Meet the MOLLE Killer…it seems like S&S Precision has been quiet for quite some time unveiling only incremental improvements to their flagship product, the PlateFrame. But late last week they invited us in for an exclusive sneak peek at what they’ve been up to. Get ready to throw away all of your nylon magazine pouches.
The SMR’s (Skeletonized Magazine Retention) genesis goes back to 2004 when one of the members of S&S Precision hand built a mag carrier from Kydex harvested from a Safariland holster. It was used on multiple combat deployments as a belt mounted, quick magazine holder for that first reload.
S&S Precision was founded in 2007. Interestingly, in 2009 that custom built mag carrier concept led to the larger development of load carrying systems which caused S&S Precision to concentrate on the groundbreaking PlateFrame which, after two years of internal work, was released in 2012. Around the same time the Kangaroo Insert was created for use with the NSW issue LBT plate carrier but the team at S&S Precision wasn’t satisfied that it was as refined as it could be. Consequently, they’ve turned their attention back to the initial focus of magazine retention.
But they aren’t satisfied with just making yet another mag carrier. The point of their development is Magazine Retention with as little material as possible to properly do the job. Additionally, the design needs to be modular so that it could be adapted to a wide variety of platforms. Specifically, it had to Integrate with PlateFrame as well as first line belt and PALS.
The system consists of two primary components; the SMR which is the actual magazine holder itself and the BasePlate aka “The Docking Station” which serves as the platform. For additional use with belts and PALS, they’ve also produced adapters for single SMRs.
A Rhodesian-style chest rig is also in the works that accepts the BasePlate.
Sure, we’ve seen other Kydex and Polymer magazine pouches, but everyone of them has used a more traditional mounting system such as a PALS derivative or a simple loop. The SMR concept takes modularity to a different level and looking at it, I can see multiple other ways that these pouches can be integrated unto other surfaces. Additionally, as you can see, so far they are only for 5.56 mags, but I can see a multitude of other SMRs available as well.
Coming soon from S&S Precision.
