Category: Field Gear

Dear Hugh, A very nice alternative to velcro pouches is made by the folks at UW Gear. They use a “tuck tab” feature that doesn’t use velcro, snaps, or buckles. This uses a stiff piece of webbing that “tucks” into the tab on the front of the magazine pouch. There is nothing to wear out here and should be easy to clean if snow or mud somehow gets in there. They make chest rigs, bandoleers, and standalone pouches. To my knowledge, they currently can make these for 5.56, 7.62×39,5.45, and 7.62×51. It is a little bit of a wait time …

Hugh, My experience with the hook-and-loop closure system is, that it works fine while it is new and clean, but deteriorates quickly. Lint is one of the biggest enemies, along with cheat grass and other vegetable contamination. We have velcro on a camera case closure, and one time it came in handy when a moose was headed toward us with its hackles up. Zip, and the moose made a 90-degree turn to the left and trotted away. But in situations where the noise could draw fire, a snap is usually less loud. Better yet, unsnap your retainer early on, before …

Dear Hugh, Regarding the use of Velcro on tactical gear, I have something which might be of importance that I would like to share. Due to an old athletic injury, I wear an ankle brace for both stability and compression on a daily basis. I have been wearing a brace of one kind or another for more than 40 years. I currently use a brace employing an elastic wrap around with a Velcro closure. It is both convenient and holds tight. Until, that is, the Velcro begins to wear out. With daily use it does wear out rather quickly. I …

Hi Hugh! Concerning your Velcro usage information request, it is possible to snow/ice load Velcro in transitional weather until it functions poorly. Specially, if the loops are a bit “used”, the stuff can end up nearly dead. We end up replacing Velcro on snowmobile suits and other winter gear if it gets like this. Personally, I have a hypothesis that sometimes the stuff gets beat up by the cold/wind/wet combination, as covered areas of Velcro on the same suits/gear seem to hold up longer. Another issue, and why years ago my unit didn’t allow any Velcro in our deployment gear, …

Hugh, I have had the opportunity to serve as an 03 with the Marine Corps, an officer with a small police department and in private contracting. During that time, I have been able to use all sorts of nice kits, and my experience stems from that. I would say Velcro is not a good idea in my opinion, unless you include silencers (additional pieces of Velcro) which can be used to silence the hook and loop tearing noise. We often would sew extra Velcro into magazine pouch closures of similar on radio pouches, et cetera. So if you are headed …

HJL, You asked about the use of velcro. This is more in the way of everyday carry, but my cover vest has a large velcro panel that the holster for my BUG hangs from. The pocket that this panel is inside of has a velcro closure. I don’t care for the noise of the velcro for tactical reasons, so I have placed a strip of loop on about half of the velcro (hook & loop) to reduce the sound and yet maintain the closure. The gun is a Kahr PM9 so it is light weight. A number of velcro covered …