Drop leg plate for any molle pouch with two vertical straps and up to three horizontal crossings (I don't know if there are any technical names for molle components, sorry).

Why?

I've been carrying a drop leg pouch as part of my EDC for many years now. It always contains a first aid kit and some tools, just in case. it has come in handy many times over the years, but the situation was getting out of hand as my bag was getting bigger and bigger, so some time ago I decieded I needed to slim it down. After looking for options online I realised that all the ready made drop leg pouches were way too big to suit my needs, so the only other option was a molle pouch and a drop leg plate, but drop leg plates were either too big or too expensive for me. So here we are, with an easy to print and sew, inexpensive drop leg molle plate for all your molle needs.

What you'll need:

• The 3d printed plate

For the upper assembly:

• Some 38mm (1.5") webbing
• 1x 38mm (1.5") quick release buckle
• Some 25mm (1") webbing
• Some button snaps or sew on velcro

For the lower assembly (if you are making it, I did not make mine):

• Some 38mm (1.5") webbing
• 1x 38mm (1.5") quick release buckle
• 1x 38mm (1.5") strap length adjuster (idk how it's called, sorry)
• Some 38mm (1.5") elastic webbing (optional)

Printing

The piece barely fits on the bed of my Prusa Mini, so it should fit on most printers. I printed mine in PETG with 0.2mm layers. High perimeter counts and infill percentages are recommended for strength (I don't remember exactly, but I believe I used 10 perimeters and 75% infill). It should be printed flat on the bed and no supports are required.

Both the buckles and the strap adjuster can be 3d printed and stls can be found online, but I won't recommend any as I have not experimented with them.

Assembly

Some basic sewing skills are reqired to finish the project.

Upper part assembly:

First of all you will need about 12cm (4.73") of the 38mm webbing. Thread it through the upper slot of the 3d printed piece and the male part of your buckle, fold it on itself and sew it shut as shown in the picture:

Then you'll need to make the belt attachment. You'll need about 7cm (2.75") of 38mm webbing to thread through the female part of the buckle. Figure out the size of belt loop you'll want to end up with (mine is 6cm (2.36")), triple that and add about 2cm (0.79") (OPTIONAL: add 1 or 2 more times the size of your belt loop if you want to fold the ends on themselves, making your belt loops look a bit nicer). Now that you have this measurement cut two pieces of 25mm webbing to this size. Fold the webbing as shown in the picture:

Place your two loops next to each other side by side, take your 38mm webbing, thread it through te female part of the buckle, fold it in half and with its ends pinch the lower part of your two belt loops, keeping the center line of the webbing aligned with the space between the two belt loops. Sew as shown in the picture:

Now add your button snaps or your velcro and the upper part of the plate is done

Lower part:

I will not provide detailed instructions for the lower part as I did not make mine, I took it from another drop leg bag I had, but here's mine, if you want to make your own:

Thread your lower strap through the two lower loops of the 3d printed part as shown and you are done:

Is it durable enough?

I have been wearing mine all day every day for a month now, it had to withstand some running, jumping and a couple of light hits and it is doing rally well. it doesn't show any visible signs of damage, no delamination, deformation or broken bits, so I'd say yes, it is durable enough for me, but depending on your application it might not be. I will update if anything happens to mine. 

If you think it might not be durable enough for you I provided a template to cut the plate out of a sheet of alumin(i)um or whatever you might like. This option has some pros and cons:

Pros:

• stronger
• thinner, easier to thread molle pouches through the plate
• you may form it to the curvature of your own leg

Cons:

• all corners must be well rounded, otherwise you run the risk of cutting through your molle stuff, your straps, your clothes or yourself
• it might get quite hot in the summer