Luggage Bags and Packs
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Nice @endo
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rofmia Backpack V2 restock coming up this weekend if anyone wants the lightest, most functional, and coolest rolltop I’ve seen.
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I was hoping to gather some opinions from the luggage aficionado's here on the forum.....
I am looking to buy a new 25-30 litre day / overnight pack for travel. I have my eye on two Mystery Ranch products of a similar size, the 2 Day Assault pack and the Dragon 2.0. Both look like they could work very well for me. My current bag does not allow easy entry to the entire pack, this is something I would like.
The two Mystery Ranch packs main compartment access is achieved in different ways. The Assault pack uses their 3 way zipper design. The Dragon 2.0 uses a clamshell / flap opening design.
Does anyone have experience with these two opening designs and would care to offer an opinion as to which design they prefer and why?
Aesthetically the Dragon 2.0 looks a bit sleeker especially with the beavertail / Stick it panel removed. However as it is a joint Carryology product, the Dragon 2.0 is twice the price of the Assault pack.
There is no 'I' in team …............ however there are five in 'individual brilliance'.
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I've always admired that triple zip thing but never lived with it. Any design that allows you lay-flat packing to me is helpful. That said both of my bags in the category you're describing are rolltop top loaders
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@ddtrash I have the Blitz which uses the same clamshell opening as the Dragon but with extra pockets on the front. I really like the accessibility to the contents of the bag with the clamshell design. When you lay the bag flat, you can openit and get at everything and I find that useful. Like @Giles said, the frame makes this bag a bit heavy but it works great for hiking and is damn comfortable to wear when adjusted right. I've hiked many miles in mine and didn't get fatigued by the weight.
The sneaky extra laptop side zip pocket is really useful too for a laptop or documents.
One negative I have with the Blitz is that when near fully loaded, it doesn't shove under the seat in front of you on an airplane very well so it takes up some of your precious legroom unless you can put it in the overhead bin.
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@jordanscollected said in Luggage Bags and Packs:
the frame makes this bag a bit heavy but it works great for hiking and is damn comfortable to wear
Yeah, amazingly comfortable. My Patagucci Black Hole back pack is an instrument of torture compared to The Assault. Plus the zips are shite - stick to making clothing why don't you (of which I have a shit load).....?
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Thanks to all the helpful comments @Giles @jordanscollected @mclaincausey. I think I am on the right track with either the 2 day Assault or the Dragon 2.0. I just need to decide which type of opening I would prefer.
I have been using a very nice 30 litre roll top climbing style sack from Black Diamond, the Street Creek 30.
While I am perfectly happy with the pack there is an annoying downside, other people struggle to close the top effectively.When I travel offshore my bag is checked just like at a standard airport security check. However once the bag has gone through the scanner then you can not touch the bag again, it gets whisked off to the waiting helicopter. Medication and laptops have to be taken out the bag before being scanned and this causes the problems. The security staff are not great at rolling the top down sufficiently or cinching down the securing strap having put the laptop and medication back into the bag.
I am stuck behind a perspex security screen giving "gentle encouragement" for the staff to do the bloody thing up properly.End result has been my stuff rolling around the heli deck of the rig as the bag is offloaded out of the luggage hold, not ideal at all.
A more foolproof design of bag closure would help.
There is no 'I' in team …............ however there are five in 'individual brilliance'.
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@ddtrash this is too small for you but the Mission Workshop Rhake I think navigated the rolltop well by allowing a couple of different closure options.
Even better than that is the rofmia Backpack v2, which is zippered at the top. You don't have to roll that down at all to secure it and that's kind of the max expanded/unfurled setting. I used this bag in a recent trip to Barcelona and am obsessed with it. I've sung its praises here already so I'll leave it there.
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@ddtrash the Trakke Storr might be another option. They have a flat zip to open the front like a suitcase, so they should be pretty foolproof.
I've linked to the 35 litre version, there are also 20 and 25 litre models. There's not much stock at the moment, so you might have to wait if you want a particular size or colour.
The Bannoch Pro has a traditional flap opening, with zips down each side of the front panel, allowing easy access. That might be another option, but it's a more complicated closure than the Storr, which increases the risk that the security people can't close it properly.
Trakke are made in Scotland, and the packs I've seen are well put together. They tend to be conservative in how they estimate volume, so they can be larger than other bags with the same capacity on paper.
Since no-one has mentioned it, the GoRuck GR series would also be an option.
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@ddtrash I also considered the Dragon 2.0 for an overnight bag but every video review I watched felt it mentioned that it packed a little smaller than what I was hoping for. I do like the zip opening of it a bit more than the classic tri-zip but it's hard to justify the Carryology premium price tag.
With that said I have the Alpha One Niner Cobra, which is a Carryology collab version of the Evade 1.5 Full and it's fantastic 25L clam shell bag. I also have a 26L GoRuck M23, which packs more like a 30+ liter bag and it's an awesome travel bag.
