I was rereading some old posts and realized that it was just over twenty years ago I got the bag that I now use as my Bag O’ Tricks(tm). At the time, I opined that the build quality seemed very good and that time would tell in terms of resilience. Well, twenty years has come and gone (ah, youth….), and I’m still here and so is the bag. Both a little worse for the wear, but still capable of carrying on as needed.
The bag is Tactical Tailor’s Three Day Bag. TT has undergone some changes since then and this bag is one of their ‘legacy’ products. There’s a newer version, and maybe I’ll get one just to have an extra. (Interesting to note that my ODG color is not offered.)
How has the bag held up over these two decades? Well, in spots its a bit dirty but who cares about that? Gear is meant to be used, my friend. It has gone on hunting trips, airline flights, been bounced around in trucks, and carried by me almost every work day for the last twenty years. In fact, even though I am at work sitting at a desk staring at three monitors worth of spreadsheets it is sitting behind me in the corner with all my ‘just in case gear’.
In the two decades I have had exactly two problems with it…both were my fault. I got careless and caught a fastex buckle in a closing truck door and broke the buckle. Fortunately a replacement fastex buckle of appropriate size can be found easily. Other than that…this thing is fully intact and ready to roll. No stitching has come apart, no seams have torn, no zippers have failed… other than some dirt and grime it’s in almost perfect condition.
I know that I’m not alone in having a bag like this, full of items and gear that might come in handy in a crisis, among survivalists. Some are more discreet, some less. Over the years I can tell you that I have learned that there are some features or qualities that are very much worth having.
A good, rock-solid carry/drag handle on the top of the bag is a must. When that bag is wedged in a vehicle with all your other crap crammed against it, you want something where you can grab and yank as hard as you can and pull it free from the pile. There have been times where I’ve been out hunting and had to clip a carabiner to the handle to affix the bag to a length of paracord to haul it up a cliff. More often than not, I clip (with a carabiner) it to a tie down in the back of the truck to keep it from flying. And, speaking of flying, sometimes you need to wing that sucker up to or over something…and grabbing it by the handle and swinging it like a hammer is sometimes the best way to hit escape velocity.
One of the things I liked about my ancient Dana Design (now Mystery Ranch) pack was that every closure had a secondary method of securing it. Any zippered part had a strap or two going over it so that if the zipper failed you could use the strap to secure things..at least, thats what the guy who designed the bag told me when I bought it from him back in the ’90s. Keep an eye open for that sort of engineering.
While the pack has webbing to attach pockets, I’ve always tried to avoid adding stuff to the outside of the bag. Ideally, I like the bag to be narrower than my shoulders or hips so I can get through doorways and other spaces in a hurry.
Straps need to be at least double- or triple-stitched.
All these features come down to build quality. Every manufacturer makes an ‘assault pack’ or ‘three-day’ backpack and they all usually have the same features. What sets them apart is the build quality. Don’t be afraid to reinforce the gear yourself. When I was a kid I used to have some cheap Jansport (remember them?) backs and I’d reinforce the strap and webbing attachment points with a speed stitcher. That stitcher, by the way, should be in every survivalists tool cabinet….its a handy little geegaw.
The TT bag cost me $110 twenty years ago. The newer version is around a hundred bucks more but, jokes on them, my bag seems to be a buy-once-cry-once that will outlive me.
good gear costs money…recently got the agilite amap III…been carrying it about a year, well made, great edc bag…have a kifaru escape/evade pack i got as a bail out bag for work…nice, well made pack…have some hill people gear bags…you can’t go wrong with any of them…built to take a abuse and last damn near forever…
I have two of the Kifaru E&E bags..Gen1 and Gen2. Good pieces of gear.
did you get the upgraded straps? i did, they are well worth it…hill people gear makes a great set of backpack straps also…way more comfy to use…
Matter of fact, I did get the upgraded straps although it was a bit unsettling to have to cut off the old ones.
Wow… Dana Designs. That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. Back when, they were one of the companies that were just too speedy for my limited budget, almost a dream company that made wonderful things I could never afford.
I recently managed to acquire a US army ruck, in ACU, but with the sustainment pouches on the sides, and it’s in essentially unissued condition. It cost CAN$105, and it seems a steal of a deal. For where we live, this is my get-home bag (the distances around here are considerable, so if the worst happened it would be a very long walk).
Do you have any thoughts about the build quality of this sort of thing? It seems very solid….
I have several. Theyre okay, but with the sustainment pouches hanging off the side you wind up being pretty wide. No big deal if youre just slinging your bag on the outside of a truck or humvee, but for navigating through a more urban environ its a bit clumsy.
I don’t know why, but I pictured a small shoulder strapped duffel or wet bag as your *BoT. I’ve heard of Tactical Tailer – they have a reputation for well made gear. It is good to hear it is as a bomb proof item.
About 15 years ago – maybe more – I bought a Spec-Ops “T.H.E. Pack, (Tactical Holds Everything) ” on clearance at GTs. That thing is packed to the gills – intended to be the full o’ misery for the get home from anywhere situation pack rather than a sustainment bag.
It has rolled around a truck, been a pillow for large dogs, a shooting platform and a constant companion. Nothing has failed on it yet. Nearly pristine in appearance. Another of the buy once, cry once sorts of investments. I cannot speak to their quality now but this has served me well.
As someone noted, the Hill People Gear is also quite good.
I like Spec-Ops a lot, but it seems like they are always on the verge of going out of business. It’s a shame because I have some of their SOB Buttpack bags and they are the handiest mofo’s around.
Awesome pack. I have the same one and I think mine is 21 or 22 years old. My first TT purchase was their modified Army rucksack (added pouches with zippers)….still have that too. They were well known for quality and innovation when I was stationed at Ft Lewis 25 years ago.
Good tip on the Speedy Stitcher CZ. A good source for 3 day bags is ebay. I have outfitted my trucks and cars with U.S.G.I. 3 Day Assualt packs in OCP/Scorpion (Multicam) for $50 – $70 in used to new condition. These are the packs that every other vendor wishes they were at 1/3 to 1/10 the cost.
They are darn good bags. Bought one in like 2004. My son has it now.
Loosely related you should do a bag of tricks post. It’s alway interesting to see what smart people are thinking about in such systems. Maybe Patreon to avoid the background noise.
Maybe. More than likely, to preclude the inevitable “But what about….” comments, I’ll probably say that whatever is there is in addition to other sutff. And hopefully ‘other stuff’ will placate the crowd. No matter how much of something you have, there is always someone who carries it one step further to show that you’re an unprepared n00b.
Me: I have six months of food
Them: What are you going to do if the crisis lasts longer than six months?
Me: I have five years worth of food
Them: What are you going to do if the crisis lasts six years?
Me: I have one hundred years worth of food.
Them: :::(Go ahead, guess what theyre gonna say):::
Even more annoying are the people who take the ‘backwards step’ attitude. It looks like this:
Me: I have a flashlight
Them: What about when the batteries die?
Me: I have spare batteries
Them: And what about when you use them all up?
Me: Then I have candles
Them: And what about when you use them all up?
Me: I have the goddamn sun!
Them: What about when it runs out of hydrogen in twentyfive billion years?
No lie, man. It goes like that. Dont believe me? Make a comment or post about whats in your first aid kit and by the time the comments section finishes kibitizing you’ll have an entire trauma center stuffed into your bag.
So..I try to avoid those sorts of “This is my list of gear…” posts.
Understandable though I’m t prevents me from reading a post I would like to see.
Maybe talking the conceptual framework and being kinda general “in my X kit I have these items and some other things” would work.
No worries either way. Be well!
I’d also be interested to see how the stuff is kept inside the bag. Do you have a system in place (stuff sacks, etc.) or is it just all thrown in the bag? Obviously what works for you, works for you and may not work for the next person. I try to have a system in place, but often times there are things that just end up thrown in the bag to float around and potentially sink to the bottom and get lost/forgotten about.
Another option might be a post with the comments turned off.
Ryan/ TOR
Like Jim does on Survivalblog. Problem with that is that many times the comments are better than the original post.