Morning Ladies and Gentleman,
Having a few spare minutes I wanted to give a quick writeup of my SOE Micro Rig. I've been running this for a few months now with both an AR and AK. Pictures will follow in another post after this.
Why a micro rig? - I wanted a standalone rig for a longarm. There was a lot of philosophy behind this but long story short it's designed to go into my truck with a rifle for my "truck rig" (I know it's illegal in hawaii, arizona this isn't a problem) and as a quick on quick off rig for use at home. My go-to for home defense will always be a rifle, this just lets me have 4 AK/AR magazines, a blowout kit, 2 backup glock 19 mags and some cyalume sticks.
The SOE micro rig first and foremost is built tough. There are no weak seams, stretchy poor quality cordura or anything of the like. Unlike with most rigs I'm not concerned here with snagging on things and potentially ripping my rig. (seriously I've done it) Mag pouches are properly sized for both AR15, AK47 and AK74 magazines, including the AK47 magpul mags which are significantly overbuilt. The interior back of the mag pouches are covered in velcro which mates up to the top cover allowing for adjustments in height or oh so slightly in angle. The velcro gets canted off to the side slightly for my AK magazines just so the flat of the retention strap meets the flat of the mag.
The durability while par to none isn't why I like the SOE rig, it's the thought put into it. PALS webbing is sewn onto the sides of your mag pouches for attaching pistol mag pouches or a small blowout kit, Built into the back of the rig is an admin pouch that can be used for anything under the sun, from more magazines to a holstered pistol. This is a rig that you pick up and go "wow dude knew his shit" because it just feels intuitive.
The micro rigs come standard with a cross strap system to be thrown over your shoulders and buckled in place. I'm not really a fan of this setup (really my only knock on the rig) but John and the guys at SOE make an H harness that fits their micro rigs perfectly. I'm running the H harness setup currently and I can't see any other way I would want to run this rig. It's light, easy to don or doff, leaves me with everything I could ever need to run a class or provide security all while giving a sense of confidence in ones gear.
http://www.originalsoegear.com/collections/micro-rigs/products/akm4-micro-rigAbove is the link, for 100 bucks this is by far the best rig I've ever seen at that price point and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it at 200 bucks it's that good. They're in stock right now in OD green or tan. Even if you want to order another color it's worth the 6-8 week wait it's just that well built.