I am brand new to this forum, but couldn't resist jumping into this topic. It is great to see that my friends down south have the same views on these things as I do way up here. As food for thought, may I suggest something along the line of a good hunting vest to fill the role of civi LBE. Most have as much as or more actual capacity and function than military vests, and are not made by the lowest bidder as most military equipment is. When people see realtree hardwoods green as opposed to military camo they tend automatically to assume you are a hunter or hiker as opposed to being up to no good. I have worn army LBE hunting only to have people look at me like I was insane. When wearing a hunting vest which was almost identical to my military gear (except in hunter camo) no one gave me a second glance. Except for places to store ballistic plates and grenade pouches, a lot of the current hunting vests are stitch for stitch every bit as rugged and reliable as most army LBE, and draw less attention. A nice example is the Primos Randy Anderson Signature Series Predator Hunting Vest. www.BassPro.com