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By: Chris Tran
The good guys at Blacksheepwarrior.com put me in touch with the folks from SnagMag a few months ago to try out their SnagMag pocket carry system.
When it comes to selecting your everyday carry gear, especially if you spend time in uniform or wearing a duty belt, consistency of carry is key. With consistent practice and training, access of gear and building a positive muscle memory for manipulating equipment is an important factor in smooth deployment and performance when it matters.
All that being said, sometimes law enforcement professionals and every day carriers alike must make compromises in our equipment selection to fit a specific need; whether that be a higher level of discrete carry, or clothing requirements. I am plainclothes at work about 90% of the time, so I can no longer rely on the consistency of gear placement that a duty belt affords.
For law enforcement and EDCers alike, I am a strong proponent of carrying an extra magazine. Or three. One, you can never have enough ammunition, and two, magazines fail. Two is one, one is none, as they say. For anyone that has carried concealed for any amount of time, the old adage always pops up, “Dress around the gun.” While sound advice, it is not always practical, or realistic in real life.
Sometimes depending on weather, or what I’m doing at work, wearing a cover garment to conceal the equipment on my belt just isn’t possible. Pocket carrying my firearm is viable for those situations, or other methods of deep concealed carry. That doesn’t however, address my reloads, which are in my mag pouches, which typically reside on a belt. In some situations it is fine to just untuck a shirt, however in others, keeping equipment off the beltline is a must.
In conditions such as these, I typically would just throw a spare magazine into my support hand front pant pocket. Not ideal by any stretch, as magazine orientation is important for consistent, and repeatable draw. The Snagmag aims to address these issues by providing a discrete, consistent, and reliable magazine carry system for when on-the-belt carry just will not do.
The Rundown
The Snagmag is a patented (#US9170064B2) magazine holder that purports to provide a discrete way to carry an extra magazine of ammunition for your concealed carry pistol. The SnagMag is a simple plastic sheath with a metal clip that resembles the pocket clip on a knife or multitool, and a unique “hook” on the rear edge.
The hook is designed to catch on the rear edge of the user’s support hand front pocket, enabling the magazine to be drawn, while the Snagmag is retained inside of the pocket. Deployment, after a bit of practice, is pretty smooth, and it is possible to achieve a satisfactory indexed grip on the magazine to position it for a positive reload.
The clip serves as camouflage; to the casual observer, from a distance, the Snagmag appears to simply be a pocketknife or a multitool. It isn’t until it is inspected closer and in close proximity, that an observer can see the baseplate of the magazine in the pocket opening.
I’ve been using the Snagmag for a few months now, and I’m pleased. I will say though, these are not for hipster skinny jeans or fitted pants, as the magazine will print more than a 70’s disco star. Trained observers, such as my coworkers will not think “knife,” but “multitool,” as the magazine profile in the pant pocket is more similar to a multitool, and if a subject is in close proximity to you, if the top of the pant pocket opening isn’t obscured by an untucked t-shirt, it is possible to see the baseplate of the magazine for what it is. That being said, I’ve walked around in public both on and off duty with nary a second glance.
Now, I have seen criticism via social media that due to the open design at the bottom of the Snagmag, it is possible to partially push the top round out of the magazine, and open up the possibility of a hindered draw. While technically accurate, this has not been my experience in carrying the Snagmag, either sitting, standing, walking, running, or crouching. Perhaps Snagmag will look at this and enclose the bottom of the carrier to address this perceived issue, but I have not experienced a hindered draw due to an unseated round.
The “hook” on the carrier effectively snags the carrier and retains it in the pocket, which is its best feature. At a retail price of $34.99, the Snagmag is $20 less expensive than its direct competitor, and since their direct competitor does not have the “hook” feature, picking up a Snagmag is a hands-down no-brainer.
The model I chose was for my Glock G19. While I typically carry my 19 on my belt, I like having a compact-sized reload for when I carry my G26 either appendix, or in a pocket. Doublestack magazines, especially for a petite officer such as myself, present a larger profile inside a front pocket, and if I used single-stack magazines in real life, I think the Snagmag is an ideal carry solution.
If you want to know more about Snagmag, check out their website at:
or on social media at:
https://www.facebook.com/Snagmag/?fref=ts
Follow Chris Tran on Social Media:
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