We have finally located a photo of the new cummerbund for the Soldier Plate Carrier System. As you can see, it is not a tradition plate carrier cummerbund but rather an over sized side plate carrier. It’s main weakness is that it is suspended by two side release buckles on either end along with a single, adjustable “T” bar-style adapter that attaches via the diagonal back straps to a D-ring. It looks like this feature was added to help support the weight, but it’s still going to sag.
However, there are a couple of commercial solutions out there that adapt to the SPCS to provide a more traditional cummerbund.
What a giant Clusterf%#k. My four year old godson could design something better than that monstrosity.
It’s been for a while now, on KDH website 😀
http://www.kdhdefensesystems.com/products/military/kdh-soldier-plate-carrier-system/
😉
WOW! you’d figure that after 10 years of fighting the regular army would get it right first UCP now this how much is this going to cost before they decide it was a waste!
You have got to be kidding.
I agree. Natick and the US Army are still as stupid as ever.
anyone ever worn it? my issue with the original was it was not wide enough to really transfer the weight to my hips.
That T shaped piece is on the normal KDH PC as well, and it still doesn’t prevent sag there, either.
It’s just a terrible system. So adding a “cummerbund” after the fact is still cheaper than just getting a better system with one in the first place? Unlikely.
KDH continues to design the worst products for the warfighter. Additionally Commanders continue to think outside the box and allow their Soldiers the flexibilty to not only chose gear, but wear what makes sense and provides more comfort. A Soldier who arrives on the OBJ less fatigued is extremely more lethal than a Soldier catching his breath or adjusting his gear before he enters a room.
I’d rather use ducktape as a cummerbund…
@Zak- I’m not sure what you were saying exactly, but commanders continue to think “inside the box”. They do not allow soldiers any flexibility in choosing gear, and there in lies the problem. Soldiers are stuck with this crap day in and day out. It really kills morale and makes soldiers want tobleave the military. The Army has flopped on gear selection since the beginning of the war. It’s sad to see our Army fail the troops sooo bad.
You’ve gotta be freakin’ kidding me. The thinking behind the up-armored HMMWV comes to personal equipment.
This KDH monstrosity is dangerous on few levels:
1. It forces joe into junque USGI gear. Will that whatever it is work after that diagonal strap gets torn off after a snag while un-assing a vehicle?
2. It tempts motivated, dedicated troops to look elsewhere for gear that will get he job done. We know that guy. Usually a well-mentored single (or frequently deployed married) E-4 thru E-6 with his own AR and maybe a pistol or 3. Now this in and of itself isn’t a problem. Where the problem develops is the dude down the line in the squad who’s light by a stripe or two but heavy by a couple three dependents. He knows what a top-tier PC with a well-designed cummerbund (offered by any of the vendors down the right column of the SSD home page) costs. He knows that the surplus store outside the back gate has a knockoff that costs half. Might fit E-SAPIs, might not. Might fit USGI backers, might not. Mostly, it costs half, and comes in Mmmmulticam.
3. Officers and NCOs have to choose between telling everyone to wear the easily identifiable POS (which they’d prefer not to wear themselves) or choosing which gear brands are kosher and which are not (complexity compounded by the fact that even the BEST products out there need a tweak or two to work well while fully loaded).
Me? I’m gonna engineer a real-looking diagonal strap and a couple SR fasteners that only look like they’re bearing weight and slap ’em on my PIG…
Another swing and a miss!