Since I started writing for TTAG I’ve been traveling more and more each year covering gun-related goings-on in the world, and as a result I’ve needed to figure out how to best carry the gear I need to get the job done. For the last year I’ve been using Optics Planet’s OPMOD PAC, and while it worked great for a while, it just didn’t have the capacity I needed to carry all of my day-to-day gear. Then I saw 5.11’s Rush Delivery Messenger Bag, and it looked like a home run in terms of organizing and carrying all of the things I need . . .
On the outside, the bag has all the trappings of the modern military chic look. There’s enough Velcro straps to slather on all of your morale patches, and they double as MOLLE webbing if you feel the need for yet more pouches. The trend continues around to the side, but the back is Velcro free. The bag also comes in your choice of four militaristic colors: grey, black, OD green and tan.
The front of the bag also sports two small zippered pockets, which are the perfect size for a set of earbuds or some small electronic devices. There are two Velcro strips that keep the front flap in place when down, but there’s also a pair of buckles that will hold it down more securely if you need. Along the top of the flap there’s a line of MOLLE straps that are quadruple stitched into the bag, and the center has a handle for easy carrying.
Open the front flap and you’ve got instant access to a rather well thought out array of pockets. There’s two long pockets on either side, a slot that’s the perfect size for a flashlight, a couple pen holders and a card holder pocket for business cards. These are all things that you’ll need on a regular basis, so popping them on the front panel is a nice design feature. A little further up there’s an open pocket, another one that’s held closed by Velcro, and a further full-length pocket that is closed by a zipper. So no matter how you want to contain your important gubbins there’s a way.
For larger things, there’s yet more pockets on the inside.
On either side of the main compartment is a large, full-length pocket that is secured closed by a Velcro strap. One pocket is made of a thin material, and the other is padded and designed to hold a laptop. I use it to carry a level IIIA body armor panel, but whatever. Interior to those pockets are four smaller pockets, two on each large pocket, that can hold things like books and small tablets. I’ve got a Nexus 7 and Moleskine notebook nestled in the front small pockets in my bag and they fit just about perfectly. On the front side, interior to those smaller pockets are yet more pockets, but zippered this time and made of a mesh material, perfect for small objects like quarters.
Yeah, this bag is basically the Inception of pockets. Or perhaps the Xzibit of bags.
Right. Moving on.
The back of the bag is mostly plain, but there’s a double sided zipper at the top that opens into a Velcro lined pocket, which would be a nice place to stash a gun if you can’t carry a holster (see RF, it’s gun related!).
The bag comes in three sizes, the Mike, the Lima and the X-Ray for Medium, Large and Xtra-large I assume. The version I ended up with is the Lima, which clocks in right around $100. And I hate to say it, but I feel like there are too many pockets. Especially on the front side of the bag, I feel like that first full-length inner pocket is completely redundant. Either have the full length pocket, or the two smaller pockets, but both of those sets plus the pockets on the front is just too much material wasted.
Specifications: 5.11 Rush Delivery Messenger Bag [LIMA]
Size: 11” H x 17” L x 4” D, 748 Cubic inches
Price: $99.99
Ratings (out of five stars):
Ease of Use * * * * *
It’s a bag. Everything is pretty self explanatory.
Utility * * * *
Saying it has too many pockets makes me feel like a crotchety old man, but that’s how I see it. Works great otherwise.
Overall * * * * *
If you’re looking for a “tactical” style messenger bag for your everyday use, this is the best you’re gonna get. Hazard 4 has something similar, and the Tactical Tailor also has an offering, but none so aesthetically pleasing, spacious and inexpensive.
Time to give our RINO First Selectman some grief.
27.3% of guns sold in Texas and 22.6% of all guns sold in the USA are used in a crime? NO WAY!
We had similar training at my work (big DOD contractor that doesn’t allow firearms at work).
I told them it was stupid, and they should just rescind the no weapons policy so we could throw lead, not a freakin stapler.
I’m starting to think that everytime Moonbeam makes a lucid statement there is a doctor somewhere who makes a note to up the dosage.
It does look eerily similar to other instances of men lining up after having their liberty….and sovereignty, taken from them…
http://collections.yadvashem.org/photosarchive/en-us/97836_37831.html
And I do not understand why you, Foghorn, the gun writer, didn’t photograph it with a gun inside… Seriously, are you all right?
Hello from behind the lines here in NY state. If you want a glimpse into what those of us here in NY are doing, fee free to visit NYFirearms.com. Many of us that are are committed to fighting for our rights here in NY donated time and money to the recall elections in CO to try to stop the plague from spreading nationwide. Face it, once states like NY, CA, MA and CO fall, it will only take a few more before new Federal laws succeed where they have heretofore failed. Join us in defeating the gun-grabbers while this virus is still contained to a few “progressive” states.
You can donate to the NYSRPA (http://www.nysrpa.org) or SCOPE (http://www.scopeny.org). I belong to both and they are good organizations. You can help too by keeping your free states free. Fight the socialists anywhere they rear their ugly heads !
The showers are over this direction,take yor clothes off so we can wash them and……
After having suggested people move in another thread, I’m embaressed to read what you brave souls have written. Bravo! Let me wish you well as you stand up for your rights.
Thanks Tom.
Do not listen to Nick Leghorn, unless you want to die in a home invasion. Dumbest advice ever. AK-47 trumps handgun every time. Even a 9 year old CoD video game player knows this. Not to mention every veteran of any modern war. You meet force with as much force as you can bring into action. A short 12G is good. A regular 16″ barreled semi-auto center fire is a close second. An SBR 12″ or so rifle is the best choice in close quarters. A pistol is one step above baseball bat.
DA! You say “commie gun”; I say “the People’s Gun”!
I’m getting big S.T.A.L.K.E.R. vibes from this video.
I bought one of these guns in 243 last year off of gun broker for around 600 bucks, it was new in box, s/n and test target indicated it was manufactured in mid 2007. the finish is excellant , walnut stock is some of the best looking wood I’ve seen on a production rifle in a long time.can’t decide whether to make it a shooter or leave it unfired, but after reading the positive reviews, I guess I’ll have to see if it shoots as good as it looks.
It’s only Ct., it’s only NY, it’s only Ma……. sounds familiar, the same was said when Hitler started outlawing this and then that guns then people who he hated until no one left to fight back and nothing to fight with, and now we are going to let it happen here….. have we learned nothing!!!!!
Where is that fine line between a man purse and a “messenger bag”?
: )
If you’re hung up about “masculinity”. The hang-up is yours and yours alone.
OK. Let me get this straight.
I found out yesterday from my new veterinarian (I moved) that HIPAA actually prevents them from calling my old veterinarian and getting my dog’s records sent over.
Yet, because the president thinks “executive order” means “rewrite the laws so that they say what I want” my mental health professional can tag me as unable to own a firearm on a whim.
Remember, the AMA already has health professionals trying to ID gun owners with questionnaires. I know for a fact that our former pediatrician asked my son if we had guns in the house when I was out of the exam room. (Hence, the “former.”) Seems, I left that question blank for some reason…
The various puzzle pieces are coming together. I expect another “executive order” at some point exempting doctors from HIPAA when reporting which of their patients already own guns.
I mean..really…some of those newly outed mentally ill guys might *already* own guns…or maybe their relatives do! Think of the children!