WTF is an interesting manufacturer of soft goods, one that is slightly unusual, in that they are extremely knowledgeable as it relates to meeting the infamous mil-pec standards (within the US), but they do not exclusively focus on the US Gov/military market, not by a long way. It is very clear from their product line that they do continually make products for government contracts, but they also have an extensive commercial line-up and do not always design every item to meet Government specifications – where not doing so is, in fact, logical.
If that reads as a negative thing to you, rest assured it really isn’t. As an example, the thread used to sew an item must be supplied on a spool made of a certain shade of yellow in order to meet a given US Gov specification. A company could buy the literal exact same high quality thread that doesn’t happen to be wrapped around the correct yellow plastic spindle from the factory, maybe a black spindle instead, and that company would not be meeting ‘the spec’. Hence that company would not be eligible to sell products sewn using that thread to various elements of the US government.
While the above is a slightly more extraneous example of over-bearing government specification requirements, there are plenty of others out there. WTF always uses high quality materials and production methods from everything I have seen. But because much of their line is aimed squarely at civilian and sporting applications such as paintball, they can on occasion lower prices by deliberately not meeting ‘the spec’, all the while still maintaining quality that is fat more than just adequate.
WTF’s naming conventions are similar to LBT’s. Because WTF offer so many different products they tend to just assign somewhat generic number codes to a large portion of their line-up. This can mean it takes a bit of effort, with just a little bit of time required, to carefully read multiple product descriptions and compare them before making a purchase decision, i.e. consumer due diligence, which is always the correct thing to do anyway.
Bag 07 is a very simple and light hanger pouch made primarily from laser cut 500D, with a singular storage compartment and zip-top closure. The zip is a coil type, reversed and runs along the front edge of the pouch which is great for accessing the contents underneath a mag placard. This pouch is intended to attach to a PC or chest rig with a loop field on the front of the torso. I find it to be a sensible and practical size, in line with many other popular similar products. It measures 7″ wide by 5″ tall and 3″, weighing in at a mere 100g/3.5oz.
Features of the Bag 07 are minimal, but that is exactly what I personally wanted and this fact is what keeps the product as lightweight as it is. As mentioned it is only a single compartment, but there are internal velcro fields for inserts if you need to stow or otherwise organise very small items (shown below).
There is a full size loop field on the front face for patches and 4 x lanyard attachment points on the front and sides, good for lashing whatever you might wish to lash or attach with cord.
To differentiate the thickness of the usual velcro hanger on most danglers and the the same part on this particular product, I have outlined the hook and loop on another brand’s dangler pouch above in blue, and the OneWrap on the WTF bag in orange. This is especially worth thinking about if you happen to have multiple other velcro attached pouches mounted to your abdomen area, such as radio wings or TQ pouches. Having a lot of pouches attached to this area all using velcro can potentially result in a noticeable thickness of fabrics building up, which may interfere with secure mounting of a placard on top.
My favourite feature of the WTF bag is the contrasting hi-vis interior. As a company that doesn’t necessarily hard focus on SOF gear and seems to fairly often manufacture for the emergency services, Whiskey stocks a lot of materials that are made to the high standards you would expect of a top-end brand, but in bright colours like red, yellow and pink.
If you have ever gone in to any sort of bag made from dark/camo fabrics at night which also has a contrasting interior such as this one, you will be very familiar with the benefits. While the material obviously does not provide illumination, the positive visual effect/assistance it provides to you as you search for your desired items in low light really cannot be over-stated. This is a phenomena that really has to be experienced to be fully understood. When compared to 99% of tactical gear on the market where usage of bright colours is deemed unconscionable, the difference is stark.
For me this particular hanger pouch design is excellent because it weighs so very little, meaning that if you keep it empty most or much of the time you aren’t carrying around any unnecessary weight of fabric. It is lightly constructed, especially on the velcro hanger, so maybe not the ideal product for dragging over rocks for months on end. But if you don’t subject your kit to that type of heavy punishment it’s a really great option that’s made in the USA.
You can check out this specific pouch at the link below, and if you reside in the US this will also be your purchasing source for all WTF kit:
https://www.wtfidea.com/bag-07-plate-carrier-hanger-bag
There are a few other retailers for some items Whiskey outside of the US, but generally the wtfidea main site is the place to acquire it.
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