Easily Carry Spare Magazines for Home-Defense

When it comes to selecting a home defense gun, there are a lot of choices to be made.  More often today, folks that are dedicated to protecting themselves and their loved ones when they are at home are turning to the AR-15 Platform.

There are a lot of reasons why the AR-15 can make for an outstanding home defense tool.  The AR is relatively easy to operate, it is light enough that many members of your family can operate it easily.  The recoil from the AR-15 is also light which allows for fast follow up shots even for those that are recoil sensitive.  The AR also allows for magazines of varying capacity so that you can carry a reasonable supply of ammo in the gun.

Carry Spare Rifle Mags for Malfunctions

The AR-15 isn’t perfect.  Although quality AR-15 rifles are typically reliable, the AR can fail just like any other mechanical device.  This is one of the reasons it makes sense to have spare magazines available for your home-defense rifle just like it makes sense to carry a spare mag for your concealed carry handgun.  When dealing with a malfunction you may be forced to jettison the original magazine and reload a fresh magazine.  If you find yourself in that situation you will want to have a spare magazine to reload your rifle.

Spare Mags for Reloads

You also may want to have spare magazines for your home-defense rifle so that you can reload if you run out of ammo.  This isn’t a terribly likely situation, however, having spare ammo and not needing it is a better situation that needing that reload and not having it.

You Need Other Gear, Might As Well Carry Mags

I think the most compelling reason to carry additional magazines for your AR-15 rifle is because you have other items that you need to have with you in case you need to defend yourself and your loved ones in your home.  Medical gear, a hand held light, a phone, a set of keys for your home all make sense to have easily on hand should you find yourself in a scenario where you are forced to defend your home.

Over the Shoulder Bags are a Solution for Spare Mags

You need someplace to put all this gear and in your hands just isn’t going to work.  Stuffing gear into your “pockets” in the middle of the night might be even less ideal.  My preferred tool is a simple over the shoulder bag.  They are available from many manufacturers and you should be able to hold whatever gear you decide you need in that critical situation and the single strap is quick and simple to don.

For years I have been using a shoulder bag from 5.11 called the Rush Bail Out Bag.  It has a shoulder strap which lets you don the bag quickly and is comfortable enough that it will serve all day in a training class.

The three velcro closure magazine pockets on the outside of the bag holds my six Magpul PMAGS right where I need them for fast reloads.  The end pockets work well for your medical gear, and anything else you need can fit in the zippered center pouch.

If you depend on a rifle for home defense, it makes sense to carry spare ammo and one of the easiest ways to make sure you have the gear you need is to stage an over the shoulder bag with your spare ammo and other critical gear.