Vest, Bag, or belt?

[Sapper771]

I have been looking at different ways to carry loaded rifle mags and small equipment.

While in the military, we used Load Bearing Equipment (LBE) in the form of H type suspenders attached to a pistol belt. All the pouches and butt pack attach to this rig. It worked. Then we were issued Load Bearing Vests (LBV) attached to a pistol belt. This worked decently well, better than the LBE, IMO. Each one had pluses and minuses.

We then got put on alert for deployment. We had to turn in all of our LBV equipment in for the new Interceptor Armored vest and a lightweight ammo carrier vest. Now we were in business. This system used molle attachment and was much more versatile and modular. It allowed you to configure your load out to your mission/job (rifleman, grenadier, SAW gunner, etc).

While deployed, I took a butt pack style bag and attached a sling to it. This bag carried other small items like first aid, extra grenades/smoke/flashbang, chem lights, IR strobes, NVGs, snacks, GPS, etc. It became affectionately named the "Dope Bag". Soon, most of the other guys in my team were carrying them too.

In our current times, Go bags are getting pretty normal. I have several and they are extremely handy. There are even bags that are designed for "active shooter" situations that can carry your ammo and other equipment. I have a similar sling bag made by 5.11. I use it on camping and cabin trips to hold my rifle mags and other small items.


My question is what do you prefer and why?

 

[OpticsPlanet]

I get a lot of grief for it, but if I'm out in the woods with my buddies down south, I like a Blackhawk MOLLE vest. I put pouches where I want/need them, and nothing falls out of my pockets anymore. It distributes the weight across my shoulders (I suffer from "no-assedness", and belts are a constant struggle to keep up with any weight on them).

My bag collection is approaching the volume of my holster collection. An employee discount is such a burden... The bags that see the most use for me are the 511 Tactical Weapon Accessories Bail Out Bag, and my Maxpedition Fatboys. I like for a bag to do more than one thing, in more than one situation - a range bag, a grab and go bag, a bag for a day downtown.

While the 511 Tactical Weapon Accessories Bail Out Bag has a great system for managing rifle magazines, the pouches are on the outside of the bag, and even with water bottles stuffed in the pouches, the pouches look like magazine pouches to anyone who has even a passing connection to an AR. I'm a believer in low profile. My personal test is whether or not I can check into a hotel with a bag without attracting attention.

I have one black and one tan Maxpedition Fatboy. While not as large as the 5.11 Tactical Weapon Accessories Bail Out Bag, it looks a lot more like a camera bag/shoulder bag/manpurse/whatever. For example, I am unfortunate enough to live in Illinois, and I often take the Metra train from the suburbs into Union Station in Chicago. If I throw supplies for the day into the 511 Tactical Weapon Accessories Bail Out Bag (with water bottles in the mag pouches), I get looks from the employees, I get looks from the CTA police, and I get looks from the Chicago Police. With the Fatboy, no one pays any attention.

I've been in situations when I am out of state and legally carrying, around folks that don't share my views, or in locations where I can't legally carry. It's easy to throw the bag in a trunk than to try and take off my Glock 36 and holster and spare magazine and secure it without being noticed by those in my party. There are enough pockets and dividers to keep everything secure, and the rearmost pocket allows quick presentation.

My brother-in-law had to walk home from the World Trade center to Upper Montclair, New Jersey on 9/11, about 20 miles. I have no doubt that I could be put in a similar situation at some point, and based on whether or not I'm in Illinois, the Fatboy has a couple of bottles of water, a couple of Clif bars, a can of pepper spray, a multitool, a folding knife, my passport and cash. If I'm out of state, I add the Glock 36 and two spare magazines.

If things ever do go south in a hurry, I think there are big bonuses for not standing out. In and near Chicago, it's not unusual to see a person with a backpack, shoulder bag or messenger bag.

You should be able to get 6 30-round mags in the Main compartment of the standard Fatboy, if you want to use it as a support bag for an AR. There's also a larger version, the Fatboy Jumbo.

I have larger bags assembled for longer periods of time, and I like to stay with basic black. A great way to attract attention during a traffic stop, roadblock or detour is to have a bunch of woodland/digicam/multicam bags in the car. Voice of experience speaking.

Mark H.

 

[Sapper771]

Thank you for your reply Mark.

I am thinking that a bag like the active shooter bags (mag pouches on exterior of a storage compartment, e.g. 5.11 Bail Out bag.) would be ideal. It would be slightly more discreet than a tactical vest or chest rig and still allow a pistol to be carried on your hip. Most of these bags can be attached to your belt while slung, giving more stability.

I am not sure about the comfort aspect of it though. Vests, if set up properly, can be comfortable enough to be worn all day. From my experience with sling bags, they can get uncomfortable. I use to use a S.O. Tech go bag (column style bag). Excellent bag, if you dont have to carry it for an extended period of time. This is one of the reasons I changed to a back pack as a daily go bag. Luckily, I did it right in time because a month later my car battery died in the middle of the night while I was out of town. The only taxi company that would answer wanted $45. So, I lightened the go bag a little and took a 6 mile round trip hike to walmart. The back pack worked beautifully and was large enough to support the large, heavy car battery.

I may load up my 5.11 bail out bag and take a hike with it into coyote territory. Do some field testing while thinning the herd.