GEAR: Profile Considerations
I have written two recent posts on gear:
1) GEAR: Your load-out options: discussion & comments
2) Gear: More Discussion on Load-Out Options
These posts have been more slanted to discussing particular styles of rigs and load-out options for gear about your body, rather than rucks and the like. Most of you know that I am a fan of the battle belt, as in the properly set-up battle belt rigged up for light infantry operations. You may also recall that I wrote a post some time back about the dangers of ‘fundamentalism’ – and in this spirit I am not a ‘fundamentalist’ when it comes to the battle belt. I have worn all sorts of rigs in my time and I want to ensure that I am giving the readership a full host of options, rather than just my obstinate opinion.
There will be more to come on the FLC: as an exercise, I have decided to rig mine up as if that is what I am going to wear, and give it a run out in the woods. I will post on the updates to both the set-up and also how I feel about it. I know some of you just don’t want to go to a battle belt, for a variety of reasons, so I hope to best serve you by doing this.
In my opinion, we established that a fully rigged battle belt is best for dismounted light infantry style operations – out in the woods, living as unconventional infantry. Operating out of vehicles, perhaps a little more urban, mainly where sitting in some sort of chair is involved (I don’t say that as a joke!) then a battle belt is still workable but not ideal. You need to remove bulky pouches from the rear/small of the back. Hence the chest rig/PC/assault vest style rig – not ideal for sustainable operations in the woods, but workable. You tend to end up with a bigger, heavier patrol pack, and thus more negative implications if you end up dropping that pack. The eternal merry-go-round of balances and compromises. Just look at footage of US Marines in Afghan, wearing their body armor, with a limited number of pouches, with gear rear-loaded to large and heavy patrol packs, including their canteens.
It’s all good if you can “GET TO THE CHAPPA!” 
Above: Running High Profile in Fallujah. There was really no ‘low profile’ option
However, another reason why you want alternatives to the battle belt, and even the bulked out FLC/assault rig, is due to profile considerations. In my time in Iraq and Afghanistan I had the opportunity to operate in both high and low profile ways. I have run full high profile contractor-style moves, vehicle packets moving keeping all other vehicles away, due to the threat from SVBIEDs. I have also run much lower profile and covert style moves, whether that be recce or otherwise. That gives me some experience and perspective on running low profile.
Above: High profile for vehicle mounted operations
For a start, many out there have no clue. For example, they talk about carrying an ‘EDC’ bag, and to the casual observer it is so tactical a bag it is obvious. They just cant avoid the tacticool give-aways, like the ball cap. I also want to be clear that I am not talking ‘covert’ here. I am not talking about the greasy guy with the suppressed .22. I am not talking hit-men or mafia style operations. I am referencing the ability to move in a lower profile, and therefore a more surreptitious manner, after an SHTF event.
For example, I have found a some photos and posted them here: examples of me in various guises, I think they are mostly from Iraq. What is not shown is the attempts at moving covertly, using low profile local vehicles. Beards, nasty Iraqi gas station glasses, shemaghs, local shirts rigged up over plate carriers: all attempts at moving covertly in vehicles. Let me tell you: if you have the right vehicles, use locals to drive ahead and check the route, move in the right way, and dress as such, you will get close. But once you are close, you are made. Get out of the vehicle, you are made. You just stand out as westerners. This translates across to anything you want to do in any ethnic specific areas, or even just red neck/country areas of which you are not a part. You may get close, but then you are made. And local vehicles with several big looking dudes in shemaghs will get you shot at by Coalition/Iraqi security forces, if you catch them on the hop. I know
Above: Afghanistan 2001/2002. Still serving. South African rig a good compromise for vehicle/dismounted. Body armor under the smock. Different days
So, we are not secret agents, we are just tying to get by with a lower profile, slip under the radar. It amazes me how some just don’t have a clue. I had a vehicle movement article published on a large prepper website a long time ago. I was accosted in reply letters by some army ‘major’ with engineer OIF experience, who thought I was talking about having dudes sticking up out of sunroofs? He didn’t have a clue, he just didn’t know what he didn’t know, and he missed the point by a mile. His only frame of reference was Humvee’s with gun turrets. You don’t drive around with rifles sticking out of windows or sunroofs. It’s just not cool, not done. Unless you are Iraqi police….
Above: Back of a Reva APC, Fallujah. Gunners ready to go up into the turrets. Trip into Fallujah. We lost a guy to sniper fire on a mission just like this.
So, you need to give a lot of thought the the situation and the threat, and what you are trying to achieve. So many are so clueless that they have no idea what low profile is. Reminiscent of the movie ‘Team America’ and “Super Secret Hiding Positions”. ‘merica, fuck yea!
Above: early days in Iraq 2004. Full body armor plus plates, chest rig, under a shirt. Lower profile.
It is easy to conceal a handgun, we do it every day. It is not so easy to conceal a long gun and the ammunition to feed it. Long guns are best hid in vehicles. You can even have it on the seat as you stand by an open door. You can conceal a lightweight chest rig under a shirt or jacket. ‘Man-Bags’ also work, so long as they do not look too tactical. A shorter barrel rifle can be suspended by a single point sling from your shoulder and hang down beneath a coat or jacket. It does not give full concealment but it makes it less obvious. You have to ask yourself what you are trying to achieve. Do you want to look tactical bad-ass to deter threats? Is everyone armed post-SHTF and you just want to fit in while carrying a rifle, but just not look too much of a tactical bad-ass threat?
Above: Kurdistan. I opened the jacket to get a shot of the gear. Cold weather is an ally to- lowering your profile. Full body armor with plates.
Weather is a great asset or enemy of lower profile. It is easier in the winter, with bulkier jackets and concealing clothing. Not so easy in the heat of the summer when you want to be wearing a t-shirt. In the Middle East, we mostly wore full sets of body armor and chest rigs, whatever profile we were adopting, and you have to learn to live with your under-shirt constantly soaked with sweat. This is one of the reasons that I ask people to think long term and visualize what they will actually wear as time goes on. Will they wear that full PC around the farm, or start to adopt a more comfortable duty-belt style of dress? Have options.
Above: In the woods of West Virginia. Battle belt.
You can wear a full set of body armor with full rifle plates and a chest rig under a shirt or jacket. It is not covert but if you are in a vehicle it reduces the profile. Lowering your profile can be as simple as driving around in normal looking vehicles with your rigs covered by shirts and long guns down out of sight. If you are contacted, you can shoot (in a non-armored vehicle) out of the vehicle through the closed windows and even the body of the car. Ask me how I know
On foot, maybe bugging out or for other activities, poses another set of challenges. Do you open carry as a deterrent? Do you rely on route selection to lower your profile/mitigate threat? If you have to carry long guns in bags or otherwise, it will slow your reaction time. Be ingenious. This is situationally dependent. You have to ask yourself, if you are operating in the woods (not just bugging out with your family) then your profile is lowered by your skill at patrolling, use of camouflage and concealment. If seen, you are obviously armed fighters, so just wear your light infantry combat gear. Act as if you are under potential observation at all times.
The circumstances will determine if camouflage gear is suitable. Military or hunting? Or just wear, or have available, solid earth toned clothing. You can then maybe leave your rig and rifle at a secured rally point, and go to the meet with a civilian wind-cheater on over the top, or whatever. Handgun concealed not in a drop leg, as appropriate to the situation.
The conclusion of this is that none of us know exactly what SHTF will look like, and the specifics as they apply to each of us. You need to have options, and give thought to the profile/posture you present and how you want to appear to others. You may have to step away from yourself to get a full appreciation of what you wear/look like and how you conduct yourself.
Live Hard.
Die Free.
Max
Great article Max!!!
The profile quandary is something I have often pondered. I worry about a SHTF scenario which begins while I am at work and have to get home.
Work is just out side Washington DC in a very urban area. Home is about 40 West in a predominately rural area.
Trying to determine what profile to use while traversing the distance between the two is something I have actually lost sleep over. I think back to the gridlock created by a snowstom a few years ago that became the “Commute from Hell.” I was out of the area at the time, but wife was stuck in it. I imagine what it would be like if there was a terrorist event and it was summer with tourists in the area. I imagine that traveling by foot would be best bet.
So go with low profile and hope to be left alone, or go with a high profile leave me the F(%# alone look!
Can I figure out a somewhere in the middle profile. How can a vary it from summer to winter. Winter, easier to go low profile, through the coat on over the gear. Over coat in summer would draw too much attention.
The mental gymnastics of trying to be ready for anything!
You know, low profile vs high profile is a good question. Consider for a moment if you are a CHL holder (don’t answer that!). Be sure to abide by the laws in your state, but you might consider purchasing a conversion kit for your EDC pistol that turns it into a carbine, plus a few extended mags. A conversion kit adds stability to an inherently unstable weapon. 100 yards is not out of the reach of those. Keep the conversion kit un-assembled but nearby until you need it. The carbine could easily fit underneath light clothing. Such as a vest:
Consider an old tan or khaki “safari vest” or something similar. You can easily leave it in the trunk of your vehicle and it’s very non-assuming. They typically have a few pockets for keeping essentials…maybe enough to help you make it home on foot.
http://faithandsurvival.com/2010/12/the-survival-vest/
Now you’re formidable if you need to be while being light and nimble.
If you need to stash something, consider pre-buying a cemetery plot somewhere (Terminator 3 comes to mind, lol). Put what you need there, it’s your land after all. Just make sure you’re not breaking the law, which I do not advocate.
5.11 does the ubiquitous tan fisherman-style vest, as worn by low profile CP teams everywhere. Like a smock, it has pockets designed for magazines. The only thing with these, is that I have found that if you put any decent amount of gear in them, like in your linked article, they become unworkable. Perhaps better for a light load, perhaps with a man-bag. Any LE/tactical guy will spot you straight off though. Just like with concealed handguns in bum bags (fanny packs). But still a workable option.
Are they unworkable because they are front heavy or just from sheer weight period? I’m sure the front heavy issue could be remedied by sewing pockets in the back and distributing the weight a little more evenly.
They have a poacher pocket on the back. It just becomes a swinging cloth of weight!
As I’m in the same geographic area and similar situation (although it sounds like I live closer in, and definitely closer to my place of employment) I’ve considered many of the same factors you have. I think the 2010 Snowpocalypse gridlock from hell made the same impression on many of us and drove home the reality that having to hoof it home wasn’t such a remote possibility after all.
My layered system is as follows:
– My EDC stuff including Glock and spare mag, small tactical light, multitool
—-This can be augmented with a Sub2000 kept in a laptop bag with spare mags (uses same mags as my EDC Glock)- Enough firepower and additional longer range accuracy to help get me out of a jam but not enough to make me think I can go toe to toe with well armed goblins.
– RIBZ front pack with the most important survival items including water purification tabs and a Vapur 1 liter collapsible water bottle, fleece cap and gloves, OWB holster, space blanket, lighter/matches, etc. and CASH (important for when the power goes out and your credit cards are now useless).
– 30 liter day pack (REI brand in muted colors) with food, water, snivel gear, ball cap, survival stove, nalgene bottle with cup, emergency bivy, etc.
In the car I also keep a pair of boots with good socks stuffed down in them and a DeLorme Atlas and Gazetteer for my state.
Also, a bunch of stuff in my vehicle can be thrown into the pack (it’s only about 2/3 full) based on the situation.
This stuff is all geared strictly towards getting me home without attracting too much undue attention. The RIBZ pack acts much like a FLC or chest rig. But if I decide that even that piece of civilian kit might make me look out of place its contents can be dumped in the daypack and it can be rolled up and stuffed inside as well.
In other words, my get home kit is a whole different set of gear than the fighting kit I keep at home. About the only thing that goes with both is the pistol.
There are railroad tracks I can see from my office that I have thought about using. I have used Google maps and followed them thru NOVA to Gainesville and Haymarket which would get me close to home.
The thought that if it is a SHTF scenario the trains wont be running. Wonder if I am going follow the tracks do I even need to worry about going low profile. Should just load and go?
RR tracks are an option but you won’t be the only one who has thought of it. It’s what we refer to as a “natural line of drift.” Risk of ambush is one of the considerations with using a route that follows these. You’d have to measure the need for speed against the risk. If I made the decision to take a route like that I’d worry less about profile and more about threat. But at some point you’d have to leave the RR tracks and presumably take a route where low profile becomes prudent again. So you’d need a loadout that allows you to scale up and down based on changing situation.
A problem with RR tracks is trestles and bridges.
1. They leave you open and exposed if you cross them.
2. You don’t want to be on one if a train comes.
3. If you do come to a gorge and don’t want to cross on the tracks, you could be stuck with a lot of backtracking to find a route around.
4. Also keep in mind that RR tracks and yards are already well established habitat for vagrants, hobos, homeless and other subculture denizens who can be trouble.
If you can plan ahead and know the terrain then tracks could be good. Maybe handrail them. But you would want to avoid any trestles or bridges.
These are just my thoughts. I grew up near two sets of tracks and spent a fair amount of time as a kid exploring and messing around them. There were regular occurrences of people getting killed walking across trestles when a train came along.
I carry a civilian style Kelty ruck in OD with me when i leave the house. Inside I keep a full assortment of kit items. Ruck and ruck kit..(I found the BG knife at an abandoned homeless camp, no way i spent good money on such a thing)
http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/DSCN07581_zps5cb16259.jpg
http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/f7d4d9a7-ec3c-46a0-8538-78f682a2964c_zpsc3e30933.jpg
I bought this from a store in the Uk last year. Its 100% Revisable with DPM on one side and very common civilian black fleece on the other. No matter what I wear out and about, this is in my ruck. I can go to looking quite normal w/np for a urban low profile look or break off and have DPM camo for wilderness concealment. It helps having options.
http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/SANY0150_zps829ca33c.jpg
http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/xx48/bootnknife/SANY0149_zps812a20f4.jpg
Bergmann
Berg, nice kit. I like that coat you found.
BTW, where’d you get the flashlight in your kit? Looks like one that I buy from a local company where I live.
Thanks..
Im not sure about the light. If I recall it was given to me by the maint guy at our 1st place in Alaska..
Bergmann
Awesome pics Max. Thanks for sharing.
I think it all boils down to needing separate load-outs for each scenario you might find yourself in. Try as you might with modular gear to mix and match, I think the best answer is to have separate load-outs kitted up and ready for wear, depending on the situation.
For example, I’m thinking in terms of EDC/violent home invasion; exfil to retreat location, vehicle mounted; alternate plan B: mountain bike; alternate plan C: on foot; retreat defense; retreat patrolling.
Some are obviously low profile, some not so much. While I think some guys make too much adoo over this “gray man” concept, it does has it place for exfil from occupied territory to free zones. Once you are among kindred spirits, I don’t see any point to hiding it. Except perhaps for recce missions into hostile territory or the like.
Great photos Max. The take-away for me is to have flexibility with my kit. To that end, I’ve run a loaded PC with you a couple times and it worked, but it was light on ammo. I have since purchased suspenders to build up my battle belt for woodland patrolling. Blackhawk makes a semi-drop “Spec-ops” model holster with a cover that works nice with the belt. As I live in an urban area, low profile options are necessary as well. Thanks for illustrating the various options.
This has got me to wondering about the rifle and whether to paint it for a more subdued look or leave it evil, black and oh so “back off” obvious.
Thoughts?
I coat all my weapons. For EDC I have found a subdued tan object draws less attention than a black object, which can scream metallic object, probably gun. So if you accidently “flash”, most folks don’t associate a dull brown object with a firearm.
For field work, it should go without saying. That black licorice stick needs to be camo’d. Especially for us, in small teams; stealth is your primary weapon.
I know it’s been said, intimidation factor, etc. But in a real emergency, the kind of evil mothers that are foraging aren’t going to be intimidated by your weapons. They are going to be thinking how evil they will look once they kill you and take them.
I’d pull security from cover and concealment, not standing in the open, if at all possible.
In occupied America the Che t-shirt is a good bet for movement thru populated areas.
I have different kit for different circumstances.
My everyday vehicle is very grey man, but very well equipped at all times, 4×4, extra fuel, all kinds of gear to live extended time in different climates/situations, rifle, green North Face pack to fit in…. you would never expect it though.
At home I have different gear bob kits from the full TT Malice and battle load out to the Gregory sporty hiker style setup.
I’ve always felt comfortable as the “you never see me coming” “grey man”, but if it’s serious all out war time, I’m ready to play that role as well.
Another thing is all my clothes and just about anything I acquire in life tends to be built strong/reliable/durable/protective, and of colors that don’t stand out (grey, brown, tan, green, etc.).
Lol one more thing….. on the all out apocalypse battle gear, that stuff is all partisan rattle can ugly style. If it works, it works, and gets added to the kit. I don’t care much about winning any beauty contest when I put that on.
[…] wrote a couple of blog posts titled: ‘Gear: More Discussion on Load-Out Options’ & ‘GEAR: Profile Considerations’. The intent of these posts was to discuss and give readers more load carrying options than the […]
Max,
In your Kurdistan pic do you mind telling me what is or who makes a low profile chest rig such as the one you are wearing? I have been looking for something like that for sometime.
Thanks mate.