The pouches are still reinforced, but Instead of kydex they use pvc, which I’ve come to prefer.
Yes the taper on the sides was a request of mine. Tactical Tailor used to make a blank pals rig that tapered like that. Basically my design was to merge the Eagle with the tapered backer and add an un-padded chest rig. He also did a custom rig for me with a pouch hard-stitched in to take the