A few years ago I was looking for a some sort of cool-guy load bearing stuff. Just enough to handle a few mags and medical pouch. I poked around and ended up getting a TT Minimav. I've reconfigured it a few times but always ended up going back to the same configuration. Lets get some pictures up in here first so no one gets bored:
So there it is. 6x3 rows of molle with a 1x2 row on either side. Straps are 1.5" with one fastex buckle for each strap. Initially I intended to run 2 AR mags, and a medical pouch. The medical pouch ends up being twice as deep as the mag pouches - so if I'm already giving up the depth on the right side, I might as well go whole hog and throw an extra two mags in the left side, best laid plans and all that. I went from two Tactical Tailor single mag shingles, to an OSOE AR 4 mag shingle. The four mag shingle is pretty well thought it, sports velcro and snap closures and does away with the huge front face flaps you see with most carriers. This particular mag pouch has interior velcro backing - so you can adjust the lids to accommodate for mags with ranger plates or mag pulls. Anytime I try to migrate to a two mag setup - I end up back at the four mag setup before too long.
Lets talk about the IFAK pouch too - because I do love it:
I don't care for tear-off panels or internal organizers -I ever need it I expect to be one handed and/or shaking life a leaf. With that in mind I'll just dump the contents out instead of hunting through a meticulously organized pouch. This pouch covers a 3x3 section of molle and the flap secures with fastex and/or velcro. The Specops pouch has a hook and loop flap that can be used to secure the contents (as seen in the picture above) or to keep the pouch from re-securing if it comes closed:
The mini-mav is just the right size for me. Small enough that it's not a hassle to get on or off and doesn't get in the way. I've worn it all day through two patrol shoots - it's comfortable. I was satisfied with the minimav. Yesterday, I laid hands on an OSOE microrig over at Sawtac. It's like the "finished" version of my mini-mav:
Each strap sports two fastex buckles that are roughly twice the size of the Minimav's buckles:
Normally I don't like the large front flaps - but I suspect they're necessary because rig will accommodate both AR and AK mags:
There's also an admin pouch:
The micro-rigs also come in a pals version if you want to retain the modularity. There's also a really snazzy shotgun variant. I'm sure Technique will show up here and enlighten us with all the details involved in how the stitching, materials and craftsmanship of the OSOE stuff is head and shoulders above anything else. With summertime upon us, I'm sure I'll have a few opportunities to use the rig report back.
