Greetings,

I'm in the process of putting together an chest/belt rig for my PSL. I was wondering what those with PSLs/SVDs/Tigrs have used that they like. Ideally this won't be a plate carrier, something lighter that I could either wear with a small backpack (25L size) or has an integrated pack. I've looked at the SMERSH, 6sh112 rigs and the BEEZ Combat System's SVD Chest Rig, I was just hoping someone had some experience.

Thanks much.




Admins:
This seemed the appropriate subboard due to the Dragonouv labeling. I tried searching through the forums and couldn't find anything, please link if I just missed an already archived thread on this.

I had a Beez rig but at the end of the day I didn't like the open top mag pouches.



I had UW gear build a copy of the Chamelion chest rig and have been really impressed by it. Not sure how many they sell or if it's a normal stock item but I am content with the one I have. I combine the UW rig with my LBE and can swap the SVD rig for an AK rig as needed.


The camo pattern is SURPAT, basically a Russian colorization of MARPAT/CADPAT.



Original Chamelion is good but uses velco and snaps, and has no molle points.




LBE




Z

Thanks for the advice - I just did some google searching on the Chamelion rig (never heard of it before) and found your reviews of it and the BCS rigs over at the AK and Saiga-12 forums, if you don't mind me picking your brain, I have some questions for someone with some actual hands-on usage:

It looks like your opinion on the BCS has changed since you first got it? You seem to prefer the Chamelion rig now. It looks like you've owned both for a couple years now. Initially you seemed concerned about the Chamelion material - did you have the folks over at UW make it with Cordura? Has the original Chamelion rig held up over the years? Anything you would change on your current rig if you could?

I don't mind having BCS/UW/Anyone else make a custom rig (BCS has done it for me before), I just don't want to end up with 3 different rigs, none of which I'm happy with, you know, buy once, cry once type deal.

Sure happy to help



I was really excited by the Beez rig when I first got it. At that time Marco Vorobiev was working with BCS on a US design based on Chamelion, and being friends with Marco he asked if I wanted to help try it out. The BCS was going to address the (relatively minor) shortcomings of the original Chamelion: Better materials, quick release harness and molle to replace the unnecessary spotting scope pouch. The BCS rig is made well and should hold up to field use but the more I used it I decided that I just didn't care for the open top mag pouches, that wasn't what I wanted out of a rig. No dividers in the pouches and the bungee tabs didn't keep the mags quiet enough, plus I felt like if you were crawling through bad terrain too much crap could get in the pockets. Maybe harping on minor details there and certainly not saying the BCS rig isn't a good product but for me those issues were a personal preference. It was a good process though and helped me refine my own must have's and have not's in a rig. Also not sure if BCS has changed or upgraded the design since then.

The guys from UW gear had seen my reviews and comments on the BCS rig and wanted to try their hand with SVD gear so they offered to make a prototype for me to try out. The SURPAT material is Cordura and since I had been trying out SRVV gear from Russia I really liked the pattern. By some freak coincidence a US based textile company had SURPAT on their website and had already ordered a few meters of it for the BCS rig, and later also sent that off to UW for the new rig.

The UW rig is exactly what I was looking for and the guys came through with flying colors. The flaps are great and use bungee to give a snug fit which helps keep the mags from rattling around in the pouch. The snaps are quieter than Chamelion since there is no tearing velcro sound when you open them. The pockets have dividers for the mags to help reduce noise when fully loaded and the rig passes the jump test for sound even with 10 mags. My only complaint with the dividers is that with heavy use the adhesive material securing it to the inside of the pouch came out on a couple pockets. I am not a sewing expert but it looks like it may be too difficult to stitch them inside the pockets, hence the reason for adhesive. That's the only negative I have on the design of the rig and to be honest I don't have an issue with it. The pockets have drain ports and the grommets are nicely done.



The flap and the bungee retainer for a snug fit




I have not used the original Chamelion nearly as much as the UW in all these years and so can't comment on it's actual durability, but it's a decent rig. I think the materials may not last as well under heavy use like Cordura, and it's not stitched as well as many US designs (or other Russian companies like SPOSN/SSO or ANA) but that is not the end of the world for me. My complaint with Chamelion was the hideous velcro noise and the lack of molle because of that dang scope pouch. Due to the elastic cinching on the outside of the pockets to keep the mags stable, the mags are not as quick on the draw either. Again those are relatively minor issues. I have practiced with the rig and it works as intended but maybe not as elegantly as it could have been (Hence the newer designs like UW and BCS)

You can see on the newer Chamelions they have added the molle and removed the scope pouch









Also found an old review on the UW site

Z

Thanks much for the insight.

I've reached out to UW to see if they would do a rig for me, we'll wait to hear back on them, I'll also reach out to BCS and see if they'll make one with flaps instead of bungie cords for mag retention.