's what I learned from a couple of decades of shooting Service Rifle matches.

Speaking of mistakes, we all make them, it's a matter of choosing how we react: BITTER or Better.... what's it gonna be?

Like many of you, my learning style (that's why I am a teacher) is learning by hands on (versus listening or seeing) and making mistakes. Get out to the clinics and matches and make mistakes (and friends, and contacts, and social networking). :wave:

What's not to like? :evil:

Cheers,
Barney
 
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