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Gear: My Operational Loadout: Chris

Chris Contractor

My Operational Loadout: by Chris:

As a follow up to my last write up on NODs, I want to talk about the load I have and would carry.  What I have here is a bit of a hybrid of tried and tested gear in overseas operations as well as a couple things that I have added since being home.

There has been a major upsurge in tactical gear since GWOT with a lot of well-meaning vets developing kit that they wish they would have had when they were down range as well as major manufactures paying attention.  Around the first Gulf War (’91), I remember US Cavalry catalogs pretty much limited to US general issue gear as well as NATO and Warsaw Pact kit.

Several deployments and a numerous modifications later, I have my current setup which I’ll break down and explain why I chose it.

Chris Gear 1

No change to my helmet and NOD set up though I DO think I’ll get the CRYE nightcap for when helmets are too overt.  Still, the lanyard to keep it around your neck for low pro operations with less kit and then a ballasted Ops Core helmet stay the same.

I have a banshee plate carrier in multicam as that is my chosen camo pattern.  I’ve seen multicam work in numerous terrains, from MVT training ground to Afghan mountains.  The plate carrier itself is clean of any main pouches but still retains a kangaroo pouch that can accommodate 3 AR mags.  It has soft armor (level IIIa) in the front and back panels as well as cummerbund.  I also have ESAPI plates and SAPI side plates that can be inserted based on the threat.  I typically wore the side sapi’s on mounted operations when IEDs were a threat, but an up-gunner or open vehicle can also benefit from this when side protection may still be needed.  Soft armor is great for most pistol and shotgun ammo as well as spall or richochet rounds that may come to rest against your kit after a near miss.

In addition to ballistic protection, I always have gloves and ballistic eye pro.  Oakley is far in the lead as eye pro and a good gripped glove like Mechanix brand or similar work great.

Ear pro is huge though sometimes big peltor head sets can be a bit oversized.  I included my surefire ear pro here as they work very well though I tend to talk to loud with them in as they aren’t electronic!

For load bearing I use the Mayflower UW chest rig.  This thing was almost over designed it has so many features!   It is made of very lightweight and durable materials, much stronger than condor nylon. What’s great about this vest is that it is configured in to clip onto the front of the plate carrier in seconds and secures to the cummerbund and I have a fully kitted  plate carrier.  I can also take the included harness which I keep in my ruck and can clip onto the rig and wear alone where armor may be a secondary necessity.  In the chest rig I carry:

4 PMAGs, 2 glock mags, 1 Smoke grenade, two frag grenades, surefire flash light, multi-tool, weapon cleaning kit (lens brush, weapon brush, weapon cleaning tool, CLP, cleaning rag) , ear pro, gloves, map, write in the rain note pad, space blanket,  extra set of batteries for all electronic devices, garmin fortrex, 6 chem sticks (colors/IR), M2000 IR strobe, gum, ranger bar, 5 hour energy drink, tourniquet, and a small bottle of water.

Fighting belt- I’ve stream lined this a bit.  Max has a great design in the battle belt and I’ve made a version that is more urban/mounted operations savvy.  I use it as something that will always allow me to conduct some kind of operation, even if I don’t have a kitted out vest.   On it I carry 2 Pmags, 2 pistol mags, a CRKT knife, SMALL medical kit (tourniquet, surgical gloves, Israeli bandage and quick clot), pistol holster, dump pouch and a radio pouch.  I can run ad ear bud through my clothes or plate carrier so that the push to talk is accessible around my chest or in my sleeve (for low pro).

I own several different rifles.  If I am conducting night operations I ensure that I have a DBAL IR laser, weapon light (Inforce WML, GREAT light! Has numerous settings including strobe and IR and super lite!) and an AAC SDN multi caliber suppressor (stamped and legal BTW!!!) that can accommodate both my AR platforms as well as my M1A SOCOM 16.  I have a mixture of optics though I lean towards ACOGs as they never run out of batteries (SHTF plus!)

Chris Gear 2

 

Max covers very effectively (on the Combat Patrol Class) what to pack in to what kind of bag, weather it’s a rucksack for longer patrols or a 3 days assault pack.  I really have nothing to add to his presentation and it works perfectly with my kit as well.  Extra ammo, water, food and basic necessities for RON operations keep me at about 65-70 pounds of super light weight gear!  What I want as a takeaway from this keeping your gear close to your body, and somewhat simple.  I’ve seen several students come out to train with some seriously over loaded rigs with pouches that I think they hang just because they have them.  Thing about minimizing!  The students that come on the 5 day course will alter their gear as they go and notice how it gets less and less.

Enough ammo to survive a firefight, more  or less depending on mission.  Keep this ammo in your ‘work space’.  I don’t particularly like carrying ammo that I can’t reach in a firefight, that constitutes extra weight.  First aid kits within reach of either arm, tourniquet at the very least.  Your arm may be shot, pinned or frickin’ gone so you may need to access it another way and self administer aid as your team fights up to you in the ambush you got caught in.

A thousand calories of food; cliff bars, protein bars, Gatorade pouches that runners use (Arnold Giz as we called it in the army) that can get you through one day of evasion and back to your team or supplies. A water bottle is great and can be refilled but a lifestraw can cut down on your liters of water you have carry with you. Plan accordingly, look at a map and find the water sources where you’re going to get this from. Look at weather reports and know your terrain/ area of operations for where water might be found. Morale is huge too. If you need some gum or a can of Copenhagen to keep your sprits up, pack it. Be wary of heavily scented stuff that may compromise your location. While many OPFOR have gone very techno savvy, tracking dogs or simply native people will know a smell that’s off.

I understand that a lot of you don’t have the funds of the trial and error ability to buy something and not like it and buy something else. Some of you have a significant other that’s going to cap your spending on kit. Hopefully some of these pointers will help you get a better idea of what to build and I’ll be sure to back up what I am saying wear this gear at MVT!

Chris

Input from Max: Chris has a great set up which is versatile. His mayflower chest rig with plate carrier is the same concept that I talk about with the TAP in THIS POST on gear options. Ballistic plates are important when we are taking about kinetic operations and you should plan to include them in your loadout in a way that you will actually wear them. Which brings us nicely back to PT. Funny that!

The lightweight battle belt is a great concept and I have one myself. The full battle belt is great for dismounted operations and if your SHTF survival plan does not include extensive use of vehicles then it’s a good one. The lighweight battle belt is also something that you may be more likely to wear around the retreat because it is more convenient. You can have both set up and pick as per the mission.

I have one of those Mayflower UW rigs on order as per Chris’s recommendation and seeing it used on the Combat Patrol class. I was initially put of because although it is far better than the issue TAP that I have, it has a limited magazine capacity at 4. That gives me the chills. It’s just a paranoia I have. However, with the pouch on the plate carrier behind, you can get a total of 7 in there, plus the 2 on a light weight battle belt and the 1 in the rifle makes 10. Now I feel better. Plus, as I have mentioned before, you are going to be wearing a patrol/assault pack of some sort/size, and this is where your second line scales of ammo resides, to resupply your mag pouches in a pause in the fight.

I like the idea, as per the TAP, of chest rigs that can either be worn on their own or snapped onto the front of your plate carrier. That gives a lot of versatility for different types of operations and profiles that you may run. With just the lightweight battle belt and the plate carrier, you have 5 mags plus one on your weapon. And that is if you keep it to 2 mags on the battle belt. You do have to resist overloading!

Oh yes: do more PT!

Chris Patrol

34 responses to “Gear: My Operational Loadout: Chris”

  2. The only thing that I appear to be carrying that wasn’t mention here (could have overlooked it as I’m in a hurry this morning) are large HD nylon “zip-ties”; 4 pairs looped together and ready to use for hand/leg restraint, or backup tourniquet.

    • Ouch – zip tie as a tourniquet, back up or not?

      Triangular bandage, tie knot, stick, tie second knot over stick….

      But granted, zip tie may stop you dying while you do that.

      I carry a couple of accessible SOFT-TW tourniquets on my belt.

      • Yes, very much a last ditch option for a tourniquet… I am carrying them for the quick restraint factor, but they are so lightweight and versatile for different applications that I always have about 4 pairs on me.

  3. I am also carrying about 60 feet of 6mm Perlon Climbing rope and three (lightweight wire-gate) carabiners…plus the (soft) tourniquets you mention.
    The quick-ties are just so lightweight and versatile that I always have about 4 pair on me…
    Like you said, ‘painful’… they really are just a last resort for use as tourniquets.

  4. Oh…
    and I want to thank you ALL for the sharing of information, and spreading sound advice and knowledge to your ‘Brothers’.
    Besides the practical application(s), it is a comfort to many, I am SURE, to know that none of us stand alone.

  5. Ill acknowledge that i left out mission specific items like zip ties, SSE kit (camera,bags, rubber gloves, ID cards,) surveillance optics etc but a lot of that drives mission specific needs. Im sure i can come up with all kinds of widgets not listed here but not as i see essential to my every day kit

  6. good write up. I like the banshee plate carrier alot – i have noticed that if you stuff 3 mags in the front ‘kangaroo pouch’ they have the tendency to all slip out when you’re inverted…

    so now i use the insert that shellback tactical makes that is velcro and elastic that makes sure two mags dont come out, and also prevents the mags from falling down too far and preventing the kangaroo velcro from getting a good bite underneath the carrier.

    Chris- do you carry a larger blow out kit somewhere? or is this loadout based on having a ‘team medic + medic buttpack’ available?

    • i have to say i rarely have found myself inverted…like ever……with a plate carrier on. I do have an insert with retention bands but its kind of bulky, i did the hop test and the mags didn’t move around at all.

      As far as bigger aid bag. I carry a basic aid kit, enough that gets me off the X. I have a larger kit but am not a fan of the huge packs that try to pass as pouches on a belt. I see a lot of guys do this down range with trauma shears in MOLLE loop and all kinds of high speed crap. Trying to work out of one of those huge pouches while its on your hip and your buddy is screaming and bleeding out is a pretty crappy situation.
      A dedicated medic if I’m lucky enough to have one should have that whole bag ready to come off his shoulder and work a patient once off the X. Everyone on your team should have TQs at the very least and basic bandages so that if they get hit you can use THEIR gear not yours. And thats really all you need to have on you.

      • Ha! Yea it happened to me when I was bending over trying to reach a small pool of water to filter it… Then three mags went sploosh. Luckily it was only a few feet deep and clear so I could find them! But now I use the insert just in case.

        Thanks

  7. Thanks for addressing the operational role of hearing protection. Is it fair to say that if hearing protection is used it should only minimally impact one’s ability to hear?

    Could MVT provide a more developed concept of choosing amount of armor? Are side plates really worth the additional weight and bulk? Most side plates cover such a small area and not even all of the vitals within the chest cavity due to interference of the shoulder. Given the amount of surface area protected it makes about as much since as wearing rifle threat protection on the head, but the head is left unprotected against rifle threats. Using soft body armor in conjunction with front and back rifle plates would seem to be more in line with the common acceptance of threat.

    I would also like hear MVT’s input on the idea that having higher ammo capacity attached to the rifle, at the moment of contact, provides a significant advantage in the initial, and arguably most critical, stages of a firefight. This line of thinking advocates the use of a higher capacity magazine as the magazine carried in the rifle or the use of coupled magazines for a very fast reload.

    Lastly I would like to hear MVT’s thoughts on heat management. With armor and even the relatively thick nature of combat ready cloth the body’s natural cooling mechanism is hindered. There are of course a number of other factors involved from ambient temp to humidity, even physical fitness plays a significant role and of course hydration. But when considering an area of operation that is hot and humid even a relatively fit individual loaded and dismounted has a real risk of overheating. It seems when looking at such a situation that increasing the ability of the extremities to vent heat is the logical conclusion. I guess what I’m getting at is asking are shorts and short sleeves legitimate options in such environments? The Brit mil does this or at least used to but it never really caught on in the US mil.

    • Its a bad time at this exact moment for me to address all this homework! However, I will let others jump in and I will comment when I get a moment. Just 3 off the cuff real fast:
      1) Howard Leight Impact Sport ear pro allows you to hear really well. Batteries is the downside. You need to hear to go on patrol. Dismounted – can’t hear, you have to take off the ear pro and deal with noise when you are in contact.
      2) I have front and rear 10 x 12 plates. Its a good compromise between weight/heat retention and protection.
      3) Rhodesians did a lot in shorts. Brits too. Gotta balance the need for protection (fire/bugs/sun/rocks/stickers etc) against what you gain in shorts.

      Gotta go, the long haired general calls!

      Edit: This hearing protection thing perplexes me a little. The advent of decent electronic hearing protection that actually amplifies sound, and thus helps you hear, is a real help. If you are in vehicles, wearing headsets, its not such an issue either. But my experience of being on dismounted infantry patrol, recce patrol, that sort of thing, is that you have to be able to hear. Absent electronic hearing protection that has batteries that last the whole time (not in my day), you are not patrolling with ear pro – because you have to be able hear the enemy.

      If you go on the range without ear pro, it will hurt, but I don;t recall actually wearing ear pro in any surprise contact, with the exception of an ear piece/single headset (radio headsets USED to be just single ear, so you could hear with the other one). The exception would be manning a support weapon in a support by fire position, or similar, where you have time to put it on – it’s not a surprise action. If you are on patrol, and get ambushed, you won’t be wearing ear pro. Soldiers have done it for years. Perhaps it’s auditory exclusion? Perhaps its the same as being punched in a fight and hit by accident/training – you don’t feel it in a fight.

      What’s the deal with this? It’s loud, but not as loud as you would think. Get over it. Wear ear pro if you can, but not on a patrol.

      This may need its own post.

      • Thanks for the input on the hearing protection thing. You’re comments are in line with my own understanding of the matter, just wanted to see if I was missing something. Personally I’ve never used hearing protection in a combat setting as I like to hear environmental indicators of enemy movement.

    • I have Howard Leight Impact Sport ear pro and am amazed at how well they work. A major downside for me is how the earwells fill with sweat when I’m humping and it’s warm out. After a half hour of, say, mowing the lawn they need to be emptied and wiped out. At that pint they’re unpleasant to wear.

    • ok ill try and answer these from my perspective. For each question i could simply say mission dependent but ill go a little deeper.
      Hearing protection- SOPs should be pretty locked down that you don’t have talk too much as long as actions on are rehearsed. Bottom line is if you use NO hearing protection you are deaf anyway and probably more disoriented and a potential liability
      Armor- Recon mission, estate patrol, low vis- armor can be second to stealth. Still if you have the ability to get soft armor it gives protection to pistol, fragments and ricochet rounds, a direct shot it won’t stop but this is super lite (works for batman!)
      Front plates on a movement to contact, raid or ambush for sure. Helmet too. SHTF scenarios don’t have too many neurosurgeons running around, id protect the grape as much as possible
      Side plates certainly if theres a plausible IED threat and you are mounted. Urban environment too. A through and through in the abdomen is catastrophic. Threats come from all angles and you can’t cover every direction. PT brother…
      Read the ammo question three times and I’m not sure what you are asking. If you think that you need enough ammo to have a moment like in the movie Predator where they dump all their rounds into the treeline id advise rethinking tactics. You might need 30 rounds pre rifle on the OPFOR to get fire superiority before placing coordinated well-placed fire on the enemy. Ive been in several engagements in my military career, granted i was a leader so shot less and directed more, but soldiers carried a basic load and never needed reload until after the firefight. Belt fed weapons is another story
      The final question on layers i think max addressed pretty good but ill say that yes, PT and hydration go a long way to conditioning a soldier. Again you must plan accordingly what your carrying weight is. Ill not wear shorts into an Afghan landscape with shale rocks, thorny bushes and little asshole bugs. Sometimes you just gotta be comfortable being uncomfortable. Ive seen soldiers in full combat gear hump up and down mountains with all their armor, M240 machine guns, mortar tubes and base plates, ammo, comma gear (god bless my RTO!) and more and not bitch. They accepted that they guy to left and right needed them and soldiered on. Point is, carry what you can, whats necessary but don’t be a hero and be a liability to your team.
      Hope this answers some of your questions. While I’m not sure if this is the STANDARD MVT answer its my answer. And all the cadre have different experiences and ideas but we bring it all to the table. We acknowledge theres not ONE way but many for certain instances but at the same time, Max, Aaron and I could easily maneuver in react to contact as its all the same. How crazy is that?!?

  8. So you guys have your load-outs for chest rigs, battle belt,and plate carrier. How about what you have in your assault pack or ruck for extended time down range. That would be interesting to some of us. When I was in I always carried to much snivel it seems, what about you guys.

      • Are you serious? Let me see, as well as all the rest of the free chicken we hand out here, we’ll just drop everything over the weekend to make that list for you?
        If you came on a patrol class, you would get a lesson in this.

    • Blue bodies but i write this for guys going over seas as well and I’ve certainly carried them myself downrange. This rig is a great answer to finding a place for them

  10. Chris/Max- what boots are you running?

    Also, what’s your take on hiking style vs. .mil type combat boots?
    What’s your take on height of boot (how far it comes up your leg)?

  11. Different strokes for different folks man. I like merrel hiking boots as they work in all conditions, wet or dry, mountains or urban, hot or cold and hold up well. Never gotten a blister from them. If i had a favorite combat boot it would be the Rocky SV2 type. Outstanding design.

    • Thanks.

      One more thing (I promise I’ll shut up after this)-
      What’s your opinion on the Foretrex versus a more full featured/full screen display GPS?

      I’ve been eying the Foretrex 401 for a quite a while now because it’s so small and cheap, but a 64s with the full color topo map display seems like it would be more useful…
      Thoughts??

      • Well if you don’t have maps for your AO then a GPS that just gives coordinates is kind of worthless. Thats a consideration.

  12. Chris, I respectfully disagree with regard to the Oakleys. Unless the results of this ballistic test were fudged, Oakley got its clock cleaned by even the worst of the much more affordable Smith Optics models:
    http://www.luckygunner.com/labs/eye-protection-shooting-glasses-review/

    As it happened, I picked up a pair of Smith Optics Aegis Shields several years ago, not because I had seen these test results at the time but simply because they were on sale at a price that plucked at my cheap hobo heartstrings.

    While I have neither Oakleys nor any military cred, and certainly have not had the pleasure of catching lead in my specs, I can and shall regale anyone who cares to read with a tale of my first range outing with my Smiths.

    Upon disembarking at the local outdoor range, I hung the glasses from my shirt collar, lugged my bag and rifle cases across the parking lot to the office, signed in, realized my Smiths had fallen off. Stepped back outside just in time to see where they had dropped in the driveway directly outside the office right before they were mashed into the freshly-crushed gravel by both passenger-side tires of an F-350 crew cab.

    After the dust cleared I plucked the filthy mangled mess from where it was embedded in the fresh tire track, fully expecting to scrub my entire range day for lack of a spare set. I was all-around feeling quite sorry for myself and wondering if perhaps I’d been a Congressman in a past life to have earned such ill treatment at the hands of the Universe.

    As I untangled the arms and wiped off the road crud I saw that the actual damage consisted of a few nonfatal abrasions on the frame and a small nick on one side of the quick-swappable lens. No abrasions on the lens, just the single ~1mm divot as a memento of their clash with the F-350.

    I did have spare lenses but they turned out to be completely unnecessary. I wore my roadkill Smiths as-is all afternoon without a hitch. They have since continued to perform flawlessly, showing no sign of weakness or structural damage in the arms or hinges, they don’t fog up when I’m exerting myself under a hot sun, and they are much better at staying on my face than on my shirt collar. The option to swap between the clear/yellow-tinted/polarized lenses is handy as well, and the quick-swap latching mechanism for the lenses still functions perfectly.

    The one respect in which they have been less than perfect is the so-so comfort level under ear protection. I’d never eye protection that didn’t dig into my ears and noggin under the pressure of a headset though, so I just shrugged and dealt.

    …until I stumbled upon the Smith Optics Aegis Echo, which solved this remaining gripe admirably. They use the same lenses as my original Aegis Shield but the Aegis Echo sports some very thin legs that are barely noticeable under a headset. You can find pics online easily if you’re curious.

    I was a little nervous about the thin edges of the Echo frame in a hypothetical ballistic event to the noggin, but they sure are comfy during those long interludes when I’m not getting shot or fragged in the face, and to borrow the old proverb about armor, eye pro does me no good if I can’t stand wearing it.

    It was nice to see confirmation of my preexisting bias in those luckygunner ballistic tests, and as it turned out, the Aegis Echo still scored A grades so my fears of collateral damage appear unfounded. I was already unlikely to ever buy any other brand of eye protection, but at this point, between the test results and my own experience, if there’s something more I should expect from a pair of shooting glasses I can’t think of it. Barring the unforeseeable, Smith Optics has my business for life.

    On a side note, although the Aegis Arc and Aegis Echo are the only Smith Optics Aegis models in the tests, I think all of the Aegis series use the same lenses, so I expect the performance of those two to be more or less representative. YMMV, please don’t blame me if you lose an eye.

    No, I do not get any free product or any other kickbacks for preaching my hobo opinion.

    Hope this helps,

    #OREGON HOBO#

  13. As chance would have it, the Banshee plate carrier, Banshee shoulder pads, and Smith Optics Aegis Echo in multicam are on sale cheaper than I’ve ever seen any of them. Unfortunately, they only have the Aegis Echo in “compact” size, but its still less than you’d pay just for the 3 spare lenses and field kit. Get a set or 2 for the kids/wife?
    http://www.tacticalassaultgearstore.com/bansheerifleplatecarrier.aspx
    http://www.tacticalassaultgearstore.com/smithopticsaegisarcmulticamfieldkit-2.aspx

    A couple of days ago they listed ~1100 Banshees in stock in multicam, and they’re down to 120 now, so I recommend moving promptly if you want one. Heck at that price I might just get another one for my imaginary friend.

    Also, Magpul stocks on sale, though not nearly at such impressive discounts. Make sure to use the 10OFF coupon code:
    http://www.egoztactical.com/magpul-stocks-special/

    I think tacticalassaultgearstore.com had some Mayflower gear in their Clearance section as well, but its late, and morning knows no mercy.

    Happy trails,

    #OREGON HOBO#

  16. I’m just curious, why the blue ( I’m assuming they’re) chem lights? Does the color signify anything?

    thanks