Review
If you plan on surviving on the battlefield or in any fight for your life, ORCA Industries Patch Mat V2 probably wont help. But it will look damn cool on your wall! We’re mixing it up a bit with this review. We rarely touch on novelty items but when ORCA asked us to review their patch mat, I couldn’t say no!
Overview:
The Patch Mat V2 is a 18″X24″ loop velcro sown into three sections and is made to display and store your favorite moral patches and other hoop velcro accessories (i.e. holsters, pouches, and gear hangers). The loop material is a low pile YKK for easy placement and removal of your patches and gear. The material is prone to “fuzzing” over repeated uses but will hold any hook type Velcro backed patch or accessory. The mat is backed with 1000d multicam cordura providing a longer lasting outer shell. There are four total heavy duty .5″ grommets in each corner of the mat that can be used to hang the product.
Review:
As I stated before, unless the circumstances were very unique, the patch mat most likely isn’t going to save your life if put on the line, nor was is made to. So lets start by going over the build quality of the product, which proves to be fairly good. As seen in the images surrounding the mat has a double stitched outer hem which secures the cordura backer to the loop velcro and eliminates any chance of frying ends. The light weight low pile YKK loop velcro proves to hold patches firmly but is not overbearing. It goes not take much force to pull your patches off the mat, which in the long run will preserve both the patches and the mat. As stated in the description/overview, the loop is susceptible to “fuzzing”. I took a patch of mine and repeatedly pulled the patch off the mat to see what this actually meant. After a few pulls I started to see portions of the mat pulling off in what seemed to be small fuzzy strands. After assisting the strands to come loose of the mat I placed my patch in the same area and the loop held just as well.
ORCA advertises that hook velcro gear hangers can be used with the system as well. I had a few HSGI shot shell trays laying around, which loaded with some target rounds for added weight. The hook mated with the loop flawlessly but I did notice one problem. When hanging the mat on the wall and attaching the weighted shot shell trays in the center portion of the mat, the loop began to stretch and sag. After taking the mat down off the wall I noticed that the loop was only secured to the cordura backer by the outsides edges and two vertical single row stitches which separates the mat into thirds. Being that there is no adhesive used to attach the loop to the backer, weighted objects will tend to make the thin fabric sag.
Final Thoughts:
Overall the ORCA Patch Mat V2 is an awesome accessory mat. If you have an extra $40.00 in one pocket a handful of moral patches in the other, the ORCA Patch Mat is for you. As I stated, I did have some issues with hanging heavier objects on the mat, but when you think about it, how often are you going to be hanging pistols and on a mat that is meant to be displayed? All in all, the product is build very well and is worth the money if you have the need to show off your moral patches! Awesome novelty product by ORCA Industries!
