Today we’re going to continue in the drone series by talking about my initial drone chest rig. As with any gear, the first question is “why do I need a chest rig?” or “what is the mission requirement for this chest rig?” As I’ve mentioned before, my goal with getting involved in drones is to be able to show up to a bad day – a disaster, a search and rescue case, etc. – and bring a drone’s capability to bear. To do that, I need to be able to move with my drone gear and then quickly get it up and running on location.
Why A Chest Rig?
While my drone did come with a carrying case, it’s not very convenient in the field. It’s not bad for working out of a vehicle but much less conducive to hiking in and rapidly launching. A chest rig allows me to carry all the components as well as other gear comfortably and access it all easily. With my current set up, it only takes about a minute and a half to get everything put together and turned on. It another minute to minute and a half for the drone to pick up the satellites. From on location to launch is just under three minutes. So let’s talk about the set up.
What’s On The Rig?
My base rig is a surplus Eagle Rhodesian Recon rig. To that, I’ve added pouches for the three critical components of the drone system – the drone, the controller, and the battery/support gear. Now, if you saw my earlier short, the pouches for the main components are all 8492 Nylon GP pouches. The 6×6 pouch with the Spiritus insert holds the drone perfectly, the 9×5 fits the controller, and the 4×7 fits the battery pack, spare parts, and spare GoPro batteries.
I did add a 3-mag shingle behind the 9×5 to retain the ability for self-defense. It’s just one of my modified surplus shingles. A surplus pistol mag pouch holds my multitool and a surplus extended mag pouch holds my flashlight. My phone currently rides in a High Speed Gear Navigator Tech Pouch on the chest. Finally, as you can see, I have a tourniquet pouch on the shoulder.
Future Changes
First, I’ll probably switch the Tech Pouch out for a more basic admin pouch. My reasoning behind switching it out has nothing to do with the pouch itself. The drone I have requires my phone to fly (currently), and I have to mount the phone in the controller. So every time I fly, the phone comes out of the pouch anyway. I’m not running any team tracking software right now since I don’t have a team, so the benefits of having a chest-mounted phone aren’t there. Plus, having a full admin pouch would give me space for all the little stuff I would need for notes, etc., when working.
My tourniquet pouch is probably going away, as my trauma gear is located in a subload made up of a 8492 9×5 GP pouch on an AXL Advanced Fanny Sub-Load Adapter Panel (SLAP). The TQ will probably end up on that subload. And before someone says “I don’t see a radio,” it’s because I don’t have one on this rig. As noted above (or per my last email, whichever), I don’t have a team to talk to and I don’t carry weight for fun unless I’m rucking or spiraling.
Conclusion
Hope this gave you some ideas if you’re trying to find a usable rig for small drones. I’ll definitely keep you updated as I modify it. If you enjoyed, give us a follow and a share. Social media really limits our ability to advertise, and organic shares always have the biggest impact. If you think I missed something or have a question, drop a comment below. Alternatively, you can contact me via email at guntoter.official (at) gmail.com. We also have a Patreon page where you can help offset some of the expenses that we incur buying gear to review as well as a store where you can buy apparel and various trinkets. Any profits go directly back into funding the channel.
