I like Frag Grenades.. I also like Pez Dispensers.

Imagine my glee when I realised that there was a business making a fusion from two of my greatest loves.

I first saw the ACS trigger pouches being used on a promotional video, I can’t remember exactly where but they seemed like a clever way to carry Frag Grenades in a quick to deploy yet secure “Holster” type system.

Fast forward to a year or so ago, the ACS trigger pouch was one of the items identified as used in CBS SEAL Team’s Bravo Team on some of the promotional shots. Obviously this piqued my interest, along with never being truly happy with the frag pouches I’d used in the past, this seemed a perfect fit.

There were only two issues, firstly… The ACS Trigger Pouch is t cheap at around £70 per unit. Whilst FMA had already made a copy by the time I’d looked at them, I wasn’t interested in buying a clone unless I could be assured that the quality was enough to withstand the abuse I’d be putting it through.

Secondly, I could only see these working with the TAG Innovations TAG67 “M67 Frag” reproduction pyrotechnics (reviewed here). Whilst they are supposedly very close to the genuine M67’s dimensions, buying two complementary reproduction parts that are designed to fit together and expecting them to work is a leap of faith to say the least.

My resolve finally caved in, finding an FMA version on eBay for the cost of a Pret A Manger lunch (Without the associate risk of food poisoning or death) I decided to take a punt and buy one… Worst case scenario it’d be a lesson learned and £13.49 down the drain.

It took about a fortnight to arrive but I’ll be honest, once it got here I was pretty shocked at how well it appeared to be made. I’ll go through the design in a second, but firstly to know how the pouch works it’s important to understand how Grenades themselves work so that what makes this pouch so unique is properly conveyed.

A picture says a thousand words so hopefully a picture with extra words on it should tell you all you need to know.

So how does the trigger pouch work? Well primarily the body is held (as mentioned) in a cup or cradle to the bottom of the pouch. Designed to accommodate only the M67 frag grenade it’s virtually of zero benefit if you’re not using this type of grenade.

Once sat in place, the top cover of the pouch can be closed over the top of the primer housing. This alone would be enough to secure the grenade but ACS (and FMAs repro version) have also included that final third securing point.

The safety lever or “spoon” is also held captive in a slot to the side of the grenade cup, this prevents any damage or deformation to the grenade itself and should stop that worst case scenario of a frag grenade detonating next to your hip.

To release the grenade, simply grasp the grenade and push in the buttons each side of the Trugger Pouch’s housing. This should cause the top cover to snap open and the grenade to be perfectly positioned in your hand.

There is a manual safety device, which I’d strongly recommend you use. On the right hand side of the unit (left in below cutaway picture) is a safety arm which locks against the release button, preventing the pouch from opening. Simply pushing against this lever down will cause it to snap away from the button and overall it doesn’t add any time delay to withdrawing the grenade.

The insides of the pouch are where you see how simple it is, literally a sprung latch to secure the tip of the grenade that’s held in place by an oversized pair of trigger buttons holding the top firmly in place via the sear on the top of the arms.

Using the pouch is tricky at first, it’s a question of practice to get the technique perfected. But once you’re confident with the grenade, you can easily grab a grenade with one hand (the other potentially on your weapon) and have it ready to throw in less time than it would take virtually any other grenade carriage system.

If you’re a real nut case, carrying the grenade without a pin is also possible. Certainly not recommended though and with the funny buggers I play with, it would result in chaos as we all tried to frag our mates by unclipping their pouches.

Onto what could be better…

The springs are well made enough but in mine I needed to cut one a little shorter. It was mashing against the other spring and causing one of the buttons to stick down. Not a massive issue but a bugbear that’s was easily fixed, it now works flawlessly.

The last issue is it’s limitations to be used for anything else. Whilst this is pretty obvious, it’s also a product that only those who use grenades of a certain dimension can actually make use of.

I had to permanently modify my pouch to accommodate the TAG 67 Grenades (see below pic for area that needs cutting away) and I’m sure that if you used similar shaped grenades by Enola Gaye that you’d have to do the same. Some other frags such as TLSFX’s newer designs will simply not work (I still don’t fully understand why they opted for a bigger grenade, their older designs were perfect!)

The attachment is also something that will take getting used to, although a clever design. An offset bracket that forces the user into wearing the grenade pouch at a 45 degree angle (great for most users but sometimes inconvenient), I’ve managed to overcome my left handed disability by accepting that I’ll have to adapt to right handed products (although there is a left hand version if you buy a genuine ACS Pouch).

Overall, a great little pouch and seemingly tough as nails… Albeit being a pouch that serves a very bespoke task. It’s certainly something a little different and like all oddities, a conversation starter. It’s also an essential addition to the SEAL Team Loadout or just a functional addition to those who want a quick access pouch for their frags.

Can I recommend it? Sure, for what I want it for it’ll do the job well enough. If I should run out of TAG67s or their dimensions change? I’d probably consider a more “one size fits most” pouch.