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I'm considering buying a dump pouch for use with my AR, but really have no idea if it's necessary or something I'll probably never or very rarely use.

I'm not participating in competitions and I'm not sure if it's something I'd use if ever I had to use my AR in a home defense situation due to lone terrorists attacks or spreading so-called 'civil unrest'...

What say you?

P.S. If you do have experience using a dump pouch please tell of it's utility or lack thereof, plus which one do you have experience with, such as a Maxpedition Rolly Poly or Loppy or ...?

Thanks!

Magazines are expendables. When it runs dry, hit the button and let it fall since it's no good to you any more.

When the smoke clears you may be able to go back and pick them up. If not, oh well. Again, they are expendable, your life is not.

If you train to put them in a dump bag or back in your mag pouch, that's what you are likely to do under stress. You will revert to your training.

Pawpaw wrote:Magazines are expendables. When it runs dry, hit the button and let it fall since it's no good to you any more.

When the smoke clears you may be able to go back and pick them up. If not, oh well. Again, they are expendable, your life is not.

If you train to put them in a dump bag or back in your mag pouch, that's what you are likely to do under stress. You will revert to your training.

People joke in training classes that dump pouches are called that because they dump your empty mags on the ground when you go prone or urban prone. LOL. Like PawPaw said you won't remember to drop an empty mag if you pratice putting them in a dump pouch. You will be operating on autopilot and doing what you always do. If the "action" has calmed and you think there is some ammo still in the mags you could do a Tactical Reload and put that mag in the pouch you are the least likely to grab from. That is probably best done under the cover of a partner.

Always keep your emergency reload pouch stocked with a full mag if possible. That being the pouch you would grab from if you needed to reload RIGHT NOW! If that makes sense. Basically, if you are currently in a fight or if you know the mag is empty, then the mag goes on the ground. You will fight like you train. Empty mags go on the ground.

Only needed in far off places/remote areas or extended AO for storing partial mags when you have the luxury of casual reloading/ consolidating.

Pretty useless for any other type of civilian or LEO urban combat encounter. I can reload fast enough to let the current mag run dry.

The most practical use I've found for a dump pouch is when bird hunting with an over/under. And even then, sometimes the slight amount of time it takes to drop 2 hulls into it (instead of quickly ejecting onto the ground) can make the difference in getting reloaded (or not) in time to shoot at other birds before they get out of range.

Thanks all for the input.

If, when simply target shooting at my neighbors field AR range located just behind my house, I can simply use an old dove game bag for empty mags.

If the feces ever hits the fan with domestic terrorism or ahem, civil unrest, I'll let em drop to the ground when their empty.

Lot's of good feedback here.

AndyC wrote:Dump-pouches are range-toys - useful if you're running around during a tactical course with others playing poop-shoot-n-scoot - and not wanting to get your mags lost or mixed with others' mags.

If fighting, though, it's like Pawpaw said - just dump the mag.

An easy fix to use during training classes is to just paint the bottom of your mags bright orange or green so you can find them in the grass. Use some stencils and paint your initials over the bright paint. If you are worried about painting you mags you could use tape and then paint over that.

The issue with using dump pouches in a class is that your are practicing a bad habit. You will be doing a lot of reloads and could build what instructors call 'Training Scars'. That's why I hate most public ranges. Painting your mags so you can find them is a better option IMO. YMMV

This is one of the problems some folks have with IDPA rules. If the mag still has rounds in it and you reload, you must retain the partially loaded mag in a pocket or something. I don't think "dump" bags are allowed in IDPA. Anyway, an empty mag may be dropped unless otherwise stated in the rules for that stage. Some people think that the rules are getting further away from real defensive use.

My club has held some "outlaw" matches this summer and many of those annoying rules go out the window and the stages are treated a little more like real life situations. It may be run 4-5-6 different ways depending on how each person wants to do it and based on how many rounds their gun will hold. None of that downloading to only ten rounds stuff. These matches were a lot of fun and different tactically than a standard IDPA match.

When I'm practicing reloads I just drop the mag whether it's the rifle of handgun and re-engage as quickly as possible.

I guess I am showing my age. I saw the term dump pouch and thought it meant a pouch on my duty belt where I kept my revolver reloads. We used to use them when we could not have speedloaders.

For the current use, I think there is only one time to worry, and it is LEO and not citizen related. I have always trained to reload my weapon early if I get a chance during a gunfight. Any time I have been firing rounds and there is a lull, I will reload. In a case like that, I will save the old magazine because I might just need those extra rounds. If it is an empty magazine though, I just drop it. And I have never been taught to use a pouch or anything special for this, just put the partial magazine in my pocket or stick it in the belt.

I cannot see a use for these for a self defense situation. Just dump the magazine as needed. I guess it might be handy during a competition if they allowed it.