Minimizing and reducing weight are the key when designing modern equipment and webbing for the army and uniformed services. It is not surprising, the amount of equipment worn on today's battlefield or during police interventions has increased dramatically - this can be seen in the graphic below.
For several years we have been also observing the tendency to maximally minimize equipment bulk, including the very popular chest rigs. The very fist company to do it was Travis Haley and with its D3CR model and subsequent ones developed from it.
Haley Strategic managed to "stuff" a considerable amount of equipment and ammunition into a small platform.
Another pieces of equipment that have to be on this list are the Crye Precision's AirLite Convertible Chest Rig
and the Spiritus Systems Micro Fight Chest Rig, a "fashion trend" of recent months.
Gadsden Dynamics joins the above mentioned manufacturers with its Minimalist Assault Chestrig.
At first glance the design of the pouches resembles products of Blue Force Gear from the Ten-Speed series - i.e. simple wide-rubber band pouches, with low weight and profile, that provide quick access to magazines. A similar, although differing with details, patent was used in the new Gadsden product. The chest rig has low-profile, flexible pouches for 4 STANAG magazines with further four pouches for double stack pistol magazines sewn on top. From the inside, like the Spiritus or Haley Strategic models, Gadsden's chest rig is equipped with a velcro panel that allows mounting it to most modern plate carriers with an exchangeable front panel.
Chest rig's straps can be disassembled. The loops, fastex buckles and the already mentioned velcro panel provide a solid platform for carrying ammunition and necessary equipment. What distinguishes the Gadsden Dynamics product is its small price, only 104.00 USD, for which we get a complete chest rig, with straps and buckles for mounting on a plate carrier. In the Spiritus Systems product, which basic version costs around 77 USD one get only the basis for further expansion (the so-called chassis).
Gadsden Dynamics Minimalist Assault Chestrig is available in MultiCam, Coyote Brown, Wolf Gray, Ranger Green and black.
Sources: soldiersystems.net, gadsdendynamics.com, skdtac.com, spiritussystems.com, haleystrategic.com, cryeprecision.com, tacticalassaultgames.wordpress.com
