shooter521
Certified Glock Nut
As many of you know, I'm all about getting the most bang for the buck out of a piece of gear; the more versatile, the better. I also happen to utilize a variety of different long gun platforms on a regular basis, including AR and AK types, the Saiga-12 shotgun, and 9mm SBRs and SMGs.
I have an Eagle Industries plate carrier (for training classes, and of course the imminent Zombie Apocalypse) equipped with several of Specter Gear's Universal Magazine Pouches. The UMP is an expandable design with an adjustable velcro lid and an elastic retainer around the midsection. Each can accommodate up to (2) USGI AR mags, (1) PMAG, (1) AK mag, (2) 9mm SMG mags, or (1) Saiga-12 5- or 8-round mag. If the lid is tucked in or removed, oversize mags such as the 10-round Saiga-12 can be used. Happy days.
I also have an ATS "War Belt" that can be used in conjunction with or independently of the plate carrier. This accommodates my pistol holster, pistol mags, med kit, flashlight, dump pouch and a spare long gun mag. I wanted to have the same kind of universal capability with my belt-mounted long gun mag pouch as I did on the PC, but the Specter UMP was too long to fit properly on the belt and I wanted an open-top pouch anyway, so another solution was required.
For awhile, I used the shorty speed-reload pouch from Diamondback Tactical. It is a MOLLE rifle mag pouch with an open top and a low-cut design that exposes more of the mag, allowing it to be grasped quicker and easier than with traditional pouches. Mag retention is via a piece of shock cord with a nylon pull tab. While the DBT pouch was well-constructed and fit AR and AK mags quite well, it could not accommodate Saiga-12 or 9mm SMG mags, and I didn't really care for the shock cord retention. The search continued.
Then, High Speed Gear Inc. (HSGI) came out with their "Taco" magazine pouch, a supposedly universal design that could be adjusted on the fly to accommodate not only magazines as diverse as AR/AK/.308/subgun/pistol/Saiga, but a host of various other objects such as radios, suppressors, flashbangs and multi-tools; it could even be used as an improvised pistol holster. After reading several reviews on various gun/gear boards, I decided to give it a go. Ordered the pouch from SKD TACTICAL and had it in a few days.
I didn't think to take any "before" photos, so here is the stock one from SKD's site:
The Taco pouch is basically a U-shaped kydex frame wrapped with a piece of 1000d Cordura to form the front and back, and the assembly is held together with a piece of shock cord woven through the MOLLE loops on the outside in a crisscross manner, with the ends terminating in a cord-lock at the bottom rear of the pouch. The kydex insert guides and helps retain the magazine, while the shock cord allows the pouch to expand or contract as necessary, and the cord lock allows the cords to be tightened down once the mag is in place, further assisting retention.
Sizing of the Taco is almost identical to the DBT shorty speed-reload pouch, so it fit into the empty slot on my War Belt without needing to move any of my other gear around.
Installing the Taco, was, to put it mildly, a colossal pain in the ass.
The install demo video on HSGI's website was helpful in theory, but the actual practice did not go NEARLY as smoothly. The problem stems from HSGI's use of MALICE clips for attachment (they are semi-rigid plastic strips with locking ends; they don't have a lot of "give" or pliability, making threading difficult), combined with very tight MOLLE loops on the pouch itself, and trying to thread the MALICE clip through said tight loops, which are also partially occupied by the running piece of shock cord. 
On the up-side, you can fold, spindle, mutilate and otherwise abuse both the pouch and the MALICE clips without damaging them, which is good because you'll probably need to!
After much moaning, wailing and gnashing of teeth (and a liberal dose of profanity), I finally got the thing on, and took some pics:
From the top
From the side, showing the U-shaped kydex insert that forms the sides and bottom of the pouch
AR mag
AK-74 mag
Dual 9mm subgun mags (when one mag is removed, you just tighten down the cord-lock and the pouch will retain a single mag)
Saiga-12 8rd AGP mag
Glock 23 (front) and 22 (rear) mags; I would only use this to carry mags for back-filling my regular pistol mag pouches; the mags (especially the G19/23 size) sit way too deep in the pouch to be easily extracted under stress.
PROS - small size, accommodates a wide variety of mags and other devices, on-the-fly adjustability
CONS - PITA to install, mags can be somewhat difficult to re-insert (especially oversized mags like the Saiga, or mags with projections on the front or back like the AK), and the pouch is friggin' ugly!
And no, I didn't try putting an actual taco in there, but one would probably fit.
I have an Eagle Industries plate carrier (for training classes, and of course the imminent Zombie Apocalypse) equipped with several of Specter Gear's Universal Magazine Pouches. The UMP is an expandable design with an adjustable velcro lid and an elastic retainer around the midsection. Each can accommodate up to (2) USGI AR mags, (1) PMAG, (1) AK mag, (2) 9mm SMG mags, or (1) Saiga-12 5- or 8-round mag. If the lid is tucked in or removed, oversize mags such as the 10-round Saiga-12 can be used. Happy days.
I also have an ATS "War Belt" that can be used in conjunction with or independently of the plate carrier. This accommodates my pistol holster, pistol mags, med kit, flashlight, dump pouch and a spare long gun mag. I wanted to have the same kind of universal capability with my belt-mounted long gun mag pouch as I did on the PC, but the Specter UMP was too long to fit properly on the belt and I wanted an open-top pouch anyway, so another solution was required.
For awhile, I used the shorty speed-reload pouch from Diamondback Tactical. It is a MOLLE rifle mag pouch with an open top and a low-cut design that exposes more of the mag, allowing it to be grasped quicker and easier than with traditional pouches. Mag retention is via a piece of shock cord with a nylon pull tab. While the DBT pouch was well-constructed and fit AR and AK mags quite well, it could not accommodate Saiga-12 or 9mm SMG mags, and I didn't really care for the shock cord retention. The search continued.
Then, High Speed Gear Inc. (HSGI) came out with their "Taco" magazine pouch, a supposedly universal design that could be adjusted on the fly to accommodate not only magazines as diverse as AR/AK/.308/subgun/pistol/Saiga, but a host of various other objects such as radios, suppressors, flashbangs and multi-tools; it could even be used as an improvised pistol holster. After reading several reviews on various gun/gear boards, I decided to give it a go. Ordered the pouch from SKD TACTICAL and had it in a few days.
I didn't think to take any "before" photos, so here is the stock one from SKD's site:
The Taco pouch is basically a U-shaped kydex frame wrapped with a piece of 1000d Cordura to form the front and back, and the assembly is held together with a piece of shock cord woven through the MOLLE loops on the outside in a crisscross manner, with the ends terminating in a cord-lock at the bottom rear of the pouch. The kydex insert guides and helps retain the magazine, while the shock cord allows the pouch to expand or contract as necessary, and the cord lock allows the cords to be tightened down once the mag is in place, further assisting retention.
Sizing of the Taco is almost identical to the DBT shorty speed-reload pouch, so it fit into the empty slot on my War Belt without needing to move any of my other gear around.
Installing the Taco, was, to put it mildly, a colossal pain in the ass.
The install demo video on HSGI's website was helpful in theory, but the actual practice did not go NEARLY as smoothly. The problem stems from HSGI's use of MALICE clips for attachment (they are semi-rigid plastic strips with locking ends; they don't have a lot of "give" or pliability, making threading difficult), combined with very tight MOLLE loops on the pouch itself, and trying to thread the MALICE clip through said tight loops, which are also partially occupied by the running piece of shock cord. On the up-side, you can fold, spindle, mutilate and otherwise abuse both the pouch and the MALICE clips without damaging them, which is good because you'll probably need to! After much moaning, wailing and gnashing of teeth (and a liberal dose of profanity), I finally got the thing on, and took some pics:
From the top
From the side, showing the U-shaped kydex insert that forms the sides and bottom of the pouch
AR mag
AK-74 mag
Dual 9mm subgun mags (when one mag is removed, you just tighten down the cord-lock and the pouch will retain a single mag)
Saiga-12 8rd AGP mag
Glock 23 (front) and 22 (rear) mags; I would only use this to carry mags for back-filling my regular pistol mag pouches; the mags (especially the G19/23 size) sit way too deep in the pouch to be easily extracted under stress.
PROS - small size, accommodates a wide variety of mags and other devices, on-the-fly adjustability
CONS - PITA to install, mags can be somewhat difficult to re-insert (especially oversized mags like the Saiga, or mags with projections on the front or back like the AK), and the pouch is friggin' ugly!
And no, I didn't try putting an actual taco in there, but one would probably fit.
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