blade-tek double magazine pouch review

I just started shooting IDPA and am thoroughly and utterly hooked so now I'm on a quest for an economical way to stop fumbling around on the course with a live firearm in my hand. The first thing I did was to purchase a Crossbreed SnapSlide which is wonderful piece of gear at a good price and needs no kudos from me. There’s enough positive info on Crossbreed out there that mentioning it would be a redundantly repetitive thing to do. I already have a good collection of gun belts so that vitally important area was already covered.

But what people rarely mention is a good mag pouch so I went on the hunt for an inexpensive mag carrier and found a Blade Tech model that Midway is selling.

It attaches to the belt by what Blade-Tek calls the "Tek-Lok" system. The belt opening is adjustable and it snaps in for a nice tight fit where the pouch won't rotate around at all. There is one adjustment screw and once the mags are just a bit snug, it’s done.

The benefit of the Tek-Lok system is that it does just what it says; the mag pouch is “locked” to the user’s belt. No more having the paddle mounted carrier come out with the magazine or the loops letting the carrier rotate around when I'm trying to pull one out. The device literally clamps onto the belt. The adjustable spacers will allow it to clamp down to an extremely solid fit with any sized belt as if it were sewn in place.

It came in on a Wednesday and my IDPA night is Thursday so that was perfect. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of going live with a new piece of hardware before at least going through some sort of dry run. I should know better after all these years of doin “stuff”.

The first time I used it was on a course of fire. This course had two mag changes so no problem there. The first mag pulled out smooth and secure. Then it came time for the 2nd mag. The 2nd mag got stuck. I pulled it about a half inch and then something locked down on that sucker and would not let go. Blade Tek could not have designed a more efficient and positively locking device as what was happening to me just then with the shot timer ticking away. I finally was able to twist it free but it cost me about 6 seconds on that particular stage. Bummer..... Picture a 6' tall dude with a pistol in slide lock, yanking on a mag trying to pull it free like Houdini getting out of a straight jacket. Not fun...

Anyway, I took a look afterwards and at the very top of the opening on the inside, I found a very small lip that was probably a manufacturing burr. It had snagged on the mag’s slide release notch. After a quick shave with my knife, this little dual well mag pouch is perfect and for Midway's price of $22.00, cannot be beat.

I highly recommend it.

- Ray Fishel, (CTS Houston, Texas)

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