The TKN Pouch
An IFAK is easily one of the most important pieces of gear one can have. An IFAK, or individual first aid kit, is standard for all modern military forces. IFAKs save lives. Plain and simple. They treat minor and major injuries. They stop blood loss. IFAKs prevent infections, and treat burns. Without one you are ill equipped for the modern battlefield. Most kits will have accessories for small wound care. This includes band-aids, bactine, and various medicines. An IFAK can treat everything from gunshots to small lacerations. The TKN pouch is designed for that and more.
IFAKs have come and gone, and it’s a concept that is always evolving. The I in IFAK, of course, stands for individual. No longer is the medic the sole carrier of life-saving gear. When wounded you need to act as fast as possible. IFAKs need to be capable of rapid deployment. Keeping someone alive long enough to reach higher medical care is the goal of an IFAK.
When someone suffers an injury on the battlefield the ability to treat a wound rapidly is the key to success. The TKN pouch is specifically designed to reduce deployment time. In fact, they named it the Trauma Kit Now! I’m shortening it to the TKN pouch for brevity’s sake. The design allows rapid access with as little as a single finger to haccess it. The TKN is designed to hold the entire contents of a standard Army IFAK. The end user can custom fit the TKN to their needs in a matter of seconds.
Blue Force Gear’s Answer
The pouch comes in a variety of colors, including Wolf, Coyote, Multicam, black, and OD green. Two components compromise the TKN pouch. The first is the actual MOLLE pouch which acts like an outer shell. The outer shell attaches to MOLLE platform. The second component is the inner supply carriage. The carriage is removable from the main pouch. Once removed it presents every item to the user at once. This prevents someone from having to dig through a pouch to find one specific item. Digging into a pouch wastes precious time. You are also likely to lose needed items.
This inner carriage has a variety of elastic loops on the inside to hold gear. The loops are placed so the user can customize the inside of the pouch. Not every loop can or will be used. The carriage slides in and out of the molle pouch with ease, even when completely full. The pouch’s lid acts as a pull tab for the carriage. Once you open the flap, you can grip it, and rip the inner carriage out. The tight elastic loops keep the gear in place during deployment. My limited time with pouch has already shown nothing moves once its put into place.
Built For War.
There is also a single strip of MOLLEminus slots on the top of the pouch to accommodate a flashlight pouch, or a BFG tourniquet now holder. The Blue Force Gear TKN pouch has an excellent design. It’s overally quality is immediatley apparent. This is a common theme with BFG. BFG manufactures the TKN pouches from Ultracomp. Ultracomp is a proprietary material that is lightweight, water resistant, and incredibly strong.
Look forward to my review soon. I plan to take the wife out and refresh her knowledge of tourniquets and applying pressure. My goal is to take this pouch through a variety of different tests to see exactly how easy it is to access. I plan to do this in different positions, with my hand occupied by other gear, or with fake wounds. Stay tuned for that, but like all Blue Force Gear’s stuff I’m sure it is a high-quality piece of gear.
