5.11 Flex Mag Pouches – Beyond standard issue

5.11 Tactical is one of the godfathers of tactical gear. From uniforms to holsters, 5.11 makes a bit of everything. They’ve dug their toes into hardcore tactical gear, including plate carriers, battle belts, and nowadays, they’re getting into magazine pouches. Most servicemen have some form of weapon issued to them, and most require magazines. You need a way to carry those magazines, and 5.11 is happy to provide. The 5.11 Flex Mag pouches are the latest and greatest from 5.11 Tactical, and we got a few in our hands. 

5.11 Flex Mag Pouches – Better than Standard Issue

When I joined the Marines, I was issued these massive, double magazine pouches with these obnoxious flaps aimed at keeping the mags in the mag pouch. These flaps got in the way of reloads and slowed down your ability to get back in the fight. 

These magazines pouches were loose and required the flaps for retention. The pouches were so loose the magazines would bounce and bang as you moved, requiring some tape to silence them. They worked, but they sucked. 

The Future is Now

Time and technology changes, and the 5.11 Flex Mag pouches are evidence of that. These open top mag pouches do away with the ridiculous and loud velcro flap. The magazines easy to access, and they don’t bounce around when you run. 

The 5.11 Flex Mag pouches use a concealed PC retention insert combined with a flexible band that pinches your magazine. These two devices keep your magazine in place and increase retention. They won’t leave the magazine pouch when you are jumping, running, climbing, and doing other fun stuff. 

The open-top design makes it easy to grip the magazine without a flap in the way and increase the speed of your reload. 5.11 cut the magazine pouch low enough for an easy grip and retrieval. The mouth of the pouch stays nice and open, and inserting mags is easy.

Reloads and Reloads and Reloads 

To test durability, I engaged in one of my favorite past times, practicing my reloads. I installed these pouches on a battle belt and worked with both the rifle and pistol variants. The 5.11 Flex mag pouches come in both pistol and rifle variants. I utilized the same magazines our servicemembers use with the M4/M16 and SIG M17 series. 

I found that the 5.11 Flex Mag pouches grip your magazines nice and tight. It requires a very deliberate pull to get the magazine to come free. You got to grip that thing and give it more than a soft touch to free it. 

5.11 cut the rifle magazine pouches perfectly for drawing rifle magazines. The pistols magazines seem a little high, and the extended 21 round SIG M17 magazines barely clear the top. 5.11 made the mag pouches for a wider variety of magazines than the AR model, so it can be hard to perfect the size. When properly weaved, the magazine pouches don’t have any slack in them. 

The 5.11 Flex mag pouches hold up and hold up well. They haven’t lost any flexibility or hold over the magazines. After all my many reloads, I did some sprints, box jumps, tire flips, and kettlebell swings, and the magazines never came loose or flopped out of the 5.11 Flex Mag pouches. 

Attachment and Designs

The 5.11 Flex mag pouches use the Flex-HT webbing straps. These thin, rubberized straps are super flexible and work with various MOLLE type mounting platforms. This makes it easy to weave and unweave the pouches from various types of webbing. It’s quick, simple and also easy to do. The Flex system is ingenious and very easy to weave onto and inside of various platforms. They hang on tight and have no fail points. 

The 5.11 Flex mag pouches are made from 500D nylon. This thick material is tough and capable. It is weather-resistant and shrugs off water and weather. This material is rugged and proven to be quite capable. 

The all-around design of the 5.11 Flex mag pouches is rather smart and well thought out. The inside and outside are done well. The design allows for a tight fit on top of easy access to make the 5.11 Flex mag pouches better than anything I was ever issued.