8/23/14 - The Practical Admin Pouch from Oneiros Valley is designed to be an intuitive, low-profile pouch to hold mission-essential administrative items. The PAP is manufactured by First Spear for Oneiros Valley.

Overall Description and features - The Practical Admin Pouch (PAP) is a modular admin pouch with a trifold configuration , designed by firearms instructor Matthew Cole of Cole Partnerships and Training. It is designed to be worn front-mounted and centered on a plate carrier, with the intent that it does not interfere with magazine access. It can also be mounted on a belt rig or carried in a pant cargo pocket.

The main features are as follows:

 

 

Observations/Notes - There are a lot of choices out there, when it comes to admin pouches - some are small; some are larger, and some are huge. Which one works best for the end user depends on what he wants to carry. Common placement is front and center; either on the upper chest for the smaller admin pouches, and elsewhere, depending on the size.

The PAP isn't the slimmest due to the amount of velcro used. Velcro always adds thickness, and the PAP is 1" thick when completely empty. At the range, I loaded the PAP up with two pens, a chem light, a small Rite-in-the-rain notebook, and a multitool in the top flap pocket. I left the clear insert out. On the Oneirosvalley website product overview, it states "the PAP incorporates a fold-out design that does not interfere with magazine access when mounted on a plate carrier, even when heavily laden with contents." so I was quite excited to put that to the test.

I placed it right above the single mag pouches on the front of a Crye AVS, size medium. The Crye mag pouches are a snug fit, and the thickness of the PAP did prevent me from extracting the magazines as I normally would. The two on either side would not clear the PAP without wiggling, and the center mag was plain difficult. This wasn't an unexpected discovery to me as I've found that just about anything mounted above the front mag pouches can interfere with normal magazine extraction to some extent, unless there's enough clearance between the top of the mag pouch and whatever is mounted above it. If I have a single row of mag pouches, anything mounted above them is a no-go if I'd like to get to my mags easily.

When the PAP is mounted above double mag pouches, that makes the mags easier to extract because the outer magazine is already pushed out an inch by the inner magazine. When the outer magazine has been extracted, the magazine pouch is loose enough such that the second mag is also easy to extract. So, if unrestricted magazine access is required, I'd recommend using double mag pouches with the PAP unless you have adequate clearance between the top of the mag pouches and the PAP. It also depends on how loaded up the PAP is. With the contents I listed above, it was 1.5" thick. Adding more stuff to that just made it thicker (obviously). For some reason, I was hoping the PAP to be some magical pouch or bottomless hole that doesn't get any bulkier no matter what you put in it, but it isn't. It's still a good pouch, even if it isn't magical. Not being in the military, I 'don't know what I don't know', and maybe quick access to chest mounted mags isn't as important as I imagine it would be.

Mounted to Crye AVS

Open

Side view

Trying to extract a mag

I did like the easy side access I had to the pens. They don't require the PAP to be opened up to get to them Re-inserting the pens into the loops is a bit more tricky. If I just shoved a pen into the side of the PAP, getting it into an elastic loop was a hit-or-miss affair. It'd be retained simply by the snugness of the pouch, but not as securely as when inserted through an elastic loop. I found that if I first used a finger to feel for a loop, then guide the pen in, it'd be retained securely, even if it didn't make it through the second elastic loop.

I also tried mounting it on the cummerbund of the AVS, on the weak side, right under my right arm (I'm left handed). It was high enough such that it didn't interfere with magazine extraction from my belt-mounted pouches. The caveat to that position is that it was high up under the arm, and accessing all the pockets was somewhat awkward.

I do like the size of the pouch as afar as admin pouches go; and the storage space it offers for small items and tools; but it's not as low profile as it could be (mostly due to the velcro on both sides of the bottom flap). If I had to reduce some bulk on the design, I'd probably delete the 500D cordura that forms the top flap, bottom flap and middle portion, and just use a single sheet of loop velcro material. The bottom flap would just consist of the velcro folded up and sewn to itself with no 550D cordura in between. All this being said, it's a well-made item and lower profile than many of the other admin pouches I've seen; whether it works for you just depends on what you're going to load it up with and what your priorities are.

 

6/13/15 - Blue Force Gear debuted the Belt-Mounted versions of their Ten-Speed Pouches at this year's SHOT Show in Vegas. The new line of pouches expand the popular Ten-Speed line which until now, was only compatible with MOLLE/PALS platforms.

Overall Description and features - Ten-Speed pouches are Blue Force Gear's line of ultra low-profile pouches; designed to offer a blend of speed and security in a pouch with the least bulk possible. Ten-Speed pouches are constructed of military-grade elastic forming the front panel while also providing the main means of retention. The rear panel is made of BFG's laser-cut, light weight, high-performance laminate - ULTRAcomp, which is similar in properties to Hypalon. It's very thin and strong, and doesn't soak up water when wet.

The Ten-Speed Belt Pouches have a loop sewn on the rear panel, through which Velcro One-Wrap (double sided Velcro) belt loops are attached. The inside of the panel loop is lined with loop velcro which keeps the One-Wrap loop in place. The Velcro One-Wrap loop can be of a single loop configuration, or double, depending on the width of the pouch. The loop on the back of the pouch is 1.75" tall, so that's the minimum belt width recommended for use with the pouches. If a narrower belt is used, you can still mount the pouch; it'll just be a bit floppy. There's enough overlap of the Velcro One-wrap to accommodate belt widths up to 2.25". The pouches can also be worn horizontally when the velcro attachment is removed. This is more practical with the narrower pouches than the wider ones.

Their low profile makes them suitable for both overt and covert wear; either on dress belts or duty belts.

The main features are as follows:

Single and Double Pistol - The Single Pistol mag pouch (BT-TSP-PISTOL-1) and Double Pistol mag pouch (BT-TSP-PISTOL-2) will hold most single and double-stack pistol magazines. The single pouch has a single loop of Velcro One-wrap while the double pouch has two loops. Both pouches measure 4.5" tall. The single mag pouch is 2.25" wide and the double is 4.5" wide. I found the single mag pouch great for carrying a multitool, besides pistol mags. It's shown below mounted to my EMDOM CM belt, which is 2" wide and also has velcro on the inside which keeps the pouches from sliding.

Collapsible Baton - The Collapsible Baton pouch. Version 01 (BT-TSP-BATON-01) measures 5.5" tall and 2.25" wide. It's taller than the pistol mag pouches, as illustrated below. It has a small hole in the bottom. Since I don't have a baton, I found that it'd fit flashlights like the SureFire Centurion and most other double CR123 or AA lights. It has a single loop on the rear like the single pistol mag pouch.

OC Spray - The OC Spray pouch (BT-OC-01) isn't an elastic pouch, but a conventionally-structured nylon pouch with velcro-secured ULTRAcomp flap. The pouch itself is 3" tall, not including the flap, and about 1.25" x 1.5" in width and depth. I didn't find anything that fit it (I don't have pepper spray), so it's a bit less versatile than the elastic-styled Ten-Speed pouches. It has a single loop on the rear.

Handcuff - Okay, I don't have handcuffs either. Neither does my wife. The Cuff Belt Pouch product code is BT-TSP-CUFF-01 and it measures 5" tall x 3.4" wide. It's sewn closed at the bottom and has a single snap button closure at the top. Without the snap, I think it'd make a good size for smartphones. It has the same H-shaped Velcro attachment as the M4 mag pouches have with dual fingers.

Dump Pouch - The small dump pouch (BT-DP-S) stuffs into a small package but isn't that small when it's opened up. It's roomy and can carry quite a bit of stuff. It's an ultralight dump pouch that's very compact, measuring only 3" x 3.5" x 1" stowed when not in use, and deploys with a simple pull on the pull tab at the bottom of the pouch. The bag itself is made of 70D ripstop nylon and has a carrying capacity of approximately 3.5 L. While it's large enough to hold 10 M4 mags, they'll swing around a lot due to the softness of the pouch, but that's just to illustrate what it'll hold. It's a great 'extra pocket' to have for stuffing brass cases, gloves, a water bottle etc in. It has a simple drawstring closure with cord lock.

To stow the pouch, you can either scrunch it up in a hurry or fold it up nicely so that the tab sticks out the bottom for re-deployment.

 

Observations/Notes - When BFG's Ten-Speed Pouches debuted a number of years ago on the market, I was initially skeptical due to the use of elastic. I wondered how long it would be before the elastic gave out (as most does) from use or exposure to different conditions, and how abrasion-resistant it'd be. Turns out that they're actually pretty durable and while the elastic does stretch out if items are kept stored in the pouches, the resulting retention is still more than adequate. They tend to be tight when brand new, so a little loosening up aids in the insertion and extraction of items. The flat profile of the pouches make them a bit harder to insert items into than box-style pouches with wider openings, but there's nothing as low profile as an empty Ten-Speed pouch, or quite as light.

The Belt-mounted models add to the versatility of the Ten-Speed line, and the Velcro One-wrap attachment is convenient to use as pouches can be mounted directly where you need them without having to slide them on from the end of the belt. As I'd mentioned before about the Ten-Speed line, I wish I'd thought of them first.