Spartan Tactical Platform

May 14, 2010
Here's one platform you can mount all your stuff on and then mount the platform in your vehicle, or carry it like a back pack or carry it like a duffle bag.

Across the years I've written several articles about "Go Bags" or "Bug Out Bags" and I've tried to explain the evolutions as I've gone through them. I've also written a number of back packs and vests all tailored to carry specific gear needed under various circumstances. For all that I'd never seen a single platform that could serve as a back pack, go bag or equipment platform (in replacement of a vest) until I was introduced to the Spartan Tactical Platform. Here's one platform you can mount all your stuff on and then mount the platform in your vehicle, or carry it like a back pack or carry it like a duffle bag. Interesting.

Shown in the top right photo is the Tactical Platform mounted on the back of a seat. Different pouches and configurations are shown dependent on your mission needs. The beautiful part of this platform is that it's completely modular and can be customized to your specific needs. Using any MOLLE-compatible pouches and quick attachments systems (like speed strips from BLACKHAWK) you can reconfigure the platform in a matter of minutes for each specific mission. I remember a time when I was in the back of an Excursion fully kitted up and although I had spare rifle mags on my vest it would have been nice to have a few more hanging on the seat back in front of me. Even better would have been to be able to pull the whole thing out when we bailed out of the truck (slow or fast) and take the gear with us. Additionally, as many of us know, it's wonderful to have all your own kit organized the way you want it in the vehicle you're in. But that might not be the vehicle you're in tomorrow or even a couple hours for now. It's handy to be able to grap your pre-organized kit, unstrap it from a seat, carry it over to your replacement vehicle, restrap it and be good to go.

The Spartan Tactical Platform - properly called the Vehicle Modular Platform or VMP (patent pending) - can be removed from the vehicle, folded in half and carried as a "Go Bag". Of course, if you want to do this quickly and easily then you have to remember what your total weight is when you're configuring and loading it. It's easy to hang weight on a seat; it's not so easy when you have to grap it in one hand and start moving quick. Thirty or forty pounds and you're probably okay. Make that seventy or eighty and that "Go Bag" gets a tad difficult in one hand. But there is another option...

The VMP is equipped with adjustable pack straps so that you can also hump it as a backpack if need be - and once you get above a certain load weight on it you'll definitely want this capability. If you plan for this and configure it properly you can easily reach the pouches mounted (while you carry it as a pack) near your hips. Obviously, if you're part of a stacked team, your buddy behind you can easily reach anything on the pack without having to open any zippers or pockets. All the pouches are presented to him as if he was pulling them off your vest - front or back.

An important note, although I've said it's fully modular, is that you can configure it any way you want to suit any need you have. If you want to put only ammo on it, so be it. If you want to build a breacher's kit, so be it. If you want one to be your food and hydration platform (on the back of one seat) and the other to be ammo and first-aid, so be it. That's how you build them and configure them to suit your needs and desires. If your situation is such that you anticipate leaving them in the vehicle most of the time, then set up one for each seat with hydration available near the top so you can drag the drinking tube over the seat back and get your sip. Or, leave that hydration for emergency use and sip from your water bottle. It's your call - but versatility is what permits that.

With field needs in mind, the folks at Spartan Tactical designed the VMP to also serve as a ground marker. In the event you need to mark a landing zone or simply your spot for an air visual, the VMP can be folded out into a VS-17 panel. Spartan Tactical reports that several units have been field tested in Iraq and Afghanistan with positive feedback received. I built my test VMP into several different configurations and may soon find myself reconfiguring it for semi-permanent mounting in my truck.

So, if you're looking for a single platform to organize your kit that you can mount in your vehicle OR carry as a Go Bag OR sling as a backpack, this is it. Determine your needs, get your pouches and mounting strips and set it up just the way you want it. No more trying to figure out how you're going to fit what you need into what the system allows. This "system" allows you to create your own carry system.

For more information check out Spartan Tactical online linked below.

Stay Safe.

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