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| Image via HSP. |
Travis's impressive marketing machine is rolling this out to the tactical world post-haste, and he's provided a to-the-point overview of the new design and features of the new chest rig.
In my opinion, the D3CR line is one of the best options out there for a compact, out-of-the-box solution. Their expansion system lends some additional versatility, too. And, no fiddling with friggin' Malice clips, either.
The shoulder strap system on the original is a bit lame, and it doesn't look like they've upgraded the straps for the Heavy, which would have been a good idea. If you're wearing it regularly as a standalone chest rig, I imagine you'll be hunting for an upgrade before too long.
The D3CR really excels at being mounted to the front of a plate carrier. In that case, it gives you the ability to go from a low-profile, slick (no pouches) front plate carrier to an attached fighting load within seconds. You have better integration, less webbing tangle and more stability than trying to wear a chest rig over a plate carrier. I'm moving my kit in this direction and looking to pickup a few pieces to that end during upcoming Black Friday sales.
A slick carrier concealed under a jacket or button up is likely to be more useful to most folks in civvy shoes, and having the ability to ammo up in a moment gives you the best o' both worlds with one rig. Keep the shoulder straps in your go bag as a backup, too.
The D3CR's velcro and swift-clip docking capability gives you the ability to very easily flip between rigs. ITS Tactical has a good overview of the versatility this can give you--go from shotgun to carbine, for example. Now, you can flip from a the original D3CR running 5.56 to the Heavy running 308 by un-clipping a couple buckles and peeling bag some velcro.
Yep, the default mag count is just 4 on both the original and the Heavy. For the original, you've got the 2 mag expansion, which bumps you up to 6, a respectable mag count by most anyone's standards. HSP may/may not release the expansion for the Heavy--as Travis notes in the video, that's a fair amount o' weight to strap on.
Your belt line is usually a better idea for those few extra mags, anyways. A couple belt mounted pouches or a drop leg rig would get you to the standard 6-8 magazine capacity pretty easily, and gives you some primary mag reloads on your first line to boot.
The D3CR is narrow enough to work well with belt-mounted gear, too. Wider, more fatty chest rigs or plate carrier setups will tend to prohibit access to anything on your belt line, but with the narrower width of the D3CR/D3CR-H, you should still be able to access belt mounted pouches without too much trouble.
Hey, even if you're not interested in the D3CR-Heavy (I own exactly zero 308 rifles), there's some perty 308s in the product photograph. Check it out via the HSP web store.
