r/tacticalgear • u/barkindolphins22 • 1d ago
Question What’s up with the plate carrier backpacks?
I’ve been seeing people run those smaller backpacks that molle to the back of plate carriers/rigs. If you have one can you tell me how you like it? My main concern is that if you need anything you’re going to have to take off your armor. Why not just wear an assault pack or something instead?
UPDATE: Thank you all tons for the feedback. Many of you have brought me up to speed on these packs uses and needs. I have decided that the Haley Flatpack is the way to go for me. Went from thinking they were silly to realizing the advantages. Thanks all!
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u/WalkerTR-17 23h ago
They’re more for team use
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u/jtj5002 23h ago
Plate carrier backpacks and back panels is to hold things for your boyfriend.
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u/PearlButter 23h ago
It holds just hydration in a hydro bladder like Source, camelbak, MSR…etc. that has a drinking straw routed to the front of the carrier.
Completely hands free.
Now when you’re storing extra things like ammo and whatever back there then it’s for a battle buddy, a team member to access them. However at the very least it holds water for yourself.
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u/jumbohog42069-04 23h ago
I’m sure everyone will shit on me but I use a flatpack plus on my LV119, mostly as a way to carry my 3L source bladder. Since source bladders have the attachment you can put on the mouthpiece to refill, I don’t have to remove my PC to fill it up either.
I’m not on any kind of a team, but in any kind of scenario where I’d have it on for real, I’d be with my wife. I have it compressed all the way right now, but I like having the ability to throw a few things in something like that if we needed to in an emergency. I keep a rain poncho and a Velcro 2x mag pouch, but that takes up very little room.
I also have several different small to large backpacks available so that’s not the only thing I’d rely on.
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u/barkindolphins22 22h ago
What brand is your flatpack?
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u/darx202 11Braincells 22h ago
If you get the haley one, avoid the earlier manufactured models. The buckles that attach the shoulder straps to the top of the pack are dog water and the zipper pulls break frequently. I got very familiar with the tailor off post as a result.
The newer ones (I think 2024 and beyond) have a noticeably thicker top buckle and are pretty good so far. I haven't done nearly as much work with the new one, but so far I like it a lot more and dont notice any tradeoffs that occasionally come with later manufactured items.
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u/jumbohog42069-04 20h ago
Haley Strategic. Yeah and what the other guy said is true. It’s a shitty backpack. And full disclosure I bought this thing to use more like a backpack/assault pack.
However, I think it does a solid job molled to my back panel.
It just depends on what you’re looking for.
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u/Kindly_Ball1028 23h ago
Team use like mentioned. Also, I used a HSP Flatpack attached to my carrier a lot while I was in. Allowed me to carry enough for an overnight raid, without having to deal with double layers of straps which I always hated. I could fit enough water and snacks plus any mission essential team gear in it. If we got to a point where I could crack open an MRE, I could take off my carrier as well.
Bottom line in my case, it was smaller and more comfortable, and a lot easier to shoot. Less straps = less moving parts.
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u/Robert-A057 23h ago
Saw that a lot as -21 back around 2010, especially since the modular assault pack was included in the FSBE kit. It was easier to carry a small pack attached to your plate carrier than have the straps digging into you all day, but it did made it more uncomfortable to seat in vehicles and you have ask your buddy to dig your 2L nalgene out for you.
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u/browndan8888 23h ago
It’s exactly as you described. If you’re by yourself, you can’t get anything out of it unless you remove your carrier. If you have a team, you ask them to get shit out. There are versions with buckles you can don and doff yourself, I think spiritus does one. but overall, imho, shoulder straps are the way to go .
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u/Censored_88 23h ago
Fighting alone is a much more serious problem than not being able to reach the extra mags/gear in your pack.
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u/CarefulLobster1609 23h ago
I have one. It's set up to specifically for car / patrol use. Small, sits alittle higher so you can sit in a car seat. Is holds a small water bladder. Everything else is essential extras. Extra batteries, water treatment, medical. Snacks.
Anything that you think you would love to have with you in absolutely worst case scenario, AND/OR. Anything thing you think the guy next to you would be super happy to find out you had readily available for him to grab out of the bag.
Mission critical stuff that needs to be available for the team helps split the load.
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u/barkindolphins22 22h ago
I like the idea of it being car seat compatible. What pack do you use?
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u/CarefulLobster1609 22h ago
Sent you a dm. I will send you a picture of my plate arrier pack. Won't let me up load one in the thread
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u/cowens003 22h ago
A good alternative is the Shaw Concepts PCP. You can wear it like a traditional Assault Pack or attach it to the carrier in a way that let's you swing it around to access the contents of the bag by yourself. It is what I run. Watch the videos on it if that interests you.
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u/barkindolphins22 22h ago
Thanks I’ll check it out!
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u/cowens003 22h ago
It's expensive but it's the best of both worlds.
Just be sure you are flexible enough to reach where you'll keep the buckles on your cummerbund.
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u/PineSoul603 22h ago
Everyone here is gonna be real surprised when they find out they're not just for team use, and that there are ways to make them easily accessible to the user and/or worn like a backpack.
I store another IFAK, water bladder, and water decon kit in mine.
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u/Yankee_Air_Polack 19h ago
My main concern is that if you need anything you’re going to have to take off your armor.
I run the Spiritus zip-on back panel on an LV119. Half of its utility is carrying a big fat SAPI-shaped water bladder that fills up most of it. In the bottom larger pouch is extra ammunition and a cleaning kit. The top pouch has chemlights that I've rigged up with paracord to be accessible from the front (via the shoulder cable routing) as well as spare pistol magazines rigged up in the same way.
If you run an 8-hour 2-gun competition, the back panel starts to make sense. Not only does it counterbalance eight magazines in the front, it carries water and other useful shit.
Is carrying flashbangs in it alone stupid? yeah probably. Over the course of eight hours, you have plenty of time to take your armor off to access miscellaneous shit, though, and you can rig nearly anything to be accessible via paracord lines that run along your gear and are knot/tape coded.
Why not just wear an assault pack or something instead?
An assault pack doesn't counterbalance plates and magazines in the front while preventing a much larger ruck from being used. I'm also a civilian, the likelihood that I will need some piece of tactical knicknackery right now is almost zero while otherwise it's just wasted molle.
like everything else, if you can't find a use for it, don't use it. If you have to make up a use just to use it, that's even worse. If you have a use for it, why give a shit what people on the internet think? If you have a plate carrier period, you're gonna get clowned on by "muh SMERSH LBE LRRP RIG bro TOO HEAVY bro I have sixteen mags, two canteens, and a buttpack filled with dead cats bro" anyway
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u/barkindolphins22 19h ago
Thank you tons for this reply. I’ve been looking into them because at most I will have 8 mags up front and I am looking for something to counterbalance besides the water bladder. I love the idea of creating a more simple assault pack with the essentials. People have made some great point about the things you will have in it will really end of being for a time when you can disrobe. But also any extras for friends. I didn’t know about any that can come off prior to this post too. Been loving the help.
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u/SicknastyBot1 19h ago
I run a Haley Flatpack on mine, rigged so that I can unbuckle two straps and access it without help from my buddies. I have a bunch of 40mm pouches in the outside of it and some quick essential medical gear on the inside. A 1.5 liter hydration pouch. I also keep whatever I would stuff in my cargo packets in there because I hate having heavy stuff bouncing around on my legs so usually note-taking gear and land nav equipment.
It’s low profile enough that I can throw larger sustainment packs over it with no issue. I keep it at its most compact configuration as much as possible and only expand it if I’m doing short patrols and have to carry or collect extra gear.
It’s pretty thin material so it rolls up nicely if I need to stow it and weights way less than my issued day pack.
If I’m running a 320 and my belt with 12 40MM’s runs out I can unbuckle two straps, swing the pack to my weak side and pull 6 more. If I need to get up and run before I can restrap it it’s a little obnoxious bit I can swap to my rifle and haul ass and just let it dangle in front of me.
Letting it hang in front of me to access medical gear is nice as well.
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u/Protorin 17h ago
You can get ones you can access yourself, I highly recommend the Arbor arms tradesman.
If not its for people who are regularly in a stack and it hold the gear for the guy behind you to accees.
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u/NippleMoustache 23h ago
I have two guys on my team that have them. They’re carrying litters in them mainly.
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u/LiathWolf 22h ago
It's for teammates to grab things from. If you are solo you need to remove it and have a slick PC on the back and run an assault pack over top of it
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u/Revolutionary_Tip477 22h ago
I have no friends so I wear a regular pack. Served me well since I was a wee lad all the way until the present day
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u/Eradicate_The_ATF 22h ago
Easy access for team members to grab what they need. If you want to be able to grab stuff for yourself I recommend the eagle industries tote pack. Comes with a hydration bladder and has an expandable beavertail that will hold my ops core carbon with amps headset attached and inside the helmet I keep my nods in a cole tac guardian case. If you want to use the pack solo, I recommend the Haley strategic flatpack backpad as the molle webbing gets annoying digging into your back on long hikes during the summer. Also the side pouches will each hold 2 30rd m4 pmags
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u/keenansmith61 20h ago
Best of both worlds is to run a collapsible backpack like the Haley flat pack so you can empty it and wear a backpack over it if you need repeated access to your pack, and run just the flat pack if you're with a team or know you'll have time to doff your carrier to access it.
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u/HiphenNA 12h ago
Realistically speaking wouldnt a regular backpack be more practical than something for molle?
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u/Mcslap13 23h ago
Either dedicated water in a bladder, which makes sense to me. But people store stuff in them but don't have a ",team" which is dumb as you would have to take the armor off. I just wear a small pack over the carrier if I need to.
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u/ActualSoap 23h ago
People get obsessed with copying operators, who are in teams that practice and know what each other is carrying in there. Very non practical with individuals like myself with no friends