Chest Rig/Vest Holster BackPack Molle System

Get the load off your hips and onto your chest.

Everything ends up on your belt. Radio, torch, multi-tool, a pouch for the bits you keep losing. Then you sit down in the ute, or swing a leg over the quad, and the whole lot digs into your hips and grinds against the seat.

So you take it off and drop it behind the seat. And the next time you actually want the torch, that is exactly where it still is. The gear did not fail. It just was not on you.

A chest rig fixes that by moving the load up. The weight hangs off your shoulders and sits across your chest, clear of the seat and clear of your belt, where you can see every pouch instead of patting yourself down for it. The back is just webbing and a narrow panel, so a pack strap sits over the top of it rather than fighting it.

Be clear on what this is, though: it is a load carrier. It carries kit. It is not armour and it is not built to protect you from anything — there is more on that under Limits.

What It Does

• Takes the load off your belt: your shoulders and chest carry it, so your hips and your kidneys get a break when you are seated.
• Keeps three pouches in sight: a zipped admin pouch, a small zipped utility pouch and a double open-top pouch all sit on the front where you can look down and find them.
• Goes on over layers: both shoulders and the waist strap adjust on webbing, so it fits over a jumper or a wet weather jacket and comes back in over a t-shirt.
• Comes off in seconds: side-release buckles at both shoulders and at the waist, so you are not wrestling out of it in the dark.
• Takes your own gear: PALS webbing rows run along both shoulder straps and across the front belt for whatever else you want to hang off it.
• Carries your ID: hook-and-loop panels on the front pouches and across the back yoke for a name tape or a patch.

Key Features

• H-type harness: two shoulder straps joined across the back by a webbing yoke, with an adjustable waist strap running around behind you.
• Three front pouches: a larger zipped admin pouch on one side, a smaller zipped utility pouch on the other, and a twin open-top pouch in the centre with elastic retention tabs.
• Admin pouch interior: a clear window panel and sewn elastic keepers inside, so paperwork, cards and small tools stay flat instead of rolling around loose.
• Drop pouch options: the five "& Pouch" choices add a large zipped pouch that hangs below the front placard on a hook-and-loop flap.
• Four cinch straps: the supplier's own artwork shows four colour-matched hook-and-loop cinch straps supplied with the rig for tidying loose webbing tails.
• Elastic zip pulls: cord pulls on the zips rather than bare metal tabs, so you can work them with gloves on.
• Nylon throughout: nylon fabric, nylon webbing and moulded side-release buckles.
• Five colourways: black, multicam, olive drab, tan and multicam black — listed in the dropdown as BK, MC, OD, Tan and CPBK.

Limits

It is not armour, and it is not close. This is a load-carrying harness. It has no plates, no plate pockets, no ballistic panel, and no stab, slash or cut resistance. No protection rating of any kind is printed on it, claimed for it, or supplied with it — not NIJ, not any Australian or European standard. It will not stop a projectile, a blade or anything else. If you need protection, this is the wrong product and no amount of camouflage on it changes that.

The front pouches do not come off. They are sewn onto the front placard, not hung on MOLLE, so you cannot rearrange them or swap them out. One buyer said exactly that in their review and they were right. The PALS webbing on the shoulder straps and the front belt is where you add your own gear — the three pouches themselves are part of the rig.

There is no holster on it. The word appears in the product title, which we did not write. Nothing in the supplier's photographs is a holster, and none is supplied.

It is not a backpack either. The back of the rig is webbing straps and a narrow yoke. There is no back compartment and nothing to load behind you.

No published measurements. One size, adjustable on webbing at both shoulders and the waist. The supplier states no chest range, no pouch dimensions and no weight, so we cannot tell you where it stops adjusting. If you are at either end of the size range, that is the honest answer rather than a number we made up.

No water rating. Nylon will shrug off a light shower, but nothing here is sealed, taped or rated, and the zips are plain. In real rain, treat everything inside the pouches as unprotected.

No hydration bladder is included. The supplier photographs one carried against the back of the harness, but there is no dedicated bladder sleeve, no bladder comes with the rig, and no compatible size is stated.

Q & A

Is this body armour, or will it take armour plates?

Neither. It is a chest rig — a harness for carrying gear on your front. There are no plate pockets, no ballistic material and no protection rating. It is sold and priced as load carriage and that is all it does.

What is the difference between the plain colours and the "& Pouch" options?

The plain options — BK, MC, OD, Tan and CPBK — are the harness, the front belt and the three sewn-on front pouches. The five "& Pouch" options are that same rig plus a large zipped drop pouch that attaches underneath the placard and hangs over your stomach. Everything else is identical, and the pouch is colour-matched to the rig.

What do BK, MC, OD, Tan and CPBK actually mean?

BK is plain black. MC is multicam, the tan and green pattern. OD is olive drab, a flat green. Tan is a solid coyote brown. CPBK is multicam black — the same disruptive pattern as MC but in blacks and greys. The photographs show all five.

Can I move the pouches around or take them off?

No. The three front pouches are stitched to the placard. What you can change is what you add: there are PALS webbing rows on both shoulder straps and along the front belt, so extra pouches, a radio holder or a torch mount can go on there.

Will it fit over a jacket, and will it fit a bigger bloke?

It is one size with webbing adjustment at both shoulders and around the waist, and the photographs show it worn over a shirt. The supplier publishes no chest measurements or adjustment range, so we cannot promise a fit at the extremes. We would rather say that than invent a number.

How long does delivery take to Australia and New Zealand?

Allow 10 to 14 days from the day you place the order, and up to three weeks to regional and remote addresses. Delivery is free to both Australia and New Zealand.

Specs