If the Type 56 Chest Rig is considered one of the granddaddies to every modern chest rig, then the Type 81 is the industrious grandson. Produced in staggering numbers for a staggering number of communists, it became so infamously widespread that it might've caused a giant leap in western gear. It's cheap, it's durable, and you can modify it to no end.
It consists of a design so simple and elegant only a red-blooded communist worker could have come up with it (along with the help of the party and their comrades). It consists of 4 main mag cells made to hold Kalashnikov-pattern standard capacity magazines, with a wooden toggle flap over each (although it fits STANAG mags surprisingly well). The smaller side pockets are made to hold small oil and cleaning kits, bandages, and grenades.
The rig consists of an olive drab cotton canvas with thicker material in the main mag flaps, and a soft nylon X-harness with a tied waist belt. That's pretty much it. It managed to help kick capitalist ass for a while until we caught up, but even today it has its own cult of diehard fans, or just people who want to LARP in the jungle.
"Standard AK" Versus "STANAG" Chest Rig Variants
With our batch of rigs, we found some rigs were too short to fit the standard 7.62 AK magazine while closing the wooden toggle and flap closure. However, this meant that these shorter rigs fit 5.45 AK magazines and STANAG magazines far better than the "regular" height rigs. Thus, we've sorted the rigs based on this height difference. In other words:
Standard AK: Fits 7.62 AK mags perfectly. Can fit shorter magazines, but pockets are too deep for them.
STANAG: Fits 5.45 AK magazines and STANAG magazines well. Can fit 7.62 AK mags if the wooden toggle and flap is not used.
Modding
By many, the type 81 is seen more as a platform to begin with, rather than rely on from the get-go. A popular modification is to add buckle fastening to the waist belt, or to remove all the harness components entirely and sew in buckles to be used with popular off the shelf harnesses. If you don't want to go that far, many aftermarket shoulder pads will also fit the rigs harness. You can also remove the auxiliary pouches and sew in MOLLE webbing. Some users punch holes in the pouches to act as drainage ports, and some even waterproof or paint the rig in their own unique style to match their surroundings.
Just as the honorable chairman would say about his benevolence, the sky's the limit here.
Specs
- New Production — this is about the only time you want to see "made in China"!
- Olive drab, worker's-party-friendly commie canvas construction (but like the old kind of communism, the rugged brutalist kind, not the breadtuber kind).
- Holds 4x standard capacity Kalashnikov pattern magazines, accepts a wide variety more with modification
- Auxiliary medical, grenade, and cleaning kit pouches, for each according to their ability
- Soft nylon adjustable X-harness
- Endless modification possibilities
- Zǎo shang hǎo zhōng guó! Xiàn zài wǒ yǒu bing chilling! Wǒ hěn xǐ huān bing chilling!
- Little Red Book not included
- Social credit may be deducted as a result of your purchase.
Condition
Chest Rigs are in factory new condition.
