There are two categories of gun owners. Those who have had a magazine-related failure with their gun, and those who haven’t shot enough yet. Given a sufficient timeline and enough rounds, your magazine will fail you. And your pal Murphy will inevitably assure you that a failure will occur at the worst possible time. As such, carrying an extra mag for your EDC pistol is a very wise choice. As is practicing reloads under stress. The problem is that an extra magazine is sort of a pain in the rear end to carry. But very few companies offer a magazine carrier that is anything other than a sad afterthought. Except for the guy(s) at 2A Holster . . .
When I reviewed 2A’s Pancake Holster, many of you called it fat, ugly, and various other terms I can’t print here. Too bad, because its a damn fine — if a bit odd looking — holster. Similar, albeit somewhat nicer, adjectives were thrown around when it came to their Stick Up! holster. Though I wasn’t able to find a great deal of use for it, I appreciated the holster for what it was. But arguably the finest widget that 2A makes is their magazine carrier.
A magazine carrier, you say? How far has TTAG sunk that we’re going to pen a few hundred words about a $30 piece of Kydex? I know, I know. But if you’re serious about planning for failure, you need to carry an extra mag. And if you are going to carry one, it has to be carried in the same place, firmly retained, when you go to reach for it. It also needs to remain unobtrusive and generally forgotten. Like a bottle of 18-year-old Macallan.
On paper, 2A’s mag carrier looks a little big, and obtrusive, but in practice, it’s quite slim (though not slimming). The external retention screw would seem to provide an opportunity for snagging fabric, but I was unable to make that actually happen in my testing. Those truly worried about it can opt for a much slimmer panhead screw during the ordering process.
Donning the 2A carrier is a breeze as it simply clips over your belt and stays in place with an aggressive little lip. To remove, simply pry the clip flange out, and lift up. Thanks to this design, you can move the carrier around on your belt so you can change mag position from say 10 o’clock to 8 o’clock to fit your needs.
The best damn part, and the reason I rave so hard about it, is that hard to discern dimple that engages the same spot on the magazine as the latch in the gun. Every other magazine carrier I’ve ever tried has used friction alone to hold mags. I’ve never had a problem with that system per se, but it does require a bit of tuning to get just right. Too tight, and your mags won’t come out. Too loose and they’ll fall out the first time you go running while gunning. Somewhere, there’s a video of me at the SIG Academy dumping two loaded mags on the deck in the first three steps of my run to a second stage of a shooting course. An improperly tuned magazine carrier was too blame.
The 2A carrier’s little dimple engages the mag tightly, giving you that audible Kydexian pop to let you know that everything is where it’s supposed to be. I’m surprised that I don’t see it on more magazine carriers.
Overall Rating * * * * *
Magazine carriers are admittedly boring, but finding one that works well is immensely satisfying. The 2A mag carrier does a great job of keeping a spare mag at the ready without getting in the way. And thanks to its nifty retention system, you know your spare magazine is securely retained. You can pick one up online at their website. Cost is $30 and they’re available for most popular pistols. Custom orders can be accommodated as well.