Post by thcone on Oct 15, 2013 6:14:47 GMT -8
I've been EDCing a MAXp Jumbo for years. I like the small "messenger bag" style and form. It's been a great bag, but I have really pushed it in terms of weight and this has caused comfort issues when carried for long periods of time and/or distance. On a planned day hike, I'll always opt for a two strap bag, but for day to day, I really like the simplicity and small footprint of a single strap bag when it is riding on the passenger seat
So, in an effort to get more comfort, I picked up a foliage Vanquest Javelin from J.S. Burley"s. Will the Javelin to better my Jumbo in terms of comfort? Only time will tell.
These are just my initial impressions based on loading all the same gear that I had in the Jumbo into this bag and two back-to-back "walks" totaling about 12 miles (4/. BTW, the contents of the Jumbo can be seen here. Total typical weight of the Jumbo is between 12 and 14 pounds depending on the day. Clearly, given the size difference, I had no problem getting it all to fit. I really like the adjustable dividers. The only items I left out during the transfer of equipment were the CRKT spork and my so called survival key chain. Between the tongs on the spork and the mini pry bar's chisel tip, I just wasn't comfortable with risking the lighter weight orange ripstop to abrasion. Otherwise, the orange interior is quite nice and really brightens up the inside of the bag.
I'm not sure I like all the "organization". I mean, there are way too many narrow slots it seems. To be fair to our friends at Vanquest, I have the same opinion about my 5.11 Rush 72. I guess you could say that I like some admin in a bag, but am quickly overwhelmed. My wife/editor thinks I should remind you guys of the Princess and the Pea fairy tail now... hey, wait, did she just call me a princess? That's probably accurate.
Mrs. Cone- "Oh, it accurate all right."
As you can see in the picture, there is room to spare. I'm pretty sure I could cram two field striped MREs into that space. I wonder how these bags get overloaded?
I also would prefer the larger outside pocket to be fully clam shelled with the hinge on the "bottom" while the bag is swung out front. Perhaps with pleats on either side to prevent items from falling out when the pocket is opened. The way it is now, it is hard to get into the lower left corner when the bag is on your chest. I think this is exacerbated when the main compartment is approaching it's full capacity. Here is a shot of that.
Now it didn't seem to affect comfort, but the bag hangs away from the back on the side of the bag where the second strap would be. Here is a shot of that. This effect is exaggerated by the fact that my model is taking the slack out of the strap by gathering it up in his hands instead of properly adjusting it for his size. Good thing I wasn't paying him! Any shots of me that he took in a similar pose didn't come out so good, so I had to use this one.
Here is another shot of the bag on our shanghaied model. Please ignore the fact that I dragged him out back early this morning while he was still in his PJs.
Here is how the bag looks on his appreciably larger father. Sorry, it is a little blurry. It seems son #1 is an even more reluctant photographer than he is a reluctant model. Kids!
You may be wondering how "foliage" the color is. Here is a comparison shot. The background is and ACU blouse and one of those Condor soft shells in Foliage.
The quality on my bag is very good. Not perfect, but very, very good. The stitching is 99% perfect on both bags and there are very few loose ends. The only real CQ issue I'm going to mention is very minor and not structural in nature. I'm basically nitpicking here. To be fair, I've seen far, far worse on better known brands. This would not prevent me from buying another Vanquest bag. With that said, the three velcro MOLLE strips on the Javelin sort of taper toward the center strip on the far left side. This is the one thing that my eye was immediately drawn to when the bag came out of the box. Again, a very minor thing, but still in all... Here is a picture of that.
If I could change anything on the Javelin, I'd add an external water pocket. I understand why it was left off the bag, the "unbalanced" load and the fact that it could fall out while the bag is slung to the front, but it is the one thing I really miss when compared to the Jumbo. I'm not water container luddite. I mean, I use bladders hiking, cycling, and kayaking, but for short walks and more urbane outings, I really prefer a Nalgene or KK bottle.
Speaking of bladders, the CCW system on the Javelin needs to be reworked IMHO. If you put the bladder right against you back, your sidearm would have to go in the main bag where it would be hard to access if there was a lot of other gear in there. If you run the bladder in the main compartment's large sleeve, not only do you risk a more catastrophic leak, it would preclude using the sleeve for electronics, and it puts the CCW in that outer pocket right against your spine. Those options are less than ideal. Now, how many people want to off-body carry a sidearm AND carry a water bladder? I don't suppose many, but those that do will have some hard choices to make when using the Javelin. You guys should know that my opinions on the CCW aspects of the bag are largely theoretical because I currently live in a state that doesn't allow that. So take all that with a grain of salt.
If I were king of the EDC world, I'd also decree that the adjustable dividers were a few inches taller so that items could not migrate to the bottom of the bag when it is vertical.
As for the comfort of the bag, is it better than the Jumbo with the same load? Yes, it is. Is it as comfortable as a two strap pack? No, it is not. No surprises there, really. As you may recall, my Jumbo was somewhere between 12 and 14 pounds with this basic load. There was no neck or lower back pain with the Javelin, which is where I normally feel the Jumbo, but I did experience left upper arm numbness. More so after the first hour.
I didn't use the cross strap and the bag pretty much stayed in the proper place. This is not the case with the Jumbo. It always wants to be at 6 o'clock, even when it is occasionally pulled up higher on the back for comfort, it will drift back down.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the Javelin. Will it replace my normal daypacks for hiking? No, but I can see it may just bump the Jumbo. For the role that the Jumbo plays in my life right now, the Javelin may just be better. We'll see.
Anyway, I plan on using the Javelin as my EDC bag for the next month or so, at a minimum. I really want to give it a fair shake and I won't know anything for certain until it has seen a lot more use. If I have any epiphanies, I'll be sure to let you folks know.
So, in an effort to get more comfort, I picked up a foliage Vanquest Javelin from J.S. Burley"s. Will the Javelin to better my Jumbo in terms of comfort? Only time will tell.
These are just my initial impressions based on loading all the same gear that I had in the Jumbo into this bag and two back-to-back "walks" totaling about 12 miles (4/. BTW, the contents of the Jumbo can be seen here. Total typical weight of the Jumbo is between 12 and 14 pounds depending on the day. Clearly, given the size difference, I had no problem getting it all to fit. I really like the adjustable dividers. The only items I left out during the transfer of equipment were the CRKT spork and my so called survival key chain. Between the tongs on the spork and the mini pry bar's chisel tip, I just wasn't comfortable with risking the lighter weight orange ripstop to abrasion. Otherwise, the orange interior is quite nice and really brightens up the inside of the bag.
I'm not sure I like all the "organization". I mean, there are way too many narrow slots it seems. To be fair to our friends at Vanquest, I have the same opinion about my 5.11 Rush 72. I guess you could say that I like some admin in a bag, but am quickly overwhelmed. My wife/editor thinks I should remind you guys of the Princess and the Pea fairy tail now... hey, wait, did she just call me a princess? That's probably accurate.
Mrs. Cone- "Oh, it accurate all right."
As you can see in the picture, there is room to spare. I'm pretty sure I could cram two field striped MREs into that space. I wonder how these bags get overloaded?
I also would prefer the larger outside pocket to be fully clam shelled with the hinge on the "bottom" while the bag is swung out front. Perhaps with pleats on either side to prevent items from falling out when the pocket is opened. The way it is now, it is hard to get into the lower left corner when the bag is on your chest. I think this is exacerbated when the main compartment is approaching it's full capacity. Here is a shot of that.
Now it didn't seem to affect comfort, but the bag hangs away from the back on the side of the bag where the second strap would be. Here is a shot of that. This effect is exaggerated by the fact that my model is taking the slack out of the strap by gathering it up in his hands instead of properly adjusting it for his size. Good thing I wasn't paying him! Any shots of me that he took in a similar pose didn't come out so good, so I had to use this one.
Here is another shot of the bag on our shanghaied model. Please ignore the fact that I dragged him out back early this morning while he was still in his PJs.
Here is how the bag looks on his appreciably larger father. Sorry, it is a little blurry. It seems son #1 is an even more reluctant photographer than he is a reluctant model. Kids!
You may be wondering how "foliage" the color is. Here is a comparison shot. The background is and ACU blouse and one of those Condor soft shells in Foliage.
The quality on my bag is very good. Not perfect, but very, very good. The stitching is 99% perfect on both bags and there are very few loose ends. The only real CQ issue I'm going to mention is very minor and not structural in nature. I'm basically nitpicking here. To be fair, I've seen far, far worse on better known brands. This would not prevent me from buying another Vanquest bag. With that said, the three velcro MOLLE strips on the Javelin sort of taper toward the center strip on the far left side. This is the one thing that my eye was immediately drawn to when the bag came out of the box. Again, a very minor thing, but still in all... Here is a picture of that.
If I could change anything on the Javelin, I'd add an external water pocket. I understand why it was left off the bag, the "unbalanced" load and the fact that it could fall out while the bag is slung to the front, but it is the one thing I really miss when compared to the Jumbo. I'm not water container luddite. I mean, I use bladders hiking, cycling, and kayaking, but for short walks and more urbane outings, I really prefer a Nalgene or KK bottle.
Speaking of bladders, the CCW system on the Javelin needs to be reworked IMHO. If you put the bladder right against you back, your sidearm would have to go in the main bag where it would be hard to access if there was a lot of other gear in there. If you run the bladder in the main compartment's large sleeve, not only do you risk a more catastrophic leak, it would preclude using the sleeve for electronics, and it puts the CCW in that outer pocket right against your spine. Those options are less than ideal. Now, how many people want to off-body carry a sidearm AND carry a water bladder? I don't suppose many, but those that do will have some hard choices to make when using the Javelin. You guys should know that my opinions on the CCW aspects of the bag are largely theoretical because I currently live in a state that doesn't allow that. So take all that with a grain of salt.
If I were king of the EDC world, I'd also decree that the adjustable dividers were a few inches taller so that items could not migrate to the bottom of the bag when it is vertical.
As for the comfort of the bag, is it better than the Jumbo with the same load? Yes, it is. Is it as comfortable as a two strap pack? No, it is not. No surprises there, really. As you may recall, my Jumbo was somewhere between 12 and 14 pounds with this basic load. There was no neck or lower back pain with the Javelin, which is where I normally feel the Jumbo, but I did experience left upper arm numbness. More so after the first hour.
I didn't use the cross strap and the bag pretty much stayed in the proper place. This is not the case with the Jumbo. It always wants to be at 6 o'clock, even when it is occasionally pulled up higher on the back for comfort, it will drift back down.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with the Javelin. Will it replace my normal daypacks for hiking? No, but I can see it may just bump the Jumbo. For the role that the Jumbo plays in my life right now, the Javelin may just be better. We'll see.
Anyway, I plan on using the Javelin as my EDC bag for the next month or so, at a minimum. I really want to give it a fair shake and I won't know anything for certain until it has seen a lot more use. If I have any epiphanies, I'll be sure to let you folks know.