Primal Gear Chest Rig Panel – review of the vest
Primal Gear is a brand that has been present in the airsoft and military market for many years, valued for its wide range of products and high-quality sewing and materials used in production. It's a good alternative for enthusiasts who don't want to overpay for top-tier gear from the USA but want to enjoy functional and well-designed tactical equipment. Recently, Primal Gear introduced a series of interesting products – the Chest Rig Panel along with a range of dedicated accessories. I had the opportunity to test my custom setup in action, and today I’ll share my impressions.
Material and quality of the Primal Gear Chest Rig Panel
The Chest Rig Panel and its additional elements (like most of the gear offered by Primal Gear) are made from a material called Aspen™ 500D. What is it? It's simply the proprietary name for nylon with a weight of 500 deniers. This material strikes an ideal balance between weight and durability. If you've ever owned gear made from original 500D Cordura, you know how versatile this fabric is. By the way, Primal Gear also offers vests and pouches made from original Cordura, but only in Multicam camouflage (including the discussed chest rig).
Returning to the Aspen™ material – it looks really great, and without a deeper analysis, it's hard to notice the difference between it and 500D Cordura. It is resistant to external conditions and has nice, matte colors. I have been using Primal Gear products for many years and have never encountered major problems, tears, or material damage that weren't my fault – and believe me, I don't spare my gear.
Some elements of the vest are made not from a single layer of nylon but from laminate, where MOLLE / PALS system holes are cut using laser cut technology. This solution saves the weight of the gear, as there is no need to sew on additional mounting straps. While mounting extra pouches in the laser cut system is more difficult and time-consuming than on classic straps, the difference in weight is really noticeable.
Besides, we have high-quality adjustment straps and shoulder straps here, and no savings were made on the buckles – original UTX fasteners guarantee that nothing will accidentally unfasten or break.
Construction and configuration possibilities of the Chest Rig Vest
The Chest Rig Panel is a minimalist vest designed on a simple, rectangular panel. By itself, it doesn't have any built-in pouches, only an internal pocket with Velcro for mounting specific "inserts." This allows you to buy exactly the pockets you will need. Primal Gear offers several dedicated inserts, e.g., for 3 STANAG magazines or for 5 submachine gun magazines (or the very popular PCC carbines such as Specna Arms X-Series or G&G's ARP9).
Mounting the inserts may initially pose some difficulty, as the pocket is narrow and you need to match two large Velcro panels, but with practice, the inserts can be very quickly exchanged – of course, provided someone will need to do so.
We can mount additional pouches on the front of the vest, using MOLLE / PALS slots or Velcro.
By unfastening the carrying system straps, we can attach the chest rig to a plate carrier vest in the Buckle-Up system. This allows us to transfer the panel with pouches between different vests, depending on which one will be best suited to the conditions of a given game.
Narrow laser-cut slots are placed on the side walls, which can be used, e.g., to attach a carabiner for hanging tactical gloves, handcuffs, a roll of insulating tape, or other small equipment that we want to have always at hand.
The vest has simple but comfortable H-shaped shoulder straps. Significant adjustment possibilities allow for a good fit to the user's build. A strap is sewn on the back, which can serve as an evacuation handle.
Primal Gear Multi-Function Panel – ideal addition
In my setup, besides the magazine insert, I used the Primal Gear multi-function panel, which in my opinion, is the perfect addition and should be treated as a set. The panel is made from Aspen™ 500D material and is attached to the chest rig with 4 short straps and a large Velcro panel.
It has two pouches with flaps and elastic sides on the sides, which can hold accessories such as a Glock magazine, multitool, flashlight, or speedloader.
In the middle, there is a small cargo pocket with a zipper and an internal simple organizer. We can easily fit a knife, a handy tool kit, a phone, or a wallet for the duration of the game.
Is it worth buying the Primal Gear Chest Rig Panel Vest?
If you like lightweight, minimalist gear – it's definitely worth it. The vest is comfortable and easy to configure. However, we must remember to immediately purchase additional pockets, which are not included in the set. It will work well during short and dynamic scenarios, as well as during long milsims when the weight of the gear is crucial. Modular chest rigs by Primal Gear will be appreciated not only by airsoft enthusiasts but also by shooters – for dynamic training at the range, there is nothing better than this type of vest, which does not restrict movement and allows for smooth maneuvering on the course.
After expanding the vest with additional pouches, a belt, and a backpack, we get a complete and very comfortable set, offering design and quality incomparably higher than most airsoft products in this price range.
Author: Dominik ‘Chaos’ Marzec
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