Initial Impressions on the Blackhawk Enhanced Commando Recon Harness
My recent gear order showed up which was pretty fast for over here. Today I am going to talk about the Blackhawk STRIKE Commando Recon Harness. Since I just got the thing a full up review would be a bit premature but I do have some thoughts.
Quality of material and manufacture seem very good. I am pleased that the webbing and MOLLE straps are also multicam instead of green or tan like some I have seen. No complaints at all there which isn’t suprising. The company has a good reputation and I know folks who wore this (or a very similar) setup over multiple deployments.
As to the design and layout. This setup holds 8 mags in pouches built into the rig itself. I like this type of setup because it lets you carry a good amount of mags but is still relatively compact and balanced. The downside is that getting some mags into play (the ones towards your strong side) would be slower than if they are all on the weak side. However A) the ratio of carrying to shooting is aweful high and this is a comfortable setup and B) If I burn through half the mags this thing carries at some point I will be under cover and can move mags towards the weak side. Reasonable folks can go either way I suppose.
The mags are secured in place (though they sit deep enough it shouldn’t be a real issue) by elastic straps with big reinforced tabs on top to let you get them out. The elastic is adjustable via the inside pouch of the rig with nice little fasteners. I know this setup is designed for AR mags but it can probably fit a reasonable variety of fairly similar mags.
Built into the main part of the rig is a nice pouch running the whole length of the inside. I especially like that the back the this inner pouch has MOLLE webbing. In my TAP Pannel (a fairly similar setup) the stuff in the pouch floated around willy nilly. You could easily stick pens, knives, lights or anything with clips to the webbing and it would presumably stay in place. The webbing would make dummy cording super easy if you arre so inclined. Also you could put a small pouch in there to hold stuff like ear plugs or whatever. This is a really nice touch I have to give them credit for.
The shoulder straps are wide and padded but not excessively bulky. They come in an X (the strap that goes over your left shoulder connects under your right and visa versa) configuration but can easily be put in an H (both straps to strait over the shoulder and connect under it) with the aid of a velco doohickey that connects the straps together across the back. The straps have a single row of webbing across the back half and a couple small D rings on the front for wolf hooks or whatever. The front and back of the shoulder straps have fastex buckles which lets you switch configurations easy. This would also be nice if you want to ditch the straps and attach the rig strait to body armor.
That brings us to an interesting part of this chest rig. It is capable of holding a front rifle plate. There is an optional attachment to put on a back plate and turn this thing into a full on plate carrier. I didn’t buy it for this purpose and in fact picked up a plate carrier on the same order but that doesn’t really relate to this discussion. You could choose to put a plate in it, or just keep the panel in place to mound some stuff on. That is the area where people typically mount holsters if so inclined.
The price is around a hundred bucks. Not cheap but not crazy expensive either considering it is a quality chest rig made by a well known brand. One nice thing about this sort of setup is that you do not need to buy a bunch of mag pouches to have it work. (It holds 8 mags, another in the gun and maybe a couple on a war belt and you are good for about anything but Roukes Drift). Also the little stuff fits just fine into the big pouch in the rig. Just add an IFAK and you are good to go. Though if you want to carry a NOD or like to have a ton of various stuff an admin pouch or two may be needed.
Anyway while it is too soon to know for sure I am pretty happy with this purchase.
Warbelt Fun
Thanks to the joy of the internet I got to look at a lot of other people’s setups. One of the more comprehensive and interesting threads is the Ultimate Battle/Scout Belt Thread; formerly Sigboy Scout Belt over at Zombie Squad. Folks seem to go in two directions. Some basically do a modern version of the old school LBE. These folks are running 4+ rifle mags, 2+ pistol mags, a holster, a knife, some admin pouches, maybe a canteen or two. These folks definitely run suspenders, often big padded H type ones we remember from the LBE era. Other folks use it more as a beefed up pistol belt with some mags, a holster, etc. Depending on their body type and how many mags they are running these folks may go with a thin set of suspenders or not. These folks will typically use a chest rig or run additional pouches on a plate carrier if needed.
So I have been thinking this could be a good way to go. I am definitely going to fall into the second group. I will rock the gear but I am not so sure about the big ole MOLLE belt. I have seen setups like this on a normal rigger belt. Just a pistol, 1-2 spare mags each rifle and pistol and maybe a knife. To me the idea of having what basically amounts to a pistol belt set up for the range, home defense and times where I want a gun but don’t need a full load out is appealing. Also something that would work as part of my overall setup instead of a whole nother rig appeals to my cheap side.
I still have to do some thinking on the matter but this is my plan. An ATS or HSGI war belt, two double taco mag pouches (though the cheaper condor rig I just bought may fill the role in the short term due to cost), a holster probably from Safariland, a knife, maybe a small admin pouch to hold a compass, etc to fill out the level 1 kit, and possibly a minimalist trauma kit.
Are you running a warbelt? If so what type and how do you like it over just a pistol/ duty belt?
Stuff From The Interwebz
A very nice minimalist chest rig for an AK. I think they also make a 4 mag model. I will probably pick up one of these when I get around to filling out my whole AK setup.
A gal talks about how to carry a gun and a baby. I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for women who carry handguns that are not a) subcompact/ cracker jack box sized or b) in a diminutive caliber like .32 or .380. She is not a big lady or wearing a “I have a gun vest” or a parka.
Highlight, quote and understatement of the day “if your child can get to the trigger that is bad.” My .02 cents on that topic. First put on your gun then grab the kid. Kid doesn’t go where the gun is because it wouldn’t be comfortable for everybody involved. I carry appendix inside waist band slightly to the right. Kiddo either goes on the left hip if he is just riding or in my chest area if I am doing the comforting screaming baby thing. Since we are talking about kids and guns it is worth rehashing my core belief on this topic. Simply put guns are secured or under the physical control of an adult. In other words lock it up or carry it.
Today I have been intrigued by Iceland’s reaction to the whole great recession/ economic collapse thing. 1, 2, 3.
Also I stumbled into a new blog Jerking the Trigger andreceived an email about the Open Garden project.
Hope that stuff gives you something to read and enjoy or at least think about. Have a great weekend.
Bags VS Chest Rigs/ LBE’s
Bags that are expressedly built to carry the necessary stuff for a rifle fight (but not fit the rifle itself) have started popping up over the last few years. I got to thinking about them today because I saw someone talking about them on some blog. After some reflection here are my thoughts.
As a replacement for a chest rig/ lbe rifle bags are junk. They are hard to carry under less than casual walking around conditions. Seriously when was the last time you tried to run a couple miles with a fairly heavy duffel bag flopping around all over the place? Bet it wasn’t real comfortable. What about trying to overcome real world type obstacles with a duffel bag getting hung up on everything?
I know that no matter what I am doing with a chest rig/ rack or to a slightly lesser degree an LBE (they flop around more) I know exactly where my mags are and can get them out quickly. My IFAK is in the same place also, not burried in a small duffel bag flopping around someplace.
If I saw a realistic chance of anything happening I would toss a legit chest rif inside of a duffel bag to carry it around conveniently and discretely if need be. So a ‘rifle bag’ does not replace a chest rig/ rack/ lbe for likely combat type situations. I would not say that doesn’t mean they cannot have a legitimate nitche. What is that nitche exactly?
To me that nitche is as more of a tactical equivalent of a range bag. There is not a known or likely scenario where you see yourself using your rifle. You are just going camping or on a road trip or like to keep a gun in the trunk or whatever. While you aren’t planning on anything really bad happening having 4-6 mags, a few extra boxes of ammo, maybe a tourniquet or two and some misc gun stuff just makes sense. Instead of having junk all over the place it is desirable to keep everything nicely organized in a purpose built bag.
A bag of this type is on my long list of gear.
What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?
We had a pretty darn good preparedness week. First we went and got a bunch of extra formula for Walker which was really good. We already had a stash but now it is a pretty solid stash. Next I put a small Gerber folding knife onto my keychain. I just about always carry a knife anyway but knowing that if I am out of the house I have at least one knife won’t hurt. Next time I go to the clothing and sales I will get a small led light to go on there also.
After a lot of consideration I decided that instead of getting body armor at this point I am going to take care of a couple things that have been on the list for a long time and a couple recent additions to the list that we can just really use. I ordered a Bianchi 100 Professional IWB holster for my Glock 19. I really wanted a good holster for it to carry while I am home on leave. I have holsters (full sized Glock size) that fit the 19 but not perfectly. The difference between a real good fit and an OK fit is readily apparant in concealed carry.
When it comes to ancillary equipment for my AK I have been way off of my own desired levels (for a rifle like this 3k roounds and 20 mags) for a long time. For awhile it wasn’t really even on the radar and after that it has been towards the bottom of the list. It has been on the list for awhile now and the ammo was even on this years New Years Resolutions or at least the first round of them. I should also be able to get a full case of 9mm JHP ammo by years end. So I went ahead and ordered a case of 7.62×39 JHP Wolf ammo and 10 Eastern European surplus mags to round things out. I will go home and toss that stuff into an ammo can and aside from picking up a couple boxes now and then to go shooting not need to think about it.
Also I went out and ordered a brand new ECWS 3 Piece Sleep System. Now both Wifey and I have one. We have a couple other sleeping bags floating around but these things are a really good piece of kit.
I feel relieved to have the AK setup finally meet my own rather ambitious standards. Especially given that AK stuff is almost universally imported it gives me a lot of peace of mind to know I have a comfortable amount of ammo and plenty of mags put away. Before I had enough mags and some ammo for me to use but not much of a margin for field loss or helping a friend. Now I have that margin. Having another serious sleeping bag coming into the inventory is sure a good feeling.
I am going to let our Awesome Ammo Giveaway Contest go for a few more days as technological issues and life have put it, despite my best intentions, a bit onto the back burner. Seriously it amazes me how many people will gripe and complain about how expensive ammo is and how they can’t afford it but won’t put forth a little bit of effort to get a solid chance at willing a half case of the stuff for free. If you don’t own any of the calibers you could stand to win (9/40/45) then enter anyway and sell or trade the stuff and buy something you want.
Also if you want extra special reader points (redeamable for all kinds of great prizes and trips) then please mention this blog to a friend, family member, gun buddy or like minded individual. Send them a link to your favorite post or just the blog itself or tell them our name and let them look us up on google.
I have some awesome stuff in store for next week so stay tuned. Got one in my head about staple cooking. Another one about chest rigs and gear. Maybe one about knives too. Probably something or another about money or home finances. Best of all you just might hear from Wifey.
My Kit
I wrote about chest rigs awhile back. That post got me thinking and then acting on something I had been wanting to do for some time. I use a standard issue MOLLE FLC. Money isn’t an object I just like these a lot as a platform. I don’t like conventional chest rigs for a couple reasons. The first reason is that unlike a conventional chest rig (they are generally a 6 inch or so panel with 2-3 rows of the modular strapping stuff) with these you can attach stuff basically anywhere on the front of your torso. Secondly in my experience chest rigs have all kinds of straps all over the place and getting them comfortable is pretty hard. Makes adjusting a shoulder holster seem easy. Also I like that the load is evenly distributed widely over your shoulders instead of on a 1 1/4 inch area.
However the FLC as issued has a serious flaw. In the back there is this big stupid strap in the back. You can rotate the biog dumb belt thing all the way around so there are just straps in the back. However doing that has the cost of not being able to open the FLC in the front. That wouldn’t be a big issue except for the fact that we wear body armor. It is awful darn convenient to be able to put your FLC on and off with the IBA instead of having an extra step of pulling it over your head every single time. The picture below shows what I am talking about. (Yeah by the looks it is some Marine guys stuff but it’s the first good picture which clearly shows what I was looking to show.)
Seriously the FLC is like we had a great idea and then somebody said it had to have a huge stupid thing going around the back. I think it was some old guy who just couldn’t deal with the kit not being based around a big belt thing. I have tried the FLC as a rack/ chest rig with the big stupid pad rotated to the front and in its conventional way and found both setups to be wanting. Basically I prefer the FLC over a chest rig but I want it to not have the big stupid belt thing in the back and also be able to open in the front. Yeah I like to have my cake and eat it too.
So I had an idea. My idea was to replace the big stupid belt thing. You need to secure the back so it doesn’t go flopping all over the place when you lean over or whatever so just having it open isn’t an option. I considered a piece of 550 cord but decided against it because the Army is really anal about this stuff so it needs to look legit. Another consideration on my options was that if God forbid I am seriously injured and somebody grabs that strap to drag me I need the darn thing to hold. In full kit I probably weigh 230lbs and if you factor in momentum and someone pulling on a single point that requires a strong strap. I settled on simple 1 1/4 inch webbing with a buckle in the middle. There are hooks for webbing on the FLC right by the middle of the front (where the zipper is) so you hook it through them and it is attached. The webbing on the FLC’s stupid belt thing is the same size so it is too easy. I then sat on the idea for some time.
The day I wrote the blog I decided to just do it and put my kit into the configuration I wanted. Since we are in Germany I ended up having to scavenge the webbing. I had a Tactical Tailor chest rig I never really got comfortable with sitting around and decided to scavenge from it. Unfortunately that meant cutting straps but I left enough on the side I had to cut from (it went to a clip on the other side) that I can later just get some more webbing and hook it together with a buckle. Anyway I got it done and though I haven’t used it much yet am quite happy with the results.
As worn.
Left side has 4 double mag pouches. They can hold 8 M4 (or I guess others of comparable size) mags or 6 mags and a pistol or NVG monocle or whatever. Figure another in the rifle and possible on the butt stock and I am able to carry 270-300 rounds. Can’t see carrying more on my kit though if need be I would bring a bandoleer or something.
Right side from center; medical pouch, radio pouch, 1 quart canteen pouch to hold night vision goggles with the Rino mount and J arm, on the top is a compass. The only addition I intend to make is a small random pouch to hold little stuff. Most likely my compass will move down between the radio pouch and the NVG pouch and said small random pouch will go where the compass pouch is. I carry water in a camelback and sometimes stuff a couple granola bars or whatever in a random pocket. This setup is sufficient for operations of at least several hours. If I was going out dismounted for longer it would require more water, more than a couple chewy bars and probably some sort of sleeping gear. In that case an assault pack with a 2 quart canteen or two would come along.
Well that is what I carry.
A Valid Question
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Chief Instructor said…Question: What’s the deal with the chest rigs? I honestly have not even considered them as part of my preps. If I’m on foot, I’ll have a backpack. Is the idea of the chest rigs that you can have easier access to magazines? Is that it or am I missing something? They seem like they’d be used if you had a bug-out location and were patrolling the grounds. Are there other uses? - Answer: Chief Instructor, Look at it this way. I know you do some defensive pistol shooting type competitions. Would you consider keeping the spare mags you need during a course somewhere in a back pack? I don’t think so. You almost surely have them in a mag pouch so you know where they are and can get at them in a hurry. Makes sense right?
- I think every pistol should have a holster, a belt and a mag/ speed loader pouch in addition to a cleaning kit, mags and ammo. With that pistol you need a place to carry it except your hand which means a holster and then you need a belt to put it on. Don’t want to have to try and stuff it in your pants awkwardly. You also need something to hold spare ammo in lest you find yourself riffling through a backpack. For each pistol a holster, belt, mag/ speed loader pouch as well as mags/ ammo are ancillary equipment.
- Why is a rifle any different? You need a hands free way to carry it as well as something to store spare ammo and whatever else you may need. I would say chest rigs or an LBE or whatever sort of setup you prefer is part of the basic ancillary gear for a rifle (along with a sling, cleaning kit, mags, ammo, etc).
- As for my preference for chest rigs in particular. They are what modern professionals use for a lot of reasons. Sort of how quite a few police departments use Glocks and not many use 1970’s era Ruger or Smith and Wesson semi automatics. Chest rigs are very ergonomic and you can wear them and run or whatever. Very hard to change mags at more than a snails pace if they are buried in a backpack while given a little bit of practice a chest rig is really fast. So part of it is that they are a necessary piece of equipment to get the most out of whatever rifle you have. As for their exact niche as a prep….
- Does a chest rig fall into the Blackhawk Down/ Red Dawn category? Maybe. Admittedly it would have to be a pretty dark scenario for you to need a chest rig and a rifle. However like so many low probability high impact events when you need it you really need it. I bet there were a few average Joe’s in the LA Riots or Katrina who would have liked a convenient and quick way to carry spare ammo. If things are so screwed up that you are grabbing a rifle or a shotgun you need a good way to carry ammo (and other stuff) for it.
- Also as criminals operate in more larger more organized and violent manners the need to prepare for a nasty and prolonged gunfight is there. Truly this is probably the most realistic niche for this type of gear. Yeah at 10 feet in the living room it will not take long for an outcome but if people get behind concealment/ cover or there are multiple tango’s you might shoot a lot more than you imagine. If you consider the possibility of having 3-4 armed tango’s a couple spare mags would be awful nice.
- For whatever my advice is worth I think you should have a chest rig or an LBE or a set of whatever type web gear suits you as part of the ancillary gear for each defensive rifle you own.
- Chief, I hope that answers your question.
What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?
It was a pretty good week here. Somehow I seem to have a cycle where I save then buy. This is kind of a buy week. I ordered some more ingredients so I can do a couple more batches of beer. This time it is going to be a good strong Belgian beer. I will be able to stop spending bunches of money on Chimay and be able to enjoy great beer more often. Not that there is anything wrong with a generic American light beer but I want to be able to drink good beer more often.
I also ordered some one ounce silver bars. I think silver is still sanely priced. Plan to keep buying it for at least the rest of the year. One nice thing about silver is that you get a far more gratifying amount of stuff than with gold. Spend a couple hundred bucks on silver and you get a nice handful of coins. Spend a couple hundred bucks on gold and you get a little coin.
I ordered a cold steel push knife. Those things are just nasty. I have done some thinking on it and any real use I would have for a fighting knife is going to be up close and very physical. These things are really intuitive which helps a lot.
I am sticking with the weight room which is good. It is a nice transition between work and home. Also I just feel better when I life.
Lastly I am finally happy with where my MOLLE chest rig is. I feel like I finally got that piece of gear to how it really should be. I will probably write specifically about what I did at some point. However to do that I will need to take pictures and such so it will be awhile. I replaced a pair of triple mag panels with 3 two mag pouches. The panels do not flex and just felt like a big thick board on my off side. The 3 two mag pouches hold the same ammo in the same place but since they aren’t connected have a lot more flex and give. I can toss another one on down the road which I would want for Afghanistan but don’t need for here. Also I replaced a random pouch that was holding my MBTR radio with a legit radio pouch. At some point I can use a random little pouch to hold stuff but that is a back burner priority.
What did you do to prepare this week?
What Did You Do To Prepare This Week?
It was a pretty good week here. I got a real nice Craftsmen tool kit which I’ve been wanting for awhile. Also I made some modifications to my chest rig that I have been thinking about for some time. It was kind of a pain but I think it’s really going to pay off for me by making the setup a lot more useful and comfortable. I need to get 3 pouches or so and it will be complete. More to follow with pictures on that one.
I got a Ludvig von Mises book in the main from Amazon which I will read at some point. We made our usual extra large payment on my student loan. Not having that money to put towards other things hurts but seeing that loan amount dropping fast is really nice. We have recently been tightening up our budget some and it is working.
Hit the weights a few times this week and did some good stuff during morning PT. I am getting into a routine and while it is too early for results am certainly enjoying myself. I cut sugar out of my morning coffee which is a big diet improvement for me.
What did you do to prepare this week?
Chest Rigs
Our buddy Rourke from Modern Survival Online asked about my preference in chest rigs some time ago. Not entirely sure why but it took me some time to getting around to writing this. I wear this sort of stuff a lot and spend most of my working hours around other people who wear it also. So in addition to my own preferences I can talk about what other people seem to like.
First I want to talk about a couple companies that make great stuff. I bear no interest in them other than being a satisfied customer. I love Tactical Tailor gear. They just make great stuff. Lots of folks use Blackhawk stuff. I certainly do not mean to imply that nobody else makes nice stuff as I am sure they do. It is just that I see a lot of these two brands.
There are a few features I like in a chest rig:
1. Minimalist. Particularly having a low profile on the back and shoulders so not to interfere with a backpack.
2. Modular. MOLLE webbing gives you oodles of options to customize exactly what you want. For instance a young man whose position changes from Automatic Rifleman to Rifleman or Grenadier can change a couple pouches and be ready to go with a modular system. If he had a system that was not modular at all (like those “tactical vests” where the pouches are attached) or was less modular like the old LBE system it would be more of a pain. Even if you know the exact setup you want and don’t plan to change anything sometimes after putting it all together you find that the mag pouches need to go an inch to the left or right.
3. Rugged. Even if your life is nothing like mine and this chest rig will just sit in the closet and go to the range bi monthly quality matters. The stuff has to be able to take a beating as its intended use is rather rough. My advice is to suck it up and buy quality once. Obviously having your mags and other essential stuff in a crap made Chinese vest that falls apart during a mission would be a real problem.The only reason you will need to replace a Tactical Tailor or Blackhawk setup is if you lose it.
4. Comfortable. You might scoff at this but we wear our gear for days on end. A friction point that bothers a normal guy at the range a little bit can turn into a bleeding sore on a long road march or mission.
5. Secure. Stuff you put in the pouches needs to stay in the pouches until you take it out. It needs to stay in place if you are crawling or running through thick brush. If you can’t take a loaded chest rig and shake it upside down then toss it off the back of a truck and drag it around by one strap and keep everything then it is best to move on.
6. Compact. It needs to securely hold all the stuff you need and not be bulky or too thick. You don’t want to be walking around like a commando Micheline Man getting stuck in vehicles, doorways and windows.
7. Allow maximum freedom of movement. You need to be able to run, crawl, climb and generally do stuff while wearing gear. Also you need to be able to shoulder a weapon on both shoulders.
Where and how to store mags in an interesting question. There are numerous types of mag pouches but they can be basically broken down into single or multiple mag and open top or flap. The ones with a flap generally hold 2-3 magazines. This is personal preference thing without a “right answer”. I would however say that for open flap you need some kind of retention cord or snap. The TT and Blackhawk ones use a cord with a little thing to grab onto. The issue ones have a snap. Some companies have make mags that have open tops and some sort of friction device for retention like these pouches from Blue Force Gear. I have some real concerns with this kind of pouches. Maybe this type (not to pick on Blue Force Gear or this pouch. They seem like nice people who make good stuff. I just have no experience with this pouch of their products in general.) works great but I am not willing to take the risk of them failing. YMMV.
Personally I like to keep all my mags in one spot slightly off center towards my non dominant side. Roughly between my belly button and kidney. Some folks keep them right in the center. Others have them all the way around and attach their other pouches (medical, miscellaneous, compass, etc) to the outside webbing. Blackhawk makes an interesting chest rig with integral open top mag pouches that some folks seem to really like.
If possible I suggest trying on and fiddling with all kinds of stuff in order to figure out what YOU LIKE before going out and spending the money.
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