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Not as good as the Maxpedition Fatboy but $ $ $ saver, February 17, 2010

By 

M. D. R. Benavides (New Mexico) – See all my reviews

  

I have worked alongside actual field operators who carried the Maxpedition Fatboy and other Maxpedition products. I have been able to “test” the Fatboy. The main difference between the Fatboy and the UTG messenger bag I’d say is the feel of it. Where the Fatboy feels ergonomically sound and “made for you”, the UTG bags falls a bit short. I’m right handed; the UTG bag feels a bit like it was made for left side carry, but not to the point that it would affect a quick weapon draw out of the concealment compartment. I haven’t seen the UTG bag offered in the right and left side carry option. This might be the reason why it feels like a left side carry as the manufacturer may have tried to cut costs by building a bag to fit right and left side carriers. I’d say that it all comes down as to how the bag fits you. Personally is not something that bothers me much at all. All that said, I know that when it comes to field performance, comfort and “right feel” is not something to skimp on. I bought the UTG bag for some field usage, but mainly to have something to carry my weapon, mags, sunglasses, flashlight, creds, water, etc after getting off from work. The UTG bag’s construction, zippers and buckles seem well suited for field operations, but only time will tell, but as of now I’m sticking to the UTG bag. At about %50 off or more from the Maxpediton’s Fatboy price with free S&H from Amazon and good materials and crafstmanship, the UTG bag is a keeper. Unless of course you just want a Maxpedition label to show. I’d have given the UTG bag a 4 1/2 star rating, but not an option.

UPDATE: It’s been almost 2 years since I started using this bag, and it’s still going strong. I don’t go anywhere w/o this bag.

Here are a few of the cons I have noticed:

-The shoulder strap could be of better quality and a bit thicker
-The shoulder strap pad tends to slide towards the rear sometimes
-The main compartment could use a zipper instead of a drawstring
-The key ring could be of better quality
-The flap cover/compartment could open forward/away instead of of having to unbuckle and having to lift as some of the Maxpedition brand do
-The nylon drawstrings could be replaced with 550 cord
-The zippers are loud from a TACTICAL viewpoint and could/should be replaced with 550 cord or the better Chums Zipquix zipper pulls

Some reviews state that the stitching is subpar and comes undone. I haven’t noticed this with my bag, but I’d be willing to say that since these bags are made in China, it’s possible that the bags are made at different manufacturing facilities and this could account for the issue.

Another reviewer stated the concealment compartment’s zipper could not be operated with one hand. I haven’t had any problems in this department. I can perform a fairly quick one-handed draw considering that this is not a holster. That said, I highly recommend taking the bag to your local range and testing it fully by drawing, shooting, shooting and moving and reloading from your selected pouch before you find yourself in a situation where you need to have quick access to your weapon.

Another review I read mentioned that having to pull a zipper to access a concealed weapon is not much of a concealment. Once again, I bought this bag to carry off-duty, and if and in the event an active shooter scenario would develop. If you want to have something that offers more concealment, I suggest an inside the pants/pancake holster or maybe the Lunata or Remora bags from Maxpedition. If you check them out you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Conclusion: If you are buying this bag to carry camera equipment, manly diaper-bag (LOL), or to carry a few things when out for a quick hike, this bag more than will suffice and won’t disappoint. The price makes it twice as nice also.

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Affordable option, but not without its flaws, June 6, 2010

[UPDATE: thanks to Amazon recently lowering the price of the Maxpedition item, I've since acquired the real Versipack that this UTG was cloned from and now have amended this review in certain areas now that I can do direct comparisons between the two.]

I originally opted to buy this UTG messenger bag as a less costly way of picking up a concealed carry satchel. Having seriously looked at and handled the Maxpedition Jumbo Versipack original at local shops I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of the real deal and, except for my initial hesitation over the price, would’ve gladly have added that pack to my collection of gear bags. But being the cheap bugger that I can be and despite the fact that I didn’t actually handle one beforehand, I opted for this UTG clone instead and haven’t regretted the decision. This is one fine bag at an excellent price point.

For me the UTG differs from the Maxped unit in two significant ways: the quality of the fabric materials–specifically the ballistic nylon thickness and feel–and the zipper pulls. The Versipack uses a slightly stouter nylon that holds the bag’s shape better. The UTG’s nylon is more pliable, and though it feels a bit more flimsy than the Versipack it has the added benefit of allowing greater tolerance for holding oversized gear or objects than would be nearly impossible to stuff into the Maxpedition bag. The stitching on the UTG bag is acceptable, but it looks a bit lower in quality than the Versipack original. Given the price difference the quality differences are understandable, if not perfectly acceptable. That said, the difference in material quality might mean that the UTG will wear down more quickly. In fact, after only a couple of weeks of use, the UTG bag already has some spots where discoloration in the exterior black nylon has occurred, in areas where extra magazines or tools have been poking/pushing against from the inside. I expected this bag to wear, but not quite this fast.

The UTG bag uses all-metal pulls on their zippers, which makes for the noisy racket when handling and moving around with the bag. Maxpedition uses a textile-based elastic pull–think thick bungee cord/paracord or even thick shoelaces and you won’t be far off the mark–which makes for a relatively silent bag when carrying. The first thing I did with the UTG after it arrived was purchase some black elastic cord from a local fabric store and swapped out the metal pull tabs on each of the bag’s zippers. It’s not as clean-looking or as stout as the Maxped’s factory solution, but at least the UTG bag no longer makes a ‘clinking’ racket every time I pick the thing up.

One area I’m not happy with on the UTG is the zipper for the gun compartment; it’s tough if not impossible to operate one-handed because it tends to bind up when trying to open it from a fully closed position. Whether it’s due to the zipper being too long or the nylon material it’s attached to being to soft and pliable, this zipper tends to bend at the forward base of the shoulder strap, which is the cause of the zipper binding and hanging up. To get this zipper to operate properly I have bring across my left hand to tug on the shoulder strap in order to smooth out that hiccup in the zipper just to get the compartment open. The added effort and time needed is not a good thing if someone needs to quickly access the compartment in a life-or-death scenario. On the other hand, the zipper for the same compartment on the Versipack on the other hand operates more smoothly, making it easier to access any item–such as that pistol you suddenly need–that’s held within.

One area I wish both the UTG and Maxped bags were better with is in the depth of their respective main compartments, particularly when I want to use the bag as an impromptu camera bag. Both are too shallow to reasonably fit in a dSLR camera (like my Nikon D300), especially when coupled with any reasonable general purpose zoom lens. The resultant bulk protrudes too much into the surrounding compartments, compromising their usefulness, and more importantly hinders carrying a full-sized semi-auto like an HK USP or even a compact like my Sig P229 or HK P30. As it is I can barely cram in my D300 with a fixed length 35mm lens but there’s not much room for anything else almost anywhere else in the bag. Though more snug that I’d like, I can get my P709 Slim to work while carrying a dSLR, but I can forget about any double-stack pistol options, even in subcompact form. Acting as a camera bag for anything beyond that of a point-and-shooter is not this bag’s forte.

Another complaint is that it would’ve been nice if UTG had added a simple carry handle strap to the top of the bag, much like the one on later Jumbo Versipack designs. While not a deal killer, I’ve still found that there are enough times and occasions that I’m just carrying the UTG in my hands, particularly when accessing its various…

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Tactical Diaper bag and more!, February 8, 2010

I love this bag! It’s made very well (On par with the maxpedition bags I compared it to), holds a surprising amount of gear, is set up perfectly for a Daddy’s “Tactical Diaper gearslinger,” and can turn around and be used as a “Man-bag” holster/EDC (Every-day carry) bag, and all around zombie apocalypse gear hauler!

An example of the versatility of this bag: At any given time I have 4-6 diapers, baby powder, a compact wipes case, a mayday 2400kcal ration bar, a box cutter, a small first aid kit, a fresh pair of hiking socks, 50′ of Paracord and extra CR123A batteries in just the main pocket (which, consequently has a draw-string closure making it extremely water-resistant). The Nalgene bottle pouch is a PERFECT fit for standard size 16 oz toddler “sippie-cups,” and the top zippered pouch is large enough to hold three powerbars or granola bars, and several pouches of “Fruitsnacks.”

When not being relegated to “Daddy duty” this bag can hold an entire days worth of supplies for Hiking/Geocaching(I’ve fit 14.5 lbs of gear in this bag). The Maxpedition modular holster fits in the back-side pocket and will comfortably secure a Glock 19/23 with a Streamlight TLR-1 mounted to it. The side zippered pouch is the perfect size to holds two Glock hi-capacity mags. The top pouch (when not holding fruit snacks and/or power bars) will fit my Bushnell GPS and extra battery pack AND several “Glowsticks.” MOLLE gear will mount to the bag no problem, affording you additional storage space and modular adaptation.

Overall the design of this bag is an excellent copy of the Maxpedition Versapack right down to the back-side air-flo padding and Velcro belt loop to secure the bag during active wear. The zippers are solid, and the nylon material is very thick and durable. Best of all this bag is 1/3 the cost of the versapack jumbo. Highly recommended for mall trips with the little one or prepping for TEOTWAWKI.

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