Active shooter bag

[Stickman]

The next idea is using a standard tac vest. This may limit the amount of medical supplies and additional gear you can carry, but its a quick way to carry extra ammo, and minimal supplies. Depending on the vest you grab, you can buy the versions that keep magazines on one side, and equipment on the other side. These are common, and bring you to the fight with a minimum of four mags for your weapon.

I know that many have the idea that an Active Shooter scenario involves a shooter, or shooters that need to be put down or stopped quickly. I agree with this, and its standard teaching for instructors to harp on the fact that time saves lives. Various stats have been done up to show a shot is fired every "X" amount of seconds, the problem with stats is that they are done by guys who aren't going into harms way, and the stats are nothing more than numbers to them. Eight seconds in between rounds is one common number, but so are higher numbers, and its all a matter of who's info you are reading.

What we also need to take into account is what our military brothers, already know. After the battle, we need to regroup, the scene needs to be secured, and we need to care for the wounded. When was the last time anyone worked a LACE report or equivalent into their LE shooting drills? LEO know that the fire department is going to be the first responder to give aid, but we also know that our large hatted friends aren't going to come into a facility that isn't secure, its against their policy. I'll make a brief announcement and comment that I hold nothing against firefighters, and have envy for anyone who can scam sleeping on duty and working 8 days a month, but we have to remember that this isn't their gig, its ours. While spend hours securing and searching a large school, mall, factory, or other complex, someone needs to do something for the casualties.

My above does seem out of context, but there is a point. You are much more likely to give medical aid, than you are to go through 4 30 round mags, so consider that in your vest searching. Even if you are jaded, hate people, and refuse to consider the idea because you work a cesspool of district where you haven't deal with a "real" victim in 6 months, and work graveyard, what happens when the person who needs medical aid is your partner? Don't like your partner because he ratted you out to IAD? Fine, what about if you take rounds and need to stop your own bleeding ? The point is that there is more to some of these events than simply going in, shooting the bad guy, and having the state sing about you in their state song.

Vests are great, and they can carry a wide variety of equipment. Think about what you might need before you make your purchase. Also consider if you want a vest that allows for modular pouches, or if you want one that is a one piece/ prebuilt unit.


Here is my vest/ LBV.

[Stickman]

The next way of getting into the gear is picking up a plate carrier (PC). The current PCs are often available to hold soft armor as well as plates, though there are obviously versions that will only carry plates.

These tend to be more expensive, especially when you work the cost of armor into things. These allow for total customization, and you can look at any of the guys over in Afghanistan or Iraq to see examples of different configurations. Most Special Teams are using variants of Plate Carriers as well. If you have extra armor panels, plates, or access to plates, these are certainly worth looking into.

I have a few PCs, and only have one with plates. The others are configured with soft armor, and setup however I feel like. Only one goes into harms way with me, and the times that I've needed to throw it on, I've been happy its there. This one is not a department issued item, and I prefer much of my own gear over what I'm issued.

This method gives the greatest protection, and gives you the least maneuverability. Heavy Armor is heavy (oddly enough), and unless you train in it, you are going to find issues when you throw it on and expect to complete a tasking. Real world operations are not the time to suddenly figure out that your sling is too short, or your stock is too long, or that you set up your armor in a manner that you can't shoulder your carbine.

Much like everything else, train ahead of time, and if at all possible, borrow equipment or talk to guys who have used the various gear before you make a purchase.


I've got a few plate carrier images, the black one shows the back of my PC, the other shows my Eagle CIRAS in multicam. I'll see if I can't get some better pictures shot at some point.