Jeff Mau at the Insights Training blog discusses magazine pouches.

Some people wonder why they, as a private citizen carrying a concealed handgun, should carry another magazine of ammo. Yes there’s always the chance you’ll need the ammo, but more so it’s because something might go wrong. Magazines are prone to failure or other odd things happening, like you hit the mag release button under stress and it’s easier to reload from a known location than trying to find where the magazine is on the floor (and able to be re-inserted… the ammo didn’t nose-down in the magazine upon impact).

I use a Comp-Tac combo pouch. It allows me to carry one reload and my flashlight in known locations. I have no trouble concealing it, or at least if I can conceal my gun I can also conceal the pouch. However, there are times where circumstance does not allow me to wear the mag/flashlight pouch (it’s technically OWB, I carry the gun IWB). For times like this, I can still carry a spare magazine in my Desantis Magpacker. Using an in-the-pocket mag pouch helps to keep the magazine properly oriented in a known position for assurance when drawing it, plus it helps to break up the outline of the magazine in your pocket.

Whatever magazine pouch approach you use, be sure to practice with it. This is especially important with something like the Magpacker, because different pants can behave in different ways. Maybe the pocket mouth is tight to get into so it’s slow to get your hand in there. Perhaps the pocket mouth is too open and when you draw out the magazine the Magpacker comes with it (I’ve gotten in the habit of having a snap/flick when I draw the mag so if the pouch does come with it gets flicked off onto the ground).

I am wanting to buy a Comp-Tac Beltfeed. That would be great for IPSC Production competition, but also be great for training sessions where you need a lot of ammo on the line.