I attended a 2 day carbine class and had trouble with my gear.  I was wearing a Blackhawk rig that works well for casual shooting but lacks in some important areas.  The mag pouches have retaining straps that go over the mags.  Throughout the day I needed reinsert mags without looking and this style made that impossible especially with the straps in the way.  Also, my rifle sling kept getting hung up on the shoulder pads.

I’m thinking I need a belt setup with 4 AR mag pouches.  Something made so I could reinsert mags just by feel.  Having nothing on my shoulders wouldn’t foul my rifle sling.  I noticed a couple of the guys had dump pockets too, I think that would be nice at times.  A bonus would be to have 2 or 3 pistol mag pouches.  

What would you suggest?


This is what I have now.
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I love my blue alpha range belt.  I also like my spiritus micro fight.  Together they make a pretty nice combo.

https://www.bluealphabelts.com/product/molle-1-75-double-belt-rig/

If not running armor, I'd get a solid chest rig that'll hold 4 rifle mags (Haley d3crx) and war belt to hold your pistol mags, pistol and a dump pouch for all your used mags.  Blue alpha is good, Ronin is solid as far as belts go.  I use a blue alpha inner with an Ronin outer belt.

CHEST RIGS
Haley ($$$$)

Helikon ($$$)

condor (cheapest)

BELTS
blue alpha

Ronin

RIFLE/PISTOL POUCHES
esstac 5.56
pistol

DUMP POUCH
Blue Force

Thanks for your time.  I don’t want a chest rig.  The Ronie belt looks close to what I need but is probably overkill (I’m 72).  The Blue Force dump pouch and Esstac pouches are exactly what I’m looking for.

I too run the blue force dump (rarely do I use it) and esstac pouches on my belt.

Ive come full circle with the velcro over mag pouches. Especially on the chest after taking a small unit tactics course. I think it was an SKD tac chest rig I was running and lost a number of mags in the dirt playing "Im up, they see me, Im down." But the Esstacs retained the mags.

Belt I have been working with is a HSGI slim war belt. Its worked as advertised with no problems I can think of.

Taclite MOLLE Defense Plate Carrier with level IV plates would do a lot more for you on a 2-way range.

Thanks, I have it sorted now but I have a new issue.  My range gear camo color/pattern doesn’t match and it’s freaking me out.

More often than not the guys with mismatched gear are usually the ones who have experience running those courses and keep what works and discards what doesnt. Color Match isnt a big priority vs a pouch or piece of kit that you have that you know works.

This right here. It's not a fucking fashion show.

Good, everyone will think I’m a bad ass.

Tan, O.D. and multicam always tend to work together anways. Stay away from black and hot pink, and you probably wont set off OCD need for color coordination.

Just my experience..
I hate bungee cords.... with a passion... difficult to operate with one hand, and they get hung up on shit when you least expect it...
Get yourself a good Plate carrier...
Keep it simple. 3 mags. Open top mag pouches with Kydex inserts will give you a good level of retention and can be refilled with one hand with ease. Your not lowcrawling to your next fighting position..
add a tourniquet and a belt rig and your all set.

If you can't solve a problem with 120 rds of 5.56mm, you have much bigger issues


then get out and use it until you get comfortable with where everything is placed.

put one 1rd in each mag and under a shot timer, fire one rd then reload as fast as you can shooting at an 8" circle at 7-10yds.
Have one pouch that is your speed reload pouch. So that you have one magazine you can access fast if you run dry.

Keep the front slim and low profile, going prone when rds start snapping over your head is a useful technique.

Run in your set up.. good simple drills. start at 100.. run to 50 yds stop, fire several rds... run to 25, do the same...run to 7-10 yds, do the same... transition to pistol... fire several rds.

Movement is life... seek cover during reloads....

another good drill is a tgt at 18yds with a 8" circle
15 rds spread thru 3mags

Fire 5 rds standing...mag change, drop to kneeling...5 rds...mag change
go to prone...finish off 5 rds... get all 15 rds inside the 8: circle in under 18 seconds...

One cool thing about training classes is it gives you a chance to vet your gear and to see if it works for you.

Regarding your specific set up something’s you may want to consider are is it for classes only, do you expect it to be for SHTF, etc. Bungee cords suck for classes, but they may have their place if you had to move between point a and point b by insuring mags don’t fall out. When you start narrowing the purpose then it’s a matter of pros and cons and/or the ability to modify the gear to fit your specific needs.

Personally for classes I like esstac.

as mentioned above, I would consider purpose. Esstacs are nice and have virtually no flaws. The only knock id give them is theres no flap over them. If you're planning on using this belt for SHTF, then a flap over them is more secure, keeps them cleaner, and only adds a minimal amount of time when re-indexing or loading.

Another thing to consider is weight. If youre planning on having all of that stuff on the belt, you're probably gonna need suspenders for it. A chest rig like a velocity systems one should fit your purpose. Lots of pouches, good amount of AR mags, as well as a robust way to keep the weight dispersed well.

Thanks gents.  I listen to you and bought the suggested pouches plus a dump bag.  I probably should have added some pistol pouches, I’ll order those later.  

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In an unpredictable world and planning/training for unpredictable circumstances I would say theres a possibility. Theres always a give and take though, compromise, and personal preferance. To each his own brother.

Indeed.  I like to not get shot and using micro-terrain is a good way to do that (see Last Hundred Yards).  If you do semi-realistic training the need for good retention shows itself.  If you've ever had to operate in the cold and mud, you know its not nearly as easy as a breezy fall day.  Flaps help keep the mud off your mags.  I permanently lost a mag with fully enclosed flap mag pouches during a WTF Biatholon.  Obstacles plus covering distance for time and being dependent on what you have on your body is a reality check.  Was lucky the lost mag was an empty mag, as there is no replacement in the event... and perhaps real life.  

I'll let you two roll in the mud.... BTDT

If it comes down to me low crawling in mud, losing mags, I'm sure there will be plenty of extras along with weapons.....
I'm good.

I like the bungee tops for real life use for what I did.  But they are not great for keeping crud and vegetation out of the pouch.  So- good for getting in and out of vehicles, not great for crawling thru mud.

Also you can place them without looking one handed- just snag the bungee with the mag, push the mag sideways, then down into the pouch.  Then fix the bungee if needed.  No need to hold the bungee or anything.  

My personal belief is that you should be dumping empty mags into a dump pouch instead of trying to slide them back into the place where good mags go (vest/plate carrier/belt pouch).  Only once they are reloaded should they go back into the pouch.  Putting them back into the carry position under stress just doesn’t need to happen too much.  So you were approaching the problem incorrectly in my opinion.

Full mags go in pouches.  Whether you even retain an empty mag really depends on the situation you are involved in.  For the typical LE/average day citizen situation- just leave it where it falls.  For extended situations/military use- retain it in the dump pouch.

All my duty and training mags have my info written on them, along with a mag rack number, so I get my stuff back when the drill is done, and I can track any mag problems.

Just my two cents, but that is typical LE patrol rifle methodology:
Empties- leave them.  Partials- retain them (dump pouch or pocket) Full ones only in pouches....

Shit this is a 6 month old thread.  Oops.  Guess this forum doesn’t see much action...

Good comments!