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Comment: VERSA Chest Rig / Hydration Pack

I just responded to a customer inquiry concerning the  VERSA Chest Rig and the attachment of a hydration pack. It seemed important enough to put a post up about it.

This stems from THIS POST that I recently put up about a prototype 5.56 Single Caliber Rig (‘Teaser: MVT Single Caliber Rig (5.56) Photos.‘) A customer who just received his VERSA Chest Rig commented that the MOLLE strip shown across the h-harness of the Single Caliber Rig prototype is not there on his VERSA. It was never intended to be there, and was never part of the specifications.

I apologize if I confused anyone with the photos of what is a prototype of the 5.56 rig. I know that many of you are eagerly awaiting production of the finalized 5.56 rig, which is on the way, followed by the AK Rig and a number of other innovations. I will post about that as we get to it. Note that for these rigs we are going exclusively to kydex inserts, and will be doing away with the pull tabs on the magazine pouches. We will also be making kydex retro-fits available for the VERSA Chest Rigs for those who want them.

As for the MOLLE strip on the 5.56 rig harness, we will decide whether we continue to include that as we go to production. We will also take feedback from customers if this is something that is desired on the VERSA rig, and if you feel it is important enough to you, and already have the rig, please contact us and we will discuss a custom alteration.

Before you get all up about that however, consider what I just replied to the customer about the hydration pouch attachment:

That was a blog teaser post about the upcoming single cal rig. The MOLLE on the versa was never a specification.

Tell me why this is important? The versa was designed by Diz and I based on what we considered important in a chest rig, our best design for it. I never attach a hydration pouch to the back of a chest rig. I also never attach it to the back of a PC.

If enough customers feel it is important, we may make a design change. If it is important enough to you, we can do a custom alteration.

If you follow my posts on gear, I did one very recently (perhaps last month (LINK HERE: ‘Gear, Patrol Packs & Sustainment Loads’)), you will see that I want the versatility of a lite battle belt and chest rig/PC. The reality is that you will always be carrying some kind of pack, whether that be a very lite daypack/hydration pack, or a 3 day patrol pack (i.e. overnight). This desire for mission oriented flexibility means that you want to be able the throw on the lighter or heavier pack as appropriate, each of which will have a integral hydration pack, and neither of which sit well over a simple hydration pack attached to the chest rig. Even my lite day pack will be not only a hydration pack, but also have enough room for mission gear.

That post with the attached hydration pack only went up because students had been asking, and Mike had attached one. I often notice that students without operational experience find certain things important, that I either dismiss, or have already tried and discarded. A permanently attached hydration pouch on the back of my rig is one of them.

So yes, if the MOLLE strip is important enough for customers, we will start to throw one one, and will discuss a custom alteration for those already with the gear (should be pretty easy with a bit of shipping included). But know that I do not personally consider attaching a hydration pouch important, and I will never attach a simple bladder to either the back of a chest rig or the back of a PC. I want the flexibility and comfort of either carrying my light daybag with room for very short term mission oriented gear, or my larger ‘3 Day pack’ with space for gear for overnight. That’s why it was never on the rig before.

I’m posting this on the forum also, which is a better place for open discussion on this topic, and also a place where it is easier for Diz (The MVT Designer) to respond to comments and questions. It may be easier than commenting here, and waiting for moderation.

FORUM POST LINK HERE.

Thanks.

‘Team Coyote’