SHIPPING
This bag arrived on a Friday afternoon in Seattle Washington after being ordered on Monday night and being shipped from Van Nuys California. It was sent via USPS Priority Mail in a bag and when unfolded had a couple wrinkles which disappeared on their own after a few hours.
FLAP
The flap looks like the flap in the main picture of this bag, with one minor exception. It has one long piece of olive green colored velcro on the other side of the flap from the two rectangular pieces of fabric pictured. The small red tag with white writing on it is not present on my flap, but is instead located on the end of the bag, where the strap is sewn on.
STRAP
The strap looks pretty comfortable and durable. It's made of the same fabric as the rest of the bag. On one side of the bag it's sewn directly to the bag, and on the other side of the bag it's looped through a wide, flat, rectangular brass ring which is inserted through a wide loop of fabric on the bag. Another brass ring is used to adjust the length of the strap which can be as short as approximately 28" and as long as approximately 48". The length adjustment ring stays in place really well but is still easy to adjust and moves smoothly along the strap.
SIDE POCKETS
Each side of the bag has a pocket which runs nearly the height of the bag and has a brass snap. The main picture of this bag shows a red sports drink, which I thought was kind of deceiving until I tried to put a 32 oz. gatorade drink in each side. To my surprise, it actually fit! The pocket doesn't look big enough to hold one of these bottles, but it just barely is. The snap won't fasten with a 32oz bottle in the pocket, but without a bottle the snaps work very well and have a solid feel to them. Just above one side pocket is a small black tag (1cm x 1cm) which says RD in white and shows curved white lines sort of resembling wings. Just above the other side pocket is a small red tag (1cm tall by 3cm wide) that says RAPDOM in white letters. Apparently this stands for Rapid Dominance, which wikipedia says is some sort of military tactic where you just overwhelm your opponent into giving up.
BACK OF BAG
The back of this bag (the side that rests against your body) has one large pocket that is approximately 7" tall (2/3 to 3/4 as tall as the bag's main compartment) and as wide as the bag (approximately 14"). It has one small piece of velcro just below the top edge of the pocket to close it.
UNDER THE FLAP
When you un-velcro the main flap and flip it out of the way, you find two large pouches. Each pouch has a zipper running along the top and a small square of velcro on the outside that the flap's velcro attaches to. The pouches are each approximately 7" tall and 6" wide. The zippers each have a logo like the one by the strap which says RD (same brass color as the rest of the zipper). The pockets both zip closed to the inside of the bag, so you wouldnt be able to reach under the flap and grab the zippers and open the pouches with the main flap closed. This seems more secure than the alternative. Above the right-hand pouch is an olive green tag (slightly lighter colored than the darker olive green of the bag) that says "RAPID DOMINANCE Standard Issue" and has the black RD logo and also a line for you to write your name: "Name_____________________".
MAIN COMPARTMENT
The main compartment of this bag has a long zipper that runs the length of the bag and when you unzip this zipper you find a shiny olive green vinyl lining inside. On one inner wall of the main compartment in the vinyl lining is an inner pocket approximately the size of one of the pouches on the outside. The vinyl is pretty solid, but not too thick, so I wouldn't put anything sharp or heavy in this inner pocket. The main compartment of the bag, however, seems very durable. 9139 KHAKI ''BIO-HAZARD'' VINTAGE BAG
I bought this bag to hold my equipment, notebooks, thermos and other gear while clomping through an oil refinery. After a week of use, I think it will serve well. This is not your choice in bags if you want something to contain your laptop; they're making them too thin for the support offered by this bag.
Positives:
* Long, adjustable strap;
* Pockets are pretty deep, except side (see negatives);
* Big, deep bag; and
* Zipper pocket inside bag, small but useful for pens and such.
Negatives:
* Canvas strap should be thicker with two stiches on either side, running the length, to avoid braying;
* Flap: velcro bar runs horizontally but there are only two small bars on the opposite side (the bag) --- these are not strong; and
* Side pockets --- too narrow but buttons are nice.
I plan to replace the velcro flap with a button clapse if the strap holds up for a month of abuse.
After 5 months of service I washed the bag in cold water. It faded a little as expected but did not shrink. Some were was noted in the bottom where a small hole developed. The bag is still useful. I did not add a button because there was no time.
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I found the confusion over the different versions of this bag very annoying, so this is my attempt to shed some light on the black ones, at least. I bought two bags, from two different companies, in the hope that I'd get two different versions and be able to compare them. It worked.
I added a bunch of pictures comparing both bags to the customer pics section.
For what it's worth these results are for the black one, in July of 2009. I had intended to compare them and then return one, but I think I'll keep them both. They are both great bags at an awesome price and what the heck. You can never have too many gear bags.
I noticed that the Gravity bag's strap tends to bunch up on the adjustable side's square ring a bit, which might get annoying (the fixed side on this bad is sewn, no ring). The Ace Mart strap seemed a bit stiffer and didn't bunch on the adjustable side. The fixed side has a ring but is sewn too tight to bunch anyway.
I thought I wanted a zipper on the main compartment for security, but I found that the extra clutter got in my way a bit, especially for my large 12x11" binder/planner. But for smaller stuff or in cases where the bag may be upended, I can see that being very useful.
I was also surprised that the Gravity bag was about an inch shorter, which in conjunction with my large binder and other junk, mattered.
"9118 BLACK HW CLASSIC MESSENGER BAG"
Apparel; $[...]
Sold by: Ace Mart Stores
Rotchco Classic Packs & Sacks, made in India
Shell 100% Cotton, no lining
1 lbs 10.4 oz
"9118 BLACK HW CLASSIC MESSENGER BAG"
Apparel; $[...]
Sold by: Gravity Trading
Rapid Dominance. Style NO: R31, made in China
Shell 100% Cotton, Lining 100% polyester
1 lbs 14.0 oz (probably zippers & lining)
..........................Ace Mart............Gravity
----------------------------------------------------
Color...................Matt Black..........Greenish Black
Length................18"....................18.5"
Height.................12"...................11"
Depth..................5".....................5"
Cloth [1]..............Similar................Similar
Zippers [2]...........1.......................4
Liner (main)..........No.....................Yes, polyester
Strap ends...........2 Lght sqr ring.....1 Heavy sqr ring, sewn
Back comprtmnt....No.....................Yes
REI 25oz [3].........Yes....................Yes
Velcro.................Lighter................Heavier
Strap min.............29.5...................30.5
Strap max............56......................60
[1] At first I thought the Gravity version had heavier cloth than the Ace Mark. It turns out that the Gravity uses the same heavy outer cloth on both sides of the flap, while the Ace Mark uses a lighter cloth for the inside layer. Both are 100 Cotton but feel and look slightly different. The Ace Mart has a finer weave while the Gravity feels slightly slicker which you'd think would make it shed water better. But when I flicked some water it it, the Ace Mart bag beaded 50% or more, while the Gravity just drank it right in, zero beading (see my pics). OTOH, the Gravity bag has a nylon inner lining. I'll Scotchgard them anyway.
[2] Both bags have a small zippered inner pocket, but the Gravity version has zippers on both front outside and main inside compartments. NOTE: the zippers make the mouths of the front outer compartments significantly smaller than the non-zipper ones! My Mini9 fits perfectly in the Ace Mart outer compartment, but it's not even close in the Gravity one.
[3] REI CamelBak Classic Bottle - 25 oz. ([...] fits loosely, a larger bottle would still fit. The bottle holders at each end were a critical feature for me, and one reason I didn't just go with a generic military surplus bag. - Bio-hazard - Bags - Backpacking - Canvas Bag'
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