If you’ve ever worn any tactical gear then you’ll know that often times it looks much cooler than it feels. As such we need to keep the weight of our gear to a bare minimum. This article will show you an ultra lightweight setup complete with every piece of kit. Keep reading to see a full list of all this high speed gear.
As the title implies this article is going to cover an ultra lightweight loadout for an assaulter. I make this distinction because most teams have different specialities which will require a different set of equipment. As you might imagine a sniper will carry much different equipment than a breacher, and this of course will affect the weight each operator will carry.
Why Do We Care About Weight?
Some of you might be wondering what’s with the ultra lightweight obsession? I mean does a few pounds really matter? The short answer is yes, and here is why.
Recently a Marine Captain Courtney Thompson did a piece of interesting research, at the Naval Post Graduate School. She ran computer simulations of Marine Infantry Squads, with different loads, against insurgents carrying an AK 47, ammo, and little else.
She found that as she lightened the load for the Marines the casualties were reduced up to 60%, primarily because they could move faster and were much harder to hit. This is hardly the only piece of research to highlight this phenomenon.
This study examined a soldiers physical fitness in different weighted conditions, ranging from around 15 pounds up to 65lbs. They found that weight mattered, but only so much as it affected the speed of the soldiers as they moved on the battlefield. Fitter soldiers could move faster with load than weaker soldiers unloaded.
In fact, research going back hundreds of years shows that a soldier is most effective with 30-40% of his bodyweight for a combat load. Even though this relationship with speed, load, and survivability is very clear, we in the tactical community have yet to pay attention to this critical fact.
The average Marine Infantry man’s load in the recent conflicts in Iraq, and Afghanistan is 116lbs on patrol. The average Marine Weighs 175lbs. This means they are carrying 67% of their body weight. This amount of weight will produce casualties.
Technology Will Solve This Problem
This is the common refrain you hear from those in the defense industry. To be fair, they have made great advances in armor, but this type of relationship is asymptotic at best.
Within the last decade the effective weight difference in armor plates and helmets has improved by ounces, not pounds, and there aren’t likely to be huge revolutions that will change this in the near future.
This leaves us with two options to improve survivability of combat forces. Improve fitness, and decrease weight with careful gear selection. If you are reading this site, then you already know we have a heavy emphasis on fitness.
The Gear Selection
This equipment is picked based on lightness as a primary consideration, and protection as a secondary consideration. This gear is for an assaulter with no special weapons or tools. This loadout will sustain the operator for 24 hours without resupply in a temperate climate. I’m also assuming there are no huge foot movements as this will require more gear, and water specifically.
Click here to download the full equipment list with links to all the gear.
Plate Carrier and Armor Loadout
The big ticket items here are the plate carrier, and the armor plates. In recent years there have been advances in ceramic plate technology, as well as the design of lightweight plate carriers.
S and S Precision Plate Carrier
As you can see I’ve specified a skeletonized plate carrier from S and S Precision. It is quite light and minimal in nature. It also is hydrophobic, which means it will not absorb water.
For this carrier I’ve specified the lightest armor plates that I could find provided they could stop 7.62 x 39 API and .308 ammo. Personally, I feel like this will cover the vast majority of threat rounds that anyone is likely to see.
Is it rated for 30-06? Nope, but remember that moving slowly because you have huge level 4 plates is more deadly than the one guy on the battlefield with a special rifle. It’s for this reason that I’ve not specified any side plates.
Pouches and Misc Gear
For the rest of the loadout I’ve selected the bare minimum of pouches. Most of them are Blue Force Gear’s excellent Ten Speed Pouches. They are very light, because they utilize heavy duty elastic banding to secure your magazines or other equipment. This has the added benefit of allowing you to store non standard items in these pouches because they can stretch to various sizes.
Those with great attention to detail will notice that a fair portion of the weight actually comes from ammunition. Here I’ve assumed that we will be carrying 6 magazines. This is one of those areas that is non negotiable. You gotta have ammo!
Lastly, I’ve included a low profile pack from Haley Strategic which has the ability to expand to accommodate more gear as needed. Click on the link above for an in depth review of the pack.
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Weapons
Now this is the fun stuff, but unfortunately they are some of the heaviest pieces of kit that must be carried. Generally speaking, an assaulter will carry a primary rifle, and a secondary pistol.
I’ve specified this SBR because it is a quality gun that comes in at only 5.8lbs. However when you add the Nightforce ATACR, the B.E Meyers MAWL laser, the Surefire light, and the Surefire suppressor you get a rifle that comes in at 9.25lbs, which isn’t exactly light.
The secondary weapon will be the venerable Glock 19 which is currently in service with various SOCOM units. This pistol will be outfitted with a Surefire X300u weapons light, and a Trijicon RMR.
The Helmet System
This is one area where you really don’t want to add weight if you can avoid it. Adding ounces to your head really causes strain on your neck and will induce fatigue much quicker than adding it elsewhere on your body.
The biggest reduction in weight here has come from the excellent Safariland Delta X Helmet. This is by far the lightest helmet that still offers 9mm handgun and blast/frag protection. It’s almost 50% lighter than the equivalent OpsCore, or Team Wendy Helmet.
The balance of the helmet gear is pretty standard with dual tube NVGs and the associated hearing protection and mounts required to run this setup.
First Line Gear
This is the equipment that an operator wears on his body all the time. It is your uniform and duty belt as well as your holster, and belt system. Things like boots are also included in there.
The most important piece of gear to drop weight off of your first line gear is the boots. The general rule of thumb is that any weight removed from your extremities is much more important than weight removed from your center of gravity.
The Salomon Speed Assault boots are an incredible 11oz each. This is pretty good for a pair of sneakers, let alone a combat boot. They are not waterproof, but they do appear to have a great, aggressive sole.
Total Gear Weight
As you can see, we’ve been very detailed in the equipment that a Tier one guy would be carrying, right down to the underwear, and socks. This brings us to the total weight for all of this high speed gear.
55.4 lbs
This is a huge improvement from the typical Marine combat load of 116 lbs, but this is of course the most favorable situation and gear that money can buy.
You could easily add on an additional 5-10lbs of water weight if we consider a long foot movement in a hot environment. The weight would also increase if we consider a colder climate and the need to carry warming layers and more food.
Based off of my other gear reviews for DEVGRU operators and MARSOC Raiders, I would estimate that buying all of this equipment would run around $45,000 dollars, which is quite the hefty price tag. Crucially this does put the overall equipment load at 31% of a 175lb operators bodyweight, which is right in line with our research recommendations.
Final Thoughts
I think that leaders in the tactical community are going to have to start paying more attention to this issue because it is getting people killed. Frankly, it’s very hard for leaders to justify dropping weight from personal protective equipment, knowing that someone could be hurt because of that decision.
They need to accept that risk, knowing that the risk of creating more casualties from overburdening troops is clearly much higher. I remember from my Marine Corps days that my plate carrier alone with front, back, and side level 4 sapi plates weighed 30 pounds. That’s without any pouches, ammo, water or any type of mission essential gear on it. Weight discipline is a must.
We cannot forget that fitness does matter, and it has a direct impact on ones ability to stay alive and uninjured. If you don’t know what to do, then check out my free 72 week training program that should take you from, “Eh I go to the gym” to, “holy crap what kind of steroids is that guy taking.”
Remember if you want the full details and links to all this equipment then download the spreadsheet, and you can pick up some of this gear yourself. Now get out there and start training!
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