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Greetings all,
I recently found myself wanting a gear bag to fill a specific niche. Something, that should the need arise, I could quickly pull out of the gun safe along with a shotgun. Gun safe real estate is precious so the bag needed to be small. I also wanted something subtle - read no MOLLE. Something purpose made for ammo, but easily taken for something else, say, a camera bag. I wanted it primarily for the purpose of carrying shotgun rounds, a pistol, and extra pistol magazines. If one wants to carry AR and pistol mags, a bag to suit that purpose can be found anywhere. To my surprise however, there is a dearth of shoulder bags geared toward shotgun ammo. Most of what's out there for shotshells is made to be used in conjunction with either MOLLE gear or a gun belt. But there's not much in the way of bags. This surprised me. I figured that there must be a lot of people out there in both the civilian and LE communities who would choose or are limited to a shotgun as a long gun.
My research led me to the Hawkepaks website. This name was new to me, but the company has been around for a long time. They have a lot of great designs. And some original ones too, not just the same ol'-same ol'. They make all their own stuff in the USA. The quality is great. The cost is competitive. They didn't have exactly what I was looking for, but what they did have came pretty darn close.
I ended up with their small QND bag. QND for Quick and Dirty. They make several versions of the QND bag but the small one suited my needs best. It carries just what I want to carry in the smallest form factor (most bags that fall into the "rapid response" or "active shooter" classification are much bigger.) I paid $55 for it.
Shown with an iPhone for scale. The website says it measures 8 x 8.5 x 3". As I have it loaded, it measures 10"W x 9"H x 4"D. It can be had in Coyote and OD as well as black. It's very well constructed. When loaded it maintains its shape pretty well and doesn't sag like a bag of bricks.
Loaded with a full size pistol, 25 shotshells, 2 pistol mags. It could carry a lot more if I wanted.
Upper left: the interior of the bag has 4 double AR mag pouches (that's 8 mags) with elastic retainers. Lower left: the front flap lifts to reveal elastic loops for 4 pistol mags. Upper right: on each end of the bag is a pouch sized for one AR mag. The flap is adjustable and removable. Lower right: this is Hawkepak's 15 round shotshell strip. Loaded up, it fits perfectly into an interior double AR mag pouch. If I wanted I could carry 45 shotshells along with the pistol inside the bag, or, if I omitted the pistol, 60 shotshells.
So, size, shape, and quality-wise this bag is great. The weakness, for me, is that it is AR-centric rather than shotgun-centric. The shotshell strips are a great way to carry a lot of ammo in a little space, but where reloading is concerned, they are a compromise. Never one to settle, I wrote to Hawkepaks and included a little sketch of a modified version of the small QND bag that might better accommodate those of us wanting a shotgun-specific bag.
This bag would be very similar to the small QND bag that I have. The difference would be that the front compartment would have a tear away cover which, when pulled away, would reveal several rows of elastic shotshell loops. A setup like this would make reloading much easier than it is with the shotshell strips. I received a reply from Hawkepaks the same day, from Ed Hawke no less. (It says a lot about a company when people at the top take the time to answer the concerns of the average Joe.) Mr. Hawke says that the concept is, in his words, very "do-able", but that the cost of a one-off might be a bit high. He suggested that I post my drawing and see if I can garner any enthusiasm for the idea.
So I'm asking you all a favor. If you would buy a bag like this, please say so in a reply to this post. If we can get enough interest drummed up, maybe we can get some made!
I recently found myself wanting a gear bag to fill a specific niche. Something, that should the need arise, I could quickly pull out of the gun safe along with a shotgun. Gun safe real estate is precious so the bag needed to be small. I also wanted something subtle - read no MOLLE. Something purpose made for ammo, but easily taken for something else, say, a camera bag. I wanted it primarily for the purpose of carrying shotgun rounds, a pistol, and extra pistol magazines. If one wants to carry AR and pistol mags, a bag to suit that purpose can be found anywhere. To my surprise however, there is a dearth of shoulder bags geared toward shotgun ammo. Most of what's out there for shotshells is made to be used in conjunction with either MOLLE gear or a gun belt. But there's not much in the way of bags. This surprised me. I figured that there must be a lot of people out there in both the civilian and LE communities who would choose or are limited to a shotgun as a long gun.
My research led me to the Hawkepaks website. This name was new to me, but the company has been around for a long time. They have a lot of great designs. And some original ones too, not just the same ol'-same ol'. They make all their own stuff in the USA. The quality is great. The cost is competitive. They didn't have exactly what I was looking for, but what they did have came pretty darn close.
I ended up with their small QND bag. QND for Quick and Dirty. They make several versions of the QND bag but the small one suited my needs best. It carries just what I want to carry in the smallest form factor (most bags that fall into the "rapid response" or "active shooter" classification are much bigger.) I paid $55 for it.
Shown with an iPhone for scale. The website says it measures 8 x 8.5 x 3". As I have it loaded, it measures 10"W x 9"H x 4"D. It can be had in Coyote and OD as well as black. It's very well constructed. When loaded it maintains its shape pretty well and doesn't sag like a bag of bricks.
Loaded with a full size pistol, 25 shotshells, 2 pistol mags. It could carry a lot more if I wanted.
Upper left: the interior of the bag has 4 double AR mag pouches (that's 8 mags) with elastic retainers. Lower left: the front flap lifts to reveal elastic loops for 4 pistol mags. Upper right: on each end of the bag is a pouch sized for one AR mag. The flap is adjustable and removable. Lower right: this is Hawkepak's 15 round shotshell strip. Loaded up, it fits perfectly into an interior double AR mag pouch. If I wanted I could carry 45 shotshells along with the pistol inside the bag, or, if I omitted the pistol, 60 shotshells.
So, size, shape, and quality-wise this bag is great. The weakness, for me, is that it is AR-centric rather than shotgun-centric. The shotshell strips are a great way to carry a lot of ammo in a little space, but where reloading is concerned, they are a compromise. Never one to settle, I wrote to Hawkepaks and included a little sketch of a modified version of the small QND bag that might better accommodate those of us wanting a shotgun-specific bag.
This bag would be very similar to the small QND bag that I have. The difference would be that the front compartment would have a tear away cover which, when pulled away, would reveal several rows of elastic shotshell loops. A setup like this would make reloading much easier than it is with the shotshell strips. I received a reply from Hawkepaks the same day, from Ed Hawke no less. (It says a lot about a company when people at the top take the time to answer the concerns of the average Joe.) Mr. Hawke says that the concept is, in his words, very "do-able", but that the cost of a one-off might be a bit high. He suggested that I post my drawing and see if I can garner any enthusiasm for the idea.
So I'm asking you all a favor. If you would buy a bag like this, please say so in a reply to this post. If we can get enough interest drummed up, maybe we can get some made!
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