The Squid Med Kit from Snake Eater Tactical is another one of those simple ideas that I wish was my own. The Squid is essentially just a flexible, user customizable, organizer insert for medical supplies that can be used to turn any pouch or pocket into a well-organized blow out kit.
Overview
The Squid consists of a doubled piece of webbing with grommets installed at regular intervals. There are two individual lengths of shock cord weaved through the grommets in rows (one on each side). Both lengths of shock cord have cord locks installed to allow the user to adjust their length and plenty of surplus cord is provided. The Squids also have a long grab handle attached to one end that is constructed from 1” webbing.
They are available in two sizes: small and medium. The small has four (two per side) storage spots in its stock configuration and the medium has six (three per side).
Observations from Use
Loading the Squid with med gear is easy. Each little storage spot is well sized for items like compressed gauze, smaller tourniquets like the TK-4 or SWAT-T, hemostatic agents, and similar items. Accessing the items is very easy even when the cords are cinched quite tight. One thing that the cords wouldn’t retain well was a roll of tape. I solved that by just threading it onto the pull handle. You could also tie it to the shock cord.
Don’t be alarmed by the amount of loose cord handing off the Squid when you first receive it. Much of it will be consumed as you add items and I found that any small excess left over can easy be tucked into the Squid in any number of places.
The handle makes it extremely easy to rip the Squid from wherever you have it stored assuming you have chosen a pouch with a suitably large opening. I found that you can place the Squid into a zipper closed pouch with the grab handle handing sticking out of the opening slightly and then, when you need access, a quick tug on the handle will open the zipper allowing the Squid to removes in basically one motion.
There are small voids between the webbing layers and grommets. I found these to work well for carrying small pens and markers like the short Sharpies that I am fond of for use on the range and in med kits.
Be aware that since all the items are secured by the same sets of shock cord, the cords will become slack once an item is removed from the organizer – especially larger items. I suppose this is a potential weakness of the design but it could probably also be spun as a feature since access to the Squid’s cargo becomes even easier once the first item is removed.
If you find that you aren’t satisfied with how an item is fitting in the Squid, you can easily change the lacing pattern to accommodate your item. You can turn a small storage spot into a large one by skipping a row of grommets with the cord or change the way things are retained by weaving a criss-cross pattern or horizontally. It is a very flexible system that you can adjust on the fly to suit your needs.
I found that the Squids are more than flexible enough to organize a wide variety of items. They are great for laptop power bricks, cords, ear buds, and all sorts of other things that find their way into our everyday bags. I found that they hold a Batuca Battery Case quite well (other brands would work too) and I even used one to compress a very light, compressible Propper wind shirt that I carry daily.
I think it would be nice to see Snake Eater Tactical offer the Squids with optional colored grab handles. The colors could be used to color code gear. At the very list, a red grab handle would be nice to denote medical gear.
Wrap Up
There are about a million applications for something like the Squid. They work very well in their intended role and you will come up with tons of other uses as well. They don’t cost much and Snake Eater Tactical will give you a third one free when you buy two. The Squid is solid, functional gear at a reasonable price.
Check out the Squid Med Kit at Snake Eater Tactical.
