Mag Pouches: Open vs. Flaps?

[Panzerschwein]

Guys what are the pros/cons of open vs flapped magazine pouches? Which would you trust on duty for your semi-auto handgun?

Open (no flaps):


Flaps:

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I have always had a closed one. I carry my mags horizontal.

 

[needmorecowbell]

For same reason I don't want to fiddle with a thumb safety I likewise don't want a flap on my holster or mag pouch. If you carry vertical they ain't falling out. Can understand why you would want though if carry horizontal. Only plus might be comfort a bit, but generally the flap adds a bit more width which could make slightly less concealable.

 

[bannockburn]

Much prefer mag pouches without flaps. The only ones that I have with flaps are some vintage WWI, WWII, and Vietnam War G.I. issue pouches.

 

[Panzerschwein]

Thanks, gang.

So you guys feel as if the flap isn't needed for retention, even on duty, if the pouches are vertical?

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

I prefer no flap.
Most days I use a Blade tech mag pouch.
The amount of retention is adjustable.

 

[DT Guy]

Thanks, gang.

So you guys feel as if the flap isn't needed for retention, even on duty, if the pouches are vertical?

With my CHL, I don't have any pouches that have flaps; when I was an LEO, my duty rig did; just didn't know when you'd be rolling around with an idiot....

Larry

 

[FL-NC]

For someone like a uniformed cop, flaps. In the military, on the FOB, I carried 1 pistol mag on my belt in a no flap kydex pouch. I kept 2 pistol mags on my body armor on the chest area. No flaps, but they were the taco pouches- very good retention.

 

[WestKentucky]

I don’t carry currently, but when I did I carried flapped...actually in a leatherman multitool holster so as not to draw attention. I found that the open rigs were more obvious, got more crud in the mags, and even the best of them occasionally spit out a mag when jostling around in the truck. I was trained to fire center of mass and move for cover. A reload from cover can take an extra second, and unless I was fooling around with a married woman the beef being aggressively settled by gunfire will probably be ended either in the initial volley of fire or by a panicked attacker deciding my wallet isn’t worth his blood in which case he skedaddles. Put my vote down for flaps.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I’ve been in several fights while on duty and in just about every one my mag pouches with flaps kept my mags in place. But there was that one fight that lasted just over six minutes with a guy that was bigger then me. His head put two dents in my 99 Crown Vic. And then we went for a run where he was in the lead for almost 200 yards before things got personal again.
When all was said and done, he was wearing a shiny set of bracelets and not feeling so good.
I then walked around my car picking up my things, cap, pen, notebook and one of my magazines. That’s one fight I wouldn’t want to have again. But I’ll carry my mags in pouches with flaps while on duty.

 

[.455_Hunter]

I prefer flaps. The odds of me needing a second magazine are far less likely than losing said magazine at an inoppertune time or situation. In addition, the flap makes it MORE likely the spare magazine in actually present for duty when called upon.

 

[Old Dog]

I've gone to open tops. Flaps are okay, but the BladeTec dual mag carrier I use now has excellent retention and I've never lost a mag while rolling around in the mud or fighting during extended outdoor training.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

My idea of "duty carry" was woodswalking or ATVing on the mountain with the remote prospect of encountering predators.
That meant at minimum velcro flaps on the magazine pouchs. Open pouchs were not an option.

 

[GRIZ22]

I generally use open top in urban environment and flaps under field conditions.

 

[IlikeSA]

Not in LE anymore, but in armed security for a major school district with a liberal weapons (quality 9mm's only) and equipment policy (black nylon and kydex only). I actually use the open topped 1911 mag pouch you have pictured. I prefer open top for the speed and ease of reloading. In the times I have gone hands on I have not had any issues losing mags, not to say that it couldn't happen.

The only issues I've had with the adjustable ones are they lose tension when you remove one of the two mags. But then, if I am removing a mag, things have already gone way downhill and my gun is either dry, malfunctioning, or the fight is over and I am doing a tactical mag change.

There are some 1911 guys in neighboring LE agencies who carry 3-4 mags on the belt, open, turned away from the body. Policy said I couldn't do that. I just keep 2 extra mags in my armor.

 

[RETG]

When I worked in SE Asia, I primarily carried two spare mags in leather formed pouches with tension adjusters and had no problems with mags jumping out. But I'm old and that was back in the 70s/80s and plastic mag pouches/holders were not really popular where I was, if even available.

Returning to the states, working for a different agency and I went with kydex open top. Important was how you inserted the mag into the holder/pouch to give a nice smooth, natural flow from the holder to the insertion into the handgun.

Even today, when hiking, I carry the mags in an open Kydex holder.

 

[BILLG]

Open top.Ditch the nylon open tops.