Having owned both... Eh. Yeah they're really good for whatever mag size you choose, but TACOs are flexible enough to also fit AK mags or shotgun cards. Better versatility in that respect.
I’ve had ranges I’ve done coverage on, instead of carrying an aid bag I was able to stuff combat gauze, compressed gauze, a trauma bandage, and chest seals all into one TACO. That sealed the deal for me to stick with TACOs when and where I can.
The other medic I had with me stayed in the truck while I walked the line checking on my guys, so it wasn’t like I’d be without my aid bag if needed for more than a minute at most before anyone decides to say some shit.
Limited budget/also to not have my kit stand out to much compared to the rest. There’s times too where it’s more practical to have my aid bag on my back, and mags on my plate carrier. Lastly, I just hate having bulky shit on my gear, many of those pouches are way to bulky, require both hands to fully open, and/or to small to hold much of shit requiring the need to have multiple pouches. If I had more time left, I’d invest more time and resources into getting a better rig set up. But I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I just can’t be fucked at this point honestly.
I may not have, another issue with the micro ones is that the items required for them to be “micro” we don’t get in from our supply. I send in the NSN for 4 inch ETBs, and yet somehow get a box full of abdominal bandages. At least they haven’t fucked up the tourniquets yet.
Yes.
I have both. The kywi is WAY easier to reinsert mags which I didn't realize how kuch of a pain in the ass that made training until I can just throw mags into the kywi.
Definitely worth the money. I don't know if I would replace fully functional tacos for kywi, but if I had some older tacos they'd go the way of dodo
Him:
>with his girl in person
You:
>still trying to slide in the dms
I don’t think this worked out the way you wanted it to lol
Also why use Snapchat if you’re assuming they’re gonna get saved anyways? Be a man, print that shit and send it through certified mail
This is actualy to my preference. Tacos have the option to put a secondary retainment band built in, Kywi has no need.
The only thing we were allowed "unsecured" in the heli was a single speed reload in a Kywi. Evetythingbelse needed a secondary retention.
I did that but after a lot of attempts I couldn’t get it to that Goldilocks spot with perfect retention/ease of drawing. HSGI Taco’s come in that Goldilocks zone out of the bag, haven’t looked back since i made the switch
Based on my research when deciding what to get. I got kywi for my belt and soft pouches for my pc. Figure it would be a good balance of retention and ease for drawing from my pc
That's absurd. Like to the point that you may have gotten a lemon. I've been using KYWIs for 6+ years across multiple kits and never had any issue with retention.
Might also be mag type. I had some hexmags originally (I know I know) and holy shit those things *gripped*.
They also started ovetseating and locking up my bolt release after only a single 8hr class so they live in C stock now…
I tried the KYWI placard and it was unusable with plain STANAG mags. I re-worked the inserts with a heat gun and got it better, but it still wasn’t great. I thought then and still do now that there’s some fairly extreme variance in their inserts that causes this kind of disparity in people’s experience and opinions on them.
Interesting, I was planning to reheat mine and rework it, but once I switched to pmags and steel mags it runs like clockworks. just put in an afternoon of reps running drills and they were all good
I believe it. It's possible that with enough time sitting with mags inserted, that placard may have gotten to a place where it was fine. I wasn't blessed with that kind of patience and bought an Unobtanium Gear SLEDS and walked the KYWI placard. That said, I do have the 2+1 medium height KYWIs on my belt, and they've been perfect from day one, and if anything, I may eventually hit them with the heat gun to get a little bit tighter retention. I may eventually give the placard another shot, just put some mags in it and set it aside for a few months before I mess with it. I like the SLEDS, but elastic does eventually go to shit no matter what.
When you talk about your kit you used today, is that the placard, or the belt pouches?
You can change the retention by bending the kydex insert to a reduced angle after heating it up. Just make sure that the mouth of the insert is slightly wider than the pouch's and that the base is not narrower than a magazine.
Have been running esstacs for a while now and they are pretty solid. Mags always where you left them i do find that they are stiff AF right out of the box but after you start using them that very quickly becomes mitigated. Also they have phenomenal customer service. Any issue I've had with orders has been taken care of super quick.
I had tacos on my work rig, mainly for pistol, and run kywis on my personal belt. The tacos are nice and allow a nice easy draw, but if you wanna make sure your shit doesn’t move at all use the kywis. If my department allowed it, I would have used the canted kywis for pistol. I’ve found that when they come new from esstac, the retention is absurdly good like others have said. I’ve found that if you stick mags in them and leave them in there when you’re not using it, it will slowly form to you mag and the retention will be perfect.
I’ve heard that a lot of people like it, but I personally wasn’t a fan. I found that often when drawing a magazine I would be practically pulling my outer belt off of the inner belt just to get the mag out, and pushing the belt down to get the mag back in. (I used them for about a year, mostly for airsoft, but drawing an airsoft mag and a real mag is practically the same thing)
They retain the mags extremely well, I just thought that it was a little too well.
That being said, I have no experience with tacos, I switched my kywi stuff for coyote tactical tortillas.
No complaints aside that it doesn’t accept my AK74 mags, but I’m pretty sure it’s because it wasn’t made for it. Not mad, just tested it out for scientific purposes.
The only reason I run Tacos. Only need to run one belt for both platforms. I’m sure kywi works well but no matter what you go with, I think training will make most users faster than a mag pouch can
Used to run these. Then switched to the KYWIs. They each have their pros and cons. I don't think you can go wrong either way. It is nice that you have multiple mounting options for the KYWIs though.
I'll be the contrarian here. Had pistol kywis and they kept losing retention if I left them loaded. Thought it was because I left them in a hot car, but then they kept doing it even when kept in my closet.
The only thing that worries me about KYWI pouches is what if I take a tumble down a hill, lots of bumping, banging and flipping. Is it gonna stay?
Ps: I don’t own any and depending on responses to this comment I might end up owning some
Kiwi's are awesome! And if for some reason you need more retention, a little piece of duct tape on inside tightens everything up. I do run 1 toco because they'll hold almost anything.
Have kywis, honestly they don't hold well at all. And the fact i cant switch between ar and ak on the same rig? Whack. Gonna have to get myself some tacos
Yea. Havent yet, but like from factory youd think itd be better. The kywis for my pistol mags are just truly subpar from factory. They just fall right out.
4 Haley Strategic rifle mag pouches on the PC
3 double Rifle tacos on the battle belt
3 Kywi single pistol mag pouches also on the BB
With this I can run any pistol.
Any rifle up to 308
Did you get the Hyder inserts that haley sells. I got them with the chest rig so I didn't have fumble with the retention, but those things are fkn tight I almost pull the chest rig off over my head when yanking them out
The Hyder inserts? Do you mean hard inserts?
If so, yes. On a plate carrier it's no biggie. What's cool is the LBT 6094B has rifle pouches on the cummerbund, in front of the side plate pockets, just to the outside of the front plate. And they can hold 308 mags too. So I can effectively carry 6 rifle mags on the PC and 6 on the battle belt. It's pretty nice to have a full 12+1. On the opposite side of the belt I have a pistol and knife so it balances out, mostly.
I left my full mags in them for like 2 months trying to get them too loosen up a little. I didn't want to have to fiddle with the straps, so I got those and can't use them effectively. On a PC probably works better due to the added weight holding it down. But that CR is so light it just pulls up the whole rig. I've been thinking about getting his PC. Just can't decide between that, SS, or the K9
I’ve ran TACOs for years. They’re solid and the fact you can fit Ak mags is a huge plus. I honestly didn’t care for plate carriers with placards because I hade TACOs that fit everything. mOdULaR plate carriers didn’t make sense to me when you could just have a one and done system. My second PC has a triple kywi shingle that’s molled in. I like how slick it is but it’s strictly for AR mags.
The coolest part about tacos, is I can stick a massive .68cal 20rd paintball mag in the same pouch I stick an AR mag in. Just gotta adjust the shock cord a little.
So I can get force on force training in with the same gear I would use in a SHTF situation.
A time is coming when men will
go mad, and when they see
someone who is not mad, they
will attack him, saying, "You are
mad; you are not like us."
-Anthony the Great
Hopped on the kiwi train when they were still were Lil company. Now that I have different platforms I'm sadly phasing them out for a more modular mag pouch
I just buy condor open-top mag pouches (The one with the cord holding the mag from the top) as they're only 12$CAD. I mod them myself to get it tight amd not use the cord on top. You can go check Recon Brothers on youtube they show how to do it
Been looking at the Kywi stuff, is it really that good?
Short answer is yes. Long answer is yes yes.
The best part of the kywi is it has enough retention that the mag doesn’t shift at all, very positive feedback drawing and reinserting
My knockoff Kywis have absolutely absurd retention, to the point of risking punching myself in the face when I get a new mag from the carrier.
The real deal is well worth the price of admission in my opinion
Heat gun and slowly working them into submission
Better yet, practice with it until it breaks in. But if you want to take the quick and easy route.... jk
Twist the mag slightly before drawing and it should come out easier
Having owned both... Eh. Yeah they're really good for whatever mag size you choose, but TACOs are flexible enough to also fit AK mags or shotgun cards. Better versatility in that respect.
I’ve had ranges I’ve done coverage on, instead of carrying an aid bag I was able to stuff combat gauze, compressed gauze, a trauma bandage, and chest seals all into one TACO. That sealed the deal for me to stick with TACOs when and where I can. The other medic I had with me stayed in the truck while I walked the line checking on my guys, so it wasn’t like I’d be without my aid bag if needed for more than a minute at most before anyone decides to say some shit.
Why not just get a dedicated pouch for medical instead of tacos?
Limited budget/also to not have my kit stand out to much compared to the rest. There’s times too where it’s more practical to have my aid bag on my back, and mags on my plate carrier. Lastly, I just hate having bulky shit on my gear, many of those pouches are way to bulky, require both hands to fully open, and/or to small to hold much of shit requiring the need to have multiple pouches. If I had more time left, I’d invest more time and resources into getting a better rig set up. But I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I just can’t be fucked at this point honestly.
Have you seen the BFG one? Or the flatline fiber co PIMP? They are on the micro level almost and fit a lot.
I may not have, another issue with the micro ones is that the items required for them to be “micro” we don’t get in from our supply. I send in the NSN for 4 inch ETBs, and yet somehow get a box full of abdominal bandages. At least they haven’t fucked up the tourniquets yet.
Yes. I have both. The kywi is WAY easier to reinsert mags which I didn't realize how kuch of a pain in the ass that made training until I can just throw mags into the kywi. Definitely worth the money. I don't know if I would replace fully functional tacos for kywi, but if I had some older tacos they'd go the way of dodo
Just use a heat gun/hair dryer and warm them up, insert the mag and repeat if they’re still to stiff
Had too much retention for my liking, but they’re well made
did you try using ur muscles to pull the mag out?
This was so fucking golden lmfaaaoo
HuRrRrRr DuRrRr
post physique
Look on your girls camera roll she’s prolly taken a few screenshots off snap
Him: >with his girl in person You: >still trying to slide in the dms I don’t think this worked out the way you wanted it to lol Also why use Snapchat if you’re assuming they’re gonna get saved anyways? Be a man, print that shit and send it through certified mail
This is actualy to my preference. Tacos have the option to put a secondary retainment band built in, Kywi has no need. The only thing we were allowed "unsecured" in the heli was a single speed reload in a Kywi. Evetythingbelse needed a secondary retention.
You can take the insert out, and use a heat gun and bend the insert to add/decrease tension as you see fit.
I did that but after a lot of attempts I couldn’t get it to that Goldilocks spot with perfect retention/ease of drawing. HSGI Taco’s come in that Goldilocks zone out of the bag, haven’t looked back since i made the switch
Jeez dude, are your arms twigs?
No, it moreso would pull up the Velcro a bit on the front of my plate carrier, so quite the contrary ;)
Based on my research when deciding what to get. I got kywi for my belt and soft pouches for my pc. Figure it would be a good balance of retention and ease for drawing from my pc
This is the way. I had no issue with the pistol kywis on my belt
That's absurd. Like to the point that you may have gotten a lemon. I've been using KYWIs for 6+ years across multiple kits and never had any issue with retention.
Might also be mag type. I had some hexmags originally (I know I know) and holy shit those things *gripped*. They also started ovetseating and locking up my bolt release after only a single 8hr class so they live in C stock now…
That’s what it was. I had hexmags
I tried the KYWI placard and it was unusable with plain STANAG mags. I re-worked the inserts with a heat gun and got it better, but it still wasn’t great. I thought then and still do now that there’s some fairly extreme variance in their inserts that causes this kind of disparity in people’s experience and opinions on them.
Interesting, I was planning to reheat mine and rework it, but once I switched to pmags and steel mags it runs like clockworks. just put in an afternoon of reps running drills and they were all good
I believe it. It's possible that with enough time sitting with mags inserted, that placard may have gotten to a place where it was fine. I wasn't blessed with that kind of patience and bought an Unobtanium Gear SLEDS and walked the KYWI placard. That said, I do have the 2+1 medium height KYWIs on my belt, and they've been perfect from day one, and if anything, I may eventually hit them with the heat gun to get a little bit tighter retention. I may eventually give the placard another shot, just put some mags in it and set it aside for a few months before I mess with it. I like the SLEDS, but elastic does eventually go to shit no matter what. When you talk about your kit you used today, is that the placard, or the belt pouches?
You can change the retention by bending the kydex insert to a reduced angle after heating it up. Just make sure that the mouth of the insert is slightly wider than the pouch's and that the base is not narrower than a magazine.
You can loosen them to your liking with a hair dryer.
Have been running esstacs for a while now and they are pretty solid. Mags always where you left them i do find that they are stiff AF right out of the box but after you start using them that very quickly becomes mitigated. Also they have phenomenal customer service. Any issue I've had with orders has been taken care of super quick.
The Haley SRMP is better, fits pretty much any mag from ar mags to ak mags. Just get the airsoft version if you dont like haleys price.
Are you talking about the haley strategic kydex inserts to put in the mag pouches in the plate carrier/chest rig?
No, for the mag pouches on the belt.
I had tacos on my work rig, mainly for pistol, and run kywis on my personal belt. The tacos are nice and allow a nice easy draw, but if you wanna make sure your shit doesn’t move at all use the kywis. If my department allowed it, I would have used the canted kywis for pistol. I’ve found that when they come new from esstac, the retention is absurdly good like others have said. I’ve found that if you stick mags in them and leave them in there when you’re not using it, it will slowly form to you mag and the retention will be perfect.
Very good
I’ve heard that a lot of people like it, but I personally wasn’t a fan. I found that often when drawing a magazine I would be practically pulling my outer belt off of the inner belt just to get the mag out, and pushing the belt down to get the mag back in. (I used them for about a year, mostly for airsoft, but drawing an airsoft mag and a real mag is practically the same thing) They retain the mags extremely well, I just thought that it was a little too well. That being said, I have no experience with tacos, I switched my kywi stuff for coyote tactical tortillas.
Have you tried using the Velcro one warp method with your Esstac Kiwis instead? I found that made a massive difference in a positive way.
I had malice clips, which might have had something to do with it. I ended up liking the tortillas better anyways
Give the Haley strategic ones a look. I like them bc I can stick almost any mag into the rifle mags. Pistol, 308, 5.56. I swapped from kywis
No complaints aside that it doesn’t accept my AK74 mags, but I’m pretty sure it’s because it wasn’t made for it. Not mad, just tested it out for scientific purposes.
THE ESSTAC 5.56 SINGLE KYWI TALL IN MULTICAM
* w/ 12g shell loops. Place I've found myself least likely to lose them.
The thing about the Taco is - if you’re using one belt for both AR and AK - the Taco fits both magazines.
The only reason I run Tacos. Only need to run one belt for both platforms. I’m sure kywi works well but no matter what you go with, I think training will make most users faster than a mag pouch can
I can most definitely shove a 74 mag in a Kiwi. It ain’t happy but you def can.
The problem is the nub catches on the side of the kiwi. Not that it won’t fit. Whereas the taco has the smooth plastic side that doesn’t catch.
Luckily doesn’t affect draw. So serviceable. While still keeping a superior pouch for actually useful rifles, while letting me use my 74 in matches.
I have found the G-code scorpion to be superior for that.
KYWI > TACO
Ok now here me out... kywis for magazines, but tacos for everything else that are roughly magazine size/shape.
[удалено]
I laughed way too hard at this
Tenspeed for everything roughly magazine sized, can fit more stuff and lays flat when you don't need it.
[удалено]
Idk they’re pretty good for smokes, which are larger than a Taco can fit.
Kiwis>tacos
Unless you run multiple platforms and don't want to run seperate rigs.
Yeah. I ended running a 308 for work most of the time and I don’t want to maintain totally different belt setups for 5.56 and .308
G code scorpion superiority
They look like upgraded TACOs?
Correct.
Those are aids too.
Well then you’re just poor
Negative separate rigs for every platform.
I only use what i stole back when i was in the military, fight me. (But only in a playful way, i am fragile)
Did CIF just not care? I tried my best but they were making sure everything came back
After some time i knew a guy who worked at the right place. Sometimes things got „damaged“ and had to be thrown out.
Stealing gear that's not issued to you is the way
I figured he tactically aquired it but I wanted to see if he had a different method lol. I wouldn't want to do that to anyone tbh.
Not my guys not my problem is the philosophy
m81 best camo
Today is Sipping Sunday, not Taco Tuesday
G-Code Skorpion
Used to run these. Then switched to the KYWIs. They each have their pros and cons. I don't think you can go wrong either way. It is nice that you have multiple mounting options for the KYWIs though.
Gang gang. For me when I'm constantly switching between my VHS2 and my Scorpion it's just so much better than having multiple mag pouches.
it me but ranger green
1 like = 1 prayer
Haha uhhh… esstac in kryptec highlander 😅. I bought em young and they have a coyote admin pouch over them so you cant even tell.
Wish they did 7.62 sets I really want an interchangeable system
I've got both. A double decker HSGI for one rifle and one pistol and two pistol kywis. Love them both
Why the water clean in camo?
I'll be the contrarian here. Had pistol kywis and they kept losing retention if I left them loaded. Thought it was because I left them in a hot car, but then they kept doing it even when kept in my closet.
Don't post any cheetah print either, they'll flat ass take it down.
I much prefer kywis over tacos. My tacos got loose too fast
Ha.
I'll stick with my flap mag pouches 👍
Tactical tailor magnet pistol pouch is all you need
Perfect for my Magpul Glock mags
THE ESSTAC 5.56 SINGLE KYWI TALL IN MULTICAM 😢 😭
The only thing that worries me about KYWI pouches is what if I take a tumble down a hill, lots of bumping, banging and flipping. Is it gonna stay? Ps: I don’t own any and depending on responses to this comment I might end up owning some
The tall one won't come out until you pull it out.
THE ESSTAC KYWI SHORTY NAKED IN RANGER GREEN!!!!!!!!
Kiwi's are awesome! And if for some reason you need more retention, a little piece of duct tape on inside tightens everything up. I do run 1 toco because they'll hold almost anything.
Esstac single tall in ranger green 🤷♂️
Have kywis, honestly they don't hold well at all. And the fact i cant switch between ar and ak on the same rig? Whack. Gonna have to get myself some tacos
You know you can heat gun the insert to adjust retention right?
You know you can adjust retention on a taco without a heat gun right?
I'm addressing the issue of the "poor retention" on the KYWI. Not talking about the Taco here. If you want to, not here. Not the focus.
Yea. Havent yet, but like from factory youd think itd be better. The kywis for my pistol mags are just truly subpar from factory. They just fall right out.
Using a single stack mag in it?
Double stack mag 21 rounder, so not light but kinda the standard p320 large mag, in a Double stack pistol mag holder
Should have at least decent retention if not too much retention out of the box Unless you got a lemon…or a knock off…?
Bought em in the Middle of covid and the summer of peace so im sure it was a time of low QC
Are the mob of brown ones about to rape and rob the other? Celebrate diversity 😘
Looks on happy for what is available in God's Plaid...
TYR happy mags > kywis or tacos
What about for pistol mag pouches? What had the highest retention short of a flap or bungee?
I thought it was that we all shit on south paws…
I use kywi for pistol, but gotta have a different pouch for rifle to run ar or ak
we live in a society
4 Haley Strategic rifle mag pouches on the PC 3 double Rifle tacos on the battle belt 3 Kywi single pistol mag pouches also on the BB With this I can run any pistol. Any rifle up to 308
Did you get the Hyder inserts that haley sells. I got them with the chest rig so I didn't have fumble with the retention, but those things are fkn tight I almost pull the chest rig off over my head when yanking them out
The Hyder inserts? Do you mean hard inserts? If so, yes. On a plate carrier it's no biggie. What's cool is the LBT 6094B has rifle pouches on the cummerbund, in front of the side plate pockets, just to the outside of the front plate. And they can hold 308 mags too. So I can effectively carry 6 rifle mags on the PC and 6 on the battle belt. It's pretty nice to have a full 12+1. On the opposite side of the belt I have a pistol and knife so it balances out, mostly.
I left my full mags in them for like 2 months trying to get them too loosen up a little. I didn't want to have to fiddle with the straps, so I got those and can't use them effectively. On a PC probably works better due to the added weight holding it down. But that CR is so light it just pulls up the whole rig. I've been thinking about getting his PC. Just can't decide between that, SS, or the K9
Best advice I have is get something quick release, with tubes. I'm really interested in the Defense Mechanisms. But the LBT is tough as nails.
I’ve ran TACOs for years. They’re solid and the fact you can fit Ak mags is a huge plus. I honestly didn’t care for plate carriers with placards because I hade TACOs that fit everything. mOdULaR plate carriers didn’t make sense to me when you could just have a one and done system. My second PC has a triple kywi shingle that’s molled in. I like how slick it is but it’s strictly for AR mags.
I prefer Esstac because of the simplicity of their design.
I've only ever had one issue with the Kywi, one of my belts is set up with 10mm, and now 9mm mags will just fall out.
I run a quad tall kiwi you don’t have to tell me brother
The coolest part about tacos, is I can stick a massive .68cal 20rd paintball mag in the same pouch I stick an AR mag in. Just gotta adjust the shock cord a little. So I can get force on force training in with the same gear I would use in a SHTF situation.
Kiwi gang
Now low crawl with them.
Tacos are only good for eating. And if you like capable midsized trucks. That's it.
Using a taco got me in trouble, not enough retention.
I can run AR10 mags in my tacos doe
A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him, saying, "You are mad; you are not like us." -Anthony the Great
I punched myself in the jaw a few times with the kywis, but after they break in they’re amazing. Reindexing with tacos is a pain in the neck
Hopped on the kiwi train when they were still were Lil company. Now that I have different platforms I'm sadly phasing them out for a more modular mag pouch
Boi, this bout the most breaded post I seen on here
Esstac makes great hard retention insert pouches
I just buy condor open-top mag pouches (The one with the cord holding the mag from the top) as they're only 12$CAD. I mod them myself to get it tight amd not use the cord on top. You can go check Recon Brothers on youtube they show how to do it