I've been using rubber bands to hold tourniquets on my gear for quite a while now. This works great since they are relatively secure until you pull on them, the rubber band breaks, and you have your tourniquet in one uncomplicated motion no matter which hand you grab it with. Just grip it, rip it, and go. However, if you were to snag it on something and the rubber band broke, you would be SOL (unless you carried spares). Also, rubber bands don't do well in dry, hot, sunny environments like NV.

So, I started looking at different tourniquet holders online. The Blue Force Gear Tourniquet Now is probably the cheapest option but it seemed to me that there was a decent chance of the tourniquet snagging on one of the elastic bands on the way out. Another problem I saw was that you have to pull it out from the top or bottom meaning you have to grab a smaller area of the tourniquet and pull it all the way up or down. Granted, not quite a fine motor function, but slightly more complex than just grabbing it and ripping it out of a rubber band.

The Marz Tactical Tourniquet Pouch has the same issues mentioned above, now with a pistol mag pouch style flap to deal with. $20 was also a little much since I needed at least two.

215 Gear's Tourniquet/GP Holder seems like a really good option and is probably what I would go with if I were to buy one. Just flip a tab and the tourniquet is free. To me, $12 seems pretty fair so I really don't have anything bad to say about this design other than that it is still a two step process instead of just grab and go.

So I dug through my box of random gear parts to see what I could come up with, and I think the outcome worked out pretty well for using items that all of you likely have laying around.

What you will need:

About 8" of elastic shock cord (550 would probably work too, just have to tweak the fit)
1 EA cord-lock

Tie a simple knot in one end of the cord and put both ends through the cord-lock -



Pass the looped ends through your MOLLE webbing as shown in the picture below. The end with the knot should be the loop on the bottom (this will help retain the assembly if the tourniquet is ripped off accidentally or for use) -



Put the looped ends around each end of your tourniquet with the cord lock it the middle behind the tourniquet to minimize snagging -



Now, when you grab the tourniquet with either hand and give it a firm yank, the un-knotted end of the cord will pull through the cord lock and unthread itself from the MOLLE webbing. In the picture below you can see how having the knotted side on the bottom will help retain the assembly -



In can also be placed in an empty storage configuration by looping each of the open ends back around the cord-lock as shown -



This design certainly accomplished my initial requirement of "grip it, rip it, and go" so I have since added one to my belt (as shown) and also my chest rig, and each works flawlessly.

I hope someone out there will find some use in this write-up. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for improvement.

+1000 for your adaptation and improvisation skillz.  Simple, elegant, and perhaps most impressive, INEXPENSIVE.



ETA:  Would the "keeper" stay put better if you were to tie a knot around the band with the knotted end, after running it around the lower MOLLE loop?

Now sell on ebay with title of DEVGRU MLCS FSBE MARSOC SEAL RANGER SPECIAL FORCES.


PROFIT!

I have been using rubber bands as well, and have considered the BFG TQ now, but have also thrown around the shock cord idea. Looks good though. I will have to give it a try. Thanks for posting.

Nice work, simple.

Nice.

I love tips like that.

I prolly would have ended up using duct tape.

Nice and simple; i like it. Kudos for the ingenuity.

That is probably the best design I've seen.  The TQ now has wide enough elastic that is is actually hard to get the tq out one-handed.  I trimmed some of the elastic so that it is more narrow.  I use elastic cord loops now, (two per tq) but will try your idea.

Best idea i've seen yet, lol so simple, awesome!

Repost here?

Well done I like it

Very nice!

~Bill

it's worth it's ow n thread

Nice.

The Marz Torniquet Pouch really isn't bad though.  Yes, it does require a second hand depending on you deploy it, but it's easy to get out.  

Instead of regular Rubber Bands, I've found those elastic blousing straps work really well for just about anything you'd need a rubber band for.

Good Job!  I have shock cord and cordlocks at home..Simple innovation at its best!

That's pretty slick!  I'm off to dig through my parts bin.

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That is pretty slick.  I will rig one up tonight.

+1





CHRIS



 

So where's the best place to buy shock cord and the cord locks?

I'm selling some stuff on ebay.. thanks for the idea haha

meh... too simple...too cheap...and so untacticool



thanks for sharing!

I don't know, I just had some laying around. I'm pretty sure you can pick some up at Supply Captain or Rockywoods.com

Good idea, but doesn't protect the tourniquet from the elements as needed with the CAT. The CAT can be damged by UV exposure and the exposed velcro can become cruddy and inoperable in some conditons.
I'm not knocking the Idea, as it's a good alternaive to rubberbands. One issue can be getting snagged caught on other gear, vehicles, breach points... and having the TQ torn off-an issue with rubberbands

I've used the MARZ TQ pouch and love it-it protects the TQ from loss,elements,and dirt. It secures it where I know it will be, has the embroidered cross so everyone knows what it is, and is accessible with gross motor skills-the flap can be yanked open and TQ pulled out all with one hand. You can actually pull the TQ straight away from the body(as opposed to pulling straight up like if you were retreiving something from a traditional pouch). You can remove it from the pouch in the traditional way as well, or mount th pouch upside down. I've used all TQ holders out there and find this to be the best design

Awesome, thank you for the tip. I just put rubber bands around mine last night so I will be trying this.

Does anyone have a place that they buy shock cord at a decent place?

I always get it from SupplyCaptain.  No complaints yet.  They also have cord-locks and a bunch of other hardware, if you're looking for that too.

Thanks, I will have to go through the site tonight.

For those that have access to the issue MC pants you have two sets of bungee and keepers in each pair.

This.......I haven't seen it with my own eyes but when we replaced 1/2 in Helmand back in 2010 they said that they had their CATs (which had been stored on the outside of their flak) break when working on a casualty. After that our SOP were all CATs inside our IFAK on top.

Great tip, thanks.

Great idea. Using gum bands now. Will bring this idea up to my tac med team. Being city based we don't have the problem of sitting in the sun for days at a time.