Type 81 Chest Rig

The Chinese Chest Rig. Simple, lightweight, rugged, and the preferred tactical gear of militant mountain people standing down first world armies around the globe. It needs no introduction to anyone who had dirt time in Vietnam to the GWOT, watched any documentary, war porn, or looked at Soldier Of Fortune during those decades in between. And a cult following among SF old timers alongside Randall knives and Rolex watches.

The Type 81 rig is an improvement over the older Type 56, which was designed to carry three AK mags and had four small pockets designed for RGD-5 hand grenades. These would become a game changer in Vietnam among MAC-V SOG and later among Soviet Special Operations troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s, ditching their clumsy RD-54 kit for a streamlined fighting rig. Just what you need, nothing that you don't. And when the Type 81 carbine was introduced in China as a replacement for the Type 56, the new four mag design changed the game again.

These are reproduction rigs of the same heavy duck fabric as the original, every bit as functional today as they were then. Whether you're picking one (or a few) up as part of an equipment cache, a plan to equip neighbors, or a base model to modify and build your own rig, these are a perfect piece of kit at a price that cannot be beat.