I’ve used various chest rigs over the years and never quite found the right one. The recent trend has been toward micro-rigs, which usually holds 2 rifle magazines, 2 small pouches for pistol mags, flashlight or utility tool and often a utility pouch or a med kit. Still, none of the commercial off the shelf chest rigs seemed to fit my needs so I started doing research on finding someone who could make a custom micro-rig for me.
At about the same time a friend gave me an unused kevlar groin protector, the same type that gets issued to our military folks overseas but not always used. I decided I would try to incorporate the soft armor panel in to the micro-rig.
Original concept of micro-rig
My needs were simple, 2 single AR mag pouches, a med pouch, a tourniquet holder, flashlight pouch, utility pouch and a slot for EMT shears. All of this sewn on to an armor carrier.
I found Zulu Nylon Gear on the web after doing a bit of searching. It was a small shop that was still willing to do custom projects even though they were trying to expand in to higher volume sales.
I emailed Joel Z. and described what I was looking to have made. He was interested and eventually I would send him the armor panel and some of the contents I was planning to stock the med kit with. He made a few suggestions and together we were able to come up with a pretty decent carrier for not a lot of money. The armor carrier is only rated to stop handgun rounds but as a civilian it would be unlikely that I would really need anything more. It also provides an extra layer of protection while on the range.
Zulu Tactical Nylon- custom armor micro-rig
Custom rig with flaps open- Joel suggested the chemlight holders sewn in to inside flap of med pouch
X harness was chosen to simplify things, mesh pocket sewn in for admin stuff
I’ve worn it a few times in training classes and it is comfortable and fits well. There are a few things I would change though and will update once I get them modified.
Zulu micro-rig worn
Website can be found at: Zulu Nylon Gear
