Now let's keep this in context...... I did not go about this to setup a "fighting rig". I can certainly do that from the new setup, but that is not its intent. The new setup is designed from the ground up to be a survival/ get home rig....not a deathdealing ammunition platform. This is not a discussion about the merits of the shotgun, if it were, it would have gone in the weapons forum. This is strictly about the gear I have chosen to keep with me in my vehicle as a get home setup. I don't plan to readily abandon my vehicle, but in the event that I am forced to, this thread is about the gear I take with me.
Got to doing a little pondering yesterday and it prompted me to take a closer look at the get home gear that I keep in the car. Up unitl this point I had been keeping my AR and it's associated equipment in my vehicle. I thought that this was a pretty good idea until I realized that my AR is a short barreled rifle. I dont think that keeping an NFA firearm in the car is such a great idea. So, I took it out. If that thing were ever stolen, I'd be up shit creek.
Since I took the AR out, I also had to take its corresponding equipment out. It would do me no good to have AR accessories and no AR. Out came the War belt and the micro chest rig. SO I think to myself............now what do I do?
If you've done any reading around here, you know I'm a big fan of the shotgun (ref: http://www.shtfready.com/weapons/sho...sited-918.html). That seemd like a natural choice. Powerful, versatile, and non-descript. ANy police officer in his right frame of mind is going to question such a benign firearm locked away in the trunk of my car (they dont bother me around here anyway..I fix their guns). If it's stolen....well....... I'll certainly miss old faithful, but its no NFA weapon....not as big a deal. So, the shotgun it is.
Now........to the whole point of this thread:
No one out there makes a really good setup for the shotgun. Sure, there's some speed pouches and all that, but by the very nature of the beast, a shotgun is really hard to find a rig for. I was on my own.
Looking around to what I had on hand, I had a myriad of choices. Chest rigs, vests, you name it. None of the new molle-compatible high-speed go fast gear really fit the bill for what I wanted to accomplish. With that, I pulled out the antiquities duffel and revisited an old friend: Alice gear.
Poo-poo it all you want, but Alice gear does have some merit. When I went through basic (2005), that's what I was issued. SO I was no stranger to the setup, it just wasn't ever my personal preference. I went through my old gear meticulously inspecting the older items to find things that would fill the role I had intended for it. Bingo. Let's take a look at what I came up with.
1.) The Belt
IMHO, the basis for any kind of survival, GH Rig, or fighting load, always starts with the belt. A good belt. Heavy duy. Something that's not going to fall apart in the middle of your trek home. The belt is the base mounting platform for pouches, knives, hanguns and other gear. Lo and behold, what did I find?? A brand new ALICE pistol belt. Sweet. These things are darn near indestructable. I also found a padded pistol belt liner to make the belt more comfortable, so I threw that on. Score.
2.) The harness
Call it what you want, suspenders, shoulder straps, harness. It's all the same. This is important for weight distribution. I dont want to be pumped full of painkillers 5 miles into getting home because my back ahd shoulders hurt from a heavy load. Alice Y type harness it was. Just happened to find one of those old relics in the bag as well. Now we're getting somewhere.
3.)Water
Duh. I shouldn't have to explain this one. Since this is turning out to be an old school Alice rig, on go the Alice canteen pouches, canteens and canteen cup
4.) Supplies
I've always been a fan of the butt-pack for stuff like this. I just happed to have a nice Woodland BDU pattern Buttpack ready to go. This holds everything I need. Food. Water purification. Fire starters. First aid kit. Signaling. The list goes on. All the normal stuff you would have in a survival kit. Poncho rolls up and straps to the outside of the buttpack. There we go. Shelter. Food. Fire. Water. The basics.
5.) Ammo
Now we get to the fun part. I had to get a little creative on this one. The shotgun is a very hungry mistress. Keeping one fed in a defensive situation requires a good bit of skill. But in order to keep it fed, you have to have ammo. SO what to do?
I just happened to have an S.O. Tech drop leg panel and a Tactical Tailor shotgun panel. Seemed like a no brainer. Hooked it up and loaded it out. Then I figure..well......I probably need some a little bit more accessible. Where else? Put it on the belt. I had a Maxpedition and a Tactical Tailor 6 round shotgun panel. I mounted these on either side of the belt, threading the malice clips through all but 2 rows on the back of these pouches. I then used ALice clips to secure it to the belt. This actually works really well. They are nice and tight and arent going anywhere. NOw I have 28 rounds on the belt. Never being one to be without a shortage of ammunition, I decided that this wasnt quite enough. I know it's corny, but I added my Blackhawk 55 round shotgun bandoleer. Laugh all you wnat. I did. But in reality, again, this is NOT a fighting rig. That bandoleer is easy to take on and off and securely holds an adtional 55 rounds of shotgun ammo in a convenient package. This enables me to not only carry the defensive load of buck and slug, but to bring birdshot into the mix. Much better. Now I can defend myself AND procure food. With the addition of the bandoleer, I now have 98 total rounds of shotgun ammo ready to use (28 on belt and dropleg, 55 bandoleer, 6 on sidesaddle, 9 in the gun). Not too shabby. If I cant get home using 5 rounds, much less 98, I've got a serious problem.
There are 2 magazine pouches on the left side of my belt for my sidearm. Since this always goes with me, I'll always have it. I carry no less than 6 extra mags at all times, so with one in the gun and 2 on the belt, I have 3 more mags in the buttpack. Pistol is mounted in A Safariland Drop leg holster that stays in the car. I just take off my EDC holster and mag pouch and load my gear onto the belt and drop leg. ( I didnt feel the need to show this so it's not in the pic)
6.) Knife
Ahhh yes. You gotta have a good knife. Gor this I usually carry a benchmade auto Stryker in my packet. I plan on retaining this. In addition, I mounted my Gerber LMF 2 to the belt. It's a hard-core no- nonsense survival knife. Fits the bill quite nicely.
7.) Coms
Just for safety's sake I mounted one of my Motorola Saber 2 radios ( review here: http://www.shtfready.com/communicati...etup-1180.html and here: http://www.shtfready.com/equipment-b...iews-1265.html).
This gives me the abilty to communicate with the house if I'm close enough or to let the wife know I'm coming in.
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In addtions theres a few little extras like the Surefire mounted on the harness strap and my Brunton compass with maps in the green pouch on the belt.
I still plan to add a few things to the rig. Primarily, I may add a small .22 cal handgun to the kit.
Over all, the rig is solid. It's comfortable. It holds all the things that I need it to. In the age of Molle gear, chest rigs and plate carriers, sometimes it's not a bad idea to take a look at the old war horses. They can easily be adapted to general purpose survival rigs. Sometimes, simple is better.
Izzy
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