Hi,

I'm down to two options: Eagle Chest Rig about $90  OR  some polymer holsters, about $25 each, to clip on the belt.

It's purely for SHTF / range / training use.  I'm not an operator.

Is the expandability of the chest rig really worth it?  Or just does it make more sense to put on some belt holsters?


If I went with the belt holsters, I might say, "crap a chest rig would be faster for SHTF, and takes weight off my loaded belt."
If I went with the chest rig, I might say, "crap this really wasn't worth the $$."

What's your thoughts on these options?

Really only feasible to have one belt mounted AR mag holster thingy except for competition use.

A chest rig is a good thing to have and if you are seated/driving won't bother you as much and will also be easier to access.

But there are situations where the belt mounted mag thingy would be more useful.

I have both. There are pros and cons to both. A chest rig interferes with other gear in my experience. Slings get caught on your stuff and your gun is laying covering up your mags. Not too bad once you use it enough to get used to it.

The Eagle is nice to keep everything together, but it is also nice to have everything on the belt. I bought a couple of these 5.11 pouches run them on my regular belt. I snipped off the elastic because it literally took 2 hands to undo the bungee over the mag. No thanks.

Also take a look at the War Belt/First line gear thread in the Tactical Gear section of the Armory. A belt rig is another option. Sometimes I think that a backpack with a belt rig and extras in it would be best for a grab and go bag.

5.11 Pouches

Thanks for the opinions guys.

The war-belt is cool, but I spent lots of money on my horse-hide belt, so I'll keep an eye out on the chest rigs.

Also, thanks for the heads up on that tactical gear forum.

I use a soft 5.11 rifle case to transport locally.  Has MOLLE attachment points all in and around it.  These mag pouches, also 5.11 work great to use for carrying on the rifle case, but also double very well as a belt mounted mag pouch.  I've used in different scenarios and it works well and holds 2 mags.

I don't like the open topped one listed above.

http://www.lapolicegear.com/511-tactical-stacked-single-mag.html

+1  

The 5.11 1/2 gun tactical rifle cases are GTG.  Just as good or better than most cases on the market IMHO.