REVISITING THE TAPS RIG
AN IMPROVEMENT AND REASSIGNMENT
In July I made a post on improving a TAP, shown below.
At the time, this was my main patrol rig, usually coupled with a Mystery Ranch 2-Day pack to hold NODs and a bump cap for overnighters.
Since going to the JayJay’s LBE setup though…
The TAPS has been regulated to a “short around the homestead patrol rig” that I’m using for daylight property patrols and is much lighter @ 14lbs and lower in profile these days.
Besides thinning it down and adjusting the contents, I tried an extra SORD harness I had laying around.
It was bought on clearance ($17.00) to try with the JJ’s rig, but I decided to stick with the Patrol Yoke. So I thought to try it on this rig and can say it’s a much welcome upgrade over the thin Krydex brand I tried first.
I would not recommend the Krydex unless you plan to run the TAP very light, like in the < 10lb range.
The SORD harness puts the TAP at about the same location as my TT-SplitMAV with TT’s padded harness does, which is about 6 inches off the belt line. The SORD is a bit of overkill though as it’s a 6-Point harness designed for the LBE, but it’s working for me on this setup.
I know that will drive some people nuts as “It’s called a CHEST HARNESS for a reason!” but this postion gives better center of gravity, makes mag changes easier and puts less stress on the back, so why not since there is no battle belt being worn with it.
You can see in the image below that I’ve changed my minimum carbine loadout to (6) 30 rounds and I now pack a 60 round Magpul drum in the gun as SOP.
I keep smoke in this rig and it will take all (3) to make an effective wall to fall back from (if only we could have M18s!) as well as give PID to any MAG members responding to my location.
An E-Bivy in case I have to abandon the homestead or as an extra warming device to handout while policing the community post SHTF as a Neighborhood Watch member.
No IFAIK? Nope, I will be adding a tourniquest pouch to the harness, but I’ve made a decision not to carry a dedicated IFAIK on this rig.
I never leave home without my E&E Fanny Pack though, and it’s getting revamped also to include more medical, so when it’s said and done I will have a minimal IFAIK and (2) torniquets (one dedicated to the rig, one in the E&E Fanny Pack) on board any rig I run.
The role for this is strickly property / rural community patrols or welfare checks.
CONTENTS
BACK SIDE POCKETS
LEFT
Knife sharpener
Ferro & Striker
IBU
Mini-Bic w/100mph tape
E&E Compass
Gun oil
CENTER
E-Bivy
RIGHT
Sharpie w/ 100mph tape
Sm. Rite-N-Rain notepad
BACK ROW BUILT IN POUCHES
AR15 Mag 1
CAT-T
AR15 Mag 2 (speed load, roll of 88 under the mag)
AR15 Mag 3
AR15 Mag 4
AR15 Mag 5
Benchmade Puuko
AR15 Mag 6
OUTER MOLLE ATTACHMENTS
100rnd Saw Pouch
1QT Canteen
100rnd Saw Pouch
Tactical Smoke x3
Yaesu FT-70D Radio