I guess the one thing that is missing is how you are fumbling. Are you not getting a good grip on the mag, is the pouch moving, is the pouch sticking, or what?
I guess the one thing that is missing is how you are fumbling. Are you not getting a good grip on the mag, is the pouch moving, is the pouch sticking, or what?
Think for yourself. Question authority.
If you're fumbling 50% of your reloads you are going too fast regardless of whether your gear is optimal or crappy. A bad mag pouch might slow your draw but it's hard to imagine it causing a fumble if you're doing your part right. Don't draw the mag from the pouch until you've got a solid proper grip on the tube. Once the mag leaves the pouch, it's all on you...
Get the best quality gear that you can afford. You can get mag pouches from somebody like Comp-Tac for less than $30 bucks. With all that said, it really is the singer and not the song.
I gotta agree with Todd. If you are fumbling your mag changes that often, it's you. Not the gear. Slow down.
Mag pouches, holsters etc come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and quality. There is no "best". Some work better than others for different things. Identify what you need a piece of gear to do, then go looking for the one that best meets the need. We see a lot people out buying a piece of gear, then justifying the need for it after the purchase.
I have some Fobus holsters and mag pouches and my only real complaint is that the magazines and pistol are not held secure enough. Any hard running and gunning will result in a yard sale over the course of fire and leave me without pistol and/or mags when the time comes I need them. Certainly not my first choice in brand, but it is functional enough for what I use that particular holster and mag pouch for.
Unless the gear in question fails to perform it's task, or is inherently unsafe, any problems that arise are usually a training issue on our side of the equation. Good gear helps, but generally is not a deal breaker.
You can get much more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone.
It is very possible that, as Todd mentioned, I am going too fast. I have this tendency a lot and constantly need to remind myself to slow down. With this mag pouch, however, I find that I'm not getting that solid grip on the mag itself. After I clear my garment I get a handful of the mag pouch, but never a solid grip on the mag itself. I can't tell if this is because the pouch has the mag sitting too close to my body or if not enough of the mag is exposed.Originally Posted by orionz06
Todd/Sean, I will definintely hede your advice and slow down and practice more. I'm sure it is simply me that is causing the errors and not (entirely) the gear.
Thanks again for all the advice!
The mag pouch may very well be inhibiting your ability to get a solid grip. Nonetheless, if you're drawing the mag before you establish that solid grip -- no matter how long that takes -- then the fumble is operator error.
A thought...........and just a thought.........Grab a video camera and set it up so you get a nice clean, unobstructed view of your actions when moving to the mag pouch. This way you will be able to see for yourself exactly what is going on, and when, etc. Self-teaching/diagnostics is one of the best tools we have. Also, try working the actions on w/o your cover garment. Do you have the same problems? Does the problem go away? Get worse? Whenever we run into an issue that is more complex than throw the ball, catch the ball, it helps to remove other factors, and through the process of elimination, we identify the root of the issue and take corrective measures from there. So in this case, we are talking about magazine changes. Get rid of everything that does not have to do with magazine changes. Execute the mag change. If it is flawless (or at least acceptable), then we go back to doing it with a cover garment and repeat the process, trying to identify the root of the issue, not just the symptoms/outcome. If the mag change is not acceptable without the cover garment, we examine the why. Too fast? Not enough magazine exposed in that particular pouch to get a good grip? Etc. Whatever the issues are, we generally like to look for a hardware solution to a software problem. Software problems are most often, and best solved with software soultions. Look at re-programming the machine first. If that doesn't work, or does not produce optimal results, we can double team with a hardware and software upgrade simultaneously.
Keep at it, and don't worry about the speed. It will come. Master the technique, and the speed will show up.
You can get much more of what you want with a kind word and a gun, than with a kind word alone.
So the craziest thing happened yesterday while dry practicing...I slowed down and was able to perform reloads. I started off by removing the cover garment and just getting a feel for hand placement and it helped. A lot! Any time that I had any sort of fumble I would stop, restart and do 5 more reps in slow motion. I still have a lot of work to do (determning the best position/height for my hand to index the mag, properly aligning the mag well, etc) and in time I know my motions will become more fluid.
Sean, I also like your advice on video taping what I am doing. I actually got that same advice from some one else at an IDPA match last night. I'm still not sure how much I like these mag pouches, but that may also be due to the fact that I have never tried any thing else. But for the time being they suit thier purpose.
Thanks again everyone for the great advice. I will continue to slow it down and work on my technique.
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