To get one thing out of the way early on since this is a post about a dump pouch: I think people who go crazy about dump pouches being the devil incarnate are really barking up the wrong tree. A pouch is a pouch, it does not possess any properties aside from the physical makeup of the fabrics. If you want to make the argument that a dumper isn’t the best place for various partial magazines, then that’s fine. That said, your ammunition management is a personal skill and the nylon pouches you have fastened upon your person should not have any effect on how and when you shuffle magazines around to ensure the largest quantity of rounds is always the quickest and easiest to access. There are also plenty more uses for a pouch in to which a volume of objects can be essentially instantly stashed that go over and above just ammunition management.
Personally as a casual user of non-issued gear 99% of the time, the dump pouch makes sense for me so I have one on the back of my belt in the usual position around 7 or 8 o/clock. This example from Raptor is a modern design built from a cordura laminate (I would guess 2 layers of 500D) and is sufficiently structured throughout yet extremely light.
Having tried quite a few dump pouches over the years, the best designs for me have been ones with the same classic top design which Raptor have employed here. There is a stainless steel hoop that holds the outer shape and then the opening in the inner baffle is fully adjustable via bungee cord and the barrel lock, all of which is a fully enclosed system with no loose end of bungee.
Opting for a mesh bottom to the pouch is interesting and is one of those ‘6 and or two 3s’ situations. I do always find some bits of twigs and leaves in my dump pouch after a day in the woods, so stuff will always get in to your dump pouch especially in sandy environments. The mesh means sand, dirt and water will make its’ way out quickly, but can also get in from below. I think the staggered grommets in the FS/CSM pouch may be better in some respects, but either way there are plenty of these products out there for you to choose from and to suit any preference.
Generally the rear/inner face of a dump pouch is a pretty dead space, but here Raptor have added on some pieces of laminate which will neatly carry cyalumes/chem lights. Whether that is something any of you out there will need I do not know, it’s an unusual place for such storage, but if the extra 4 grams of weight is a big deal you can un-stitch at least 2 of the slots here without compromising any other stitching on the pouch.
A length of posi-lock cord is included as a potential leg anchor which can be fed through the slots down at the rear base of the pouch, again an unusual idea, but the integration of the feature adds essentially no weight or cost. Perhaps if you do frequently make use of a dump pouch and are often putting a considerable weight inside it, then this may be a welcome addition.
Even with the steel stiffening hoop, the Raptor dump pouch rolls up in to a very compact package indeed. At a mere 4.2oz for this Short version, it is extremely light yet still very resilient given the primary material used; also not lacking in features. It costs $45 at the time of writing which is very comparable with other quality manufacturers and in my opinion a great price given the many features and top end materials.
Unfortunately on the negative side there is a stitching issue on my example as you can see in the upper right area of the front (top image in this post). While this really should not have passed QC from a high end maker of tactical kit, it does not affect function at all. The other rather disappointing issue is that I purchased two of these pouches in my first order from Raptor (MC and Grey) and they simply did not ship out the grey one. It was an odd situation, because I have all my US made kit collated by a buddy stateside for a few months before I then pay him to send it over the Atlantic, hence the missing item issue was not noticed by me for some months and Raptor’s CS deemed this too long to take any action – which is a bit of a 50/50 as it’s irritating for me but I also do see their side of it.
Regardless of the above, I would still be happy enough to order other products from RT as for me this pouch is excellent overall. I like their design work, materials and colour selections and the pricing is fair. Check it out here:
https://raptortactical.com/dump-pouch-with-chemlight-holder/
Just because I know some of you like to play Associates logo spotting.
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