I love writing about gear, especially when I love the gear. One piece of equipment I adore is the HSGI TACO magazine pouches. I use both the pistol and rifle variants. I thought about doing a straight review, but upon a doing Google search, I realized it was a crowded market. So instead, I’m going to give you five reasons why HSGI TACOs rule.

Made in America

HSGI is an American company located just outside of Camp Lejeune. It calls Swansboro, a small town, its home and produces its products right there. If you ever stray from Jacksonville’s bars, barbershops, and strip clubs, I suggest checking out Swansboro; it’s a cool little town.

TACO pouches are HSGI’s flagship item. They have been used by Marines, SEALs, Green Berets, Rangers, and anyone who appreciates innovative, well made, and well-designed gear.

Versatile To A Fault

HSGI TACO pouches are available for pistol and rifle magazines, but that’s not all they can hold. They can store tools, lights, and more. On the magazine front, these pouches can hold a ton of different magazines. The AR-sized pouch can hold any AR magazine you can fancy. From PMAGs and Lancers to G.I. style aluminum mags, it’ll fit them all. If I could squeeze in my cheap 80% lower you can squeeze it in this pouch.

And if you wanna go OPFOR, you can squeeze in AK magazines as well. They are top-heavy, but feel secure and retain well.

The Pistol magazine pouches will fit everything from a Glock 21 magazine to a 1911 mag with ease. The only thing they suck at carrying is subcompact 380 mags.

If I were to build one battle belt or one chest rig, it would be equipped with HSGI mag pouches. They work for everything and allow me to change it up on the fly.

Extremely Durable

HSGI TACO pouches can take whatever abuse you toss at them and keep on keeping on. TACOs are made for the toughest of customers and have proven themselves at war for decades now. I have my original TACOs to this day, and they don’t seem to age. HSGI Tacos aren’t cheap, but with them, it is truly a buy once, cry once type of deal.

You can bang ’em around, get ’em soaking wet, crawl, climb, and shoot with them, and they will stay together without a bit of fraying. TACO pouches are made to last, and last they do.

Although times and tactics change, I’ve yet to see a reason to upgrade form TACOs — that’s assuming there is something out there that is an upgrade from TACOs.

Excellent Accessibility

As a Marine, my mag pouches all had this lame velcro pouch that went over the magazines’ top. The damn thing was there for retention but made reloads a fair bit slower. Add in the fact the velcro got stuck on a glove or other component, and I ended up hating velcro-sealed pouches. The HSGI TACO pouches use an open-top design that leaves a handful of the magazine’s top exposed for quick grip and rips.

Reloading is rapid and easy. The magazine flies out of the TACO for rapid reloads, and there is no active retention device that has to be defeated to do so. The HSGI TACO mag pouches allow you quick and easy accessibility: Easy access means a faster reload and a faster reload means winning fights.

Perfect Retention

That flap I mentioned above had a purpose. It was there to ensure my magazines didn’t bounce out of my magazine pouch when sprinting, climbing, crawling, etc. It was necessary, even though it was annoying. The HSGI TACO pouches do not require such a flap to have excellent retention. Instead, the TACO offers you a combination of polymer brackets and shock cord to keep a tight grip on whatever magazine you are rocking and rolling with.

This keeps your mags firmly in place: The only thing worse than a slow reload is a missing magazine. The TACOs ensure your mag sits it’s ass down until called upon.

The HSGI TACO – All You Need

HSGI TACOs come in both pistol and multiple rifle formats. They are available in a wide multitude of camo and color options. These bad boys are tier one gear and made to last. They are well made, versatile, durable, and offer the perfect balance of retention and accessibility, so what’s not to love. Oh, did I mention they are stackable? Cause they are.