It’s not every day you see a new potential combat/tactical gear load-bearing attachment system replacement for ALICE and PALS/MOLLE (Pouch Attachment Ladder System/Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) webbing come along, particularly one that’s perhaps got an honest shot at it. That’s why DefenseReview (DR) found the new 5.11 Tactical HEXGRID Plate Carrier and the HEXGRID load-bearing attachment system itself so intriguing when we came across it at NDIA SOFIC (Special Operations Forces Industry Conference) 2017.
HEXGRID is comprised of relatively large laser-cut hexagonal holes/attachment points arranged, in, well, a continuous grid pattern, or matrix, if you will. Think tactical honeycomb webbing. “Our longterm goal is that it becomes the go-to for every attachment system on every product that’s out there. So, the great thing about HEXGRID is that you can configure this in six (6) different configurations. Where your typical MOLLE system will only allow you to do vertical, this can configure in six different ways. Even if you went upside down, you could actually get twelve (12) different configurations. So, muscle memory gives you the ability to configure your pouches, your bags, your plate carriers in a lot of different ways that you normally haven’t been able to do that in the past,” says 5.11’s David Hein.
Sounds pretty pretty good.
The 5.11 Tactical HEXGRID Plate Carrier is a “US-made, Berry-compliant plate carrier [tactical armor plate carrier] that we [5.11 Tactical Series] specifically did for the U.S. And, again, it takes our HEXGRID system. Real simple configuration. On the back you see the attachment system. So, you can actually take the HEXGRID panels off, configure them, re-attach them to your hard plates, and then drop it over your shoulders, and you’ve got a cinch-waist system as well,” Hein told DR.
Defense Review plans to keep a close eye on the HEXGRID system’s penetration into the US military, US law enforcment community, and the US civilian tactical shooting world. It’s very interesting, and may just end up replacing MOLLE/PALS webbing. We’ll see.
5.11 Tactical HEXGRID Plate Carrier with HEXGRID Laser-Cut Hexagonal Load-Bearing Attachment System Matrix: PALS/MOLLE-Replacement Tactical Honeycomb Webbing for CombatTactical Gear! (Video!)
by David Crane
About David Crane
David Crane started publishing online in 2001. Since that time, governments, military organizations, Special Operators (i.e. professional trigger pullers), agencies, and civilian tactical shooters the world over have come to depend on Defense Review as the authoritative source of news and information on "the latest and greatest" in the field of military defense and tactical technology and hardware, including tactical firearms, ammunition, equipment, gear, and training.
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