CTOMS Tourniquet Pouch and Warfighter CFAK

Today I’ll be covering two medical items from  CTOMS (Canadian Tactical and Operational Medical Solutions) the Tourniquet Pouch and Warfighter CFAK (Combat First Aid Kit)  Flat Panel.

CTOMS was established in April 2005 as a means to propagate, standardize and evolve tactical medicine in the military and law enforcement communities in Canada and to expand its appropriate attributes to remote casualty care in Search and Rescue and wilderness environments.

Tourniquet Pouch

First up for review is the CTOMS Tourniquet Pouch. The pouch measures 5″ x 3″ and takes up one row/three columns on MOLLE gear, but is also belt compatible. Made of 1000 Denier Cordura, the edges are bound and double stitched and features a drain hole in the bottom.

The pouch will hold a CAT or SOFT-T Tourniquet. Stitched on the flap are TK in dark letters for quick id (see photo). The sides of the pouch feature webbing for holding a pen or other items like chemlights.

Colors available: Coyote Brown, Black, Ranger Green, UCP (you can see me pattern) and MultiCam.

Warfighter CFAK Flat Panel

Next up is the CTOMS Warfighter CFAK Flat Panel. What makes this pull-away panel design different, is CTOMS use of a ITW Nexus 1″ Snap-Dragon Buckle. To operate it, all you need to do is give a upward pull on the beaded handle, then pull outward, very easy and very fast.

I used the CFAK Flat Panel as a slimline medical pouch to hold essential live saving equipment.  While using this pouch I have not noticed any slippage where the pouch connects with the tear-away panel. I’m not sure if this is due to the buckle or the small black clips found on the back of the pouch (see photo).

Construction and Layout

Now on to the construction and layout. The CFAK is made of 1000 Denier Cordura with the raw edges being bound and single stitched. The interior has two pockets. These pockets will easily hold EMT scissors, bandages, mole skin, 4×4 pads and the contents of your ITS Tactical ETA Kit.

The outside of these two interior pockets is covered with the CTOMS GEN 2 MARS (modular adjustable retention system). This is a feature I really like, it lets you configure the pouch for your specific needs, as opposed to the pre-configured layouts offered on other medical pouches.

To facilitate your custom layout, the pouch comes with two pre-cut pieces of  23″ shock cord, and six pre-cut 15″ pieces. To keep the shock cord in place, 8 Cordlocs are also included. The pouch closes with a heavy duty YKK zipper with silent pulls (same zippers found on MSA/Paraclete pouches). There are also two drain holes, one for the main pouch and one for the exterior flat pocket.

This exterior flat pocket will hold gloves or other small items and is covered with PALS Webbing and velcro for ID/blood type. The tear away-panel itself  is also constructed from 1000 Denier Cordura with the edges bound and double stitched.

The panel attaches via MALICE Clips which are included. The whole package takes up 3 columns x 3 rows of MOLLE real estate and measures 5″ x 7.5″ x 2″.

Colors available: Coyote Brown, Black, Ranger Green, UCP and MultiCam w/ Khaki webbing.  All of their pouches and packs are made in the USA and they have several different styles of pouches and accessories. Check them out www.ctoms.ca