Recently swapped my Esstac coyote belt setup for multicam.

Looks awesome man. I love multicam. I was pumped when I deployed in 13 and 16 to bagram because I got to wear a multicam flight suit instead of the green trash bags that we wore state side.

Awesome. I am going to work today to practice reloading off the magnet to I don't look like a doof on friday. Not to mention I don't want to lose my ranking by learning during the comp hahaha. This is also my first angled mag carrier so I have to get used to that as well.

I figured since you are a mall cop, you of all people should know that looking good is 90% of the fight.

I noted the wrinkles or lack of them is a characteristic of the Brookwood Squadron laminate. It is a very stiff material. A page or two back, I posted a side by side of the Esstac vs Trex dump pouches. The TREX is wrinkled to hell. It makes your snide comment useless as a dig to my opinion. The Esstac is much larger. The resiliency of the material is a large pro of the product in my limited experience with it. Granted the Trex has a flap on top, putting things in it like a mag or a bottle on the fly, while not tough at all, sometimes can be annoying because the pouch deforms while empty. This was not an issue with the Esstac in my class I took last Sunday. It stayed wide open which made stowing a half full mag after a 'tac reload' easier because I would just drop the mag in, compared to using the feed lips to open the Trex and then pushing it in. Little mechanics like that is worth noting in my eyes because in the comp world, making up time that is only half a second is worth it if you need to keep the mag rather than dropping it on the ground.

Here is the the picture again in case you missed it.
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Enough with the digging. You fight Esstac. You fight my opinion when it comes to them. You clearly have disdain when it comes to social media guys and popular gear(Hence your starting of the crap navyman video thread in GD). Either take your officer money and buy some of their stuff to show us why we are wrong, or take a seat and let people get excited about their new gear and give initial impressions and range reports. This is a tech forum and we are giving opinions of what works best for us. All you do is come in and dump garbage based on a vague description of your .mil career. I am not going to reply to anymore of your garbage, but even though it is tech, if you throw a punch, I am punching back. Poor guy who started the new belt thread got extremely derailed because of your interjections. He was proud and excited. Be happy for people instead of calling everything shit because of blind hate. Damn it, I might catch another warning after this. Worth it.

Thank you for your insights zipper suited sky god who has descended upon us poor ground pounders from the heavens and bestowed upon us cave dwellers the sacred Air Force pogue knowledge of nylon gear. always in the most pretentious manner possible.

You might want to switch to decaf for a couple days

Hilariously, I do not drink anything caffeinated.



You are more than welcome. I try to get information out about things from a technical standpoint. Materials used, knowing the 'why' in the design. Doesn't take 'combat' to find out if a material or design is useful. But carry on good sir, I know I will.

Ok Initial Report from first practice session with the magnetic pouch. Nothing special. Took a shot or two, reloaded, then proceeded with a follow up shot. Just some notes to keep it short for my new fans around here :)

-The pouches have sharp corners. Moving with a fat stomach or beer gut, if you put these at 11 o'clock and don't tuck your shirt in, they are a little stabby. Not a big deal, just worth noting.
-Glock mags run significantly better while full. When empty while dry firing, it doesn't feel as strong.
-I think I prefer the straight pouch over the angle. I like reloading from the angle better, but when I put a mag on the magnet, it acts like a double stack, and sometimes I would grab the mag in the pouch.
-From a comp stand point. You could be introducing a third mag orientation depending on how you lay out your belt. Keep this in mind because that is additional ways to train for muscle memory, and depending on how much you may reload in one stage, it could be rough for a bit to learn. I think the picture from @esstac- on the bottom of page 117 is the ticket to success. Get all the same angles. Put the mags on the magnet in the same angle. I tried putting on mags to the magnet by placing the mag parallel to the floor, and placing the back of the mag against the magnet which did not work for me.

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The multicam belt is showing how I started the session. I only used that for 15~ reloads and I did not like how it felt. I switched to the grey rig and liked that a lot more. I then switched the multicam to make the mag inline with the angle. It will take time to learn because of the ripping motion compared to a pulling motion. If these are your first pouches, yes, I think they would be great for steel shoots and idpa. LEO duty? Nope. You would knock off that extra mag the second it snagged, or your body will bump it off.

@Whiskersthecat I don't know how much you would like them for Cola Warrior. I know the shop guys at Esstac have done a CW lately with other stuff, but they can add their opinion for more active shooting. The magnetic force is fairly strong (enough to run and shit) but if you had to crawl, lean against a barricade or fit through something... bye bye mag ha! If you want to try one out, email me man and maybe I can ship the version you like out to fuck with for a couple weeks.

Yeah I think they're mainly for 2 gun.

I need to get more esstac stuff lol I honestly love every product I've tried

My first belt was all BFG ten-speed mag stuff.  It makes for a slick, light setup but there are drawbacks.  Primarily, reholstering magazines is fiddly, and I always had to look at it to do it efficiently.
Esstac is the way, and I have seen the light.

You just made me have an 'Ah-ha' moment. Why the hell didn't I think of that. Thank you sir, you just cut my dry firing down by a couple hours for the next few days. And sorry if I was unclear, I am all for the angled. I liked that a lot. I meant the magnetic pouch being used outside of gaming, unless it was for light utility.

And flgfish. Bad ass man, do you have a picture?

I didn't, but I took one because you asked.  Blue Alpha belt, Esstac mag pouches, BFG dump pouch, Coyote burrito, Safariland QLS adapter/holster.  That one is a Ragnarok with a G44 in it, because that was what I grabbed out of the safe.  All things are attached with one wrap except the QLS adapter, which is on a Safariland high ride adapter.

Awesome dude. How do you like the Blue force gear dump pouch? And nice patch lol!

I like it.  The size is the main thing.  It's functional as a dump pouch if a bit of a PITA to stow after deployment, but it disappears when you're not using it.

What is everyone's preferred pistol mag pouch that supports both Glock and 2011 mags? I was planning on the esstac pouches but I see that they make ones specifically for 2011 mags, and this has me believing that their standard pistol kiwi's don't play well with 2011 mags, is this correct?

I think the "shell" is the same but the insert is different. On Esstac's site you can order the inserts. Easy enough to pop them in and out depending on what you're running that day. Personally, that's the game plan I have for myself on this very same issue, until someone tells me I'm wrong.

The inserts also loose shape over time if you keep mags in them. They still securely hold mags, and they are easy to reshape. Not sure if the 2011 use a different thickness kydex though.

Thanks for the info, guys. I did not realize that the Esstac inserts were specific and swappable!

Not worth it.

Thanks primarily to all the input of this thread I just ordered my first belt setup. I went with QLS mid ride, holsters for lighted G17 and Beretta 92X pistols. Two single kywi pistol mag pouches, one mid ride double gap mp5 kywi pouch (for two beretta 30rd mags), and two single .556 kywi pouches. Belt is Blue Alpha Gear standard double belt, and I’ll have a HSGI micro grip Velcro liner as an option. Idea is to have a rig fairly easy to switch from Glock/AR, to my Beretta/PCC. All that stuff wouldn’t be on it at the same time of course, rifle pouches and holsters would be swapped. It was suggested here to try the double belt and padded insert, for multiple use/flexibility reasons, which makes sense. In reality I’ll mostly use this as a first practice rig for range trips, to hopefully improve my skill. The padded liner is a good way to have a super quick don belt, for that ever present bump in the night scenario. ;) I’ve been enjoying all the pics and posts in this thread, I’ll put one up once this all gets here and you guys can then tell me how to redo it all correctly. :D

They are. Also they are easy to form. Turn on a stove burner and let it heat up if you need more tension or less. I left glock mags in mine for a couple weeks one time. They lost a lot of retention. Heat up and bend the tabs outward more if you like that tight fit.

Also, if you plan on swapping them, my plan of attack is taking my index finger and starting from the top and putting my finger down the velcro side until it is like a barrier to the velcro. Use your other hand and slide the insert right out instead of fighting the velcro. It can be done quickly if you decide to take both types of guns to the range on the same day. Hope it helps out man. Let me know how the 2011 inserts work!

Let's see how well the Improved IFAK insert and the LBT-9022B play together...

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Anyone know the intended purpose of the the two grommets and short length of paracord on the IFAK insert? I'm thinking that maybe it is to secure a roll of medical tape.

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Keep in mind, the primary purpose for me exploring the interplay between the USGI Improved IFAK Insert and the LBT-9022B is due to the fact that the BFG MTKN! requires the use of mini bandages. The end result is a larger (but better IMO) belt mounted IFAK.

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Now... Where to place medical shears?

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@Real_PhillBert

Esstac obviously. There is a difference. As others mentioned you can just buy the insert.

When you pull the cord to release the bag, is it tough to install and pack back in? Hypothetically, if you were in a fire fight and pulled the tab and cord, is it easy to put back or would you have to leave it/put it in a pack?

Probably something to do with putting it on over weather layers or something.  I dunno, not like I have any experience with it.

Being on the small of your back, none of them make it easy to place the contents/inserts back into the sleeve. It is easier to reinsert than a MTKN!.

If I had to deploy it with bullets flying, I'd probably just stuff it into a cargo pocket afterwards.

Yep. I have the MTKN! And whatever of the few items in there that weren't used, would go in my pocket or dump pouch. I should actually get a few more pressure bandages and gauze to keep in my truck or pack to resupply my small belt and PC kits after I use them. If it is ever down to real SHTF and I have to use them, I don't think I'll be going home and ordering more online!

The current USGI IFAK has a bad habit of falling out at the worst times. I've stuffed a buddie's back into his pouch more than a couple times in training.

I doubt any decent civilian-designed pouch has this issue though.

This guy does the same - seems to work for him.

That video is what prompted me to pick up the insert. I think I posted it earlier in this thread.

Gottcha. It's hard to keep up

I'm trying to decide if I'm happy with my BFG Now!, or if I might like something else better.

The Coyote Burrito is simpler than the BFG solution and easier to pack.  Not as compact.  Has an integrated TQ holder.  I like it.

That's the one I keep going back to. What I am looking for doesn't have to be ultra-compact, but I would like upward or downward deployment. I like the LBT fine but not in love with finer motor skills that seem needed to deploy.

No, but now I need one.

Pretty sure it was based on the SOTECH Viper. FWIW apparently USAMMDA and CoTCCC are going back and forth on trying to slim down the JFAK and go with something like the NAR Eagle.
Sounds like USAF wants to keep the gigantic JFAK they developed a few years ago, no idea on input from the other branches.
Mag sized med pouches are great, most orgs/agencies implementing TCCC keep TQs stowed separately anyhow.

Well if SHTF, and that was my only medical supplies on my at the time, I would not want to leave it behind. Repacking is maybe not the word I had in mind, more like retaining the supplies. I don't have a solution other than maybe velcro and a swift clip like the system I have. I have seen that pack enough to just wonder. I should have made it more clear that I was wondering about the tab and the white wire/string and how it is strung through.

Thank man, I was just curious since most of you guy rock it. I am not a med expert so what ever I have on my is all I got and I need to keep track of it if I can LOL.

If you are worried about keeping all of your med kit components, the LBT pull tab could easily be tethered to your belt. Once you yank out and use the USGI insert, you could fold it back up and shove it in a cargo pocket.

Re: the wire. It is a flexible braided wire with clear shrink wrap over it. When you pull the tab, it flexes enough to allow you to pull it out of the cordura loops on the bottom of the LBT-9022B.

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Wanted a bottle pouch on the war belt. Maxpedition mini. Perfect.

All my stuff is Esstac ranger green. Anybody make a kydex holster in ranger green to go with it? Looks like the new Safarilands only come in ranger green for the MOS versions (G19). OD green is probably a second choice I'm just not sure how it will match.

Raven Tactical makes two IFAKs that are low profile. I've used them at work for the past 7 years. Quality is great and they function perfectly. I've had them mounted on different PC/belts. They stay put while running, sprinting, climbing fences, etc. Worth a look.

IFAKs

Out walking in the woods a little today
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Did a little shooting too
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I just got a coyote tactical burrito in today. I like it. Super simple and came with a insert that fit exactly what I wanted in it (chest seals, chitogauze, and a bandage). It's probably as small as you can go and get what I want in it.
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Working on my first belt:

Esstac Shooters Belt
Esstac mag pouches
Esstac dump pouch
Soil Eater TQ holder
Leatherman Mut




Will probably get a Blue Alpha Gear hook for gloves and a HSGI Bleeder pouch.

I 3d printed a belt loop for the Leatherman Mut, working so far, might replace it with an Esstac one for peace of mind though.

I need new holsters, I asked this on another thread, but do you all consider active retention a requirement for battle belt holsters?

Thanks