Another custom creation from the same individual who made the beavertails I talked about before. This time it is an admin pocket he made for me, with a standard MOLLE layout for attaching to a PALS grid in my ASAP. This thing is awesome. To get one, you can look on eBay and Instagram or reach out directly to him and have him make you something custom.
Here’s what he made me for the inside of my ASAP, in Desert Night Camo with bright orange on the interior and weather resistant zippers — I mean look at it, it’s lovely:
A peek at it loaded inside the bag:
Right? Right.
Size
The pouch itself is 9”x6”x1.5”, has a zippered pocket across the face and three open top pockets inside the main pocket. More than that the pouch sits very slim inside the bag, as it looks more like a 1” pouch than something 1.5” deep. That’s a huge win for this pouch because while it is thin, there’s plenty of space for a lot of gear.
I can’t think of a better sizing for the ASAP with how I have it installed and how I am using it.
Attachment
Something which drives me nuts about most MOLLE/PALS pouches is how they do/don’t attach to bags. Many simply offer a grid which will mate to the other, and will require you to use other means to attach them. Velcro straps, MOLLE sticks, MALICE Clips, and others. Some bags offer straps with velcro or snaps on them to help secure them — these are better but still a little annoying.
The best method does exist, and that’s something GORUCK uses on their Field Pockets by adding a length of webbing which you weave between the two, and tuck back into itself. The benefit of this is that the entire pocket feels very secure and very flat against whatever you are securing it too.
And that’s essentially what this bag has here, although slightly different than how GORUCK does it — it’s just as effective and a little easier to weave. And highly awesome.
Use
I keep this placed in my ASAP all the time and usually stocked with gear for hiking. It’s been fantastic for just this use case. Here’s looking down into the bag:
The pouch doesn’t unzip fully, which means you can open the zippers all the way and the pocket doesn’t dump out all of your gear. That’s how it is shown in the picture above: unzipped with the gear staying put and accessible.
I’ve found the orange interior to be great for finding the gear in the pouch and the organization is also ideal for me. I take a less is more approach and this pouch accommodates that perfectly. Only the front zipper is a little tricky to get at from the top when the bag is closed up, but that said it’s easy enough depending on what you store in that section.
This bag is useful even not attached, but the true benefit of this type of design is when attached to a surface in your bag that offers enough rigidity that you can work out of the pocket with it open. In a lot of ways it reminds me of a Hill People Gear Kit Bag style — which is high praise — as you can leave it open to access your gear without worry of stuff spilling out.
Overall
This is easily my favorite admin pouch I have, and one of the best I have used. The footprint and shallow nature make it a real standout for how I use these pouches. Often the struggle with an admin pouch is finding something slim and compact enough that it doesn’t eat too much space in your bag while still remaining useful.
This pouch hits that nail on the head.
The hard part with the pouch is resisting the urge to order many more. The cost will depend on how you configure it, but estimate $80+ and you’ll be in range. It’s still cheaper than a GORUCK Field Pocket and much better. But note that it takes weeks for it to arrive in the USA once shipped.