Carriage and Deployment of the Uzi Carbine from the "Dorito of Death"

JD Lester

Suarez International Staff Instructor

 Recently, I made an unexpected discovery. I had previously considered how to carry the Uzi Carbine discreetly, but had come up short. I wanted something that discreetly stored my Uzi in a ready to use condition. However, because my 16” barreled Uzi is much longer than a laptop, even with its stock collapsed, laptop bags would not do, and non-tactical backpacks offered no rapid proactive deployment options.

Then, I came across my Suchka Bag (available at One Source Tactical) again, so I thought I would give it a try and see what I could come up with for the Uzi. Since it is not being used for the Suchka I renamed the bag the “Dorito of Death” which was derived from the bags shape and its contents.

 I grabbed the DoD and stuffed the Uzi in it. I found that rapid, proactive deployment from this bag was easy with the carbine. I took off the barrel and tried it on for size without the added length of the carbine barrel. Deployment was even faster.

For slinging up the Uzi I chose a simple 2 point sling, and also attached the male portion of a Fastex buckle to the sling, close to the rear attachment point, the female portion was attached to the integral single point attachment in the main cargo area of the bag. The excess of the 2 point sling was folded and secured near the front sling swivel with a retainer band to manage excess sling webbing. I am not a fan of the single point sling for a carbine. However, for this purpose and with it being an integral part of the bag it works rather well. It can also be disconnected quickly by releasing the buckle.

Shoulder transfers were not impeded as there is a generous amount of webbing for attaching the gun inside the bag. The interior of the main cargo area, including the front flap is covered with MOLLE webbing, the front flap uses pile tape to construct the MOLLE pattern, and the internal area uses regular nylon webbing. The DoD bag also has a waist bag that can be detached or remain attached to the shoulder carry strap. The main compartment on the waist bag will hold a large frame auto and has room for some other small items. Both the waist pack and the main bag allow for securing the main cargo areas with what 5.11 calls Hot Tabs. A piece of webbing is attached to the flap of the compartment and secured with hook pile tape so the small zippers are simultaneously activated when the tab is pulled.

 Here is what I came up with to deploy the Uzi Carbine from concealment using the DoD bag:

WARNING: A GUN BODY PART CONFLICT CAN OCCUR WHILE USING THIS EQUIPMENT. GO SLOW & DRY BEFORE ADDING SPEED & BULLETS.

1. Release the buckle of the stabilizing strap with the right hand, while simultaneously grabbing the bottom left corner of the bag with the left hand.

 2. Grab a good handful of bag with the left hand and vigorously pull the bag forward to the front of the body ending the motion at the right shoulder. The right hand can assist if needed by grabbing the carry strap.

3. The right hand moves to the centerline, palm against the bag as the left hand grips the “Hot Tab”and pulls down and away to the left side.

4. The right hand goes into the main cargo area and secures the pistol grip of the Uzi.

 5. The left hand ensures clearance of the top edge of the bag and then finds its way to the forward grip area and assists with the vigorous clearance of the carbine.

Continuation of step 5.

1. The left hand controls the carbine while the right hand manipulates the deployment of the buttstock.

2. Shoot’em as you see’em.

If the dynamics of the situation have changed since your decision to proactively deploy the carbine and the need to rapidly engage threats presents itself once you are committed to the carbine, you can take the following actions to get rounds onboard the bad guys.
After step 5. Rotate the unopened stock onto the right pectoral, the carbine can be indexed onto targets within the close range enviroment with good effects on target, shoulder transfers are not affected.

The principal thought behind using this bag is the proactive deployment of the UZI Carbine. Because things don’t always go as planned, however, I also tried two different methods for accessing a handgun for immediate threat reduction in the close range environment.

The first method makes use of the discreet carry waist pack that is attached to the shoulder carry strap. This does not provide super fast access to the pistol as other carry methods. A SIG 220 and a couple of spare magazines were an easy fit. I chose the SIG, which is DA for the first shot, for this application; because the elastic loops holding the gun in the waist pack do not provide adequate coverage of the trigger area for using one of my Glock pistols. The loop will fit over the trigger guard and cover that area however,I was able to dry press the trigger with the elastic covering the trigger. I plan on adding a sewn in hard point to attach the Zack holster by Dale Fricke to have the capability of carrying a G17 in this compartment (also available from One Source Tactical).

The above mentioned reasons lead me to deselect the front pouch for pistol carry and use it for other items.

 The second method utilized my RMR G17 from its Seraphim AIWB holster. This method was much faster, and the DoD bag did not impede the draw. Anyone using this method of carry for their handgun can use the waist pack as a natural place to store a TQ and some other stop leak equipment. There is also a place to carry a hydration system and a soft armor panel.

What led me to explore this method of carriage was the addition of the rail handguard for the UZI from One Source Tactical. The construction of the rail and how it attaches to the handguard is quite robust. The rail provides a very solid mounting point for a short vertical grip or other attachments you might want to mount on the UZI. A change in the handling characteristics for the better was noticed once I installed a short vertical grip and began some dry work.

Net, the combination of the Uzi carbine, railed handguard with SVG and a discreet carriage method offer another great way to reduce the bad guy to good guy ratio.

Discuss this at Warrior Talk here.

Read equipment review here.

Comments

[archy]

I use a tennis racket bag for both my Uzi carbine with 16-inch barrel and for an 18-inch barrelled folding stock shotgun. The ball carrier on the side of the bag is real handy for a pair of Uzi 32-round mags, or a shorty shotgun ammo belt.

I like the idea of the squared-off laptop bag, but as of yet, I've also not found one quite big enough. Ideally, a softside nylon attache case that would carry both the Uzi and a laptop would be a nice pick, and a bit less obvious than my tennis racket bag at night.

[Joe Sul.]

"Dorito Of Death". I love it! :-)