Oregon Shooter

Modified: SKD Universial Chest Harness

Posted: October 11, 2009 | Last Updated: October 11, 2009

I've had this SKD Universial chest harness for sometime now and still think they are the best bang for the buck when it comes to factory made chest rigs, but as with all things it can be improved with minor modification. My view of "better" is embodied in the changes you see here.

None of the mods are hard and can be done on your wife's sewing machine (thanks Honey!) as the material is very easy to sew. For thread and how to sew the basic "box-stitch" see my article on the 1/2 point sling.

For reference the image below is how the chest rig came from www.skdtac.com


and how it ended up after my mods...

Load Out

The rig weighs 10lbs with the following:

• (4) Pmags w/ 30 rounds each
  
• (2) Glock 17 mags w/16 rounds each
  
• (1) Surefire 6P with Malkoff M60W insert
  
• (1) SOG multi-tool
  
• (1) EOD Breacher bar
  
• (1) SWAT-T / EMT shears
  

Changes Made

First I cut one of the front pockets so I could get mags out individually without the chance of the other bouncing out. Cut with scissors and then melt edges with a lighter and sew a stitch down the cut side of the velcro.


Removed original velcro straps on outer pockets and added bungee cord to all pockets. Using a grommet makes this easy to change to no retention pockets if I don't like the bungees, but so far they are not an issue and I like the extra retention.


Function over fashion on those bar tacks! Someday I might get that CONSEW and make it purty, but believe it or not, my stitching is stronger than the stock tacks used to secure the large buckles. I was amazed at how little material was holding them in the padded strap ends.


H-harness is "fixed" on this one for my shoulder width. There is enough adjustment in the rig to allow use over heavy clothing without needing to change the "H" width. The slider allows easy on/off especially if you like wearing your CH up high. The straps are 2" seat belt material (very comfortable) with 1-1/4" webbing sewn the length and hardware from old straps sewn onto it.


Sewn in stops keep it from coming undone and makes sure that you can reach the adjustment strap.


You can see in the video the use of the built in sling connection point. The COBRA buckle and webbing are removable and adjustable underneath that inner tube keeper there is one metal slider that has several passes through it with the webbing. It can easily be adjusted, but should not need it once you have it set.

There you have it, what ya think?

Name:	URL:
Remarks:

Remember my form information

SPAM FILTER - enter the word you see above in the box below.