Plate Carrier Pouches for Rifle mags Only?

Over the past few months I have been debating on the placement of my mags. While at work they sit on my hip horizontally on my duty belt. On my Work carrier they sit vertically on the support hand side of my carrier. I am used to this and have been practicing this setup for 2 years now. When I am Instructing I often see students come in with mags either high on their plate carriers or directly on the hip of the support hand side on a battle belt. When I ask them why the often I get more time than not is "I saw a setup like this."

So my question is what works for you?

Have you tested it?

What if you had to ditch your plate carrier, Would you still have ammo?

I Just want to see what others think and how they feel about it.