PhilB
Sr. Member
- Reaction score
- 59
- Points
- 330
This is reposted from a review I did on a couple other forums, hopefully it helps someone out here.
Hey guys some background before I begin. As some of you may or may not know I will be deploying for my second tour to Afghanistan in the near future. I will be deploying in a Mechanized infantry role, however the possibility of a fair bit of dismounted work exists. On my last tour I used a TT MAV with an assortment of TT and HSGI pouches. I liked and disliked it, but eventually sold it on my return home. From that point on the hunt was on for a new rig. I originally went with a modified trimmed bush boar with kydex inserts from Esstac. Don't get me wrong, the Esstac rig was great, well built, comfortable etc. My issue was that it did not have enough capacity to carry all of the ammo, and other stuff I need to carry. Additionally, being somewhat short (5'9ish) and liking my rigs to ride higher rather than lower, I found that I could not mount radios, 203 bombs etc above the kydex secured internal pouches without hampering my ability to draw those mags. I have since passed the rig off to one of our crew commanders to use if he needs to dismount. To replace the rig I decided to go with the SOE MWR.
A caveat before I get into the bulk of this review, I just got the rig and as such have not had a chance to come close to putting it through its paces. The review to follow is simply my initial thoughts on comfort, build quality, ergonomics, etc. So take it all with a grain of salt.
I decided to go with the MWR because it has a huge capacity to carry ammo. My load out is generally as fol;
10x 30rnd Mags
2x Frags
2x Smoke
12x M203 Bombs
1x PVS 14 with rhino mount
1x IFAK complete with standard stuff
1x Surefire M1
1x Pelican M6
Misc Maps, aid memoirs, glow sticks, GPS, etc.
Not anything ridiculous but enough to overload the Esstac rig I had. In addition to its ability to carry ammo I wanted to go with the MWR because John makes a shortened harness for those of us whom are vertically challenged. I find most rigs cannot be adjusted to sit high enough for my liking. So with all of that in mind I went ahead and ordered the MWR. I had the rig setup so that the right side (as worn) utility pouch was in an IFAK configuration, and without any mag pouches, with PALS in their place. Although I had heard a lot of good things about the SOE mag pouches I have fallen in love with the Toaster mag pouches by Esstac.
Right out of the box I was extremely impressed with the rig. The quality of construction is everything that I have read about SOE gear and more, simply bomb proof. Although the construction is there, I was surprised and impressed by how light the rig feels empty. Significantly lighter than both my Esstac rig and MAV, perhaps its the fixed pouch design? Who knows.
Here it is
As requested the harness is noticeably shorter than any other rig I have had. It fits like a glove and actually allow me to have the rig riding where I want it.
The harness
One of the unique features to the harness is a hook loop portion to assist in routing comms and hydration tubes. A simple but ingenious, and thoughtful feature.
For those that don't know the internals of the MWR are designed to hold note books, flashlights, chem lights, and extra mags. Basically all of the extra crap that I had no room for in my previous rig.
Internals
The IFAK pouch is another portion of the vest which impressed me. In looking at pictures of the rig online I thought that the converted IFAK pouch simply had mesh pouches on the inside. This is what I was expecting. When the rig showed up I realized that the pouch had elastic loops inside each mesh pouch to organize the contents. Not a unique or new feature, but a surprise to me when I got it!
IFAK
In the time I spent waiting for the rig I started to become a bit concerned the the rig would be to "tall". With the frag and smoke pouches mounted underneath the rifle mag pouches the rig is fairly high. On trying it on with my armor and other kit my fears were baseless. The rig fits perfectly, and I still have room to adjust it up or down.
Rig Worn
Overall I am extremely, extremely impressed with this rig. My only concern with it at first glance is the internals. For some reason, there may be a perfectly good reason for this I just cant see it, the female side release buckles that attach to the harness are mounted on top of the zippered access to the internals of the rig. This means that when the rig is worn its is very difficult to open the zipper and access the internals. I think what I may do is take it to a MAT tech and have him move the buckles to the other side of the zipper. If I am missing something someone please let me know!
Here is what I mean
Next up is the sub load. I was mentioning on the boards that I needed a dropped dump pouch to carry my M203 bombs. John included this pouch out of the goodness of his heart with my MWR. So far, like the rig, I am quite impressed. The pouch is bombproof in construction like the rig itself. It has a hook loop secured lid with an elastic opening at the top. The opening is more than large enough to shove my hand in and grab out a bomb. The sides each have a pistol mag pouch and under the lid there is slots for chem lights. It comes with a leg strap to facilitate it being worn as a sub load, however my plan is to just wear it dropped off the belt. I HATE shit wrapped around my legs. The pouch itself is fairly rigid and keeps its shape well, even while empty. My only concern with the pouch is that it only has one attachment point for hooking onto a belt. Although it may prove to be a non issue I can see it swinging around a fair bit loaded with bombs, particularly when moving quickly.
Pouch
Attached to war belt
Elastic Opening
Chem Light Slots
Interior
Finally the war belt. KevinB recently lent me the belt to try out for the tour. I was in search of a padded belt to help make carrying my 203 rounds more comfortable. What I was concerned about was that my armor sits basically right on my hips. Thus any sort of thick belt would push the armor up and make it quite uncomfortable. Kevin just did a great review on the war belt so I wont get into it that much. What I will focus on is the fit with Canadian issue armor. It is quite good. The belt is low enough profile that it slides underneath the armor with no issues. As predicted, however, the armor sits so low that the first 2 or 3 rows of PALS are covered. This is not a huge issue for me as I don't really have any plans to mount pouches to the belt at this point. The only issue I have so far in the limited use I have with the belt is that due to the lack of contour in the belt, when sitting down it pushes out at the back and becomes noticeable under the armor. This is not an issue really and is in no way uncomfortable, just noticeable.
Belt with armor
Side view
Without armor so you can get a sense of wear I am wearing the belt. Basically right on my hips
Thats about it for now, obviously I will update this review when I have had a chance to really use this kit. All in all quite impressed with this kit and SOE in general. Kudos to John Willis and crew.
Hey guys some background before I begin. As some of you may or may not know I will be deploying for my second tour to Afghanistan in the near future. I will be deploying in a Mechanized infantry role, however the possibility of a fair bit of dismounted work exists. On my last tour I used a TT MAV with an assortment of TT and HSGI pouches. I liked and disliked it, but eventually sold it on my return home. From that point on the hunt was on for a new rig. I originally went with a modified trimmed bush boar with kydex inserts from Esstac. Don't get me wrong, the Esstac rig was great, well built, comfortable etc. My issue was that it did not have enough capacity to carry all of the ammo, and other stuff I need to carry. Additionally, being somewhat short (5'9ish) and liking my rigs to ride higher rather than lower, I found that I could not mount radios, 203 bombs etc above the kydex secured internal pouches without hampering my ability to draw those mags. I have since passed the rig off to one of our crew commanders to use if he needs to dismount. To replace the rig I decided to go with the SOE MWR.
A caveat before I get into the bulk of this review, I just got the rig and as such have not had a chance to come close to putting it through its paces. The review to follow is simply my initial thoughts on comfort, build quality, ergonomics, etc. So take it all with a grain of salt.
I decided to go with the MWR because it has a huge capacity to carry ammo. My load out is generally as fol;
10x 30rnd Mags
2x Frags
2x Smoke
12x M203 Bombs
1x PVS 14 with rhino mount
1x IFAK complete with standard stuff
1x Surefire M1
1x Pelican M6
Misc Maps, aid memoirs, glow sticks, GPS, etc.
Not anything ridiculous but enough to overload the Esstac rig I had. In addition to its ability to carry ammo I wanted to go with the MWR because John makes a shortened harness for those of us whom are vertically challenged. I find most rigs cannot be adjusted to sit high enough for my liking. So with all of that in mind I went ahead and ordered the MWR. I had the rig setup so that the right side (as worn) utility pouch was in an IFAK configuration, and without any mag pouches, with PALS in their place. Although I had heard a lot of good things about the SOE mag pouches I have fallen in love with the Toaster mag pouches by Esstac.
Right out of the box I was extremely impressed with the rig. The quality of construction is everything that I have read about SOE gear and more, simply bomb proof. Although the construction is there, I was surprised and impressed by how light the rig feels empty. Significantly lighter than both my Esstac rig and MAV, perhaps its the fixed pouch design? Who knows.
Here it is
As requested the harness is noticeably shorter than any other rig I have had. It fits like a glove and actually allow me to have the rig riding where I want it.
The harness
One of the unique features to the harness is a hook loop portion to assist in routing comms and hydration tubes. A simple but ingenious, and thoughtful feature.
For those that don't know the internals of the MWR are designed to hold note books, flashlights, chem lights, and extra mags. Basically all of the extra crap that I had no room for in my previous rig.
Internals
The IFAK pouch is another portion of the vest which impressed me. In looking at pictures of the rig online I thought that the converted IFAK pouch simply had mesh pouches on the inside. This is what I was expecting. When the rig showed up I realized that the pouch had elastic loops inside each mesh pouch to organize the contents. Not a unique or new feature, but a surprise to me when I got it!
IFAK
In the time I spent waiting for the rig I started to become a bit concerned the the rig would be to "tall". With the frag and smoke pouches mounted underneath the rifle mag pouches the rig is fairly high. On trying it on with my armor and other kit my fears were baseless. The rig fits perfectly, and I still have room to adjust it up or down.
Rig Worn
Overall I am extremely, extremely impressed with this rig. My only concern with it at first glance is the internals. For some reason, there may be a perfectly good reason for this I just cant see it, the female side release buckles that attach to the harness are mounted on top of the zippered access to the internals of the rig. This means that when the rig is worn its is very difficult to open the zipper and access the internals. I think what I may do is take it to a MAT tech and have him move the buckles to the other side of the zipper. If I am missing something someone please let me know!
Here is what I mean
Next up is the sub load. I was mentioning on the boards that I needed a dropped dump pouch to carry my M203 bombs. John included this pouch out of the goodness of his heart with my MWR. So far, like the rig, I am quite impressed. The pouch is bombproof in construction like the rig itself. It has a hook loop secured lid with an elastic opening at the top. The opening is more than large enough to shove my hand in and grab out a bomb. The sides each have a pistol mag pouch and under the lid there is slots for chem lights. It comes with a leg strap to facilitate it being worn as a sub load, however my plan is to just wear it dropped off the belt. I HATE shit wrapped around my legs. The pouch itself is fairly rigid and keeps its shape well, even while empty. My only concern with the pouch is that it only has one attachment point for hooking onto a belt. Although it may prove to be a non issue I can see it swinging around a fair bit loaded with bombs, particularly when moving quickly.
Pouch
Attached to war belt
Elastic Opening
Chem Light Slots
Interior
Finally the war belt. KevinB recently lent me the belt to try out for the tour. I was in search of a padded belt to help make carrying my 203 rounds more comfortable. What I was concerned about was that my armor sits basically right on my hips. Thus any sort of thick belt would push the armor up and make it quite uncomfortable. Kevin just did a great review on the war belt so I wont get into it that much. What I will focus on is the fit with Canadian issue armor. It is quite good. The belt is low enough profile that it slides underneath the armor with no issues. As predicted, however, the armor sits so low that the first 2 or 3 rows of PALS are covered. This is not a huge issue for me as I don't really have any plans to mount pouches to the belt at this point. The only issue I have so far in the limited use I have with the belt is that due to the lack of contour in the belt, when sitting down it pushes out at the back and becomes noticeable under the armor. This is not an issue really and is in no way uncomfortable, just noticeable.
Belt with armor
Side view
Without armor so you can get a sense of wear I am wearing the belt. Basically right on my hips
Thats about it for now, obviously I will update this review when I have had a chance to really use this kit. All in all quite impressed with this kit and SOE in general. Kudos to John Willis and crew.
