webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

[alpha-charlie]

Hi all, I'm looking to purchase something to hold my kit, looking to to have something that is multi functional i.e skirmishing and possibly milsim use. I would like to hear your pros and cons, along with personal experience. This will be my first and only some thing as I believing in buying once, and not compromising. Budget is not an issue if I have to wait then I wait. Thanks in advance for all your advice and comments.

[Hav0c]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

I guess this all depends on your style of play out in the field. For example:

If you are the type of player to carry everything on you at once, e.g. ammo, pyro, bb's, food & water, speedloader or buddy mags, then you'd be wanting a Plate carrier or large webbing set - something with multiple pouches for multiple uses.

If you like to play a fast paced game, then maybe a chest rig is right for you, with say 5 or 6 mag pouches and a utility pouch to carry spare BB's and a speedloader.

If you like to play a sneaky role or use your ammo for conservatively, then maybe a more low profile chest rig like a Flyye law enforcement or a simple belt kit is the thing for you.


However, you mentioned that this is going to be your only buy - therefore you're going to want something that is long lasting, modular so that you can adapt it to your needs, lightweight enough that you wont get sick of wearing it, and finally you will want to have something that wont look out of place on multiple loadouts that you may put together.

Hope this has helped in any way.

[tackle]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

I'd recommend you look at something like a warrior dar rig or TT mav or bulle mle, all comfortable rigs, molle compatible & the backs are "open" so no comfort issues if you choose to wear a bergan/rucksack for longer milsim games.
My first choice would be the warrior dar rig (I've got 2), great well made bit of kit, has adjustable built in pouches with bungee retention for up to 6 mags, including bigger than m4 mags, plus an internal map pocket & full molle coverage so you can add more pouches as your load out or type of game demands.
Colour wise I'd go for od, light dusting of tan-ish krylon will make it work with most camo's & environments.

[Scotty Dog]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

I've tried all three, lightweight plate carrier works best for me. My reasoning was: (and this is all personal opinion)

Putting foam or fake plates in it makes it fit better and not hang like some chest rigs can when you've got it full of pouches.

my belt rigs used to flog around a bit, and I found them a bit cumbersome when loaded up.

I found larger plate carriers far to hot and bothering, and I couldn't resist putting too many pouches on.

A nice lightweight carrier has just enough space for everything, and once you get it adjusted right its out of the way and just does its job.

[Figjam]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

I own and use molle belt and chest rigs and some non molle vests. Tend to find molle a bit of a fiddle and more expensive. The two vests I have, an OD NCS VISM, and a CB Seals style vest are both cheap and excellent. To get the same utility in molle I'd have to have spent a lot more. I do however like my molle belt setup for playing a sneakier role: I have all the pouches round the back so I can make like a snake on the ground. Conversely I like my molle chest rig at the local CQB that allows 350fps and high ROF full auto throughout even though I only put 2 m4 pouches on it as it is thick and you need the protection (hit detection is really not a problem!).

[Hellfish]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

Pattern 58 Webbing, especially for the 'vintage' look ... it's rugged, versatile, pretty modular as there are loads of vintage pouches to be had cheaply and it can be used with ALICE or MOLLE pouches if desired. :D

I'm well aware of its real world drawbacks, but this is Airsoft after all ....

[angry pirate]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

This has been done to death in earlier posts. Might be worth having a search and reading through a few.
To save you the effort, thr answer is obviously the chest rig.
Lighter and more breathable than a plate carrier, everything is high up front where you need it whether for door kicking or prone, rather than a belt rig which is more of a ball ache to access and snags more easily crawling through bushes.
Get a molle one with integral mag pouches and it'll do all you need forever.
Mine is ten years old and was custom built in the states before everyone started making integral mag pouches. I have bagged off webbing and plate carriers for this rig and just shift molle pouches about if i need to. If i want to look warry for urban I just wear a slick pc with the chest rig over it
Other folk will give different answers but they'll be lying

[tackle]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

Get a molle one with integral mag pouches and it'll do all you need forever.

Wot, you mean like the warrior dar rig I recommended

[TheJim]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

You have to base it on what works for you

It has to meet your carrying requirements while being comfortable and having the versatility to put your kit where you want/need it. It's all down to personal preference. For example, my current kit consists of a belt rig with my 226 holster, mag pouches for the pistol mags, radio pouch and two decent sized utility pouches which can house either magazines for my primary, pyro, or miscellaneous (multi tools, spare batteries etc)

This is held by a slimline harness designed to go under my plate carrier, and my comms wiring is taped to this harness.

That means that I have everything I need on my first layer (belt rig).

Over this I have a warrior DCS plate carrier. It's light, fits very comfortably and doesn't move around or become an annoyance if I'm carrying heavy kit. On this I have room for additional things: Hydration pouch, additional mag pouches (Kydex ones for faster changes than fiddling around with my belt kit) 40mm pouches, etc etc.


But this is what works for me and even then I'm constantly tweaking how I like it. For example, as you'll see in the pictures, having a double layer of kydex pouches on the front is not ideal as I can't get low enough to the ground, and just generally become a wider target, so I'm going to have a change up on how I wear my kit. The key is to get what works for you, and is something you're able to modify as you refine your preference of what to carry and where/how to carry it.

My setup:
DSCF0363 (Custom).jpgDSCF0416 (Custom).jpgDSCF0426 (Custom).jpgDSCF0452 (Custom).jpgDSCF0453 (Custom).jpgDSCF7629 (Custom).jpgIMG_4721 (Custom).jpgIMG_4723 (Custom).jpg

[bobthebuilder]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

I would say what you really need to do is try out a few things. see if you can borrow gear from friends/other players to give it a try out.

When I started, I asked a lot of the same questions you are, and ended up deciding that a Molle plate carrier/vest was the best choice.
However, having run a few different setups, I ended up finding that while I still feel the plate carrier/vest is the most practical choice on paper, I actually prefer a chest rig set-up. We can't account for personal preference on this sort of thing.

[ElZer0]

Re: webbing, belt rig, chest rig or vest?

If money is no problem...


D3 chest rig with millennium belt.
And

6094 with molly belt... Best of both worlds.. Moyle belt stops you over loading your shoulder strap and puts some weight on your hips.
Easier to get mags on your side when prone