By: Fifty Shades of FDE
HRT Tactical knocked it out of the park with their RAC Plate Carrier, which I reviewed thoroughly last year. The RAC is still my go-to and preferred plate carrier. So when the guys from HRT Tactical reached out to me about their upcoming chest rig, I was excited to see what they come up with. I got an advanced kit and have had time to test it out for myself.
The Modulus Chest Rig is true to it’s namesake by being very modular in design, just like the RAC Plate Carrier. It makes it very easy to switch out pouches to fit whatever your current needs.
Let’s get into the use of chest rigs. They do have a purpose for certain situations and like any other piece of kit, there are advantages and disadvantages to each. Knowing the capabilities of your equipment is the key. This is from my own experience and usage of gear for over a decade of use in training and at work. Granted, I am not a military veteran or was ever on a tactical team; I’m just a regular Law Enforcement Officer that trains as much as possible and have had the opportunity to use and review quite a lot of plate carriers and chest rigs.
So why would one run a chest rig over a plate carrier with rifle plates? Everything is mission dependent with many factors in play. With a chest rig, your advantages are weight savings, lower profile (depending on the carrier), ability to carry extra magazines and essential equipment. With a chest rig, you have a higher mobility and agility over a plate carrier, however you must know the disadvantages. The obvious one is the lack of ballistic protection from the rifle plates that are in a plate carrier as well as less surface area for more equipment, this can be either an advantage or disadvantage. Like I mentioned before, it’s all mission dependent and personal preference.
The chest rig is perfect for the training environment and I find it to fit in the same category of bump helmets, they both lack ballistic protection but are much lighter. In a training environment, you’re not worried about incoming fire, outside of ricochets or NDs. In the field, they can be used in place of plate carriers if you need a lower profile to blend in or something quick to throw on to have more firepower on your person or are in an environment such as in higher altitude where weight savings is a bit more important than ballistic protection. There will always be a balance between mobility versus protection so each individual has to weigh in and make a determination on which piece of kit to use. If one is more mobile and faster, they are a harder target to hit, you get the picture. These are just examples from my own experiences being in kit.
Lower profile chest rigs as well as plate carriers are becoming more popular. The Modulus is no different. It’s light weight and has a low and flat profile. What sets it apart from the rest is the ability to quickly swap out the front pouches to fit your current needs and requirements. You have the option to run it slick to carry three AR-15 rifle mags or add an admin pouch or a pistol mag pouch in any configuration suits you. You also have the option to run open top or covered with the pistol mag pouches. This makes it great for the end user to customize their Modulus to work for them. As well as most chest rigs are well designed, they may not work for everyone. The Modulus ensures that it will adapt to any mission that a chest rig can be used for.
The Cordura, stitching, zipper as well as the velcro are of high quality. All of the straps have a retention elastic band to help secure the loose ends, which is something that I appreciate.
The Modulus Chest Rig takes after the RAC Plate Carrier in the same form where it too maximizes the modularity of the chest rig platform to a fit numerous parameters for the end user.
The guys at HRT Tactical have come out with another hit and these will be available soon after this review is published.
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