Pouches, Pouches on the internet, which of you is the best?

Pouches can be great to have. They allow to expand the capacity of your pack or organize your gear for quicker access… So what pouch is right for you? I don’t know. It depends on exactly what you have intended for it’s use.

I will be touching on some of my most commonly used pouches.

Tactical Admin pouch
5L Dry bag
Stuff Sack
Condor H2O pouch
Military NBC bag
AMYIPO Tactical Increment Pouch
MOLLE Medic Pocket

Tactical Admin Pouch

I’ve been using this pouch for about a year now. It’s gone on almost every trip with me. I must say, it fits more than I expected in it. With a 6L capacity, it’s got plenty of room to expand the capability of almost any pack. And push come to shove, it can make for great organization of a larger kit inside your pack.

I chose this one because it can mount horizontally as shown in the picture. I’ve been using it off and on over the last year depending on my trip needs. So far the quality has been decent and durable enough for what I’ve put it through. Time will tell though if the pair I bought will be worth the $20 invested.

5L Dry Bag

The 5L Dry Bag came in a survival based subscription box by Creek Stewart called the Apocoboxg. Originally I thought this bag would be bigger than I would need. After packing and using it, it’s a bit smaller than thought. I typically use 2 at the moment, one for clothing and one for my food. I’ve not yet had anything get wet, so it does work as advertised and I’m not yet disappointed.

I’m not fond of it’s size. The extra seams created by the window seem to be unnecessary. To me it just seems to create extra unnecessary failure points.

However, the window is great, allowing me to see what’s inside without having to open it. Another nice feature in a once filled and the buckle secured, it does make a convenient handle to grab the bag by. It also sports another buckle you can tie to.

All in all, it does what it’s supposed to do, keep your stuff inside it dry. Because I feel the benefits outweigh the cons, I will continue to use them until they fall apart or no longer fit in with the rest of my gear.

Stuff Sack

While it looks like a mundane generic stuff sack, it really is just that. Purchased for my daughter for a school trip, I took possession when she was going to just toss it out in the garage. Not all that much to really say about it. It’s large enough to hold an average sleeping bag.

I don’t use for anything outside of storing a sleeping bag uncompressed when it’s not being used. I did attempt to use it to carry my “Shelter Kit” but because of the compression strap location and a touch of OCD, I could not get the bag to be symmetrical enough for my liking for that use. So it’s been relegated to being just a vessel to hold an uncompressed sleeping bag.

Condor H2O Pouch

The Condor H2O pouch is great for carrying a stainless steel 20oz cup with a 32oz water bottle nested inside. In fact other than being recommended by my best friend, this was the sole reason for buying it, to carry my GSI cup and Stainless Nalgene bottle.

The main compartment has a top flap to allow you to drop your water bottle in from the top. The top flap has a slot to allow the use of a CamelBak bladder like setup, though I have zero idea what size bladder would be used, but the option is there. In addition there are 2 “D” rings on the top to attach a shoulder strap to or use the MOLLE straps on the “back” to attach it to your belt or pack. With a larger than expected front pouch (26 cubic inches), there’s room to carry a few extra EDC items.

NBC Bag

NBC (aka Nuclear, Biological, Chemical) bag is typically used to carry you NBC protective equipment in, keeping it all in one place for quick deployment if needed. I absolutely love this bag. This particular bag was my personal NBC bag when I was in the military. I’ve used it for everything over the years from it’s actual intended purpose to storing other bags in, to even a light backpack during a brief time taking college courses.

Currently this is the bag I strap to my pack to hold and transport my my entire shelter setup. You have plenty of space with 2 cubic feet of space. Additionally there are two compression straps built in as well as being “ALICE” compatible. I’ve been using my bag since it was issued to me in 2003, it’s held up to everything and still looks new. I’ve tried to find a suitable replacement for it, I’ve not yet done so. I doubt I ever will.

Tactical Increment Pouch

This pouch is virtually identical to the Tactical Admin Pouch I talked about earlier. It attaches via MOLLE webbing and detachable MOLLE straps. Unlike the Admin Pouch, this one will only mount vertically. It also has an approximate capacity of 6L.

I’m on the fence as to how I like it. I bought it to use with a very specific pack then found out that pack is too small for my body. Now I have a pair of these pouches that I paid $30 for and no longer have the need for them I thought I would. There are a plethora of potential uses I could conceive of to make them useful. However, much smaller pouches can do the job much better.

MOLLE Medic Pocket

Oh the smaller pouch is here and it works better than I could have expected. These pouches have an approximate 1L-2L capacity. I managed to aquire these with the purchase of my ILBV (Improved Load Bearing Vest) and they stay with that vest.

I just recently aquired the vest, so my experience with these pouches are extremely limited at this time. However, for what I have done, they’ve worked out very well, allowing me to carry all the gear I need to with room to spare.

Bonus: S.T.R.I.K.E. Speed Clips

I’m including the Blackhawk speed clips because they are one option to attach MOLLE compatible pouches and packs. Speed Clips come in a few different sizes. The ones I use are apx 3in long and span 3 rows of MOLLE webbing.

I find them to hold the pouch a lot more secure to the pack than the ALICE Clips I’ve used previous. It is worth noting the speed clips are not compatible with the older ALICE system while the ALICE Clips will work with the MOLLE system. I wish I had listened to my best friend sooner instead of being a penny pinching scrooge. But I got them now and I’m happy to have them.

Conclusion

With an almost infinite array of punches to choose from, how can you pick the best bang for your buck?? The short answer, you get lucky. However, what pouch you buy and use will come down to a multitude of variables. How much space you need, what it’s purpose is, your budget, etc etc.

There is no one pouch to rule them all. But there is a combination of pouches that is perfect for your needs. I have a lot more containers, bags, and pouches than what’s talked about here that I use in conjunction with these pouches to fit the current trips requirements. As you walk your personal path in this hobby, you’ll inevitably have a collection of containers, pouches, and bags of your own.

Links

The following links may not be to the EXACT gear pictured, however, will be to what I could find comparable to what I have and use. Some are a generalized search so you can pick exactly what you want or give you an idea what might be found at that retail store if it applies.