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  1. #1
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    Tactical Gear???

    I am wondering what are all the options or basic components of a tactical set up. Some of you guys who have been in the military would probably be able to shed some light. Probably some police would too.

    Truth is I have never been in a gun fight and probably won't ever get in one, but let's say I want to be able to carry what I need to carry in a better package. Honestly I am just asking out of curiosity but there are a few things I would consider buying for sure.

    Here is what I came up with as to a setup... feel free to add, correct, or take away, or just flat out comment.

    -Knee pads... this to me seems like a very good idea. If one was mixing it up and you had to drop or kneel behind a car or whatever that would make life a lot more comfortable. I am sure I could get some at Home Depot.

    -Belts--- this is something that could be interesting. Some belts are to hold up your pants and some are to hold holsters and extra mags. I am not talking about a leather belt. I tried one on before that was really nice but I forgot the brand name.

    -A vest or a plate carrier with molle on it. I am completely unfamiliar with that for the most part but I would be interested to learn. First you have the carrier and then you have the plates. I imagine it's a balance between being bullet proof and a weight and mobility trade off.
    I am not really sure how plates are rated but based on youtube some are designed to seperate and capture splash to keep it from deflecting in your face or whatever.

    -Gloves. If it's cold as hell outside of course you don't want your fingers freezing off but in warm environments what would the best use of gloves be for?

    I am curious mainly about options for carrying 30 round AR mags (or even 20 round mags) on your body in a way that isn't in the way. I am also curious about a setup to carry a side arm and extra mags at the same time. After that maybe some sort of vest or plate carrier might be an option.

    For all you military types... if you were going into a situation what do you carry? Obviously you can't carry it all and it should probably be centered around the job you're going into I would imagine.


    If you have pics that would be cool. We can have a picture thread as well
    Last edited by alamo5000; 20 February 2016 at 13:18.

  2. #2
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    Here is what I would go with:

    5.11 pants with the neoprene knee pads installed. I love them for training on the range, take them out for patrol. If I knew I were going into something, I'd put them in if I had time (note, I've never had time.)

    Basic LEO nylon gun belt with cuffs x2, pistol mags x2, o/c spray, ASP and low ride holster (not drop leg, I'm fortunate enough to be tall enough my handgun clears my vest without the drop leg). Seriously, get that sidearm as close to the waistline as you physically can.

    Gloves, I really like my Mechanix.

    Long sleeves, cause you never know when you're going through a door or getting showered with broken glass.

    Lvl IIIA vest with arm pads and plates if they're supplied (note, they aren't supplied). On the MOLLE vest, rifle/ extra pistol mags, IFAK with tourney, extra tourney on the front and gas mask on the back.

    Rifle: basic M4gery with a tourney on the buttstock with vet wrap. Oh, and a weapon mounted light, even during the day.

    Don't forget the Kevlar helmet and clear eye pro.

    A couple bottles of water (Be prepared to share with the stack, everyone forgets this on game day). I usually shove these in my cargo pockets as an afterthought.

    Also, at the last minute, someone throws you an orange stocked shotgun and hydro rounds and the rifle gets slung on your back.

    That's just me and mine. Disclaimer, small city with minimum call outs. Yeah, 9 years (only 3 with SWAT), two call outs. The second one put so much stress on my wife she popped out my second daughter a few hours after the guy surrendered. That said, I'm sure others will have better set ups, especially the .mil guys.

    I'll see about trying to get artsy with my point and shoot camera later. Right now, time to go to bed.

  3. #3
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    Thanks for the response.

    The main thing I am looking for is a general set up to where I can carry extra mags and a sidearm. Wearing body armor I guess would be an option. But I do have a thought process to all this.

    I guess I should say that everything should be purpose driven and I have no illusions that I won't be a cop any time soon if ever. 99% of my shooting is leisure only. No clocks, no bad guys... just having fun. That said it would be nice to be prepared with a simple kit that I could throw on with the main idea being carrying extra mags with that I can practice more mag swaps and stuff like that.

    More than anything though having that stuff will help me work on more skills as a shooter, that could be 3 gun or whatever. It's all stuff I've never really done before but I want to try out. At this point I can stand there and blast away at a steel plate and when I run out of ammo walk back to the kabota and get a fresh mag. Long story short more than anything that stops me from practicing a more rounded shooting sports kind of thing even up to an including (maybe) 2 gun or 3 gun competition skills.

    I have holsters and all that but everything is for concealment...not so much expanding out those kinds of other skills...running, shooting, transitions from rifle to pistol, or whatever.

    I saw this video from GA but honestly I have been thinking about upping my level of practice for a while now, long before that video came out. It's WAY MORE than me being some kind of mall ninja or whatever I think it would serve two purposes... the first to let me expand my shooting sports practice into new areas that aren't just standing at 10 yards shooting a plate with a pistol... that would be 98% of it and the other 2% would be the off chance that I need to do anything else.

    https://www.facebook.com/17200825456...9/?pnref=story

    Click the link there to see the video...

    That kind of skill set is really a lot more of what I am talking about... learning to do more of that. So whatever kind of kit I would need to get there is more along the lines of what I am after.
    Last edited by alamo5000; 21 February 2016 at 07:22.

  4. #4
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    Hopefully the last post there sheds more light on my intentions....which might not have come across well in my original post...

  5. #5
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    Sounds like you need to take a carbine class instead of wasting your money on tactical gear. I've got a closet full of gear I wasted my money on when I first became a LEO. As time went on and I gained more skills, I've learned I need a lot less gear. Yeah, it's fun shopping for it, but when it comes to real world use, 99% of us just need a belt.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by UWone77 View Post
    Yeah, it's fun shopping for it, but when it comes to real world use, 99% of us just need a belt.
    Can I assume that you are also including at least like a mag caddy with said belt as well?
    Find my photos on: Flickr, Facebook, Instagram

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thompson View Post
    Can I assume that you are also including at least like a mag caddy with said belt as well?
    No, you just need a belt to hold your pants up.

  8. #8
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    Have you trained in body armor? Texas gets damn hot and I can tell you right now from having been stationed there, that if you haven't, a bullet is the least of your issues. Second are you wanting a SHTF type rig? Have you ever trained with an IFAK? Are you in shape enough to work well wearing all that shit?

    Most of what you will need in a carbine class is just a typical "war" belt. Like UWone77 said, take that money and dump it into software instead of hardware. Trust me, it will pay off in spades.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by UWone77 View Post
    Sounds like you need to take a carbine class instead of wasting your money on tactical gear. I've got a closet full of gear I wasted my money on when I first became a LEO. As time went on and I gained more skills, I've learned I need a lot less gear. Yeah, it's fun shopping for it, but when it comes to real world use, 99% of us just need a belt.
    Absolutely on the class. It is for sure on the agenda at some point. I actually hate shopping for most things. I think I am part Jewish or something because I am kind of cheap with my money until I decide exactly what I want.

    Quote Originally Posted by Army203 View Post
    Have you trained in body armor? Texas gets damn hot and I can tell you right now from having been stationed there, that if you haven't, a bullet is the least of your issues. Second are you wanting a SHTF type rig? Have you ever trained with an IFAK? Are you in shape enough to work well wearing all that shit?

    Most of what you will need in a carbine class is just a typical "war" belt. Like UWone77 said, take that money and dump it into software instead of hardware. Trust me, it will pay off in spades.
    By nature I am a very minimalistic kind of person. If it has no purpose or if it will just sit in the closet for 3 years why spend the money on it? Which if I go full on full on tactical with too much stuff I probably won't make use of most of it. (Just being realistic)

    The idea of the belt sounds great, but what kind of belt and how many mags and what all can you hang on the thing? That is in fact something along the lines of what I was thinking to start with... not so much helmet and flack jackets and combat boots. I am guessing a belt rig wouldn't break the bank too much.

    For now it might not be a total SHTF rig but rather just something simple to allow me to try out the stuff I want to try out before I start spending major bucks in gear and classes. A belt or some other kind of rig that will allow me to carry a few AR mags and a few pistol mags... as well as a OTW holster for a pistol would be about all I would want right now until I learn more and decide just how good or how far I want to take all this.

    At this point it's generally just boxes of ammo on the tail gate of a truck or whatever...

    I am from Texas so I am 100% familiar with the heat. I grew up in the August heat and humidity. Again though I am not really doing all that stuff to punish myself. If I "gear up" and go out in the back yard and shoot 3 or 4 rifle mags and 3 or 4 pistol mags late in the evening... then walk 100 yards or so back to the air conditioner then that's fine.

    I think a regiment like that a couple times a week will allow me to practice a whole lot more stuff on a more frequent basis without breaking the bank ammo wise or gear wise. If I need to set up new targets or put barrels out there I can do whatever I want in that regard. This stuff for the most part is 100% hobby.

    Basically I am not really looking for something to take over a building in Iraq. If I get into it and later I want some armor I can try that too.

    A class is for sure on the agenda but I still want to have some kind of basic set up to carry mags more than anything so that I can do transitions and run around shooting around barriers or whatever. At the end of the day I want to be the guy that knows more of what he's doing.

    As for being in shape I am in decent enough shape to get started and give it a go... but part of that is to give me fun, an exercise routine, as well as a fun hobby all three in one.

    A "war belt" is kind of what I think would be best to be honest. Then I can pick up some gloves and knee pads if I decide I even want those later. If I get that far that will be great. Even if I don't run and gun like an expert at very least I can carry mags with me in something other than a backpack. Then I can have fun with it and enroll in a course when I find one that fits my needs.

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by Army203 View Post
    Have you ever trained with an IFAK?
    Nope. For the most part I shoot alone with some exceptions when we get the boys together... but some of them now have small children and all that so our weekends of blowing $1200 bucks worth of ammo are few and far in between now.

    What I am wanting to do is practice more skills related stuff so the belt is probably the way to go. When I go shoot with friends they tend to just bring tannerite and we blow stuff up. In one afternoon with them we might shoot an AK, an AR, some skeet, and 4 pistols... It's not a real structured skill related thing.

    But on my own I want to start doing a little more than that and see if I like it.

  11. #11
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    LOL @ trexarms dude and gear.

    running and gunning all over the range and real world use is literally apples to hand grenades.

    That video is lawls....radio on the back? Talk about snag central. Ever had someone punch you in the back? It's similar to that, except constantly when you are doing anything other than standing still.

    The stuff I use for work (LE) is sometimes different than stuff I use for range/HD/training.

    Mission drives gear, not the other way around.

    Figure out what your mission is then buy gear to match your requirements, nothing more or less.

  12. #12
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    I was just googling around and I found this:

    http://www.amazon.com/Condor-Rapid-A.../dp/B00CZA3SI4

    I don't want to spend a bunch of money on crap stuff but something along those lines might be something to consider. There are too many styles and variations to go into. I assume with that I could also carry some extra 9mm mags as well and they would be relatively out of the way.

    Then you have this:



    There could be any number of variations on that one too.




    Then there is a setup something like this:



  13. #13
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  14. #14
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    While it's more about the skill than anything I am just curious about you guy's thoughts on the subject in general including gear and what may or may not work for you....

  15. #15
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    One thing I find really annoying about belts is that they ride up when bending over or squatting unless you have some sort of capture system. I run a belt all the time (class, competition, specific training), but I run a Velcro...I mean hook and loop... inner belt in my pants and then the "war belt" on the outside. The Velcro keeps the belt in place when I move all about and I don't get annoyed. Win, win.

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