A dump pouch is an indispensable piece of gear. I highly recommend getting into the sport of airsoft after your initial purchases. When you are playing for the first time, this may not be a big deal, but carrying spare magazines or saving your empty ones can be rather troublesome if all you wear are jeans and a hoodie. This is how most players start, but you will soon learn that you want some way to change out your magazines and not lose them. This does not require you to buy a ton of fancy gear like you see many players running around in. You can still remain the way you are if you want to, but you will want to purchase a dump pouch at the very least.
Dump pouches are sacks that allow you to discard your used magazines quickly while retaining them. Like so many players, I started out by wearing jeans, a T-shirt, and sometimes a hoodie. After a few airsoft games and a few lost magazines, I quickly found out that losing magazines and having to repurchase what I lost is not the way to stay in the sport. Dump pouches are usually belt or MOLLE-mounted. Some have options for either method, such as the Condor 3-fold magazine recovery pouch.
Check out the Condor Dump Pouch!
This particular pouch gets its name from its features. The pouch rolls up when you want it out of the way and don't plan to use it. When you unfold it, though, it is nice and large and can hold up to 10 rifle magazines. The pouch has reinforcements, so the bag is not floppy. This is important because when you are trying to access the pouch, the fact that it holds its shape means your hands can find it easier. The pouch has a cord built into it that can be adjusted. There is an internal pocket in the pouch that corresponds to how tight you make the cord, and this makes the opening in the pouch smaller or larger, depending on how you adjust. This makes it so the pocket functions as a one-way opening. You can put the magazine in, and it will have a hard time coming out of the small opening you made yourself. This is very important as a player when you run around and do not want things flying out.
The pouch is made of a durable nylon that is moisture resistant. It comes in different colors as well. For mounting the pouch, the loops have snaps, a hook, and a loop (velcro) that can be undone to open it up. This allows you to mount the dump pouch to your belt or directly to your MOLLE gear, such as an airsoft chest rig or plate carrier. This is a very small investment in gear, and I highly recommend it after you get your gun-related needs out of the way as a starting player. If you end up being the type of player with expensive milsim themed loadouts, you will still be using one of these pouches anyway, so this would be bare essential as you are upgrading your kit piece by piece. In all my setups, I have a matching colored dump pouch to go with my gear.
This is a very simple item, and I am sure there are certainly other pouches like that with their own differentiating features. At the end of the day, they do the same job, so get the one you like. But this one nails all the basics and gets the job done for a low price. If you start wearing tactical gear, I suppose you could reinsert the magazine back into an open pouch, though that is easier said than done when you are in-game. That is more of a battle tactic for your partially spent magazines where you want to keep that ammo no matter what. Shuffling through discarded mags inside the dump pouch, though, is less than ideal, and I wouldn't recommend using the pouch for that. As with all gear and tactics, this can be discussed, but it is sometimes more practical to go out there and experience it in a game to have a clear understanding. Once you physically experience the situation or shortcomings, you can address them either by better training and tactics or by simple changes and upgrades in gear.
What did you think about today's blog? We haven't done short gear overviews like this in a while, so I thought I'd bring it back. Do you find this helpful? Do you hate it? Do you have your recommendations? Comment below and give us your thoughts! I'm just giving input based on my player experience, but maybe you have some insight I have not discovered. We are always looking to hear!
