We usually think of the British Isles as a place of tradition, but the family-owned company British Tactical is developing some interesting and innovative products. Their flagship piece of piece of kit is called the Multi-Purpose MOLLE Platform, or MPMP for short. It is designed to be used in several different configurations. You can wear it as a satchel, as a drop-leg platform, or as a chest rig.
Before we get to all that, let’s look at the construction of the British Tactical MPMP.
Construction
Made from 1000 denier Cordura fabric and stitched for durability, this rig is designed for combat. The panel that I was sent for testing has a MOLLE grid on the front 6 columns wide by 3 columns deep. It also incorporates a pocket behind the front panel, which I find especially useful. They offer another version which is 4 rows deep, but does not have the pocket.
My MPMP also has a drop-leg strap with a larger buckle (to facilitate the wider leg webbing) and shock cord to allow it to sit snugly on your upper thigh and hip. The leg strap is made of Multicam webbing. The shoulder and waist straps are light olive (to British Ministry of Defense specifications) and have split-bar buckles which can easily be removed if necessary.
Quick-adjustment straps on the webbing make length adjustments incredibly easy. This facilitates switching configurations in seconds, and can allow you to tighten up the MPMP snug to your body almost instantly.
It was designed to hold a couple of magazines and a flashlight, the bare minimum for any combat situation. Since I tend to overtax my gear (partly out of stubbornness and partly out of a perverse desire to see kit fail), I have put much more onto the MPMP.
I’ve placed two AR-15 magazines in a Blue Force Gear dapper, inside the pocket. The dapper sticks to the fuzzy Velcro inside. On the MOLLE-covered exterior, I’ve attached a Spec Ops Brand double pistol mag pouch and a surplus improved first aid kit (IFAK). This allows me to have ammo for my primary rifle, my handgun and access to emergency medical supplies.
Chest Rig
Here, you see the MPMP hanging from the neck with another strap looped around the waist.
The most common method of wearing the MPMP is as a chest rig. It’s similar in size to the Blue Force Gear Micro Rack, though it incorporates fewer straps. There are two ways to wear this chest rig.
First, you can throw the top strap over your head, allowing the MPMP to hang on your neck. Very simple to put on and take off. Then, to secure the chest rig to your body, you loop the waist band around your middle and use the quick-adjust pull tab to cinch it down tight.
While this is the simplest method, it is not my favorite. I don’t like having things hang around my neck. It’s uncomfortable for me and for some reason disconcerting. Fortunately, you can arrange the MPMP in a different manner. By attaching each strap to a buckle at the top of the pannel, you can cross them over the back and clip them into the opposite side on the bottom. Thus, the MPMP can be worn like a traditional Rhodesian-style chest rig.
Satchel / Courrier Bag
By far the most useful configuration of the MPMP, this allows the user to have the bare essentials ready and on his person at a moment’s notice. If you have it hanging on the bedpost, it’s incredibly simple to jump up and throw the MPMP over your shoulder. No need to buckle any buckles or adjust straps. Just throw it over your shoulder — ready to go.
If you have more time and want the MPMP to be a bit more stable, you can lower it a few inches and use the leg-rig strap to secure it solidly to your upper leg. While this is quite feasible, I find it almost defeats the purpose of the 4-second setup. And to be blunt, four seconds is all you need to jump out of bed, throw this over your shoulder, and reach for your rifle.
Leg Rig
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- This photo was slightly awkward to shoot. Me to cameraman, “Just focus on my crotch.”
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- Here, you can clearly see the MPMP mounted to my pants via my leather belt.
I’m not really a fan of leg rigs. They tend to flop about and get in the way. That said, the ability of the MPMP to turn into a leg rig is useful. There are times when you simply don’t have room on your chest or side. Perhaps you’ve got a camping backpack on, with its padded hip belt around your waist. You don’t want to have a bunch of weight on your chest, and you might have your carbine slung there, but you’d like to have some bare essentials handy.
Alternately, you can pass your belt through the loops on the backface of the panel, attaching it directly to your side. This can be done with a standard duty belt, or something as simple as your normal leather belt.
Battle the Bulge
Because I regularly overload my gear, I tend to find weak points in the items I review. Though it’s not really designed to handle magazines in the internal pocket, I think the ability to do so is desirable. However, when loaded with a pair of magazines, the pouch tends to bulge open, especially in the chest rig configuration. This is exacerbated by my insistnece on mounting a bulging IFAK on the front.
In the leg rig configuration, the bulge is not such a problem, being lessened by an inherently stable and secure mounting system. Still, the addition of a shock cord drawstring at the top of the pocket might help alleviate this minor problem.
Conclusion
There are a few improvements that could be made to the MPMP, and I’m sure they will be incorporated in the near future. British Tactical is a small company, necessarily more driven and less inclined to be set in their ways than larger firms who can rely on long-term government contracts.
I’m impressed by the quality of the materials, the strength of the stitching, and the adaptability of the product. The value this little piece of gear brings to the table should not be underestimated. I look forward to bringing you more reviews of British Tactical products in the future.
-By Allen Cosby
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