Lifchik.

I don't claim to be an expert in everything I cover in these and any other following articles, but I can give you, the reader the best background and history of the gear, uniforms and equipment I cover in this and other following articles. And hopefully videos.

Infamous pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, carried several pistols about his chest. Various depictions show them high, some show them lower, but the idea remained the same. Carrying them on the torso kept them accessible in an emergency.

During the World Wars, it was common to store extra ordnance like grenades, spare clips, and med kits in bandoliers stretched across the chest. The American’s had a grenade vest that looks very similar to modern chest rigs during WWI. The Germans did it as well with rifle clips and types of bandoliers for the FG-42.

The British and Canadians developed the so-called battle jerkin (insert joke) that looks like an early version of the Israeli Ephod developed in the 1960s-70s but that's beside the point right now. We're here for the chest rig we all know and love.

                                                          The Type-56 Chest Rig!

                                                                     (Not my photo.)

That's right, I'm gonna try and tell you a little bit about this magnificent piece of gear I grew up seeing my Grandpa use and talk about from his days in the 101^st and the Green Berets and that I used for years in airsoft until I modded it up for my little brother.

Made in the 1950s by the PRC (People's Republic of China) and saw widespread use and development well into the present with sub-variants serving from the DMZ of Korea all the way to Latin America.

The name of the Type-56 is literally correspondent with the production of the Type-56 AK pattern rifle which is also still used all over the world. Yet another fine example of simplicity and enduring ease of manufacture both can be seen in photos, videos and even some forms of propaganda if you look hard enough, and video games and movies.

                                                                 (Also not my photo.)          

It's simplicity is very much evident just by looking at it, depending on the variant (Many of which I will link at the end of the article for you to buy if you want or send to a friend who's interested in one) you have or want to get can range from 3 magazine cells to over 8+ if you have the variant made for the SKS rifle stripper clips, and up to 4 auxiliary cells for grenades and cleaning kit and other gear.

The three most notable uses of the Type-56 rig and other sub-variants are the Vietnam war (Used by both sides due to its availability and ability to be used for AK, SKS, M14, M16 and in some cases M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, BAR and SMG troops of the U.S. V.C., N.V.A. and ARVN and ANZAC forces.)

                                                                   (Also not mine.)

                        (Also not mine, if you think that at this point you need to get your eyes checked.)

The Soviet intervention in Afghanistan between 1965-1989, (The active combat role of the 40^th Army was Christmas day 1979 but the Soviets had advisers on the ground prior helping Afghan forces fight the western and Chinese back insurgents, but we'll leave out politics and religion for this article) Used by both sides yet again but perhaps had a longer and larger effect on the service life and made such an imprint on the public in both the East and Western blocs it spawned its own unique variants thanks to Soviet ingenuity and resourcefulness. (But yet again, another article is needed for that whole family of rigs.)

And the war in the Caucasus (Used by both the Soviet Union/Russian Federal troops and Chechen Separatists.)

(Not mine.)

The PLA (People's Liberation Army) had mass mobilization and ease of manufacture in mind when this was designed, meaning in the event of full on war with either the U.S. Over Korea or Vietnam or the USSR due to political differences in their respective communist ideals would allow them to amass hundreds of thousands if not millions of armed conscripts and students to throw themselves into the fight in the name of the glorious revolution!

It's minimalist, its perfect for a first piece of kit, its also very modular in its uses, you can use an ALICE pack with it, just a pistol belt with the added gear on that, if you're really into it you can mod it up with a regular nylon belt and buckle and add your own MOLLE strips to the sides after removing the aux cells to allow even more storage and modular pockets.

                                                     (Neither are mine but fine examples.)    

Now I upgraded up from my very first Type-56 rig to a newer US made one and its pretty good, but if I had to I would always buy or recommend the Type-56 all over again.

There's so many groups and nations that adopted it for use that I can't name them all, but I can name the more notable users and then do articles on each groups respective, common loadout and uniform patterns.

Notable users:

Syria.

Afghanistan.

Vietnam.

Russia/Soviet Union.

Lebanon.

Nicaragua.

Cuba.

Rhodesia.

The U.S.

South Africa.

Angola.

FAPLA.

MPLA.

Tamil Tigers.

Chechnya.

LPR/DPR. (Ukrainian separatists.)

Libya.

Yemen. (Western backed government and the Houthi's.)

Iran.

Iraq.

I could go on but there is just so many users of this rig and its variants.

Thank you for reading this and I hope you liked it, please feel free to comment. All are welcome, and feel free to look at the links below.

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https://amzn.to/2yPmfR7