[LawOfTheSea]

Your mission drives your gear. I know several individuals who have different kit setups designed for specific missions. That being said, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Research. There are several individuals with extensive knowledge who have been / are in the fight who can, will, or already have weighed in on tactical subjects and based their kit around their experience. Take advantage of this. PMAG’s are good. HK magazines I would do without. Paul Howe, Kyle Lamb, Mike Panonne and Pat Rogers write articles concerning equipment and gear selection.

2. Muscle memory is a hurdle to overcome. Switching your secondary weapon system from a drop-leg to a chest mount or MOLLE belt necessitates that you practice with it, drawing/presenting it, dry fire with it, extensively. Having your magazines all mounted to your left side and then distributing them in a different configuration will have your hands going to the previous set-up in a high stress situation. You won’t rise to the occasion, you will default to your level of training. 2,000-3,000 repetitions is the number thrown around for a basic task for muscle memory. Your mileage may vary, so find out for yourself. Your life may depend on it. Run your gear through drills to validate it. This must be done in training before employing it in combat.

3. Evaluate the need. Look, we don’t have a lot of disposable income and it may very well be better to put that money earmarked for private purchases into a savings account / Roth IRA / et cetera in lieu of becoming the newest member of the Pouch Of The Month Club. Is the purchase necessary? You may even develop criteria for this to determine whether it is or is not.


4. Don’t neglect upgrades to your rifle and helmet. You’ll be carrying one and have the other strapped to your head for extended periods of time. A padded 2-point tactical adjustable sling is a necessity for a rifle, and some of the products offered by Ops-Core (Enhanced ACH H-Harness) may make life a lot more comfortable. Also, rifle internals are more important than externals. All of the tactical lights, PEQ / DBAL’s, and VFG’s in the world can’t help you if your primary goes down. MAINTAIN IT. This is not the same as cleaning it. It’s a crime the Army does not overhaul their rifles yearly or in preparation for a deployment. I maintain my rifle personally. By this I mean I replace extractor, extractor pins, gas rings yearly or prior to a deployment, and I also carry a spare set of those and a mil-spec bolt around in a TAC PAC. If my primary goes down, I want every means at my disposal to bring it back up and to stay in the fight. If my rifle is seriously ate up, I will be having a talk with the armorer to identify the issue, see what his solution is, and then talk it back with him to gain a better understanding of my weapon system.

5. You need Knowledge Dominance in your arena. This tacks on to #4. It is pointless to carry all of this new gear and additions to your kit if you can’t explain your weapon system or how body armor works or magazine malfunction cause and effects, immediate action and remedial action, and properly demonstrate it. You are going to be looked at through a different lens by people when they see non-standard gear on you. When people talk to you, they should see you as the go-to guy for questions to be answered or at least to be pointed in the right direction for them to do their own research. Don’t be “That Guy” with all the Gucci Gear who doesn’t understand MOA with his brand new high speed sight.

6. Develop the Mean Gene. A controlled, focused aggression and a combat mindset is going to help you more than a triple mag shingle. Don’t neglect everything else because buying a piece of gear takes seconds whereas you have to work much harder for the other parts of the kanji.


In regards to your specific inquiry, TT and Blade-Tech make doog NVG containers. A suitable IFAK replacement would be Paraclete's Individual Aid Pouch. I like the fact that it is larger, features secure fasteners to place medical supplies in, and can be compartmentalized for ease of identification and use.

For the magazines - go with the PMAG's. They're hard to run by now - but get in contact with magpul and they will go out of their way to help Soldiers out. I don't like the HK mags due to their weight, user manual that advises against dropping the magazine when it was ostensibly developed for the military, and HK's reputation of not standing by their products or offering replacement parts, although Spartan Tactical's Jim Smith stated he carried them the last few years of his military career with no issues.

Your mileage may vary.

Hope this helps.