Gear & Kit

I splurged and bought something. Picked it up today.

It came well packed in a nice box, this box was packed in a discrete unmarked box for shipping.

Inside was this Ruger weapon case. It feels lightweight, so I don’t know how well it will stand up to abuse, but I like how it feels.

The zippers have a place a lock so you can lock the bag closed(not that someone couldn’t rip/cut it open).

Opening the case, you can completely unfolded it. You can even fold it back over to have the insides facing out should you want too. One side has two large flaps and three zippered pockets. The other size has some padding, and is covered with hook and loop material. There are also several various accessory attachments that come with the case.

There are three large velcro straps so you can secure items in place. One small velcro strap, and one small loop. I think the loop could fit the end of a barrel. There is a round pocket that can fit a barrel, or flashlight, perhaps a pistol mag. There are two spacers with foam inserts you can use to support the items in the case. I think you could easily slide out the foam and might be able use them to hold double stack pistol mags or similar sized items.

There was a bunch of little items and Ruger paperwork in the case, I almost missed the sling carrying strap for the case that was at the bottom of the pocket. They also include a safety lock and chamber flag for your gun of choice.

I’m really liking this case. As I was moving around the velco attachments, I was thinking I might use the case a fair bit. My only complaint was going to be the Ruger logo on the front. I’d rather be more discrete.

But Ruger already thought of that. They made their logo on the front a velco tag you can remove or replace.

You could easily have a compact gun secured in the case, and have mags, a little ammo, perhaps a pistol or two in the zippered pouches. If you really wanted, you could stuff another gun on the other side of the flaps. But the flaps don’t provide 100% separation between the sides, so if you did the guns would rub up against each other a bit. Wouldn’t be the best choice for two expensive guns, but it would work for some cheap beaters.

I’m looking forward to using this case.

I think this sort of things helps prove that this isn’t the Ruger of Bill Ruger’s days.

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Oh, and the case also came with a gun.

I was surfing the web, shopping around for something I need, and I found this for sale. In a moment of weakness, I bought it.

Initially when I carried the SAW, we used M60 spare barrel bags for our spare barrels. Later those were replaced with this bag. Why I bought one, hell if I know.

Much to my surprise, the bag I received was new in wrap. I almost felt bad ripping the plastic off it.

It was nicely folded and buckled up. I was worried for a moment that the carry strap was not included.

Opposite the buckles, you have a briefcase handle, and two additional sling loops. I prefer to use these loops over the ones at the end of the bag as I felt it kept the bag more stable. But it is always nice to have options.

Opening it up, the heavy duty carrying strap was tucked away inside. You can see the insulated lining, and a pocket for your cleaning kit. Cleaning instructions (of the barrel bag) are sewn to the bag.

Unfortunately this bag is just short enough that many short barreled AR15 will not fit it. It is just a touch too short for any of my ARs assembled, or my breacher shotgun.

But it is perfect fit for my stand alone M203.

Yea. . . that must have been the reason I bought it, to have a case for my 203.

Yeah.

B-ARFCOM member “Power2thePeople” started a thread about plate carriers the other day, it’s not a bad guide for people who have no idea how to set one up or what they do and do not need. I can quibble with him on his ideas of what’s needed and Isn’t needed. Which of course I will do below because I can.

The biggest issue that I see with uninformed plate carrier set-ups are the amount of garbage that people think they need to bring to the party.

Examples of things that will weigh you down, reduce your mobility, etc. :

3 liters of water on your back. Heavy. Hard to sit in a vehicle. Difficult to use with a pack. Not concealable. You don’t need that much water.

Depending where you live I think that claim is dubious. I think it’s best to have something like the WXP Source that easily clips on and off of any molle . Use what you think you will need.

Double-stacked magazine pouches. In my junior days of being an infantry marine I fell victim to this. They’re heavy and bulky. They make it hard to get close to the ground when you prone out. They make vehicle use an obstacle. They make it extremely difficult to climb over walls, up ladders and generally reduce your range of motion when you need to go hands-on with someone.

overly-built magazine pouches with velcro flaps- Designed to secure your magazines before other methods were more popular (kydex, elastic, etc.) There are much lighter, better options.

LIghter options, yes, better? Debatable. Depedening on what you are doing, the extra security for the magazine could come in handy.

Too many magazines (yes, this is actually a problem) You can’t put your ammo fort on your chest no matter how much you want to. There are other options for resupply. Agreed

A giant rambo knife. Go fixed blade. Go lightweight and streamlined.

I have went back and forth over the years on the knife. I agree with the fix blade IF you are going to carry one at all. How many knife kills have been madein modern times? and how much use is a knife really if you are in a situation where you need a PC with armor plates?

A bunch of chem lights: LOL. Unless you have some very specific plans or SOPs for chem lights – which most of us don’t- they don’t make any sense.

Giant dump pouch. I don’t train to retain empty magazines. That’s a discussion for another day.

What do you absolutely need?
-Extra reloads for your rifle/pistol
-Medical supplies
-Knife

Maybes:
-Comms
-Water/food
-Flashlight/headlamp

When setting up your plate carrier, my suggestion would be to keep everything as tight to your body as possible. Find a brand of single panel mag pouches that get the mags as close to the carrier as possible.

In my opinion there should be a practical link between your CCW and your plate carrier. Most of us use plate carriers and rifles as a supplement to our CCW. Unless you know something is going to happen ahead of time, you’ll likely be throwing these on pretty quickly. If I’m grabbing mine from my truck, I’ll have my CCW with me. I, along with a lot of other people use my CCW as my nightstand gun. Because of this, I think it’s best that you set up your gear so that it is synergistic.

Plate Carrier:
My current plate carrier is a PIG Brigandine plate carrier from SKD. I use Hesco 4401 Level IV Stand Alone Plates. The front has a PIG BRIG CR, 3 Mag Carrier, a Blue Force Gear TQ holder and Helium Whisper single mag pouch. I currently use a Coyote Tactical Systems IFAK but I am looking for something that is more low profile.

Waist:
My CCW is a Walther PPQ w/ TLR-7, RRT IWB holster and a spare mag in a JM Custom Kydex single IWB mag pouch. I train quite a bit and am comfortable carrying this appendix while wearing my plate carrier, but prefer to switch it to 4 o’clock IWB if I have enough time to do so. I also carry a RMJ Utsidihi fixed blade in my waistband on the support side.

LIke I said this is a prettu good primer and we will expand on this later this week when I talk about what I use and hopefully Howard will add to it with his.

original thread link

https://www.ar15.com/forums/general/Plate-Carriers-and-how-to-set-them-up-if-you-re-new-AMA/5-2387800/

The load out SAS Operator Christian Craighead wore the day he stormed the mall in Kenya. I guess he is retired and has an Instagram account where he posted this pic

My good friend Marc at Black Wold Knives has been putting his time in corana-chan world to good use. He has been making some superb blades. He makes a variety of top quality hand made knives that are very reasonably priced. I use his knives exclusively for hunting. Go check out what her has to offer. I give them my personal seal of approval and my highest recommendation.

https://www.blackwolfknives.net/