We decided to give them a try, and got in touch with Todd Olson over at RETA Kydex (Rebel Extreme Tactical Advantage). RETA is a home-business located in Galien, Michigan. Todd offers personalized customer service, with Facebook messages being the easiest and most common form of communication and ordering. Payment is then accepted directly via PayPal.
We did not order anything from the holster lineup, but had a couple of magazine carriers made up for range use. We had two P-Mag and two Ruger BX-25 carriers made up, which was a total of $105 shipped. The P-Mag carriers were in a desert sand color, and the BX-25 carriers were black.
The P-Mag carriers were a standard item, but the BX-25's were a custom order. As the BX-25 magazines being used were modified and needed a specific draw, we were able to ship the magazine to RETA and have it custom molded.
ORDER TIMELINE:
SEP 20, 2013- Items to be ordered are confirmed.
SEP 20, 2013- BX25 magazine shipped to RETA.
SEP 21, 2013- BX25 magazine arrives via Fedex.
SEP 25, 2013- Payment made to RETA via PayPal for order.
SEP 27, 2013- Carriers received with magazine back.
A Friday to Friday turn-around time is fairly quick, especially considering that one of the items was molded from a magazine shipped out for it.
Todd informed us while the carriers were being produced that an extra BX-25 carrier was being sent to us, as one of them was a "blemished" item. This was described as the rivets being backwards, and one of the rivets being 1/16" off of measurement. This carrier sent with the rest functions to retain the magazines in the same manner, just looks slightly different.
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| The "blemished" BX-25 carrier |
CARRIER USE:
We were able to use the carriers during three different range trips before the cold weather and snow set in, and the retention on the magazines worked very well. While moving around and performing drills, there were no instances of the magazines falling out unintentionally.
While performing tactical reloads, it was simple to re-insert the magazines back into the carriers, with the aid of a quick glance to visually confirm their location and orientation. Trying to re-insert the magazine without looking does prove to be a bit more difficult.
DESIGN:
The design of these magazine carriers are an outside the waistband type, with belt loops affixed to the back of them. The traditional "pancake" style means that there are two halves molded around the center-line of the item, and then set in place with rivets.
The rivets are strictly on the side of the carriers, with the bottom being somewhat open in the case of the P-Mag carrier. The BX-25 carriers stay in place while drawing and re-inserting, however the P-Mag carriers have the ability to split open if the magazine is inserted too far. Especially with the P-Mags having the ridges on one side, it can get locked into the open bottom to the point of needing a tool to open it back up.
DURABILITY:
While the carriers themselves are quite durable, the one point which shows a weakness is the belt loops themselves. The belt loops are molded from the same .080" kydex, and are (Xwide, Xtall, Xdeep), attached with screw sets to the main carrier.
While doing dry-practice exercises indoors with a P-Mag carrier, one of the belt loops crushed while being laid upon. Due to the nature of the kydex material, there is a certain point that once it is flexed to, it will not spring back, and permanently damage and tear the kydex.
These can be replaced, which is suitable for these carriers as they were intended for range and practice use. Had this been an EDC item such as a holster, it may have been a much more disappointing failure.
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