There was a thread about this but it spun off on other lbe and I wanted something a little more specific. This is something I threw together on a whim but turned out to be something I like and use quite a bit and is a nice streamlined kit for bushwhacking and creek hiking.

I'm a civi and won't be assaulting anything but this setup probably works best with a 1day type assault pack or something of similar size. I'd say my pack is on the upper end size wise of what you'd want to use. I'm planning on owning a shaw pcp at some point and think it'd be about perfect.

This is a  Tactical Tailor/MSM adapt pack but you can set the straps up the same on pretty much whatever pack.  It comes with 2 sets of lower straps. The short ones are for attaching to a cumberbund. The longer ones attach to the shoulder straps or in my case placard and the unused pair tucks up inside the pack through slots on the bottom. The dual strap setup is nice but if you're adding your own just use one set for everything.

On the Shaw placard you can see the top side release buckles that snap into the qasms I added to the shoulder straps. A nice feature of the Shaw is the provision to run tubes and a side release buckle on the sides at the same time. This way it can go on my carrier without changing anything. I need to add a loop for a side release on my sleds for similar flexibility.

Everything laid out.



As a stand alone pack.



Top shoulder buckles undone showing the back of the placard. I really like the duraflex slide locks on lower straps for this application. Get the tension and ride height right and they won't slip and it's very comfy. The shoulder straps rest on my chest and the bottom side releases are left on and don't cause any discomfort.



Packed up with winter layers and drone/controller in side pouches. Lots of available volume but not a lot of weight  I think is the sweet spot for a setup like this. Also contrasts with the above pics which have everything  cinched up in flat pack mode.

I like this a lot. I’ve been wanting to get a modular chest rig like the Ferro Chesty so I can run my placards independent of my plate carriers, but something like this mound actually make more sense. Off to do some experimenting.

Interested to see what you come up with. The nice part is a lot of us have the gear on hand to experiment with so it's free. I hike alot so having gotten somewhat into the tactical side of things it's only natural to try out the new gear. Not wanting to look like some militia guy I usually have a mish mash of my hiking gear with some tactical stuff I'm trying out.

Some of these test setups like the combo above I liked a lot and have become regular use. I'll post some other modifications down the road but this is one I posted in the other thread. It's an old maxpedition sling pack that I added top and side straps to set up as a carrier pack. This was my tester before I got the TT and it helped sort what I wanted going forward.

A bit better pics of the pack setup with ride height dropped down a bit the way I currently run it. I found slight adjustments to ride height can make a huge difference in comfort.





Same ride height on my belt kit with the pack resting on the buttpack. The support from belt/buttpack is more important with the pack loaded down whereas I'm basically used it as a hydro bladder holder here. Ordered a Source low pro bladder and molle pouch that should be here next week and I'm curious to see how flat a profile they accomplished with that design

A bit more on my hiking/recce belt kit. Unfortunately still waiting on a couple bits for my rifle belt so I'll do that later but although I'd intended for them to be setup differently they ended up pretty similar. The pic above with the gap in the middle was from an attempt to run a spud pouch there that was unsuccessful. Final config has the canteen pouch slid back and spud pouch at the front and the rifle belt is similar.  Packs, placards, and the buttpack are interchangeable between the 2 belts.

No pack setup. Raid pouch goes on top of buttpack and a seperate strap goes around your back to the sides of the placard. I messed around connecting the side straps to my yoke but it was fuckery so I just went with a seperate strap.



Inside. This is where the mech belt makes things a little weird. The split in the pad sits on my right hip which is a non issue for me but ymmv. Love the mech belt so it was worth getting to work.

Iirc the belt pad started life as a hsgi molle belt that I tried and wasn't crazy about. Wife cut the molle off and sewed on some loop to use with the mech belt. The pass through is still usable and I might do a cinch belt through there. Getting the mech belt tight without the inner can be a pain but I've gotten pretty good at it.



Shoulder buckle setup. This is easy to add to any pack or yoke. Sew a webbing loop or in a lot of cases like the TT yoke there's a d ring you can snip out and use that webbing loop. An ITW repair buckle nestles nicely with a duraflex and if the webbing loop is sized correctly it puts some tension on them so they don't flop around when disconnected.



Pack with straps removed. Top straps go to the shoulder buckles on the yoke and lowers to the side of the placard. Raid pouch clips to tube on rhe pack, goes under shock cord, and pack rests on buttpack.

I like that belt kit, what's in it? I've been considering putting a belt together with a focus on woods/hiking stuff, it'll have a few pistol mags for my carry gun but not be a battle belt. I found this expensive stuff from Marsupial Gear but can probably go a lot cheaper with surplus.

Edit- had to go to my tablet to get the screenshot. I'd probably replace the stretch pouch with a JSTA pouch with mags and have a pistol on the other side.

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It's a Defense Mechanisms mech belt. Made with tegris and overlaps so very rigid. The pad is home brew 4" but I can use it with a 2" pad for lighter loads or with an inner belt in the 2 piece fashion. Yoke is a Tactical Tailor fight light.

I'm sure any of the high end US made hunting gear is nice. For example 1st spear makes a lot of the Hill People Gear. I'd figure out the belt and yoke and go from there. The way I do it you get very rigid attachment with the one wrap but it's only for a 2" span so bigger pouches can flop if you don't have yoke attachment points on them.

Mil spec stuff can definitely take the edge off the bill if it fits your use case. I've got some high end items but I use a bunch of Tactical Tailor canteen pouches that I bought at 15$ each. Tough to beat the flexibility of the old school gi pouch even though the hunting stuff looks nicer. Being able to mix an match ammo and water or scrunch it down to almost nothing.

I finally got around to experimenting with making a chest rig/pack.

I have a few placards. One is a triple Kywi that I run on my Slickster. It’s bare bones, No MOLLE, just a plain, lightweight mag carrier to match the form and function of the minimalist Plate Carrier.

The next two placards I have have a few more frills and pockets. The first is an HRT Maximus the second is a cheap Krydex placard that I use to run my AK mags. Typically I would run these on my Diamondback Tactical PC with IIIa cummerbund. It’s a heavier rig and adds a bit more protection so the more complex placards make sense, although any of the three placards would also fit either chest rig.

With placard modularity in mind I’ve been wanting to get a chest rig that would accept my placards. I was about to pull the trigger on the Ferro Chesty when I ran across this thread.

I have an old Camelbak Stealth I got probably 20 years ago. I hand stitched some MOLLE to the back and added a large Eagle GP pouch on the bottom and a smaller pouch near the top that I use for a med kit. It’s been my light hiking pack and is a great all-day rig.

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Unfortunately the 1” buckles weren’t compatible with my placards so I replaced them with buckles that are compatible. I did have to add the female clips to the sides of the placard, but the split-type retrofitted perfectly. Pic of my HRT Maximus placard with side buckles added:
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Now my placard clips into the shoulder straps and the bottom part clips into the trailing part of the shoulder strap. When the placard is not in use the shoulder strap clips together and works normally.

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That’s when I remembered my TYR Tactical pack I got from Goodwill for $30. Turns out it was a special run they made for a ‘specific client’ and the owner of TYR couldn’t believe I had gotten it at Goodwill.

It clipped in to my placard perfectly without any modifications.

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Everything fits together so perfectly. It’s exactly what I was looking for to allow a chest rig type carrier when I didn’t want to wear a PC or a small 24 hour pack and not have to wear a separate chest rig under a pack.

Op, thanks for posting this thread and getting the wheels turning for me. I really like how it turned out.

That TYR pack looks perfect for that kinda setup

The last bits for my rifle belt came in but I didn't have much time and I'm a painfully slow sewing stuff. One thing I got done was a tubes backstrap that retains the placard and has side release buckles so I can have all my placards with just tubes. If I like the idea I might make some adapters with just the tube and buckle and no backstrap for using with the pack.

More of the rifle kit. The source bladder and molle sleeve showed up and gave me the opportunity to use some of these little guys for the 1st time.



All the add ons. Very easy to strip back down to a bare panel.



Backstrap from previous post installed. I have it under the molle to keep it neat in pack mode. On my belt kit it would be outside the molle and I'd use the side release buckles to remove the pack and the tubes and strap would stay with the yoke keeping the placard from flapping when the pack is removed.

Shoulder straps and triglide I stitched into the top flap for a removable cinch strap.



Laid out.



Nice working platform for medical

Got a few miles in and it's a very comfortable setup.  I wear it a little lower than my other packs, so it's cinched up into my lower back and it has a nice low profile and will be my go to for creek hiking.

I've had a little time to play with my Eagle ergo and so far I'm a big fan. Used it for a non carrier application today for the 1st time and it worked out better than expected.



One wrapped the molle straps to the spring steel frame. Need to make some more of the one wrap cinches like I used on the right.



I think body type is going to play a big role in whether the ergo works for an individual. I have a pretty good curve to my back and it feels very supportive kinda forcing me to have correct posture. Not sure how comfortable it would be on someone with a flatter back.

I've become a big fan of the eagle ergo over the last couple months. Bought a second to stay on my carrier and my original has lived on my msm pack/placard setup. Really like not having the ruck bouncing on my back and the added structure. This has become my go to hiking setup and after a lot of small changes I think it's approaching it's final configuration.



As pictured with 8 mags and 4L of water + binos, sig 938, ifak etc. The front pouches can be emptied of binos and pistol and accommodate a NV and thermal load out.



Shoulder straps unclipped to ease access to water bladder. This shows the one wrap hinges on the bottom and the center retention tab on the placard. A lot of the fine tuning has centered around preventing sag and bouncing when moving. The retention tab goes between the front and back flaps of the placard preventing sagging and the velcro wanting to seperate. The thick shock cord around the small pouch which holds the pistol, multi tool, shears etc also makes a huge difference in laying everything flat on my chest. A small addition that makes a big difference.



The outer pocket on the msm is loop lined and I can pull the sleds insert and install it there for keeping a lower profile. Unfortunately my shortest 556 is a 14.5 so carrying that in the pack is more problematic. The small nalgenes can be replaced with 4 more mags but I'm not crazy about the bladder being my sole source of hydration.



I carry a chest rig harness that came with my sleds that allows the placard and pack to be separated an worn independently. This is made of laminate and webbing and takes up little room and weighs almost nothing. Not something I do a lot but nice to have the option especially if I'm carrying a lot in the pack.

Thanks for taking the time to write up your posts OP. Interesting.