I’ve bought a handful of items from Ex Umbris Designs over the past few years. My most recent purchase was one of their Hygiene Kit pouches which I use as a field firearm maintenance kit that I take with me every time I go to the range.
You might be wondering how much could I possibly say about a pouch that would justify an entire blog post dedicated to it? The truth is not much.
The Hygiene Kit is a simple 9″W x 5″H x 4″D pouch with a zippered main compartment and exterior zippered pocket that is well made in the USA from 500D Cordura and lined with a water resistant material. It also has an external nylon grab handle. It’s available in a wide array of colors and camouflage patterns. The one I got has an AUSCAM exterior and tan liner.
The post could end right here. However, I suspect some of y’all might want to know why someone would spend $55 on a pouch. I also suppose some of y’all might be curious about what I’ve put in my field firearm maintenance kit.
I get it. Spending north of $50 on a pouch probably seems absurd when you can spend a fraction of the price on a similar item that achieves the same result at Bezosmart (Amazon) or Wally World (Walmart). I could attempt to justify it by pointing out that it’s a handmade product with a lifetime warranty designed to stand up to the standards and rigor demanded by the world’s most elite warriors. While all of that is true, none of that will matter to everyone. At the end of the day, it’s still just a pouch that holds stuff.
The thing is I’ve been following Ex Umbris Designs on X (formerly Twitter) for years and watched a one man operation grow into an honest business that continues to put out solid high quality products. And when I can, I like to support companies like that with my own money. This was an opportunity to do just that. Even though the tiger stripe pouch with orange liner was out of stock.
As far as the field firearm maintenance kit goes, here is what I shoved in the pouch with tons of room to spare:
- Main compartment
- A large microfiber for wiping carbon and old lubricant,
- a small lens cloth,
- Cat Crap (lens cleaner & anti-fog)
- a Hoppe’s Bore Snake,
- extra lubricant,
- Q-tips,
- Wheeler Multi-Driver tool pen,
- and a CED solid brass squib rod.
- Outer pocket
- Small spare parts,
- Optic adjustment tools,
- and spare Torx/Hex keys.
That pretty much covers all my bases for routine maintenance and quick repairs that might be needed at a pistol match or class.
Of course, the Hygiene Kit pouch can be used for just about anything you can think of. The most obvious other use case is as, the name implies, a hygiene kit. Ex Umbris Designs suggested I use it as an ammo pouch when they replied to a post I tagged them in on X where I hinted at my desire for them to make a small ammo pouch. While nothing is stopping anyone from putting ammunition in one, I would prefer it to be smaller and include a drain hole, but that’s just me.
Regardless, it’s a nice pouch and I’m happy with it. I suspect anyone who buys a Hygiene Kit from Ex Umbris Designs will arrive at the same conclusion.