Babby's first load bearing equipment: what does the community think?

T

Titanium Nitride

Guest
Hey forum.

I am coming up on a work/life situation where I will actually be able to put substantial amounts of time and money towards guns, gear, and probably most importantly how to use the two in conjunction, training. While I am mostly gtg on the guns part in terms of knowledge (not saying I know a lot, just enough) and actually owning stuff, I am a new entrant to the world of gear and how to use it. In a previous thread I asked about a specific entry level chest rig set up, which resulted in a very productive conversation which pointed me in the direction of what are probably better products form more well known brands in comparable price ranges. My big take away from that thread was to stick with brands that have a good reputation, definitely good and reasonable advice. Taking a step further back, I now realize I may have gotten a little ahead of myself asking about specific gear at my current level of knowledge. By this I mean I think I should have first asked what I ask now: For someone, non .mil and non LE, new to gear who hopes to get in to training, what should I look at? Chest rig? Battle belt? Which of those two will give me more "mileage" outside of training (competition use, general range/shooting use, etc)? What kind of stuff to go on whatever LBE I get should I look at picking up first? Have these questions ever gotten a good treatment in any books, articles, or videos?

Thanks.
 

MrMurphy

Regular Member
Books get rapidly outdated. We have been at war for 17 years straight... what was the new hotness in 2001 will still work, but is outdated..

Chest rigs are good for working in and around vehicles. If you carry concealed, a warbelt would keep more of the stuff in the same places. A warbelt and suspenders is a good all purpose rig. HSGI or similar.
 

MojoNixon

Established
Also as not .mil or LEO I have run the gamut of options. Started out with a BFG 10 Speed M4 chest rig changed over to an HSGI battle belt and am now using a CR Speed competition 2 belt (inner and outer belts) rig with 2 ITW Pistol Fastmag carriers and 2 ITW M4 Fastmag carriers and a Safariland ALS holster. The holster doesn’t match my daily CCW holster (Armordillo X-Fer appendix carry) but I can still set it up to where the X-Fer attaches to the inner belt in the appendix position. I went this route because I can set it up to match my daily carry method and can use it for classes where appendix carry may not be allowed.
 

Grizzly

Regular Member
What kind of situations are you going to training for? Figure out what threat/problem you are addressing and find the most effective gear for the situation.

Training for a possibly deadly force encounter outside a gas station will dictate a much different set of training/carry gear than training for an no rule of law/defend the homestead situation. And there is a full spectrum of situations between those two ends. Each one of them will require different types of gear depending on legalities, logistics, discreteness etc etc.

Personally if I was new to training I'd start with a quality CCW holster + mags and do some training around typical and realistic conceal carry encounters. This includes non-gun and gun use responses to threats. Maybe I misunderstood and you have already got those bases covered and are moving on to less likely scenarios where you are rocking a long gun and humping gear over distance greater than a few feet while being prepared to get into a firefight?
 

Low_Speed_Notper8or

Regular Member
Hey forum.

I am coming up on a work/life situation where I will actually be able to put substantial amounts of time and money towards guns, gear, and probably most importantly how to use the two in conjunction, training. While I am mostly gtg on the guns part in terms of knowledge (not saying I know a lot, just enough) and actually owning stuff, I am a new entrant to the world of gear and how to use it. In a previous thread I asked about a specific entry level chest rig set up, which resulted in a very productive conversation which pointed me in the direction of what are probably better products form more well known brands in comparable price ranges. My big take away from that thread was to stick with brands that have a good reputation, definitely good and reasonable advice. Taking a step further back, I now realize I may have gotten a little ahead of myself asking about specific gear at my current level of knowledge. By this I mean I think I should have first asked what I ask now: For someone, non .mil and non LE, new to gear who hopes to get in to training, what should I look at? Chest rig? Battle belt? Which of those two will give me more "mileage" outside of training (competition use, general range/shooting use, etc)? What kind of stuff to go on whatever LBE I get should I look at picking up first? Have these questions ever gotten a good treatment in any books, articles, or videos?

Thanks.

Take a class and see what works for you, try out a chest rig and a belt
 

krax

Regular Member
Take a class and see what works for you, try out a chest rig and a belt
That.

Get you a decent AR with an optic and sling, a Glock 19 and holster, a couple of pistol mag pouches, one rifle mag pouch, and a sturdy pants belt to hang it all on. Try not to spend more than 2K. Commit to not buying anything but ammo until you've been through 20 hours or so of formal training.
 

shoobe01

Established
So much depends. Gonna ruck with it? Wear it over, or under, cold weather gear? Just carry ammo or also smoke, frag, lights, notebooks? Water? Handgun, or ammo for that? Does it need to quick-don, so you can toss it on for bump-in-the-night? What is you environment, because jungle for one has different needs. Standing, or needs to work prone?
 

Ryan St.Jean

Regular Member
That.

Get you a decent AR with an optic and sling, a Glock 19 and holster, a couple of pistol mag pouches, one rifle mag pouch, and a sturdy pants belt to hang it all on. Try not to spend more than 2K. Commit to not buying anything but ammo until you've been through 20 hours or so of formal training.

I like this.
 

Ryan St.Jean

Regular Member
The part that is missing is what exactly you want this stuff to do. That will drive the stuff you need to carry and how you can carry it.

A home defense setup is going to be different from a cops SWAT or active shooter set up which is different from .mil or red dawn fantasy stuff.

Personally I have settled on a pistol belt with 2x rifle and pistol reloads, med kit and my pistol. If I need to supliment that I have a chest rig. The combination of the two is a bit belt and suspenders but it gives a lot of options.
 
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