HUSAR Ltd. DOUBLE FRONT FLAP

Introduction & PURPOSE

Micro rigs are the „sh*t“ right now, but if you follow us on Instagram you might know that micro rigs and RBT dont have what can be called a great relationship. So it was even more interesting for us when Husar Ltd. from Poland asked us to do a review on their approach on a micro rig, called the „Double Front Flap“. Now Husars nomenclature for their „micro rig“ already shows that those guys really understand the capacities and limits of a micro system, as they are really good as a placard, but dont really serve any purpose as a standalone chestrig in my eyes.

Of course Husar offers a standalone harness system, but to me it just didnt make any sense to review it. You may ask why? Well, if I use a chestrig without armor I will most likely use it in a recce or combat patrol role. Three mags wont make much sense here, as for recce and combat patrol we are talking about the need for a chestrig that is able to carry four to ten magazines, water, comms, smoke and other assets in a relatively flat package. Well you might say: „there are adapters and sandwich extensions…“. You are right, but I want a system that performs its intended role out of the box without any possible noise and failure points produced by a weird velcro sandwich system. Also a dedicated “six-pack” chestrig might have a bigger footprint, but a much flatter profile. 

Overall Construction

On first sight, Husar wasnt up to do experiments in design and basically used the proven Spiritus chestrig approach. So the rig is split into two hook and loop Velcro lined chambers which are sized 24 by 3 centimeters, which is enough room to place three AR15 magazines in each of them. So the basic idea is to achieve modularity by offering various velcro inserts and flaps which you can place inside the kangaroo style chambers

Switching calibres is achieved as easily as adding a small GP pouch or a pistol magazine. So you are now basically the owner of a placard which is all modular. However I still prefer MOLLE based and hard sewn placards for certain tasks as they generally perform better in their intended role. But more on this later.

Constructionwise HUSAR shows some real innovation compared to its competitors when you look at the details. The chamber which is next to the body features a skeletonized, lasercut base for weight reduction, this is a great approach as the base isnt in contact with friction or the elements and it is just the right place to shed some weight. So someone at HUSAR applied some real engineering here. I would estimate the weight savings caused by this construction approach around 40% percent compared to a full cordura construction

The laminate base also forms the attachment points for the harness and the 25mm National Molding SwiftClip adapters which also saves weight compared to webbing based solutions. On a side note, I didnt find one single piece of webbing on the HUSAR Double Front Flap, so the use of lasercut isnt just a PR gag here.

 All outwards facing elements of the kangaroo pouch are made from regular, folded 500DEN Cordura, which is the right approach as folded Cordura is more friction resistant, especially on corners, compared to laser cut materials.

Each kangaroo chamber has one drainage grommet on the inside which allows water and dust to leave the respective compartment. I also noticed two very, very small holes on the lower corners of the front compartment. I first thought that they where signs of wear and tear, but on a second look I noticed that those holes have been punched intentionally as their fringes were taken care of with a lighter. All in all we couldnt find any construction failures after over six months of semi-constant use.

HUSAR added a GP, a single pistol and a triple .223 rifle insert to the package. All of them are made out of lightweight, laserut fabric and velcro. Those inserts are also very reminiscent to the inserts made by Spiritus Systems but on a closer look they are much more versatile.

While the rifle inserts made by Spiritus Systems are a completely elastic based affair, the rifle insert made by HUSAR Ltd. is much more dedicated and is mainly made out of lasercut fabric while the elastic only adds some tension. This makes reindexing of the mags much easier while also maknig room for some shock cord based retainers, making the rig „jumpable“.

The pulltabs of said retainers are also made out of HUSARs grippy and tarpaulin like lasercut laminate. HUSAR Ltds attention to detail shows up when you see that they even enhanced grip while saving weight by placing cutouts inside of the pull tabs. The attention to details goes so far that they engraved a line saying „PULL“ into each pulltab, which may serve no purpose but however shows their dedication. Finally they added plastic hardware for adjusting the shock cord retention, which may not be necessary as a knot will do the job as well but can come in handy for those of you who store more odd sized items into the mag inserts.

The GP pouch insert also contrasts to the solution made by spiritus system as it is not just a flap but a fully enclosed pouch. This gives you the ability to use the pouch on its own in velcro lined backpacks or as a storage solution. Of course this approach will also help you to organize small eqipment even better.

PERFORMANCE & OBSERVATIONS

Using the HUSAR Ltd. Double Front Flap for over six months showed that it is rugged and works in its intended role. Reloads and reindexing work great, I never lost any Item I stored in the rig and there are just a few complaints which are mainly about the basic idea of a semi modular placard and not about the products quality and design. A thing I would like to see in future incarnations would be a small pulltab in front of the outward facing kangaroo compartment, to make it viable as an ad-hoc storage solution without any inserts.

Husar is great in saving weight, but the velcro based construction doesnt come without additional weight compared to dedicated placards. A full size placard like the Velocity Systems UW Gen IV placard comes with only slightly more weight, while offering more room and more dedicated solutions. So I will prefer to continue buying multiple dedicated solutions as I usually know what kind of loadout I have to use. But especially for law enforcement and “range work” the Husar Front Flap is a great, streamlined system that may perfectly fit odd sized items in a small package. 

However, for all of you who may have to change the micro management of a certain placard on a regular basis the HUSAR Ltd. Front flap is worth a look, especially as it combines some fresh and well thought out approaches, which are apllied with great attention to detail and HUSAR Ltds usual outstanding stitch per inch count.

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