What kind of rear bag do you like?

I primarily shoot off a Harris 6-9 bipod and I want to use a squeeze bag under the buttstock for stability. Curious what folks like and why. FWIW I shoot mainly from a bench though a match or two may be in my future.

Thanks,
Matt

I just got my first rear bag. I went with the "Large" sized wedge bag and used it this past weekend. Worked great

http://www.triadtactical.com/Bean-Bags-Shooting-Rests

Of course, you can make your own

The Triad wedge is a good one. So is the Red Tac bag and TAB Gear bag. All sold at Triad Tactical where I got my 3.
A sock filled with kitty litter/airsoft pellets/fish tank rocks etc... works good as a temporary solution.

I like the Triad wedgie though I think it's filled a little too much (and it's heavy). For use with a monopod it's perfect though, that's how I use it now.

I make my own with a couple socks filled with poly pellets you can find in a craft store. It's the same fill used in production model bags. I don't care for the heavy cordura used on the production bags or their overfilling.

Triad medium wedge bag, and another I got from Larue (I think) some time ago...

I want to try out the mono pod though.

I use a money bag filled with great northern beans. I was thinking popcorn would work well also.

My fist.

I never forget it at home.

I have one of LoneWolf's bags from here.

Its small, light and well made.

I would also like to try a TAB Gear bag.

I have always used sections of BDU pant leg sewn into small rectangular shapes filled with sand. They work very very well but are a bit heavy. Will probably be looking for a new kind of filler soon.

The Triad Lil Wedgie looks like a good bag. I think I am going to order one.

Doll fill.

wth..??? i did not know people bought "rear bags" lol...!!!

an old OD green GI sock filled with little Green beans from Thialand...!!! is all i have ever used..!!! you can pick up a pack of those little OD green beans from the asian food stores for about $1.25 they aere the perfect size and texture... and they tast good too!!!

i guess you could use some other kind of filler... but thats what i have always used and works perfect..!!!

Or it's also called poly pellets. Can get it at most any arts and crafts store. Works great and can get wet and not turn to mush like other food items like rice or beans. Poly pellets also won't attract rodents or bugs.

Might want to check out the pillow-type bags from Red Tac Gear, it is a 6"x4" cylinder with handles running the length and width of the bag. Triad Tactical was selling them. Since I'm such a cheap skate, I asked my wife to make me one similar to it. It'll be stuffed with airsoft BB's and silica sand. I'll let you all know how it turns out.

I prefer the T.A.B Gear rear bag.

This.

I bought both of these from MidwayUSA. Couldn't beat the price at $9.99 each:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/745362/midwayusa-tactical-rear-shooting-rest-bag-nylon-olive-drab-square

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/666600/midwayusa-tactical-rear-shooting-rest-bag-nylon-olive-drab-wedge

Those are direct copies of the Triad Tactical ones, except they are made in China. I went with the USA made ones at Triad Tactical. Yes, it is more money, but at least it is not a chinese knock off.

This. Also copies of the TAB Gear bags. Id rather support Tony and his USA made products.

A rear bag isn't a critical piece of kit for me, so if it does the same thing, is of similar material and quality and saves me money, where it's made isn't that important to me.

Not the forum to get into this, but the "buy American" is unrealistic. If I spend $10 on a rear bag instead of $20-30 on the same thing because it was sewn in America, that's 2-3 times that amount in capital I've feed up for me to spend on other items. The rear bag I bought was sold by Americans and the establishment (MidwayUSA) has American employees who stock it, support it, ship it, etc.

I have a Toyota and a BMW in my garage. I have German-made optics. I own a Benelli M4 and a Beretta M9 that are both made in Italy. It goes on... I mean, do you only run Trijicon optics on your precision rifles? Those are the only ones that are 100% made in America. How is me buying these bags sold by MidwayUSA any different than me buying a Vortex Viper PST scope?

TAB bag, everything else has stayed in a nice pile-o-bags not to be used.

Good points JTB. It always makes me laugh when I see all the "Buy American" chest pounding at the Hide from people and then see the same people screaming that no other brass than Lapua should be used in their AI or TRG rifles with German or Japanese optics LOL Lots of hypocrisy on this subject.

Does it matter to you that Midway straight up screwed the guys who designed those bags. Instead of cutting a deal and licensing the product they stole the design, sent it offshore for manufacturing. All because they know that they can crush the small guy in court.

But why not buy copies of the original? It's not like any of us have refused to bring an idea to market because we know that after we do the R&D and make it popular that a larger company offshore will steal it and screw us.

I have no problem with the rice/beans/poly pellets in the stock thing. Shooters have been doing it for years. Buying copies of shit because it's cheaper than the original is just bad any way you look at it.

Valid points; there are several ways to look at it, I suppose. Just how many ways can you make a rear bag? It's not like the "wedge" or "pillow" design was unique or new. Was it patented? Enforcement of a patent is another matter, but if there was a patent issued on it, that would indicate that the designer has some right to the design. Somehow, I don't think a wedge-shaped and pillow-shaped beanbag is really something that can be patented - but I may be wrong.

I look at it similar to the whole DBM "issue" on SH when Atlasworx entered with their low-price option that severely undercut the remainder of the field with a similar quality (not as refined). People screamed "copy!" even though it didn't use the same inlet any more than a CDI used the same inlet as a Badger M5. Just how many ways can you make a DBM? Sure, you can modify the release lever location or type (a la Seekins' DBM), but they all perform the same function and there are only so many ways you can make one to perform that function. Same thing with the rear bag.

IMO, a much more valid route to try to get someone to support "the little guy" over others (or CDI over Atlasworx) is NOT to fly the "buy American" flag, but rather to point out the little guy's support of the shooting community by sponsoring events, etc. Many will go for that angle, some won't, because let's face it: price will almost always be the most important factor when purchasing something.

Quite a few of us, especially in this industry, will disagree with you.

If not, then S&B would be out of business and we would all be running around with Chinese glass on our rifles.

On the patent front.....if you can patent a fluting style on a barrel, you can patent almost anything. However the expense to secure the patent and then enforce makes it less than profitable for a small shop to bring something to market.

Sure, a bag is a bag. If you look at the bean bag that I make and the one TAB gear sells, they are similar. They are both bags with filler. However I took steps to make sure that I was getting the functionality that I wanted from my design without infringing upon Tony's unique features. The point is that Midway EXACTLY duplicated the design to include the straps. The only purpose in doing that is to cash in on the TAB and Redtac popularity.

The gear business is dirty. It's pretty well known in the industry that you only have a year or two tops before China rips your design off. It's why many of the smaller gear makers forums are "register only" to view.

In the end you get to vote with your wallet, but my conscience is worth more than saving a couple bucks.

Now don't get me wrong. I have overseas nylon gear in my stash. It serves a purpose. Buy I will not buy offshore copies of US manufacturers gear.

Strawman argument on the scope comment. Perhaps I should have re-alluded to the fact that I do not consider a rear bag to be a critical piece of kit for me. A scope, however, IS a critical piece. I run S&B on two of my rifles and NF on most of the remainder. I don't own any "made in China" optics because, again, optics ARE critical for me.

EDITED TO ADD: I missed the last line in your comment. Interesting: "Buy [sic] I will not buy offshore copies of US manufacturers gear." Fair enough. I am open to it, but depends on the circumstances. First off, I must be aware of that fact that it's a direct copy. A moot point with the bags, because I wasn't aware they were exact copies until this thread. Regardless, does your claim extend to "offshore copies of US" gear for things beyond the shooting sports, or is that the extent of it for you? I'm sure you see where I'm going with this, and hopefully you understand my point.

I wouldn't even consider buying a knock-off/copy/clone of an Aimpoint. However, many here do. In fact, I think one of the site sponsors even sells one that is highly regarded. It's appearance is almost identical to an Aimpoint minus the name on it. The price is about 1/3 of an Aimpoint's cost. I wouldn't buy it, and I'm sure you wouldn't either, but a LOT of others would, and have. I'm sure they'd rather buy an Aimpoint, but the price difference was likely the primary motivator in their decision.

Absolutely. I don't buy fake Rolex, Levies, etc. No reason to. If I can't afford the real thing, I buy another brand/model that offers similar functionality for my price range.



You have to ask YOURSELF why people are buying these.

1. They don't offer the advantages of an Aimpoint.
2. There are high quality lower cost, non-Aimpoint copy optics on the market.

The copies sell because the guys who buy them want to look like the big boys. If I need a dot sight for a trainer, I don't need to spend Aimpoint money. However I also don't need it to look like an Aimpoint or survive combat like an Aimpoint.

Aimpoint copies do hurt Aimpoint's business, but I am sure it's very small in the grand scheme of things. A guy who has the cash and the need for an Aimpoint is not going to KNOWINGLY buy a copy.

There is no shame in buying what you can afford. However buying unlicensed copies IS supporting and engaging in criminal activity. I try to avoid that whenever possible.

The following was brought to you by jtb33... because why spend $10 when you can spend $30

Never mind. Wasn't worth it.

I'm just messing with ya... no insult meant

I've been looking to get a rear bag, and seeing as how I've been watching alot of the 8541 videos lately it made sense to buy his... and i thought i was kinda being funny

I have several of the small and "pillow" soda can bags from RedMan and they hold thier stitching.

I realized you were messing with me. I was sarcastic in my edited reply and changed it since this is a tech forum. Was going to put in a quip about the bag being assembled from textile that came from China or Vietnam.

NOTE: I don't know the origin of the material.

Returning to the OP's question.

I have TAB bags that I probably use the most.

The Triad little wedge is getting some play the last few times out.

8541 bag works for a few things but I find I use it less as a rear bag and more as a hard object pad.

They all do their jobs. I even have two Crown Royal bags and the fill to play around with if i ever get around to putting them together.

Actually, I use all US Made materials unless there isn't another option.

When you compare US Made Cordura to offshore stuff like Kodra or no-name you can very quickly see a difference.

Finn brass and German optics aren't a good comparison to Chinese products, since neither the Finns nor the Germans use slave labor and are aggressively hostile to our national interests.

In other words, it's more about not buying Chinese instead of "buy American."

Definitely a good way to put it.

The standard of living in the countries we get out top end stuff from is not exactly low. I would bet that a factory worker at Schmidt & Bender GmbH & Co. is well taken care of.

Remember to post that next time someone at the Hide is ranting about how you should buy USO because they are American made over an S&B.

I still think people have alot of hypocrisy on the subject. Honestly I am not a "Buy American" zealot. I do when I can and it's a good product but won't use something that doesn't fit my need just because it's made in the USA.

My personal view on it is this:

When I am making a purchase decision, I look at the options and how well they fit my need. I look at the quality, then price points, then finally where it's made.

My problem with the pure "buy American" camp is they expect me to pay more for a lower quality product just because it's made here. I think that is silly because I loose as a consumer and there is no drive for American companies to improve.

However if I have the chance to buy an American product of equal or higher quality than an off-shore competitor at close to the same price (or just slightly higher) I will. I prefer high quality American goods because they make me feel better. They appeal to my sense of patriotism and support an American community. If you have ever seen what it does to a community when a manufacturing plant closes, you know how bad it can be.

Remember though, "Buying American" doesn't necessarily mean Chevy or Ford, etc. You need to actually LOOK at where they are made. We make Toyota trucks and vans right up the road here in Indiana. That plant supports a ton of skilled and unskilled American labor.


Again, DON'T buy copies/clones/etc. from China. It really doesn't help anyone (including yourself when the POS breaks).

I agree look at our list of sponsors. All American companies except for S&B and we have them because they are the gold standard of which others are judged and a great product.

That's why I drive my American made Nissan also

The problem is that there aren't many things that fall into that category when talking about precision rifle accessories. Keeping with the topic of scopes, as far as I know, the only scope manufacturer who is 100% American-built is Trijicon. However, I rarely see them discussed as an option for the precision shooting community. Part of that I'm sure is due to their current limitations in reticles and options on their variable power offerings. I understand they are in the process of releasing some new products to address those shortcomings though. I also heard that they will be considerably more expensive than a comparable Japanese-made scope (eg, Nightforce, Bushnell, Vortex Razor HD, etc). Will we see the "buy American" precision shooting community make a big move towards Trijicon optics at that time? I'll postulate: no. If their new scopes are as durable as their ACOG lines and other premium variable power optics (eg, Nightforce), I'm willing to bet that someone would still rather drop $3500 on a S&B than the same $3500 on a Trijicon, all else being equal. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I don't think we'll see a mass exodus from the non-US made scopes to Trijicon - even if they are the same price and similar quality.

Extrapolating that to the original topic of rear bags: if I found a US-made rear bag that was closer in price to the one at Midway, I'd probably buy it. However, the Triad one mentioned is almost 300% more expensive than what I paid for the one at Midway. As I mentioned, I don't consider a rear bag a critical piece of equipment for me, so I am not going to spend much time researching a $10 non-critical equipment purchase. Judging by the amount of people in this thread who toss some poly beads or corn into a Crown Royale bag and use that, quite a few others don't deem it critical either. Of course, I guess theirs would fall under the "made in America, by an American" category, huh?

As far as returning to the "they stole the design" - I still reiterate: just how many ways can a rear bag be made before they are all essentially copies? When it comes down to it, it's still a bag (be it pillow-shaped, rectangular, bone-shaped, wedge-shaped, or some amalgam) with some fill added to it and sewn closed. Would it sill be a copy if they didn't have that velcro attachment or loop on it? How about if it had a velcro closure instead so that filler could easily be added or removed? Or is it more that Midway offered a Chinese-made rear bag for 1/3 the price? I think it's probably the latter. I'd even say that if that exact same bag were made in the US and was sold at the same $10 price by Midway, most people who bought a Triad bag, would still buy a Triad bag.

Edited to add: Not sure where my Toyota was made. Not sure where my BMW was made.

Do I have to change my avatar?

They are foreign products regardless where assembled . No matter how you justify or play on words.

Picked up a Triad Tactical large wedge last week and Im liking it a lot.

I got LoneWolf's bag. I like the size and the loop for me to clip to my sling. Definitely worth the small premium over the Chinese knock-offs. Also knowing that a company will stand by their product is great.

I find it slightly amusing when people talk about $3000+ optics on their rig and then bitch about paying an extra $20 for a rear bag.

Does anyone know if Triad Tactical does a military discount? I went to order a large wedge bag tonight and thought I would ask before I bought it.

Until you get either one of them wet.

Any thoughts on the rear bags that Midway sells?

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