mattmcg
11-12-09, 17:30
I've been searching high and low for a no compromises kydex AR15 mag pouch to attache to a 1.5" Wilderness belt. I've gone through a ton of mag pouches already and found they were faulty or didn't work in one way or another.
What Kydex mag pouches would you guys recommend?
As a synopsis, here is what I have tried so far:
Comp-Tac
The fit with the mag was perfect and allowed for a smooth pull of the mag from the pouch which I liked. The pouch is also adjustable as well to ensure an even tension and identical mag extraction/insertion effort. This part I really liked.
The belt clip unfortunately isn't secure and many a times while on the run, found that frontal pouches would unclip from my belt and hit the deck (with loaded mags, not a pretty sight). These also did not stack up well next to each other given their offset design which meant more belt space was needed to house 3 pouches.
If I could fix the belt clip with a full loop or a Tek-Loc, I'd be happy with them but this option isn't offered by Comp-Tac.
Ready Tactical
The fit with the mag was poor and fit varied substantially between the 3 pouches I tried. This resulted in varying amounts of pull needed between the different pouches to expel the mag. One was particularly tight and required a significant tug to expel the mag. With them being non-adjustable, this variation of effort to expel a mag was a non-starter.
One pouch did not have enough relief cut into the rear spine area and would only allow the mag to be inserted with significant force while having the rear spine shave off the offending kydex area. While this might fix itself over time as the spine shaved off more of the area, you would likely exacerbate the variation of pull needed to expel the mag with any sort of flex to the belt and pouch. Not good.
One of the pouches also had an offset belt clip edge that had this pouch attach at a slightly different angle. This caused a spacing different between the top of the mags when stacked next to each other as the off angle pouch angled its mag forward into the mag forward of it.
These were obviously hand made and it showed with the amount of variation and inconsistency between the 3 I tried. They were promptly returned.
Kytac
I had two made up for me and found that they were loose on the belt and could easily slide back and forth while walking. There was a velcro pouch on the rear which would contain the pouch if I was using a double IPSC belt, but I was looking for something for a combat belt such as the Wilderness so this velcro wasn't useful.
The mag fit also was not very good. The pouch was rounded which led to inconsistent tension with the mag. The mag does have adjustable tension with a single set screw but the variation in mag tension was still noticeable even with the tension screws at their extremes to balance the mag extraction effort.
I think these mag pouches had potential but needed a bit more work to make them an acceptable option.
I will be trying the Blade-Tech Tek-Loc's soon and will see if those work. I'll be testing the Kydex versions and steer clear of the plastic injection molded versions. I'm hoping these are an improvement over what I've used so far but would like to investigate others as well.
What Kydex mag pouches would you guys recommend?
As a synopsis, here is what I have tried so far:
Comp-Tac
The fit with the mag was perfect and allowed for a smooth pull of the mag from the pouch which I liked. The pouch is also adjustable as well to ensure an even tension and identical mag extraction/insertion effort. This part I really liked.
The belt clip unfortunately isn't secure and many a times while on the run, found that frontal pouches would unclip from my belt and hit the deck (with loaded mags, not a pretty sight). These also did not stack up well next to each other given their offset design which meant more belt space was needed to house 3 pouches.
If I could fix the belt clip with a full loop or a Tek-Loc, I'd be happy with them but this option isn't offered by Comp-Tac.
Ready Tactical
The fit with the mag was poor and fit varied substantially between the 3 pouches I tried. This resulted in varying amounts of pull needed between the different pouches to expel the mag. One was particularly tight and required a significant tug to expel the mag. With them being non-adjustable, this variation of effort to expel a mag was a non-starter.
One pouch did not have enough relief cut into the rear spine area and would only allow the mag to be inserted with significant force while having the rear spine shave off the offending kydex area. While this might fix itself over time as the spine shaved off more of the area, you would likely exacerbate the variation of pull needed to expel the mag with any sort of flex to the belt and pouch. Not good.
One of the pouches also had an offset belt clip edge that had this pouch attach at a slightly different angle. This caused a spacing different between the top of the mags when stacked next to each other as the off angle pouch angled its mag forward into the mag forward of it.
These were obviously hand made and it showed with the amount of variation and inconsistency between the 3 I tried. They were promptly returned.
Kytac
I had two made up for me and found that they were loose on the belt and could easily slide back and forth while walking. There was a velcro pouch on the rear which would contain the pouch if I was using a double IPSC belt, but I was looking for something for a combat belt such as the Wilderness so this velcro wasn't useful.
The mag fit also was not very good. The pouch was rounded which led to inconsistent tension with the mag. The mag does have adjustable tension with a single set screw but the variation in mag tension was still noticeable even with the tension screws at their extremes to balance the mag extraction effort.
I think these mag pouches had potential but needed a bit more work to make them an acceptable option.
I will be trying the Blade-Tech Tek-Loc's soon and will see if those work. I'll be testing the Kydex versions and steer clear of the plastic injection molded versions. I'm hoping these are an improvement over what I've used so far but would like to investigate others as well.