During the Tactical Rifle course this past weekend I tried both the Condor plate carrier with rifle/pistol mag pouches, and then the riggers belt with the Czech mag pouch and 2 Blackhawk! double pistol mag holders on either side. There was also a mag dump pouch on the back which I switched I used with both configurations. My Glock17 sidearm was on the right side pant belt in a Desantis leather speed holster, so nothing could be mounted on the right side in either configuration.
This is a report regarding my experience with the gear for anyone who is interested. I did not have the Type 81 chest rig with me to test.
The Condor plate carrier was actually much more conducive to rapid VZ mag changes. The carrier was configured with double AK "kangaroo pouch" on the front (with 2 pistol mag holders) and one AK kangaroo pouch on the left side cumberbun, and 2 more pistol mags on the front for 4 total. One of the front AK pouches did tend to hang up the VZ mags repeatedly, so I quickly learned during multiple drills that it was a "force to overcome". The kangaroo pouches are designed so the Velcro flaps can be tucked down and fastened inside each individual mag holder enabling unobstructed grab access to the magazines. The side mag pouches wobbled in and out to the side a bit while running even though the molle was super tight (I even had two extra Balckhawk! molle speed clips on the pouches for extra retention).
The biggest draw back for the carrier was it was black and pretty hot to operate in under the sun with zero shade, even with the ceramic plates removed from the front and back. We were training in a very sandy, dusty, rocky, quarry and I'm an older overweight guy (A.K.A. an old fat bastard) doing almost the most I can to keep up during these events.
Another issue to learn and quickly overcome was that some of the VZ mags were slippery as hell -- making mag changes difficult due to fumbling with the slippery mag -- tactical gloves in use did not appear to solve this issue. This is prompting me to start experiment with something like pieces of skateboard tape on the mags to improve the grip.
I switched to the riggers belt and Czech mag pouch after the morning break. The rigger belt with the Czech mag pouch allowed for limited access at best. I had no training or muscle memory banked for removing the mags by pulling (or rotating out) to the rear, and it was a constant battle getting the mags out (or in) the pouch because of its left side rearward mag orientation, the flimsy leather dividers between each mag, the tight fir in the pouch, and partly due to the slippery mags. To be clear: the pouch had to be located on the left side, because the right side had to be free and clear to draw my side arm, therefore the "banana" mags were angled out backwards in the pouch, making it very difficult to retrieve during both "empty mag" and "tactical mag" change out drills.
"Tactical mag changes" are when you are taking cover during a lull in a fire fight and using that opportunity to change over to a full 30 round mag while
stowing the removed mag, because that removed mag still has rounds in it. Trying to stow the removed mag back in the Czech pouch in a short order was a complete joke to say the least -- they were either going into my dump pouch or my BDU pants pockets. During "empty mag" drills we were politely instructed (ok, loudly ordered) to let the mags "hit the deck" (thus loading them up with lots of dry dirt and sand).
Nonetheless I muddled through without too much trouble and both configurations served to be adequate with repetition and good experience for thought and future modifications on balance. The experience prompted more than a few thoughts on customizing some Czech pouches to make potentially them more usable.
Just speculating and looking at the type 81 chest rig design, it may have fared pretty well, with pistol mags on the pants belt.
Agreeing 100% with RSR, that you must
train with WHATEVER you go with. It makes no difference if you have, what you believe to be, the "perfect set up", there will be some quirks, some advantages, or that one pouch that hangs up a mag, or whatever -- and God forbid that you have to count on your rig to support you in a real firefight one day -- you had better know your all your equipment as well as you know your rifle and sights.
One final note about the course. (Just between us girls
) Surprise, surprise! There was only one VZ58 (yours truly), one AK, and one FAL, the rest of the ~35 people where operating ARs. Guess whose gun did NOT jam because our mags were filling up with dirt?, or had to be ordered to lubricate during the breaks? One of the super SWAT Instructor's AR jammed all to hell and back with all the dirt and such, requiring him to take 3-4 minutes to clear it (while we watched). So later they ran a drill in teams of 2 deliberately jamming weapons by holding the bolt forward with an empty mag. Two of the instructors (one Cop, and a former operator in Afghanistan) took turns and tried repeatedly to jam my VZ during this "clearing jams from your weapon" drill. Try and try as they might they could not jam up my VZ.
I would just rack the slide, eject the spent casing and fire, while on each side of me were moans and groans from AR operators using fingers and Leatherman multi-tools to dig out multiple jammed 5.56 rounds from their "superior weapons". I did pull a bore snake through the VZ barrel one time after I unintentionally buried the muzzle of my safely cleared weapon 6" into a pebble pile while collapsing to my knees during a bit of heat exhaustion following a run and gun drill. I remained polite to all the AR owners, even after my weapon was referred to as an "AK" numerous times and thus scorned with the one "other" AK in the group. I just chuckled to myself as the VZ ran flawlessly and accurately without any jams in that Martian environment all day long. Gotta love it. Ha!
Taking a 1 or 2 day course like this once in a while -- with Police SWAT and/or Military instructors -- is great. They should drive you to operate your equipment and firearms to full function and you will definitely discover any short comings plus many new things to practice. IMO is the very best way to ferret out and help fix any gear or operator issues.
