REVIEW – Vehicle interiors are notoriously difficult places to store small items, or have things near to hand. Sure, we have consoles, “glove” boxes, and little cubby holes everywhere, but when you’re at a traffic light, and just need to, say, grab a flashlight to see what the heck is rolling around on the passenger floorboard, there’s never a flashlight that isn’t your blinding emergency light close by – it’s buried in the center console. I was recently sent a STEP 22 REEF Visor Panel and have been using it in my car, and I think it may have solved, or at least mitigated, the issue. Let’s take a closer look.
What is it?
The STEP 22 REEF is a visor panel for vehicles with a MOLLE grid of hook-and-loop straps for holding small items.
What’s in the box?
- 1x REEF Visor Panel
- 2x VELCRO© Brand ONE-WRAP© mounting straps
- 1x 12″ x .75″ (30 cm x 1.9 cm) Strip of ONE-WRAP© – BLACK
- 1x 12″ x .75″ (30 cm x 1.9 cm) Strip of ONE-WRAP© – RED (Black includes 2x black strips)
Design and features
The STEP 22 REEF Visor Panel measures 11.5″ X 6.5″, which may be large for some modern vehicles. The company has patented their REEF idea, which is hook-and-loop (specifically, Velcro® OneWrap®) straps stitched into a MOLLE pattern. There is heavy bar-tacking on the corners and edges, and stitching between rows of the loops. The base and backing are made from a dual layer of Cordura® nylon SQUADRON™ material. The unit is sturdy and it’s gonna last. With the REEF system, you can use standard MOLLE items like side pockets, but also, because Velcro, stick-on patches, insignia, or other hook-and-loop enabled items.
The edges are securely stitched and all the strips are tightly fit into the grid. The straps that secure it to the visor are adjustable and removable and can be trimmed, so there is a lot of flexibility in mounting and usage. While it’s not military spec, I could see this being used in rough environments, like engineering support trucks, police or military vehicles, or off-roaders who don’t like things bouncing around inside the cabin.
The visor is available in Coyote and Black or Jet Black. The Coyote/Black model has one jaunty red attachment strap, while Jet Black is stealth all the way.
Setup
No set-up per se, but you’ll need to use the included two-sided hook-and-loop straps to secure it to your visor. That only takes a minute. You may want to adjust the MOLLE loops from being skin-tight to have more play if you’re planning to thread MOLLE items onto it. That may be easier done before installation.
Performance
The visor panel connects easily to your visor and stays out of the way. (Well, depending on what you attach to it! I had a bike lock key that kept dangling down from the keyring!) I find that little things like cables and audio adapters and air pressure gauges and flashlights sift down to the bottom of my center console, and there’s only so much you can put in that little tray beside the shifter. I’m considering getting a small MOLLE pouch to add more “bits & bobs” storage.
What I like about the STEP 22 REEF Visor Panel
- Large range of options for securing items
- Very secure
What I’d change
- Can’t really think of anything.
Final thoughts
Cars, trucks, whatever your daily driver, if it has a cabin, chances are there’s a visor up by the top of the windshield. And, chances are, there are a lot of little pieces of your driving life that are floating about different storage spots just out of reach of the vehicle operator. The STEP 22 REEF Visor Panel could be a way to get this problem under control.
Price: $50.00
Where to buy: Company Webstore
Source: The sample of this product was provided by STEP 22. STEP 22 did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
