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Posted: 3/1/2026 10:33:32 PM EDT
| I am pretty new to the ever-evolving gear world, specifically chest rigs. I was in during the 90s and got out in 2001, so I am behind the power curve. Seems like we're headed back towards LBV type gear, but I digress. Chest rigs. I have 3 from Haley Strategic and a newer one from Platatac - the Peacekeeper MK5. I am 6'1" 190 and pretty decent sized and I can't seem to get the placement right (straps too tight and rig still sloppy). So, off to the internet to see how people wear their rigs and, of course, it's all over the map. My smaller HSP chest rigs sit upper chest and I find them easy to use. The Platatac of course needs adjustment and I want to get a split-front rig, so here we are. What chest rigs are you running and how are they placed on you? FWIW, I don't wear my plates with my chest rigs. |
f that noise...
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One of the basic Haley mini rigs for a home defense rig. I have various tactical tailor MAV rigs, an OG Eagle Rhodesian rig, and an old-school Blackhawk version of the oldschool British 'commando' chest rig. And I'm dabbling in making my own sewn-on chest rigs for myself, aiming for something between a TT MAV split rig and one of the Platatac JW rigs. (The JW rig is basically what I want, and if it didn't have zippers, I'd just buy it. But since I make gear for a living now, I figure I'll just play around and roll my own) I'm a belt kit guy at heart, so none of this counts my belt kits. And my belt kits help with how I run my chest rigs. And alot of it is personal preference, and which piece of kit you have. Both the chest rig itself, how wide it is, what pouches you have on it, and what harness type you are wearing with it. I run the Haley rig relatively high. I have an H harness on this one. The one piece MAV's I run almost as high. Same with the Rhodesian rig. I have the OG TT X-harness on the split rig. The others all have X-harnesses. The split rig I run lower, almost like a LBV, but not quite. Look at how alot of people run the Spiritus chest rig / LBV / whatever it is thing. That's about how I run the split rig. I don't run my chest rigs with armor either, though I can throw them over a slick carrier or put the haley on as a placard. I don't do armor really - I have a decent setup, but I live rural in the mountains, and if I end up having to put armor on, that means the Chinese paratroopers are landing in the yard. I have it, but ya know. So your mileage may vary, I'm a little different situation than alot of people. I voted covfefe. Because I run them all 3 ways. 4 if you count my belt kits. 
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I've been researching various ways of carrying stuff for years and have mostly settled on a belt*, partially because so many of the chest rigs I see online look overly wide. How can you move your arms, switch rifle shoulder, etc... with more than 4 mags? I'm tall and skinny and it seems a 3 mag chest rig** would fit the best so I can actually move around. I get that a lot of this is personal but I hate wearing stuff that overly protudes, in any direction. I like the idea of a belt kit but would want to slim it down. Triple mag pouches replaced by doubles, butt pack replaced by a large GP pouch,... *I actually trend towards minimalism here; a holster, JSTA pouch and maybe an extra rifle mag on my normal CCW belt or a padded Wilder belt (very sticky), I've got a Project Redacted small pouch on the way for that last part. **The Head on Tactical 3.1 looks fantastic, and you could pull out the rear insert if you on the off chance wanted to carry a pistol in the back section as a hiking kit bag. https://headontactical.com/chest-rigs/ 5.11 is blowing out some of their kit bags, the double pocket ones might be worth messing around with a triple 5.56 insert in the back. |
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Originally Posted By brachiosaur: I've been researching various ways of carrying stuff for years and have mostly settled on a belt*, partially because so many of the chest rigs I see online look overly wide. How can you move your arms, switch rifle shoulder, etc... with more than 4 mags? I'm tall and skinny and it seems a 3 mag chest rig** would fit the best so I can actually move around. I get that a lot of this is personal but I hate wearing stuff that overly protudes, in any direction. I like the idea of a belt kit but would want to slim it down. Triple mag pouches replaced by doubles, butt pack replaced by a large GP pouch,... *I actually trend towards minimalism here; a holster, JSTA pouch and maybe an extra rifle mag on my normal CCW belt or a padded Wilder belt (very sticky), I've got a Project Redacted small pouch on the way for that last part. **The Head on Tactical 3.1 looks fantastic, and you could pull out the rear insert if you on the off chance wanted to carry a pistol in the back section as a hiking kit bag. https://headontactical.com/chest-rigs/ 5.11 is blowing out some of their kit bags, the double pocket ones might be worth messing around with a triple 5.56 insert in the back. Been doing similar myself. Went with a T-rex traap and kywi inserts, I like it for everything except AUG mags, due to the locking tab catching on the dividers. You can set it up slick or load it up like the platatac. I like it, it’s everything you need and nothing you don’t, a slimmed down and modernized TAPS. Swapped out the back strap with a custom job made from a long strand of 1” elastic wrapped into a few layers, gets rid of the unnecessary hardware on the T-rex strap that likes to dig into your back, and gives it enough stretch to not need to re-size the rig for cold weather layers. There are options for adding a flatpack to this kind of rig if you want to build a psuedo-LBV, and don’t mind a bit if arts and crafts. Can do the same for the harness by adding elastic to where it connects to the rig itself if you need that stretch for layering. Built out a relatively lightweight belt kit to pair with armor, found out that the Shaw suspenders are insufficient for a fully loaded belt, popped a few stitches on the rear intersection point when shrugging them on. “Relatively” light, at 12~15 pounds. Crye suspenders are fucking expensive, and buying from Crye’s website is like stabbing yourself in the sack, but it is a much better factory option than anything else. Kinda kicking myself for not buying a set of ATS suspenders, that’d be easy to set up some stretch with 3/16” or 1/4” elastic attaching it to the belt. Much less expensive to set up, just a pain in the ass to size correctly with four legs and elastic on two, if not all four sides. None of that beats the DZ rig for comfort or load carriage, but it’s difficult to get that thing to play well with any other gear, armor in particular. (A low profile chest rig under the DZ works fine) If you don’t need plates, and aren’t riding in a vehicle in full LBE, you can’t beat the DZ. |
Slow and low   Wear wherever it's the most comfortable for you. usually the higher it is the tighter it fits and the less strain it provides to you. Generaaly the smaller ones naturally fits better when higher Wear it lower for better access to pouches and if there are large side pouches you get better range of motion if split front ones have the old school straps and buckles they can be worn quite open, like a high worn alice rig. X harness usually fit tighter than the h ones, but again all depends on the construction of the rig itself. |
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Originally Posted By joeviterbo: X harness usually fit tighter than the h ones, but again all depends on the construction of the rig itself. And the body shape of the user too, especially the neck and shoulders area. Some people wear an H better than an X, and some people CAN'T wear an H correctly. |
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Originally Posted By marnsdorff: And the body shape of the user too, especially the neck and shoulders area. Some people wear an H better than an X, and some people CAN'T wear an H correctly. That’s a large part of the problem with many. For my micro rigs (Hailey and Spiritus) and my HPG Kit Bags, I typically run them higher without any issues. As soon as you add wings or have a more comprehensive “wrap-around” chest rig, I have to drop them lower, but still above the belt line. I’ve found for non-split rigs I prefer smaller platforms. For larger chest rigs, I much prefer split front rigs that allow me to lower them. Not as low as a PLCE (JayJays, Diz, etc.) or LBE-type rig, but lower than the chest and still above the belt line to access any side pouches and integrate with a pack’s hip-belt. Going prone is where I need to splint front even more and when it’s hot as a hooker’s hootchie’s cootchie in a southern GA summer, is to get better air flow and cool my chest off. My larger non-split chest rigs (ala HSGI Denali) are like wrapping a thermal blanket around your chest in the summer. Lower is better for me when using a larger (split front) chest rig). ROCK6 |
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants" - Thomas Jefferson
| Pretty low. Top of the chest rig sits about where my xiphoid process is. I back it with a Level 3A+ plate. |
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As said, the top of the xiphoid process is where the top of the chest rig is ....IF the chest rig has a bib that's about as high as a ar15 magazine. Mags are obviously lower than that. If there's no bib i'd say the top of the magazines are no lower than 7 inches below the xiphoid process. Maybe i wore them lower sometimes if my primary concern was looking at administrative items mounted on the bib. this is the spec ops mout that sits very high but it's difficult to make it sit flush, i wore it quite a lot  one like this sits lower but it's made in a way that the sides drop down so mags in front can be worn still reasonably high without the side bulk hampering your arm movement  rigs like this esstac one are made to be worn quite low.  this is another spec ops rig that is made to sit higher but built in such a way that fits horribly wherever you wear it.  i got a couple of 5.11 ones that doesn't seem to fit correctly in any position (granted i have them in my collection and i have not used them in any significant manner) |
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High enough to not get in the way of a sustainment pack kidney belt, but low enough that the packs shoulder straps don't cross any pouches. Generally that's high enough to also run a pistol belt and assault pack with the same rig no adjustment. A short video of me testing out ride height and setup. |
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I wish I could wear my chest rig higher but due to my lats I can't. Attached File |
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