The local saddlemaker was very helpful in this matter. My leather flap holsters have a magazine pouch adjacent to the sights and not on the lateral side of the holster. This is one more thing for undergrowth to catch and can cause confusion in the heat of the moment. I dislike stacking magazines on top of magazines. There are some clever rubber magazine covers that can be helpful but at the expense of slowing down a reload. I found myself disassembling magazines for cleaning every time the weapon was serviced. It didn’t take me long in the desert to discover sand invariably works it way into magazines which of course causes feed problems.
These keep the weapon much cleaner than the uncovered grip 1911 style holsters. I have several leather holsters with enlarged flaps that cover the entire top and side of the grip. A few days building fence in rough country will convince most to shed the belt holster in favor of a military style flap style holster.
I carried a P220 for decades in a fast draw belt holster but it was usually covered by a suit coat or sports jacket and I was not performing manual labor. Living and working outside, I find flap style holsters are required to keep debris out of the pistol (The old horse cavalry understood this).
I like the post on what and how to carry.
On the suspenders you can hang a full size utility blade such as a Ka-Bar which can be used as a last line of defense and if you replace the canteen with the Bianchi holster (which you can find for whatever full size pistol you own) then you’ll also have your side arm with you but protected from the elements. That simple belt that you see above holds a total of six M-16 magazines, two canteens and in the back you’ll find the old style medical pouch. The answer is the old Alice Gear of Vietnam fame. But I haven’t gotten to the solution so let me get there now. Troops have been suffering a higher rate of back injuries and many blame it on the chest rig. They’re evolving too, at the beginning of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan they were high on the chest but as things have dragged on they’re getting closer and closer to the belt line. The knife is OK if you’re looking to use that for defensive purposes but its limited to only protect in a weapon retention scenario and not for utility tasks and as a final line of defense tool.Ĭhest rigs are extremely popular today, but have some of the same disadvantages as the battle belt. The weapon is unprotected in that style of holster, the pistol mags are retained only by the tension of the fabric, the rifle mags are good to go but they’re also exposed to the elements, the first aid pouch is good and so is the utility pouch. Instead of providing solutions its causing confusion.Ī quick critique of that setup goes a little like this. You’re seeing the competition, combat, law enforcement, security and sports shooting cultures all swirling together. In the gun world we’re seeing a mixture of cultures. I love my gear, but what you’re looking at isn’t exactly what I would recommend during the days of SHTF. If you take a look at the picture above you’ll see a common setup that’s all the rage today.ĭon’t get me wrong. In particular the stuff that you’ll be wearing when you’re trying to take care of business in those bad days that we hope will never come.įirst off, think like a Marine…a Marine in training and not in constant combat.