Grendel mags?

[bwaites]

Every jump I did, the LCE was worn underneath your parachute harness, with the adjustment lengthened out so it dangled around your waist. The 30rd M16 mag pouches did a pretty good job of insulating mags from lots of impact, but in an airfield seizure, hitting the runway is pretty hard on everything, especially the jumper...I always slipped away from airstrips.

I don't know what they're doing now with the MOLLE gear. I made my own MOLLE chest harness that opened in the middle, and could still be worn under the parachute harness. I also made my own leg rigs that could carry (8) 30rd mags comfortably, and everyone said, "Yeah, but you can't jump those...", so I did...no issues. "You can't road march with those, though.", so I did. I used an LC-1 style harness, but an "H" rather than "Y" type, locally-made with the same nylon materials, so I wouldn't stick out too much like a sore thumb to some dirtbag SGM who knew zero about Infantry anything, and had merely stayed in while being promoted each time he screwed up.

He still caught me, and said he would have a talk with my 1SG. I told him there is no way to carry the load we will be issued for actual combat with the existing kit, especially when frags and smokes start getting handed out. He took an M18 Smoke grenade, bent the spoon around the carrier for an M67 frag on one of his M16 30rd mag pouches, and said, "There!", as it dangled around beneath his empty LCE. "You gonna jump with that like that SGM?"

I sewed universal grenade carriers to the sides of my ammo pouches with retaining bands for the fuse bodies, like from the old M-1956 system, before the Army "fixed" it. I could safely jump with, carry, and fight with a double basic load+ (13 mags), 4 M18 smoke grenades, 2 M67 frags, my ICOM radio, my PVS-14's, a 90oz camelbak, 2 one-quart canteens, with both my SAW pouches and buttpack empty, ready for all the other crap that comes down the line.

I'm wearing that set-up in this pic:

Wow, you looked GOOD!! That's one squared away, square jawed Norseman right there! SERIOUS door kicker!