Hi guys,

I have opened up my views and am considering either a chest rig or plate carrier. I already have a first line established.  So, I wold really like for this to be a fighting load out and not a first line extension with more medical stuff and pistol mags. I considered a modular nsw rig from SOE that I could later throw over a crye JPC and, don on or off which piece of kit so it would fit the bill. I would rather have more rifle ammo and be able to run far and fast if I had to.The setup for is as follows:

Crye MRB ( Ares gear ranger belt replacing the crappy nylon one that comes with)
2 pistol tacos
1 rifle taco
emdom dump pouch
SO Tech Flat IFak
Gcode xst

Uses: shtf, training courses, range use

Overall requirements- I am wanting a 2nd line setup that is able to be sized up or down depending on the mission. I cannot afford to buy both. I would prefer to stick to something that is more single mag stacked oriented due to going prone and concealable during shtf. However it needs to be able to have the capability of sizing up if the situation dictates. I would be planning on taking courses with shoot house/ cqb environments, and those require plate carriers.

Chest rig requirements:
1)Must have an H harness
2) Modular system that doesnt have fixed pouches

Plate carriers I have looked at:
First spear STT from skd tac
Crye JPC
(Slick style plate carriers as well)

Chest Rigs ive looked at:

OSOE modular NSW rig ( i ordered this a few weeks ago, but john gave me a refund. He said they arent doing them this year and this a bummer as this was my favorite rig. he gave every person a refund back to the penny)
OSOE mookie war rig PALS
UW gear chest rigs ( doesnt really fit my modular needs)
haley strategic d3cr ( doesnt fit my needs)

Can you mates help me? Note: I dont want to be bulky as hell with the gear. It needs to be laid out across my body that can be efficient for multiple positions. Im also looking at the new chest rig and plate carrier threads and they are really nice, but I cant decide which to get. I cant afford both right now, just one.

Crye JPC it what you need. Just put some BFG Ten Speed pouches where you need extra that way they just go flat when you don't need them. I have my JPC setup this way, slick when you need it and a full load when you need it. It is SUPER comfy with LTC Level 4 Large Sapi size plates. Also if you get the JPC be sure you get the exact size SAPI plates. That is what the carrier is made for and that is what it needs.

Thanks dude I really like that loadout!

Anybody else have any suggestions?

I would go with the Mookie war rig light in PALS webbing. OSOE makes a padded H harness that you can get and is able to be attached to their camelbak. They have a 3 mag single single mag pouch that would keep it low pro as well. If you put a dot of velcro on your mags it would give you some more retention on them.  They can also hold AK/M4 mags so you won't need to switch pouches at all if you shoot both. It will stay fairly low pro that way as well. Another option is Beez combat systems I've heard good stuff about them but haven't actually used them so do some more research about it. Downside is that it can only use M4 mags not AK 47/74 mags.

How about a cross between a plate carrier and chest rig?

https://dsgarms.com/usp00400422

I'll put a vote in for Mike@Appalachian Training.    I bought a Mayflower APC and plates from him. I need to make a few more purchases from him when funds allow. Good guy to deal with.

I initially purchased a HSGI Woosatch plate carrier but find it a little bulky (I'm using 11x14 plates). It is a nice piece of kit (I ordered the straps to convert it to a chest rig also),but I wanted something a little more "minimalist"...

   I just ordered a plate carrier in Kryptek Highlander from Beez Combat Systems. They seem to have an excellent reputation and are fast and informative in responding to e-mail questions. I plan to attach a few HSGI pouches when I receive it...a few taco's, a bleeder/blowout pouch and a pogey pouch.

For work I run the Shellback Tactical Banshee with Level IV ceramics.  

Tactical Tailor. I went with the fight light as it was cheaper and I wanted to see if the quality was good, so far so good.

HSGI med pouch.

I don't have an admin pouch just yet but I am looking around for one.

I use an Eagle Rhodesian Recon Vest with a front plate in it as my lightweight chest rig/plate carrier setup.

The SKD UCR chest rig is a good piece, either the version with integrated pouches or the all MOLLE version + the Mollevela admin pouch bib. There's an H harness kit for it as well, or you can use the ATS padded H harness like someone else here has, which came out nice. The integrated pouch version will carry 4 rifle mags, two pistol mags, and I believe it comes with 2 General Purpose pouches. The blank one you can set up however you like.

For a plate carrier that you can set up or download however you like, the LBT 6094 is the best. You can set it up simple or flesh it out more with plenty of room to load it up. The Shellback/TAG Banshee and LBX-0094 are more affordably priced alternatives that maintain good quality, should the 6094 be out of your price range.

Alternatively, something like the D3CR chest rig clipped to a slick low pro plate carrier like that of Mayflower or Velocity variety will afford you the same carrying capacity over armor but more consolidated than wearing a whole chest rig over armor.

One thing I like to do either way is what I've seen a handful of people do, which is line up three AR mag pouches with MOLLE webbing on the front and stack Blue Force Gear Ten Speed mag pouches on top. This enables you to double your carrying capacity for rifle mags if needed, and if not, they simply fall flat and stay out of the way.

Aim to have 6-8 immediately reachable rifle mags/reloads on your person plus the one in the gun (excluding any extras you'd keep in a pack.) Good round number, not too much to severely weigh you down, not too little that you'll burn through it quick in a pinch. If you go with 4-6 on your plate carrier or chest rig/vest, then you can carry two either on your belt or in one of the variations of what was once the Costa Leg Rig by HSGI. This also disperses the load and spreads the weight out a bit rather than it being concentrated in one area and throwing your center of gravity off.

Well I've been thinking, and due to my environment, a PC might fit me better. I live in the suburbs of american that is just about 5-10 mins away from the country. So, most interaction if at all would be less than 100 yards. At that point, I know I would be able to hit things, but worry how easy I could be hit as well. If I was in the country, or the mountains of Afghanistan at 500 yards, I might prefer a chest rig. However, that isnt my environment, and its silly to get something that doesnt serve my needs if the situation arises.

Has anyone got the SKD First Spear STT PC? I am seriously interested in this rig. The JPC is really nice, but close to half a year wait is a deal breaker. I can get the STT for 200 from SKD right now, and its a tight form fitting slick PC, that allows me to take out mags, but leave pouches, allowing the flexibility I desired.

On my front would be 3 mag front with those blu force gear slick pouches. On the sides would be 2-3 mags single stack, and maybe a radio pouch that can serve as a m4 pouch as well. This is all case by casel and versatile. Adaptability is key.

Also, whats the difference between the strandhogg and the STT from SKD? build quality? Cool guy factor?

This is my Rhodesian Recon Vest - its sort of like a hybrid chest rig/plate carrier. I've got one of the BAE stand alone ESAPI's in the front, I have it set up in an X harness because the H harness adapter feels weird to me, but you can run it with an H harness. Its a pretty lightweight setup that provides a bit of protection but a lot of mobility. I have a full on plate carrier as well, but if things went south in our proverbial SHTF wet dream, I'd probably carry this - I don't need full protection since explosions/blast/fragmentation aren't really what I'm going to be worried about, and 90 extra rounds should be more than enough unless I decide to assault Mosul. Altogether with loaded mags, loaded IFAK and PVS-14 it weighs like 10 pounds and since I since the straps pretty good it distributes the weight pretty well.

Pretty neat setup. Wouldn't it be very front heavy though?

not really, that's why you tighten straps, to distribute weight better.