Original Items: Very Few Available. We were fortunate enough recently to add a limited supply of genuine WWII produced grenade chest rigs as used by Marines during WWII. While these chest rigs are nearly identical to the ones produced to be utilized during WWI, they are in fact WWII and one of which has what appears to be a small 1944 dated paper depot label still staple to it.

All are in unissued to near unissued condition and will not last long so be sure to grab one before it is too late!

In its beginning, a “chest rig” was intended to be a simple piece of clothing (or other adornment) worn over clothing, while still providing immediate access to essential items. Often, its evolution over time has been in response to a changing need or factor on the battlefield.

Some of the earliest demonstrations of “chest” equipment were those worn by privateers around the mid-17th Century. For sailors, these were often simple leather suspenders or cummerbunds upon which extra pockets or straps could hold weapons and be easily accessed. Bear in mind the flintlock and hand grenades at the time were crude and a one-shot deal, as the enemy would be upon you before you had time to reload or make another munition ready. Captain Edward Teach (a.k.a. Blackbeard the Pirate; 1680-1718) was perhaps the most notable of these, whose line drawings often depict him wearing a six-musket suspender or bandolier (of which history notes he used quite often). Regardless of the illustration, the premise for Teach was the same—to modify an article of clothing to have a weapon close to the upper torso, and immediately at hand when others would not.

This type of personalized chest garment subsisted quietly for just over a century. And with American societal interests more rooted in isolationism at the time, there was little interest in improving a soldier’s individually worn gear. But invariably the United States found itself embroiled in World War I (1914-1918). And with the improved advent of fragmentary hand grenades, now instead of a specialized individual lobbing crude explosive at the enemy, literally every soldier had the capacity to do so (if only a few times). In WWI, the British had their ’10-Pouch Grenade Apron’ that ideally was worn over the neck as a smock. These were simplistic pieces of gear that were manufactured at scale quickly and cheaply. But the apron interfered with access to gas masks and other equipment so soldiers would wear the apron off to the side and wrapped around the back. Other notable examples during this conflict included the American M-1918 Hand Grenade Vest, or the Japanese Special Naval Landing Force ‘Ryudan-Nou’ grenade vest.