5.11 Large Kit Bag

Details

Written by JT McAvoy

When you mention a new tool bag to your teammates the tendency is to give kind of a humdrum response.  Even when you mention that is the new 5.11 Large Kit Bag the response is “oh really that is nice”.  Unfortunately popular opinion is a bag is a bag is a bag especially when it comes to a tool bag.  For the most part I have to agree with this opinion.  Most bags are the same, rectangle a few pockets and a main compartment not something special at all.  There are very few bags that seem to break this stereotype.  

The new 5.11 Kit Bag, however is one that does break this mold.  My first impression of the bag was the typical sarcastic “wow a tool bag”.  I was thinking what a boring day I was going to have.  I could not have been more wrong.  While the words spectacular and special did not come to mind the more that I got into the bag the more the words useful, versatile, and rugged came to mind.  The bag really and truly reminded me more of a multipurpose bag than a tool bag. 

    With that thought in mind I decided to try it out in a few different ways and in a few different situations.  After a little trial and error in the organization I found out a few things.  First off the bag expands to a bigger size than you think it will.  This enables it to hold more of whatever you are going to put in there and also allows you some options that you may not have when loading out other bags.  I tried this bag as a “bug-out” bag first and the goal was to load it out with supplies in which i could grab the bag and have everything I needed to survive/hide for at least 24hrs.  I was actually able to put enough things in there to make it a 72hr bag with minimal weight.

    The second thing that I found out was that the padded pockets inside and out made it perfect for electronic equipment.  It also provides more protection than you would think.  I found this out when I decided to place all of my still picture, video, chargers, solar panel and batteries in it.  I packed all of this for a field expedition in which all of this equipment had to come with me, had to be accessible, yet protected somewhat.  The bag was dropped multiple times with no harm to the equipment and little more than dirt on the bag.  The 5.11 bag was also thrown (unintentionally) off the top of a Land Rover.  My heart stopped as I watched it roll and tumble across the ground.  On inspection of my precious equipment everything was fine, the bag was dirty and looked a little rough but no major damage; a little brush off and I was good to go again.

    The third and final major thing that I found out about this 5.11 Kit Bag was when I decided to use it as a personal bag. The bag does not attract alot of attention; many times people did not even notice that I had it. Now by personal I mean one that I could carry everyday on my person with things that I may need.  Now what I need on a daily basis I would imagine differs greatly from what most people do.  You operators out there can appreciate that statement I am sure.  The bottom line is however that I was able to carry everything that I needed with room to spare.  It was easy to carry either by the handles or the over the shoulder strap (which is what I prefer).  It looks plain so it also did not attract alot of attention, which is very good (nobody needs to know what I am “packing”).  I was able to carry more ammo, weapons, and first aid supplies than anyone person should need to get into and out of a situation.

    In the end I only found 2 things about this bag that I did not like.  The first is on the fold out pocket that the bag sports on one side.  The pocket sizes are great but the webbing used to hold things in the pockets need to be made of material that is a little more heavy duty, or rugged.  While it has not happened yet I can foresee a situation in which some type of equipment tears it for a number of reasons.  Then when you open it your contents fall out and you have to pick them up and that just brings down your whole day.  The second thing is pretty simple the name.  I think that the name should be changed from a tool bag to a multipurpose bag (the name is 5.11 Large Kit Bag).  To call this a simple tool bag is not doing this justice.  This bag is a piece of equipment that while relatively simple in design and looks could prove in valuable in the right situation in the right hands.  

        Made of 1050D nylon, 5.11 Kit Bag is extremely tough.   The seams also appear to be double stitched so you do not have to stress to bad if you over load it, the bag can take it no problem.  The main compartment measuring, 6” W x 8” H x 13” L, is nice and roomy for whatever you may put in there in addition to being padded.  There are also two inside pockets.  On the outside there are two pockets with zippers and on one side the pockets fold out to reveal smaller ones.  They then fold neatly up into the main.  A simple design but genius when you are designing a bag like this.  Along these lines I would also take this time to make a suggestion to the manufacture 5.11.  While this is a great bag in my opinion there is one thing that I would like to see added to it.  That would be a second fold out pocket; one on each side would be awesome.  It would do nothing but increase the versatility of the bag and this I feel sure would invite more people to buy it.  However the way the bag stands right now I feel that it is a great purchase.  The quality that you get for the money is almost unbeatable.  The suburb 5.11 reputation and customer service that you get is second to none and is just the icing on the cake.  I would recommend this product not just to operators and fellow “team” members but anyone.  It is a great multipurpose bag that I promise if you buy it and use it just once that you will not be disappointed.  

    As always readers if you have any questions or want more in-depth analysis of the bag feel free to contact me at shootingresources.com and please stop by and check out all the quality products at www.511tactical.com.