In May of this year, a friend of DIY Tactical (and one of our forum moderators) Eric Graves, created a new industry blog, Soldier Systems.

Soldier Systems is an outstanding resource for those wanting to follow what is going on in the gear industry. Eric is a virtual encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to soldiers equipment and the industry. Unique to most gear related blogs and websites his knowledge is based on actual field experience, he has been there and done that, so you can certainly trust his point of view.

One of the remarkable aspects of Soldier Systems is the amount of insider information. You will often see articles there before you see it anywhere else. Be sure to stop by and check it out. There are typically several new articles daily and certaily worth adding to your RSS feeds.

Along with home brewed content, Soldier Systems accepts articles from guest writers as well. Contact information can be found on the site. 

Eric, also wrote the intro to the book Battle Rattle: The Stuff a Soldier Carries

As a follow up to our earlier Fast Mag review...

While at SHOT 08 I was able to check out the newest generation of the Fast Mag. This product is still being manufactured by Down East Inc and distributed through ITW Military Products. Instead of rehashing the concept of the design I'll focus on the changes.

As with the original Fast Mag, the case is made of high impact, anti-fragmentation polymer with Ghillitex Technology to reduce IR signature.

The Fast Mag is compatible with the Magpul PMag as well as standard USGI M16/M4 Magazines.

Here is a Pistol Mag Pouch tutorial that has been taken from the forum, Another great step by step written by Diz...

This time we're going to make a basic pistol 3-mag pouch (you shoot a Glock, right?).

We'll start out with the layout. The pouch back is about 10" x 6 1/8". This will be folded in half on the 10" dim. The pouch panel it self is about 11" x 5 1/2" with the 11" dim being horizontal.

A great double mag pouch tutorial from the forum, written by Diz.

Here is another way to make a pouch. This time I'm gonna use 3" webbing as a base for the back wall and the flap. The 3" webbing is 14" net (28" total). The pouch itself is very straight-forward. 7 3/4" wide by 8 1/8" in length.

Another pouch making technique from Diz. This time he is demonstrating making a double mag pouch with an integrated flap and sewn corners.

Here's Diz's Tutorial...

OK recently I have decided to re-investigate the classic, top flap, 2-mag pouch design. Again this is "A" way of doing it, as I am experimenting with different prototypes to see which one I like the best. I selected this one for a tutorial because it shows a different bottom closure technique that I think you would find interesting if you're not familar with it.

It's basically a take-off on the classic USGI 3-mag pouch, from the ALICE issue days. It has been modifed to take the side flaps off the top flap and cut down to 2-mag size. The basic dimensions are:
overall length: 22 1/2"
length at bottom of pouch side: 7 3/8"
width: 8"
width at 1st step: 5 1/2"
length at 1st step: 8"
width of top flap/back: 3 3/16"

Of course you could square off the top flap as well. I rounded it because this lends itself well to being edge taped, which is the preferred method of making this style ofpouch, although I suppose you could double wall it.