The end of this year and in 2021 I want to focus more on firearms training and gear to support my firearms. I don't think I am going to be getting into any running and gunning "gun battles", but I would like to have a chest rig of some sort with extra pouches to carry mags for an M1A and other gear. I am also going to look at taking some medical classes, especially if I am going to be carrying a tourniquet or anything like that.

I would like to set up to chest rigs. One more my M1A and one for ARs. This is something that I would occasionally have in the car with me if I am traveling longer distances. Once a week or every two weeks, I drive roughly 130 miles south, which has me going past Seattle. We also have an office just outside downtown Seattle which I will be traveling to more this next summer.

I have a friend helping me piece together stuff on eBay but wanted to know if there was someplace else I could look and if I could buy one setup without having to piece everything together.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I would go with either of these:

Blue Force Gear Chest Rigs.

Beez Combat System Chest Rigs.

ATS Tactical Chest Rigs.

Keep in mind though, that the lead times might be high due to the circumstances, but these are all hand made here in the US with no chinesium parts or labor. Pouches are usually already built in, so you don't have to buy pouches separately. Also, they all have molle webbings, so you could hang whatever accessories you'd like.

Old school...

Rhodesian type
OR  
the British made Arktis sets
(these came into existence during the issue days of the 7.62 SLR)

I've been looking at the Rhodesian type. Inexpensive and would work well. I could still wear a small pack.

Civilian oriented tactical gear makers often have 308 rigs that carry a few magazines with a small extra storage capability in tailored compact packages. Uw Gear or us grunt Gear come to mind. ATS has a modular chest rig with 3 integrated 308 pouches. Blue force Gear has One, SOE has both a split front One and a 308 micro rig.

Or, go modular and you can set up rigs that are identical except for the different caliber mag pouches.

I have some mag pouches from ATS for my M1A. I did have to wait for them, but they did arrive before the expected date. They are much nicer than some of the other stuff I have.

I put one together for my AR10 style rifle.
It's a split chest rig I had laying around, reputable dealer I can't remember.
I bought 4 molle 308 mag pouches off ebay. I want to say they're Spectre brand?
Have a pouch on the left side that'll hold a flare or suppressor, and I still need to add some sort of an IFAK.

That's my advice.

Disruptive Environments 7.62 Heavy rig is nice if you can find one in stock.

HSGI tacos.  They will fit 5.56, 7.62 or AK mags.  I run all three from time to time with one mag.  I also have some ESSTAC mag pouches, they are caliber specific but great mag pouches.

Or go full custom:

Extreme Gear Labs

It takes a while because each rig is built to order. But his craftsmanship is impeccable and you get exactly what you want.

For my FALs or G3, I use a Blue Force Gear RACKMinus (similar to their MOLLEMinus, but shorter) with two two-cell .308 Ten Speed pouches. There's room for more pouches if need be.

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The humble Chinese Type 63 pouch can be found for $20 or so, and it worked well for me. I added a fastex buckle to the waist belt and hit it with some Krylon, but otherwise left it alone. It carried FAL, G3, and M14 mags without issue. I wouldn’t want to wear it on a three-day hike, but it’s not designed for that, anyway.

I scored (a while ago) and SO TECH Tomcat - which has built in mag pockets that can be configured to take different size mags.  I can use either 7.62 pmags, M1A mags, or 5.56 gov issue or pmags.  I searched high and low and I think I got it on eBay.  Anyway I have one rig, with very little reconfiguration, can take any mag I have. I am not sure if there are options out there like the SO TECH Tomcat or now.  Another option may be a MAV-type set up with some sort of universal rifle mag pouch - TT has them that will fit 3 5.56 pmags or 2 7.62 mags.

Extreme gear labs, they designed the original Haley strategic chest rigs. They can do custom orders, just email the guy with what you want done and a sketch. If you don’t want to wait and do a custom rig then look into the haley strategic heavy rig. Get the mp2 inserts and you can run a variety of mags be it 7.62 or 5.56 in there.

For medical training in a civilian context, EMT-basic is a wonderful place to start.  I did mine at a local community college twice a week for 12 weeks with a certification test as the end.  EMT-basic is geared to the practical traumatic things you are most apt to see in the civilian world.  Think car crashes, broken bones, various types of shock, cuts and bleeds, resuscitation, and similar various things.  I lived in a rural area with no local medical support within ~45 minutes and found it imminently useful:

• skin rash from something (chemical, biological, or plant-based?)
• twisted ankle
• broken collar bone
• burns (sun, heat, chemical)
• wasn't around with a high-pressure hydraulic oil injection (that one was nasty nasty in medical terms with no surface trauma but, really terrible tissue death risking amputation)
• weather-related trauma (light frostbite mainly but, sunstroke training came in handy a few times too)
• of course, car crashes and motorcycle mishaps

In terms of gear, don't overlook the Equipment Exchange!  Over the years, I have scored some good stuff on the cheap for roles like you describe that worked out well for both of us.

This is one I had him do in ATACS-AU. 5.56 but you can get it built however you want.

UW GEAR INC.