Greetings Me Droogs N Droogettes!
YMMV on this one. I was just unpacking some more gear from the move when I happened across this bag:
One of the emptied out ‘junk drawers’ that was, even in that short a period of time (November to Last Week) managed to accumulate quite a bit of random ‘stuff’… wood screws, ‘spare’ screws, wall anchors… you know, all that shit that comes with ‘some assembly required’ and has ‘spares’.
Now, as a dude, I tend to get pack-rattish about that stuff. Not sure exactly why, but almost every. single. guy. (and quite a few of the handier girls) I know has either bag o’random-stuff OR if it graduates to it’s own bigger container like in one case here, it’s the big Folgers plastic coffee can.
Now whilst putting this away, I also had a secondary project running, which was loading some PMAGs up. One can -never- have too many loaded mags. And as I was doing it, well I got to thinking (a dangerous thing at best)… I like oh so many do enjoy me some gear and conveniences. Sometimes though, the gear that makes things a bit convenient can run a bit on the pricy side, with a for instance like this:
Cool, but as stated before, pricy
With shipping a 3-Pack’ll run you $30… $10 a plate. Granted it -is- a plate that matches up with the mag and yeah, probably more resilient than what I’m going to show you, but hey
Gretch got as 2-Pack of these for $1.25 at the Dollar Store. Basic 3M hooks. Started messing around and come to find out they’re a bit big to put on the bottom of a Mag Plate:
So, via a bit of trial and error, and a dremel cut here and there, and then a bit of paint, you get this:
You have to cut from the front, which leaves not-so-much material to work with, but like I said, YMMV and for a quick and cheap handle/hook/magazine pull, it works…
Good Enough for Government Specs as they say
Which then goes into the pouch quite nicely
Yeah, not crazy sturdy… I also had to add a dollop of superglue to keep the two pieces together (the hook and mounting plate) and to remove it, the 3M tape comes off using a small sharp knife… Otherwise? Pretty solid.
OK yeah, they can break and whatever… I just got a kick out of fucking around and finding out so to speak… boredom late before bed and quick side projects… just thought I’d share.
So your thoughts?
Big Country
Pack rat rocks but sometimes the needed item is at the bottom and there could be a gravity shift that gets the animals running for cover.
Love that photochop of the $3.50 store for the dollar den.
There are some useful items to be found if you look around while the line is backed up to the refrigeration section, get em while ya can.
A buck and a quarter beats some overpriced factory logo item or something that can only be found at the big fairgrounds gun show.
Leftoids would love the police phalanx at the entrance checking weapons and anyone with a round in the chamber just might get a beat down or worse.
The valuable weapons are chained to the tables and woe to the dumbass who tries to cart off with one.
So much for that you can buy any weapon without a check bravo sierra.
Hopefully the guy with the .22 mini gun gatling will be there this year!
Outstanding, BCE! The gear queers may not like it- but screw them! I too am a packrat to an extent – and about the only beef I can find is MAYBE super glue may not be the best adhesive. I might have gone to 5 minute epoxy myself but that has its issues too.
I am afraid a serious drop test may be in order… 😉
Well to put the hook mounting plate onto the mag plate, I used that 3M Double Sided Death Tape… the one that comes with the hooks and is like sticky AF. The superglue I put just a bit as the mounting plate and the hook are separate pieces, and they come apart pretty easily, so putting them together ain’t too big a deal.
I’ve got a bunch of USGI metal mags with ranger plates on them, they are my “training” mags I use for classes. I’ve never bothered to get them for my PMAGs, as is I can get plenty of grip on them.
I still go with gutted 550 stiffened with a section of zip tie where the inner strands usedta be. Overhand knot at each end. On a Pmag use a longer piece of 550 and fix it with green tape around the outside. On a GI mag use a short piece of 550 and trap the knots under the floor plate.
Good improv man, and it’s stiffer than the paracord loop with 100 mph tape.
I’ve used paracord with the core taken out, attached with gorilla tape. Haven’t gone too full force on it but seems to hold up.
A little gadget like that would seem to be an easy job for a 3d printer… and a stick on version even easier.
Back in ’21 I decided to upgrade some of my metal G.I. mags. I installed Magpul followers in several, and to a few of those I also added L-plates. They were a bit less expensive back then. I realize the cost of that upgrade combo is well into the price of a new Pmag. Some of my gear is surplus Vietnam era stuff (cheap!) and Pmags will not fit in those mag pouches. For Pmags I use a couple of G-code “taco” style pouches. Plenty of the mag sticking out the open top to grab on to.
I wonder how hard it would be to 3-D print those, and if they would they work as well as the commercial ones.
The really good 3M two sided tape is called VHB (very high bond). It was developed to add a rub surface for the flaps on 737’s. The stainless rub strip is held in place by VHB and is rated for 550mph and -40 degrees. It was used to hold the last gen of USPO vehicle roofs on. It is available in a few thicknesses if the surface is uneven. You have to cut it between the glue surfaces to get it apart. Really Good Stuff and would work in this instance very well. Though I would not use an open hook as that is going to catch on stuff at the least opportune time. Rapid prototyping a continuation piece that can be epoxy to the open end may cure that.
Spin Drift
I keep the office plastic Folger containers too, but for small items like screws – nails – hinges – and other hardware, I’ve had better luck with empty peanut butter bottles. Not only tough, but you can shake the contents around and get better views of what is stored inside (as long as you keep enough room to shake them about). Faster to find a particular item than digging them out and inspecting one by one. A small peanut butter bottle of fence staples (barbed wire fence) is easier to carry in vest pocket for fence perimeter repair duty.
I love scrounging found shit from the road. Two nights ago while walking the dog, found a heavy duty stainless steel Hager commerical door hinge at the road concrete curb. A bit road scratched but still functional with no operational issues. Looked up price at Loews – $43 for a pair. I call that a score.
Stay cool BCE.
Fancier than 100mph tape and 550 cord.
Beat me to it
funny about the Folger’s plastic thing full of needed bits and pieces. I’m so old that a lot of odds ‘n ends are in metal coffee cans, which are filled with the “valuables” I’ve picked up off the ramp as FOD. Aircraft fasteners, rolls of safety wire, etc. – of course, the habit of looking for FOD has led me to FODing the planet as I go for walks. I’ve been fortunate to find tools, and things quite expensive – yet lost or discarded. I believe we are all headed for a time when things we find won’t be available anymore – but packrats like us will have them… one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor; or some shit like that.
And yeah; load mags. I’ve got a ‘feeling’ that the time is coming…
Original Grandpa
These 3M hooks come in black as well, try Lowe’s and HD to see what you find.
While you’re there, check out the clear 15 to 30 lb double sided tape as well as the more beefy black tape that’s red plastic backed, also 3M.
The black backed stuff does OK in Florida heat, keeps my license plate from getting taken off easily in South Florida as it’s stuck to the bumper with a lot of it.
As for super glue, know the difference between methylacrylate and cyanoacrylate?
The methylacrylate type isn’t as exothermic and so it can be used as a field expedient wound closure.
Don’t try this with cyanoacrylate unless you have beyond human levels of pain and heat tolerance.
I also have a big bucket of parts and LOVE it when I need something and re-purpose a horde item…
BUT, I saw the part and first thing that came to my mind was:
This is a small item that has a specific shape, perhaps…3D Printer time!
I don’t know how or who does the shapes for loading into the 3D printer, but if someone has that file, you could print your own!
Of course the cost of consumables will be more than the re-purposed items,
But it could be a fun 3D print job.
MSG Grumpy
The red plastic coffe tins get filled at our place. Have one with just surplus allen keys that came with furniture. Years back put cabinets in the shop then mounted a bench on top. Lots of storage. Every cabinet came with an allen key.
Hot Tip:
+1 for finding a less pricey substitute for Magpul plastic pulls. Buuuuut…
Those 3M Command® strips are pure marketing horseshit, and will randomly fail and fall the fuck off, minutes, hours or days later, whenever they goddam well please. I have the broken picture glass and clocks from the one and only package I’ll ever buy to prove it. They’re simply pieces of total shit, even if used only indoors in temperate weather on ideal surfaces, even with the exact surface prep they specify. Forget any idea about using them anywhere hot, cold, wet, or dry, inside or outside. Or, pretty much anywhere else either.
Keep the hooks if you want, but use epoxy or pretty much any other adhesive but that 3M bullshit if you want the things to stay where you put them.
If you want the hooks to randomly redeploy like breadcrumbs all the fuck over Creation, and be guaranteed to either be gone when you really need them, or just come off in your hands when you’re trying (and failing) to do an urgent reload, use the 3M crap. Hope you get that mag changed before you need more bullets in your bullet launcher, otherwise it could leave a mark.
Personally, a few inches of paracord loop wrapped with 100MPH milspec duct tape around mags seems like a better bargain.
YMMV
They should find the sumbitches at 3M who invented and marketed those fuckers, and pound about 300# of them up each of those guys’ asses with a digging bar and sledgehammer.
Or just stick twenty or thirty of them on their naked asses, and hang them by them off a bridge 50′ up, and leave ’em to wonder when they’ll start randomly letting go. Which they will.