TYR Tactical

History Of The MOLLE Canteen Cover

Here’s a brief post on the history and function of the Pouch, Canteen-General Purpose AKA the MOLLE Canteen Cover.

MOLLE Canteen carrier

The MOLLE Canteen Cover was originally intended to be used on the RACK system (Ranger Assault Carrying kit), which was a chest rig effort started by 2/75th Ranger BN in 1997. The canteen carrier was intended to be used to carry a canteen or any other equipment, including NVG’s, ammunition, etc. the Ranger may require on his fighting load. The Carrier was added to the MOLLE program in the late 1990’s, using the nomenclature ‘Pouch, Canteen-General Purpose’. Two each are issued in the standard MOLLE rifleman kit.

Canteen Carrier 2

The pouch features two outside pockets designed around the standard First Aid Field Dressing. The main pouch will support up to 5 Standard GI aluminum M-16/M4 magazines. When used as a canteen carrier, the top flap should be tucked inside the main compartment, and the draw string should be secured around the top of the canteen with enough tension to reduce debris entering the pouch, but not too tight to make it difficult to remove or secure the canteen. The carrier will support the canteen cup. There is also a padded liner (NSN is 8465-01-538-2043) which can be inserted into the carrier, which will protect sensitive items (primarily NVG’s).

33 Responses to “History Of The MOLLE Canteen Cover”

  1. Luke says:

    I always thought these were pretty handy GP pouches, also always irked me when people tried to use the flap with the canteen.
    Interesting to hear what the side pouches were for, I always wondered. People always said “water purification” but that never rang true with me.

    • Riceball says:

      People probably say this because the old canteen covers, the ones that were meant just for canteens originally, had a little pouch on front that wasn’t big enough for anything but a water purification tablet or two.

  2. Chuck says:

    I always put purification tabs in one pocket and my ir strobe in the other.

  3. Bob says:

    I definitely preferred the Eagle canteen pouch to this one; sewn in elastic and a mesh drain bottom.

    • Jon, OPT says:

      Great item too, but a pain in the ass with a canteen cup in the equation.

      Jon, OPT

      • Terry B. says:

        Jon,

        Great point. I’ve often wondered why so many of the after market canteen carriers are so tightly sized (basically room for the canteen only).

        Is the canteen cup so passé that manufacturers don’t think anyone uses them anymore? Or is it something else I’m missing?

        TLB

        • Jon, OPT says:

          Most know, some just build to customer spec. I’m guessing Eagle was both, and built what was asked of them.

    • FLC says:

      Everything can be improved opon. Eagle improved on this origional.

  4. Jon, OPT says:

    Still one of my favorite pieces of gear for building non armor based webbing.

  5. El Guapo says:

    The only issue pouch I ever use on my PC. I use a padded insert for my PVS14’s and one side pouch for extra batteries and the other for lube. Great piece of kit.

  6. Brett says:

    For some reason I’ve ended up with a ton of these. I’m not sure where I managed to acquire them along the way, but I do find 6them handy for a lot of different purposes.

  7. kris says:

    Great article. I’d love to see more like it.

  8. Goon says:

    isn’t that socking sense SOG use to use canteen pouches all the time as ammo or mag pouches. they could carry way more 20 round mags that way.

  9. Dave says:

    Padded liner? Dude, just jam your canteen cup in there. Instant crush-proof protection.

    • james says:

      Yep,add a couple of pieces of sleeping mat and best thing short of a pelican case. lol

  10. Terry says:

    Canteen cup and a pair of socks will protect anything. F curse it will take you all day to get the cup out of the pouch again.

    I have a DCU RACK in my collection, I quite like it.

  11. Kaos-1 says:

    Mag pouch, ifak pouch , on the fly dump pouch, 100rd belt of 240 ammo pouch, the canteen pouch is the ultimate everything pouch because of its size and shape. But I mostly use them for canteens on a war belt nowadays , I have a bit of a phobia of wearing camel baks after I got hung up on a door knob after a breech while raiding a house in haditha . I felt like a damn piñata

    • Mark says:

      Glad you’re alive!

      But forgive me– I had to smile and laugh a little at the piñata comment!

      Keep 5 yards…

    • I have an all-around dislike of Camelbaks. They are awkward, make vic seats tough, and the only bladders that can take abuse are make by MSR. Huge fan of simple Nalgenes, plus if you are OCONUS chances are they are millions of palletized water bottles nearby.

  12. Colin says:

    I am a big fan of these, I always use them in my load out, you can jam a Nalgene in there too, if you are feeling trendy. Next to the poncho liner these are another “Best damn kit” the army ever made, in my humble opinion.

  13. Christopher says:

    Pretty neat seeing the history. From a civ point of view I like the Spear 1QT, since they have some insulating material.

    • Jon, OPT says:

      Most people hate that feature, the original LC2 canteen poushes would get their fluffy interiors cut out by amphib units or guys who worked in rain (25th ID etc) since they retained water. The advantage the insulation gave is padding, but insulation after a few hours in any environment is pretty useless.

      Jon, OPT

    • Steve says:

      IIRC, the idea behind the fuzzy lining was to provide an evaporative cooling effect by wetting the ‘fur’ down.

      • Jon, OPT says:

        True statement, it is SUPPOSED to provide insulation and cooling when wet, but that is hit or miss depending on the environment and most guys didn’t even know that. Water teams usually cut it out because it created drag while surface swimming. I just left mine in, but never poured water in them to cool my canteens.

  14. jjj0309 says:

    Check out Maxpedition M-4 Waistpack too.
    It’s basically an enhanced canteen cover.

  15. Brian C says:

    I wish Paraclete, or another company, would bring back the Paraclete Canteen pouch. Hands down best canteen/GP pouch out there – simple, lightweight – would hold a nalgene or canteen with room to spare and had MOLLE on the outside.

    • Jon, OPT says:

      Agreed, it was everything the Eagle, Maxp M4, and even this pouch wasn’t, but the price tag was typically Paraclete high.

      • Brian C says:

        In retrospect it was 100% worth it though. The attachment system was also (in my opinion) the best out there.

        Luckily you can find Paraclete canteens on eBay for super cheap in SG, CB, 3 Color, and even ACU – but Multicam is next to impossible to find which is of course what I “need”

  16. Drew says:

    I would love to see more post like this showing the history of common kit, it’s a great addition to all the new and breaking news

  17. ken says:

    Oh, god yes! Thank you for this article. The canteen pouch is a awesome gp pouch that everybody forgets about. Go buy your fancy $40 large gp pouch and I’ll go pick my canteen pouch up at the local surplus store for seven.