Ammo Load Bearing Gear

2nd Line Gear Philosophy:

Your 2nd Line Gear, also referred to as “defensive gear”, “battle gear”, “battle bag”, or “load bearing equipment (LBE)”, includes all of the supporting gear necessary to fight your way out of one engagement, and the bag or chest rig to transport it all.

Your kit needs to include 2 to 5 pistol magazines (in addition to the one(s) carried with your 1st Line Gear / EDC, and enough quality ammo (“war-shots”) to fill the magazines. If you choose to include a rifle you will want to include 3 to 7 rifle magazines and ammunition. You do not need to carry 10 to 14 rifle magazines like a soldier on a long-range patrol in Afghanistan. You are only trying to prepare for a single engagement, and you are trying to keep your load simple, light weight, maneuverable, and easily concealable.

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What To Carry:

In your 2nd Line Gear you will want to include:

Magazines and ammunition to feed your primary and secondary weapon
A way to light up the darkness
A way to stop major bleeding
A way to navigate
A way to make fire
Tools to make simple repairs

Added value items include:

A way to maintain your weapons
A way to communicate with other team members
A way to maintain minimum hydration and caloric intake for 24 hours.

It sounds like a lot, but you can easily assemble a very compact kit that will satisfy all of these needs. A list of suggested items can be found below in the Defensive Loadout Checklist and in the Defensive Loadout section of Savannah Arsenal’s Checklist Page.

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Defensive Loadout Checklist:

This is a list of items that you need to keep with your primary defensive firearm. The items are the absolute basics that you will need to keep your weapon(s) running, and to survive for a short period of time should it become necessary to “shoot & scoot”. Store in a non-discipt gym bag or similar carrier.

Minimal:

Some type of magazine carrying chest-rig or go-bag
Rifle & pistol magazines (3 to 7)
Rifle & pistol ammunition (enough to fill your magazines)
GPS (as discussed in Savannah Arsenal’s Navigation page)
Compass (as discussed in Savannah Arsenal’s Navigation page)
Knife
Multi-tool
Lighter
LED flashlight(s) in addition to the one carried with your 1st Line Gear and mounted on your weapon(s)
Medium size trauma kit or “blowout kit” to stop serious bleeding (as discussed in Savannah Arsenal’s First-Aid Kits and Blowout Kits page)
Booboo kit (as discussed in Savannah Arsenal’s First-Aid Kits and Blowout Kits page)
550 cord
small roll of duct tape
Extra batteries for each flashlight, weapons mounted light, weapons optic, and radio in your kit
Maps
Cash

Added Value:

Hydration system and water
Snacks
Chem-lights
Electrical tape
Pair of Motorola GMRS two-way radios preset to the channels agreed upon by your group (as discussed in Savannah Arsenal’s Communications page)
Mini weapons cleaning kit (as discussed in Savannah Arsenal’s weapons Maintenance Page)
Broken down MRE or Power Bars (as discussed in Savannah Arsenal’s MRE page)
Protective gloves
Protective eyewear
Ear protection

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War Belt:

AR15.com’s War Belt Photo Thread

As always, stay away from the cheap, Chinese manufactured knockoffs that are intended for paintball. They may look quality, but they will fall apart under stress and abuse. You get what you pay for.

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Battle Bag (Man Purse, Murse, Bitch Bag, Active Shooter Response Bag):

All of your 2nd Line Gear items need to be carried in some type of weapons gear carry bag. It needs to be quick and easy to don in an emergency. Weapon magazines need to be easily accessible from your carry system. Your setup should easily disappear under a light jacket.

There are a number of options for carrying all of your “go-gear”. The simplest is to simple carrying all of your gear in a cheap gym bag or duffel bag. This isn’t going to be the most organized method of carry. It will be almost impossible to quickly locate and remove a weapon magazine, flashlight, or medical when you need it fast.

Another option might be to use one of the many quality packs or bags from Maxpedition. Their Versapacks have multiple pockets for rifle and pistol magazines, flashlights, medical kits, water bottles, etc.

Right is the US Peacekeeper Rapid Deployment Pack. It is perfect for your “go-bag“. It carries 4 AR-15 mags, two pistol mags, and has several pockets. It’s very easy to throw it over your shoulder and go. It is not as bulky as most of the Maxpedition bags, and as a result you may want to plan on only carrying your extra magazines, supplemental flashlight, and blowout kit in the US Peacekeeper bag, and carry the additional items in your pockets or bug-out bag.

As always, stay away from the cheap, Chinese manufactured knockoffs that are intended for paintball. They may look quality, but they will fall apart under stress and abuse. You get what you pay for.

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Chest Rig:

Ballistic Plate Carrier With Ammunition Pouches

Rather than carry your magazines in a “man purse”, you may choose to carry them in some type of chest rig. Pictured right is a Chinese style chest pouch for AK-47 magazines. These style chest pouches were worn by North Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War, and are still seen used by the Taliban forces in Afghanistan. They are designed to hold six AK-47 magazines and two hand grenades. The grenade pouches don’t hold anything else very securely. These type load-bearing systems are plentiful and cheap, but their quality is second-rate at best, and the wooden dowel and loop closures for the pouches leaves much to be desired. Still, these style pouches served the North Vietnamese soldiers against the capitalist invaders in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

Right is a simple chest pouch load-bearing system for AR-15 / M-16 style magazines designed by Blackhawk Industries. This minimalist design holds eight AR-15 magazines, and two pistol magazines. The pouch flaps are secured closed with velcro. They are well made and are backed up by Blackhawk’s guarantee. I have several of these and they work great. They retail for around $70.

Quality Manufacturers:

As always, stay away from the cheap, Chinese manufactured knockoffs that are intended for paintball. They may look quality, but they will fall apart under stress and abuse. You get what you pay for.

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Vest:

Pictured right is a tactical assault vest originally manufactured by Blackhawk Industries. Although these exact style vests have been discontinued by Blackhawk, there is a very similar vest manufactured by Eagle Industries. While its six AR-15 mag pouches were designed to carry a total of twelve magazines, I found that the pouches make great holsters for a full-size handgun such as the Glock-17, and will also hold three 33-round Glock 9mm perfectly, as pictured. Setup in this fashion you can carry 270 rounds of 5.56mm AR-15 ammunition and 166 rounds of 9mm ammunition (including what is in the firearms). There are two other gear pouches on the front, molle webbing attachments on the back, and internal pockets that are perfect to carry most of the items listed on the Defensive Loadout Checklist below. It’s quick and easy to zip on everything you need to shoot & scoot.

Addendum: While taking Tactical Response’s Fighting Rifle course I wore the Blackhawk vest pictured right. With this type of tactical vest I found it hard to use a belt holster. Drawing a pistol from the belt holster isn’t the problem, but reholstering the pistol without looking down at the holster (and away from any other potential threat) is problematic. I have heard of stray draw-strings on these type vests getting caught in trigger guards and pulling the trigger as the pistol is reholstered into a belt holster. Make sure that any loose draw-strings are cut off or secured with tape. I think that a thigh rig would work better with this type of vest. Also worth noting, while carrying the pistol in the magazine pouch (as seen right) may work great in theory, I found that it is problematic to draw and reholster with a slung rifle.

As always, stay away from the cheap, Chinese manufactured knockoffs that are intended for paintball. They may look quality, but they will fall apart under stress and abuse. You get what you pay for.

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Armor Plate Carriers:

Body Armor Ballistic Plate Carrier With Ammunition Pouches

As always, stay away from the cheap, Chinese manufactured knockoffs that are intended for paintball. They may look quality, but they will fall apart under stress and abuse. You get what you pay for.

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Long Term Storage and Transportation:

You may choose to keep your magazines unloaded during good times. Keep your ammunition stored in Zip-Loc bags to maintain its reliability. Load your magazines and keep your tactical load-bearing system and long-arm ready and accessible during bad times.

Store and transport your Go-Bag (or vest), 2 or 3 bottles of water, and minimal food items (broken down MREs, Power Bars, etc.) in a nondescript and non-tactical type of duffel bag or backpack that will not attract attention or suspension. A blue or green sports bag with a big Nike “swish” or bold Adidas logo will go a long way to limit any suspicions as to the contents of the bag. Your non-loaded magazines and Zip-Loc bagged ammunition can be stored loose in the bag until ready to load into the tactical load-bearing system.

Look into purchasing a nylon guitar case to discretely transport your long-gun. Sew on a couple of hippie peace symbols. No one will suspect that you are carrying a M-4 or AK-47 rifle. Remember: “Be the grey man.”