Written by: Greg Ellifritz
I’ve carried a plain Jane CompTac single mag carrier for more than 10 years. The mag pouch is comfortable, cheap, and durable. It sticks out a little from the body, but my loose shirts usually conceal it pretty well. I hadn’t had any reason to find a new mag carrier. My old Comp-Tac worked just fine.
That is until I got a couple test and evaluation samples from Raven Concealment and Bawidamann Shenanigans. I’ve worn these two mag carriers exclusively for the last few months. They have replaced my old CompTac and I don’t think I’ll be ditching them anytime soon.
The first new mag carrier is Andrew Bawidamann’s “Uber CC” horizontal magazine carrier. Andrew is a talented bladesmith and kydex bender. Unlike many in the industry, Andrew also trains. I met him when he took one of my knife fighting classes as a student. He truly understands the needs of anyone who carries a gun or blade defensively.
I’ve never carried a horizontal magazine carrier before. After running this one for more than three months, I’m sold on the idea. It’s the most comfortable magazine carrier I’ve ever used. It’s extremely well made and stunningly secure. I’ve tried to make the magazine fall out by wearing this one while doing physical exercise, running, and fighting. I failed. I couldn’t get the magazine to fall out no matter what activity I undertook.
The Uber mag carrier is just as fast (if not faster) than any vertical mag pouch I’ve tried. A simple belt loop with a “pull the dot” snap secures it to the belt. Are you tired of getting poked in the gut or love handles by your spare mag? This carrier solves that problem. It’s become a daily carry item and I’m embarrassed to say that it took me so long to find this amazing product.
The other new mag pouch I’ve been playing with is The Copia mag carrier from Raven Concealment. What makes the Copia unique is that almost any double stack 9mm, .40 S&W, or .357 Sig magazine fits in the same carrier. A simple tension screw adjusts the fit for over 100 different magazine types.
The Copia is ideal for anyone who regularly carries guns from two or more different manufacturers. It also works well for firearms instructors who need spare mag pouches for students who show up in class without any or with inadequate gear. It is available in both single and double configuration.
The footprint of the Copia is a little larger than many competing mag pouches. The added size and the curved profile actually makes the carrier conceal BETTER than smaller pouches. In comparison, this mag pouch hides much better under a T-shirt than even my minimalist CompTac. It’s very well designed.
The Copia magazine pouches have a permanent place in my range bag for any of my students who forget their carriers in class. The fact that it fits so many magazines is a truly brilliant design feature.
If any of you are in the market for new mag pouches, you won’t go wrong choosing either of these. I won’t be giving mine up.
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*FTC Disclosure: I received both company’s magazine pouches free of charge for test and evaluation purposes. Neither company required any type of published review in exchange for providing these products. My opinions are always my own. I have not received any compensation for this review and am not being paid by either Raven or Bawidamann for this article.