The tactical nylon market is overrun with chest rigs and chest-mounted kits. Too often, it’s a game of rinse and repeat with little to no innovation. While all chest rigs can trace their roots to the original ChiCom chest rig, it is FullTang Tactical that has turned the page and written a new chapter that will set the direction of modern chest rigs to come. Let’s analyze this change of the guard by going full steam on FullTang.
The Modern Chest Rig vs The Chest Pack
Chest rigs can be easily defined from light to medium capacity platforms intended for lightweight loadouts used for shorter duration missions. The chest rig is ideal for home/property defense, vehicle operations, and normally 24-hour or less missions. There are examples of some chest rigs being configured for longer missions, and with a supplemental war belt, can easily facilitate missions up to 48 hours.
The problem with chest rigs is their positioning. With all the weight solely focused on the front of the user, the weight is often detrimental to the physical well-being of the user. This becomes more apparent when specific equipment is required, and more space is needed for access to mission-critical items. Shoulder fatigue and strong lower back pain can be a true distraction to attention needed elsewhere, and the discomfort can cause a cascading effect on the operator.
This is where the chest-mounted kit-bag becomes a different story. JT of FullTang Tactical started with a simple chest-mounted pouch, a large pouch by standards. The kit bag is conceptualised as a chest-mounted pouch worn with a shoulder harness that can aid the user in outdoor activities and motorsports. While this in itself is not too radical, it is the modularity and cross-breeding of various types of modularity that FullTang Tactical has undertaken to create what I refer to as Generation 4 tactical gear.
What makes Gen 4 gear unique when compared to other designs? It is a combination of pre-sewn pouches, MOLLE, Velcro, and other modern attachment systems that combine to create a system that can span beyond its own design and envelope other products from the aforementioned design philosophies to create a new level of modularity and adaptability for the worst conditions.
The Basics
What does it mean to start from the basics? This means to start your platform that can be built on, a basis that can be a flexible foundation without compromising its intended use. If the base is too rigid, it makes adaptability impossible; but if the base is too modular, it makes the system slipshod and impossible to effectively integrate as a single product.
FullTang Tactical has embraced the concept of combining different modular systems, but this has not been done at the expense of adaptability; it has been accomplished by carefully placing the various types of modularity at the correct locations to ensure a durable and solid platform. The extensive use of laser-cut nylon laminate for durability and precision is a common choice of top-tier nylon gear manufacturers today. The construction and design of FullTang feel more bespoke than standard production.
The main pouch or kit-bag is the base; from this point, the use of Velcro on panels or pouches can be added in all directions to include inserts. On the sides, the use of Tubes, clips, or other means of attachment can be added for extended mounting. The shoulder straps can be changed out by virtually any market choice due to the same loop mounting found on the sides. Finally, on the front of some of the bags is MOLLE, which allows for the hard mounting of other pouches or accessories. This provides end users with near limitless choices of configurations. For this reason, the FullTang Tactical Kit Bag is unique as a true 4th-generation tactical nylon platform.
Constructing The Rig
We started with the Recon Kit-Bag, which is a multi-chambered system with a flat zip pouch at the front, two large ¾ zip pouches, and a Velcro open kangaroo pouch intended for inserts. It should be noted that FullTang Tactical waterproofs their zippers as a fail-safe, mated with the water repellent laser cut material used in all their products. This makes for a well-protected, durable system intended for highly demanding environments for a lifetime of use.
First and foremost, the system I constructed is intended to feed and support civil defense and exploration. This includes supporting a rifle and pistol, an area the Kit-Bag excels at. With a pre-sewn elastic 3 mag shingle sewn into the back-most pouch, it can accommodate AR15, AK, or AR10 magazines while still allowing for the storage of a full-size pistol. Then add in a Velcro magazine insert panel, and that is 6 magazines right at the start, without any other add-ons.
Next, I needed medical storage, but not a true IFAK, but rather a small bleeder kit for self-use. Then we added a dangler pouch or tactical fupa, as I refer to it. Now we have a significant amount of storage for mission-critical equipment, but there is still a need for radios and even larger items such as a range finder or thermal. The storage of radios was rather easy, as we can run a variety of Velcro radio pouches, and the addition of Tubes or Fastex is an option as well. The side straps were added, but we chose to make this system a stand-alone platform. The final step was the addition of the Piggy Back; the Piggy Back is a small flat pack meant as auxiliary storage and water supplementation. While a rucksack can be worn with this, it does facilitate the need for food, water, and other requirements to turn this into a sort of full-spectrum system.
Run’n and Gun’n
The Kit-Bag assembled, it was time to put it to use. Next was outfitting the system with real-world equipment and putting the kit through its paces. The layout and items are specific to me, and your requirements or perceived necessities may vary from my own. That said, I do not normally like to dwell on what goes into my kit, rather the intended uses, but given the high level of modularity, I will explain the needs and pouches that accompany my requirements.
The first thing is the Kit Bag itself. I used the Recon Kit Bag, which does offer mounting on the front; given how thick it becomes, I would not recommend any larger pouches on the front or anything at all with the amount of internal storage available. The ability to run an insert behind the Kit Bag and subsequently run 3 more magazines internally inside the main compartment of the Kit Bag already puts us at 6 magazines, the infantry standard.
Next, running a dangler below the Kit Bag allows for extra storage and behind the Kit Bag, I run a pull-through bleeder kit, which keeps the important stuff ready and available. I have attached FullTang’s extension wings on both sides in order to run more administrative pouches. With these, I can also run inserts on the back side of the pouches for other access to immediate items. Then I run radio/magazine wings on both sides for radios and other spare magazines or smokes. This layout provides a lot of flexibility, and I can quickly reduce the layout in seconds due to the redundant Velcro attachment.
The last few points I have chosen are specific and localised. I run FullTang’s bib for PTTs or other small devices I would like to have chest-mounted, but do not want to block magazine extraction during contact. I also run FullTang’s PiggyBack flat-pack, which provides ample water storage and creates a back panel, turning this chest rig into something more akin to a vest. Finally, I added their shoulder padding to the shoulder straps; the padding I have is their old padding system, and it did not help enough to distribute a combat loadout efficiently. The good news here is FullTang has already addressed this issue and has created a more load bearing efficient system to distribute weight evenly and comfortably, making the system I have obsolete.
The kit has been run extensively. The design is very comfortable despite the heavy load, and it was only after several hours of continuous movement that I finally felt discomfort due to a needed upgrade of padding and weight dispersion. The Kit Bag made running a first-line belt system easy and accessible, and if the need for a heavy ruck sack is needed, the pack can be removed and the rig run without. This leaves the PiggyBack as an assault pack as needed. Either way, the system makes the setup easy to move in and easy to access.
Like with any chest rig, the weight being almost exclusively in the front can take time to get your body used to; this was also seen with other heavy loadout chest rigs like the early GWOT Highspeed Gear Denali and similar chest rigs. The difference here is that the system can be rapidly altered. If the end user wants to maintain a lighter, slimmer approach during an insertion or extraction, the system can be scaled up or down in seconds, allowing for the individual to adjust when in the ORP or patrol base/RON.
Integrating with weapon systems is made easy by the low profile of the shoulder straps; even the new padding doesn’t detract from acquiring a proper fit of shoulder to stock. The design, given its adaptability, doesn’t interfere with wearing various types of clothing. The Kit Bags also come in a variety of color swaths and styles of various sizes and designs, so the system is not just relegated to tactical use. The Kit Bag is ideal for many outdoor uses and would excel in motorised operations on quads and dirt bikes or even horseback.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the FullTang Tactical Kit Bag is a break from the norms seen in the tactical nylon industry. This system bridges multiple types of attachment and adaptability that most of the industry has not yet built its products for. While chest-mounted systems have their limitations, FullTang has seen the ability of their Chest Bag to be a scalable system with future options that will take it far from just a chest rig system. There have been some significant updates already displayed on their social media worth exploring. In the end, the user has to decide what type of system best suits their needs based on their intended use.
FullTang has created a truly unique system that is at home hiking and fishing as it is on the objective or providing overwatch. The quality and attention to detail are second to none and I would say other companies are watching what FullTang is bringing to market. There are other chest pouch systems, but none offer the adaptability FullTang has brought to market. I am speaking highly of this system because, based on my extensive 30-year background, FullTang truly earned my trust in this system. This system will serve you well in a variety of ways, and I can say I truly recommend this system. The FullTang Tactical Kit Bag is the full monty.
