Entire Review taken from Mil-Spec Monkey.Com
EMDOM CQB AK-M4 Double Mag Pouch
- Category: Pouches
I’ve had the Emdom M4 specific CQB pouches for a bit and despite being a tighter double fit than I’d like, I overall dig the core design. When some AK class opportunities came my way I was reminded I didn’t have jack in the form of AK pouches so naturally decided to give the Emdom AK CQB pouch a try. I’m a fan of velcro flaps as they offer good error tolerance in stressful situations being overall easy to rip open and can half ass a closure yet still be decently secure. Other methods such SRBs may be quiet, but require more precise manipulation, especially when resecuring. There is a time and place for everything, however as a quick rant I see no issue with the noise of velcro on a mag pouch as the only time I’m tearing that open is because I just made about 30 really loud noises shooting my rifle. A downside to velcro that is worth noting is the hold will not be so great if packed with mud. Fortunately this mostly only applies to unsecured / exposed velcro and the Emdom AK pouch does a good job covering with its generous sized flap. The flap itself is secured with velcro internally so the user can further adjust the length to preference. The pouch coverage height is higher than the M4 pouch to accommodate the security of AK mags better so a standard USGI metal mag may be a little harder to grab onto. That said, the AK pouch works better with modified or alternative mags such as P-Mags, HK, Mags with Rangerplates, etc.. The varied height and thickness all works out just fine in these pouches mostly thanks to the simple elastic wrapped around the middle to make sure things aren’t too floppy even when holding just a single magazine. The opening also has a slight taper to it to help with extraction and dealing with the curved shape of AK magazines.
The design notes declare the pouch was intended to have AK magazines with bullets up and I was happy to find out I was still able to roll with bullets down position. As you may guess the AK magazine latch likes to make things slightly more interesting when inserting mags, but fortunately were not an issue during removal. As a bonus detail, the flap has webbing on the internal sides to help with magazine security. The webbing creates a little ridge to help prevent shifting, however it is worth noting a proper flap coverage angle will be the act that helps most (Having the flap go straight down rather than some off-angle).
With the nice adaptive holding capability of the long flap, sadly some downsides do occur. Once the flap is pulled open, some effort during the grab does need to be made to have one’s hand keep the flap back during magazine extraction. A quick back tuck can be done to roll flap open style, however to do it “right” takes some dexterity and time. By right I mean nicely tucking the flap behind the upper horizontal webbing to secure even during magazine rotation. For a personal preference thing I’d like to see the pull tab webbing just a tad longer. When the flap was fully secured with no velcro overhang, every now and then I had a little trouble with the first grab to start a flap pull open. This is more of an AK config thing where the flaps end at the lower mid of the pouch; when just M4 mags as seen in the first pictures, the flap hangs further down which is quite easy to grab.
In general I find the EMDOM CQB AK-M4 Double Mag Pouch to be very versatile and good use of pouch space. Not only is it able to hold a variety of AK magazines, both metal and polymer, but any M4 style magazine I threw at it as well. The pouch construction style keeps a minimum width to allow a full front load of 4 pouches together without the feeling of crowding / pouch overlap. Highly recommended as a traditional inspired, yet highly refined velcro opening design.
Recommended place of purchase:
http://www.skdtac.com/Emdom_MM_CQB_AK_M4_Double_Mag_Pouch_p/e2m.108.htm