Many of us are fans of tacos. Hang on, though. Are we talking about the same kind of tacos? There are the kinds that are filled with meat, lettuce, tomatoes, and other goodies (we love those). Then, there are the kinds that you can fill with rifle and pistol magazines. For today’s purposes, we’ll be discussing the Tacos from High Speed Gear, Inc. (HSGI), although readers should feel free to enjoy this article while eating a food-type taco. In fact, it’s encouraged.
HSGI
High Speed Gear began in 1999 as a custom shop making gear for Marines at Camp Lejeune. Today, HSGI is the largest employer in Swansboro, North Carolina, manufacturing high-quality gear for the military, law enforcement agencies, emergency responders, and private citizens alike.
What kind of gear does HSGI make? Let’s put it this way: If they don’t make it, you probably don’t need it. Products range from pouches to belts, medical supplies, plate carriers, bags, holsters, slings, and other accessories. Every piece is satisfaction guaranteed and made in the USA! It doesn’t get much better than that. They’re a very solid company with high-quality products, and I’ve been using them for quite a while.
The Taco Pouch
HSGI’s Tacos are a line of magazine pouches that are about as versatile as you’ll find on planet Earth. You might ask how a magazine pouch can be versatile.
For starters, imagine a rifle magazine pouch configured to hold just about any rifle magazine ever made (within reason). One Taco pouch can hold magazines from the AR-15, Mini-14, AK-47, FN SCAR, AR-10, M1A/M14, Mini-30, and pretty much any others you’d care to name.
Construction and Features
How do they do that? It’s ingenious and yet simple. The front and back of the taco pouch are crafted of nylon, and it is available in black, Coyote Brown, MultiCam, Olive Drab Green, Grey, MultiCam Black, Woodland, and LE Blue color options. On the sides, there are polymer panels with an elastic shock cord woven all around the pouch. Further, the elastic cord can be cinched down to tighten the pouch or loosened to accommodate larger magazines. Easy peasy.
Having one type of pouch that will fit various magazines is super attractive because you don’t have to buy a bunch of specific pouches for different types of mags. Let’s say you run an AR-15, an AK-47, and an M1A. Normally, you’d need to buy specific pouches for each one. And you’d likely buy three different chest rigs for each platform because who wants to be taking mag pouches on and off every time you switch platforms? It’s expensive and time-consuming, and it prevents you from grabbing the chest rig for one particular platform and heading out at a moment’s notice.
With the Taco pouches, you don’t need to go through any of that because they’ll accommodate any platform that you’re running. One rig will do it all, which simplifies things.
Not only do the Tacos hold magazines, but they also hold some radios, flash bangs, and smoke grenades. It would be hard to ask for anything more.
Attachments
Tacos have a couple of options for attaching them to various equipment via strips of durable, vinyl-backed, heavy-duty nylon laminate, along with a snap closure, which creates a belt loop. The first-generation Tacos have three slits in the back, so they can accommodate belts of 1.5-1.75 inches, 1.75-2 inches, and 2-2.25-inches in width. The inside of this belt loop contains a patch of loop fastener to attach to a belt that has hook material so that it doesn’t move around.
Gen 2
Generation 2 Tacos have some added features and improvements. They’re constructed from a laser-cut nylon laminate wrapped over a woven thermoplastic core. The Gen 2 variety weighs almost 20% less than the original Tacos (weight is 2.23 ounces).
There are 1/2-inch MOLLE strips on the back of the Taco that allow the pouch to be mounted to either a belt or MOLLE gear. There are also screws, which can create more secure belt loops. Normally, the clip snaps are sufficient to easily attach the pouches to a chest rig or other gear, including a belt.
The belt option is nice in the event you aren’t going to be fully geared up, so you can have a spare magazine or two on your belt. Sometimes, more is better, such as home defense scenarios. To tell the truth, most of us don’t get fully kitted up to defend the house, and a spare mag or two is more than sufficient. Also worth noting is that there is an OTR (Over Top Retention) cover accessory, so the pouch can fully enclose the magazine.
Polymer Tacos
There is also a polymer Taco line of pouches with a myriad of variations. The body is simpler and made solely of polymer, differing from the other models, which have nylon fabric as a portion of their body. The polymer Tacos are a harder version of the original Taco, although the polymer is slightly pliable, so these pouches are still somewhat flexible. They have the same shock cord that the other pouches use, so they can be instantly adjusted to whichever magazines you happen to be using at that moment. These polymer Tacos also come in a wide range of colors.
Options
So far, we’ve looked at single-magazine Tacos, but there are other varieties to be had. There is a Double-Decker that holds one rifle mag and one pistol mag. The X2R holds two rifle magazines. There’s actually a handcuff-carrying Taco as well. There are pistol Tacos and even an Extended Pistol Taco that can hold pistol magazines as well as submachine gun magazines.
If you want a double rifle mag/double pistol mag pouch, they have those, too. An LE case holds a pair of handcuffs and a tactical light. There are also Tacos that hold a radio and one that holds a collapsible baton. The list goes on. Options for 40mm grenades, both single and double, also exist. Like I said, if you’re into options, you’ve come to the right place!
Closing Thoughts
HSGI’s Taco magazine and gear pouches offer a bewildering array of options for carrying magazines and other gear. Single pouches, double pouches, and all sorts of combinations abound, giving users as much versatility as they can handle.
The flexible mounting systems are a huge selling point because the Tacos can easily be attached to a regular belt or a rig with MOLLE attachments. The simplicity is the real gem of the system because the Tacos can be switched out without a hassle in a matter of seconds, and you don’t need an engineering degree to figure out how to accomplish it.
Furthermore, their ability to adapt to any magazine that the user happens to be employing at that moment really makes these pouches golden. Being able to use one rig for a multitude of rifles and pistols is true modularity and versatility. No longer does a person have to tailor their magazine pouches to a particular weapons platform, which saves both time and money.
HSGI has the market cornered as far as flexible, versatile magazine pouches are concerned. I haven’t found any others that come close to matching them. These Tacos are good to go!
The post High Speed Gear Tactical Taco Pouch: A Review appeared first on The Mag Life.
Read the full article here
