 Let's take another look at the flick. Hey everyone, Dylan Schumacher, Citadel Defense, and we're back with another edition of American Minuteman Gear, and we're going to talk about the flick here, the Fighting Load Carrier, the FLC. Now, I did a video on this before specifically talking about the flick as give away kit and being equipped to give away to people, and I still think it is a big winner when it comes to that role. However, I think that there are some limitations to it and there's a reason I personally am not going to run it as my main rig, so let's talk about that. So again, I would just like to start out by saying I think the flick is a completely viable setup. I think it's a good idea. I think it carries load extremely well, extremely even. I mean, I have nothing in here right now because I'm going to put this in my storage bin, but I think that you can carry eight mags up front. I've got a dump pouch on here. I've got a GP slash med pouch here. I had medical on here. I took that off. And then on the back here, I have my butt pack. And then I also have two water canteen pouches on here. So you can load this thing up really well. It carries load super even, super well, and I think it does a really good job there. When you take the butt pack off, it's pretty compatible with a ruck or a pack and I really had no issues there even with the water bottle pouches on it. So I think that's another win where I could wear it over armor. I could wear it in a vehicle. Again, no butt pack. I could have it compatible with a ruck. Again, take the butt pack off. But there are definitely options and it definitely feels a variety of needs. On top of that, it's extremely affordable. You can find these on eBay and you can find pouches and stuff and you can dye this sucker and you can make it extremely, extremely doable. So if you're at all looking for kit on a budget, I would probably point you towards the flick and I think you're going to have a lot of success there. So what's the limitation and why for me is it not going to be the winner? And I think the reason is twofold. One, it does carry the load super even, right? But the water bottle pouches are harder to access and if that's your main water source, right, like you're not wearing a bladder or anything else, you know, it's just tough to get back here and get those out. So we're stopped, we're on a halt. I want to take some drink of water. It's tough to do that. Now you could say, well, hey Dylan, you know, bump the water forward. Your setup sucks. Fix your setup. And I think there could be some arguments to be made there. However, for me, the purpose of fighting load carriers or any kind of, you know, harness gear here that we're carrying stuff with is ammo, right? That's the very first thing I need. That's what I'm there to do. I'm there to fight. So that's always going to have my primary placement. Usually behind that is medical and then behind that is you use sustainment. Water tends to fall into sustainment. That's how I think through my kit, you might be different. But that's, for me, the ranking of priorities. And so therefore that's why water gets put where it is and that just is what it is. Now I did test fit. I didn't actually like fill it up and go run it or anything. So take it with a grain of salt. But I did test fit fitting like a three liter bladder in the butt pack, okay? And you could just run the hose over. And so that might be an option to make water a little bit more accessible. But now you're stuck with the butt pack. And that only really becomes an issue in like the winter, in the summer. You know, I would probably just run a ruck with a bladder anyway. I'm a big fan of bladders. I think it makes drinking water much more accessible than water bottles. So I always prefer a bladder over a water bottle when I can. So that is one, just accessibility to water which is something I need fairly often. It's the highest priority of sustainment gear, right? And just getting it in and out is just kind of frustrating. So I'm gonna move away from it for that. The other thing, and because if I wanted to get it myself, right I have to unclip the whole rig. I have to set it down. I have to pull up my water bottle. Or if you have a ruck, the nice thing with there is I can just slip the ruck off. I can grab my water by myself and it's much easier without taking off my whole fighting load. The second big reason of why the flick is not for me is that I think the flick shines and I think it does best when it's set up like this. With the butt pack, with all the gear on it, and this is it. This is all you run. You're not gonna run a ruck. You're not gonna do anything else. You're just gonna throw on your flick. You're gonna grab your rifle, you know, your ears, your helmet, whatever, and you're gonna go. And that, I think it really, really shines there. It's basically like a better webbing version. You know, webbing being like a traditional belt with suspenders, right? I think Vietnam era stuff. You know, this whole series started because I did a semester at one shepherd and I ran webbing and I thought that was a much better way to carry sustainment kit and weight. And so I kind of, I've been moving that direction. I've just gone through a couple of evolutions in the past, I don't know, two plus years that we've been doing this series. So I think that the flick definitely shines in that category. So I think that the flick definitely shines when it's a standalone rig. I think it does fantastic there. And if you had one of these loaded up, you know, just for yourself because that's how you're gonna run it or in a cache or whatever. Or again, giveaway kit and they're just gonna run it just as is. Man, it's gonna shine marvelously because it's gonna carry its weight really, really well. But because I usually like to carry a rock, I like to have extra space. I wanna pair that with my chest rig. For me, the flick just isn't gonna work. And that partly might just be a preference thing. So why is this in a Minuteman series at all? Why not just put this as just another video on gear? And the reason I place this in a Minuteman series is the flick actually might be a really good piece of Minuteman gear. And what I mean is specifically for Minuteman, your mission likely has a shorter duration. Likely you don't need to be out for 24, 48, 72 hours, right? Likely you just need to get through the next six to 10 hours, right? Or maybe like one to 10 hours. You don't need necessarily a lot of other stuff. When you think about Minutemen, right in the American tradition of that, you're talking about fighting on known territory around where you live. So when the parachutes start dropping and the blue helmets are here and you need to like gear up, likely you just need to get through the next couple hours and then you're gonna have a spot to hide or stop or rest or retire from the field or resupply or whatever. And in that case, maybe the flick makes a lot of sense for you. Because like I said, it's gonna shine super well in that kind of six to 12 hour window of just having enough stuff to fight and live for the next 12 hours. And you can get by just wearing this over that 12 hours. Man, that is gonna save you a lot of weight, a lot of energy, and it will definitely behoove you in accomplishing your mission. So I don't think the flick is for me personally. And that, like I said, could just be a preference thing. But I think the flick has a lot of potential application for the everyday American minuteman because it is gonna give you that versatility. It's gonna allow you to flex into, again, all the way up to carrying a rock or whatever, just dump the butt pack, all the way down to just carrying the flick. You can put it over armor. It's gonna give you, you can wear it in a vehicle. You're gonna have that capability. And if your mission set is specifically more intended for shorter duration engagements, man, the flick might be it for you. So take a look at it. Let me know what you think. Again, the affordability to performance ratio is definitely there. And I think there are some benefits to owning a flick, even if it's just as a giveaway kit. Hope that gives you something to think about. Do brave deeds and endure.