I bought an SKD/Eagle chest rig and it's very well made, and works great. The only thing I didn't really like about the design was the padding on the shoulder straps--too thick. I also was kind of bummed that I bought a Multicam rig and you really couldn't even see any Mutlicam because it was covered with tan webbing. I'd bought some Mutlicam twill about a year ago (to see what the pattern looked like) and I used that to cover the wide pieces of webbing; and I bought some Multicam webbing and replaced a lot of the coyote tan webbing. I took apart the shoulder straps and re-worked them (taking out the padding) and also added some PALS webbing to the shoulder straps. I also put a cross-piece on the back so the shoulder straps wouldn't move around. I also added some shock cord to the two mag pouches that didn't have any retention, and made a dump pouch out of double-thickness Multicam twill (with a grommet drain hole on the bottom). This is/was my first time sewing, so a lot of the lines are not straight and some of them look messy; but I got the rig right where I wanted it.

Here's a pic of the original rig:



Here it is with the updates I did:











I then decided to make my own chest rig. I made it about 6 inches longer than the SKD rig, no pouches, and an H-harness. I'm going to try to make some pouches for AK and FAL mags. I bought some Coyote brown 1000D cloth. I used the Multicam webbing for the PALS webbing. The good thing is that my sewing is getting a little better. Just a little bit.









I know at first glance the Multicam webbing on the Coyote brown cloth looks weird; but I like it. Also--I couldn't find any 1" Coyote webbing.

The one you made looks great. You did a realy good job. Some day I have to get my sewing machine fixed..

Quoted: The one you made looks great. You did a realy good job. Some day I have to get my sewing machine fixed..

Thanks!

Your homebuilt rig looks great! I dig it. How'd you take the stitching out of the original rig? Every time I try to take the stitching out of anything, I end up either hurting myself or doing grievous injury to the underlying fabric.

Also, I hate to hijack your thread so quickly, but what kind of rail is that snuggling up on your handguard in the first pic?

~BakerMike

Quoted: Your homebuilt rig looks great! I dig it. How'd you take the stitching out of the original rig? Every time I try to take the stitching out of anything, I end up either hurting myself or doing grievous injury to the underlying fabric. Also, I hate to hijack your thread so quickly, but what kind of rail is that snuggling up on your handguard in the first pic? ~BakerMike

The rail is a Midwest Industries aluminum rail I got from Bravo Company. Very good rail, very stable and secure. Here's a link: rail It's good to go.

As for the stitching: I tried using one of those sewing things that cut stitches; but it didn't work that well and was taking a long time. I ended up using a small thin-bladed pen knife that I've had for years. Got it real sharp, and it did a great job. I would just slide it between the pieces of cloth I wanted separate, and carefully cut the thread binding them together. It ended up working really well.

Thanks for the compliments!

ETA: Just for clarification, "pen knife" as in a small folding pocket knife, like this one:



Mine is made by a different company and is about 15 years old, and still works great. You can get those thin blades very sharp.

Quoted:

+1,000,000,000

good god man, please let us know when your new 'business' is up and running, cause I'll send you my shoulder straps and be your first customer

Nice.

How did you attach the cord to the two inboard mag pouches?.
That's the only thing I dont like about the stock rig.

Quoted: Nice. How did you attach the cord to the two inboard mag pouches?. That's the only thing I dont like about the stock rig.

I sewed a piece of 1" webbing (about 2" long piece of the Multicam webbing) vertically on the backside of each of the mag pouches (red line on the fugly MS Paint below). The front of those mag pouches have a vertical strip of Coyote brown webbing (the other red lines on the MS Paint) that I threaded the shock cord through, then through the back webbing I sewed on. I tied the shock cord and put the knot in the rear piece of webbing. I cut another little piece of webbing for the tabs to grab.

Quoted: Quoted: Nice. How did you attach the cord to the two inboard mag pouches?. That's the only thing I dont like about the stock rig. I sewed a piece of 1" webbing (about 2" long piece of the Multicam webbing) vertically on the backside of each of the mag pouches (red line on the fugly MS Paint below). The front of those mag pouches have a vertical strip of Coyote brown webbing (the other red lines on the MS Paint) that I threaded the shock cord through, then through the back webbing I sewed on. I tied the shock cord and put the knot in the rear piece of webbing. I cut another little piece of webbing for the tabs to grab. i33.tinypic.com/141o26f.jpg

WOW.

Wish I had the skills to mod mine.

So I've been working on AK mag pouches and a dump pouch since I first posted this thread. I got three mag pouches done (each holds two 30 rd mags) and the dump pouch. All made out of 1000 denier Coyote brown. I made the mag pouches a little big (width and depth), then put shock cord (elastic cord) around them so I could adjust tension any way I wanted. They are made out of single thickness 1000d with a piece of 2" webbing running all along the inside to keep from rubbing through. Lighter and stronger than double thickness 1000 d. The dump pouch is double thickness 1000 d, because you never know how the mags will get dumped into the pouch, and you need the strength all the way around. If/when I make some more mag pouches (my next project is to make mag pouches for FAL mags that will also work with 20 rd AK mags), I'll make them so the sides and front don't go up so far on the magazines. Other than that, I think they came out okay. What do you think?









And the dump pouch unrolled and opened: