Review: Hill People Gear - Runner Bag

So, once in a while, I manage to make one of my "wish-lusts" come true. Such was the case with the Hill People Gear Runner pack.


I got in touch with Evan Hill, of Hill People Gear, because after my Wish-Lust review, I saw that they had a single photo of a bag in khaki, my preferred colour, where as the rest of their range seemed to be "coyote", "foliage", "Ranger Green" and MultiCam. Evan let me know that the khaki one was a prototype, and that apparently khaki gets a bum-rap at the moment, but that he would cut me a deal. A deal I jumped at, and a couple of weeks later.... my very own Runner Pack arrived in the mail!


I've been wanting to give it a thorough try-out, but have been struck with a nasty respiratory infection of late, and combined with my previously damaged ankle, has not given me much incentive to go running. What to do? I took it to Comic Con Oz, of course!

Without wanting to re-hash the content of my previous post about what its made of (500d Cordura) or how its all put together (well) I thought I'd just run you through my load-out, and how it handled.


Firstly, it was really comfortable to wear! I swapped out of my EDC holster harness some bare essentials: my wallet, my iPhone, my keys, and threw in a couple of extras, like my birthday Tactical Pen and my favourite personal grooming tool Because one never knows, Stan Lee might have wanted to look good for our signing and photo-op!


This left a little room for Tactical Baby snacks, and maps, tickets for the event, whilst not bulking up too much on my chest. I was curious to see if there was that feeling of compression that chest-rigs can give when laden, but I found no such dramas. 


With some quick on the spot adjustments I was able to go from riding high and tight, to dropping it to mid-thorax which gave really different access and feel to wearing the rig. OK for walking, but running I'd still wear it up high. One thing to note, I felt quite conspicuous wearing it. It really does look like a chest-rig of some kind. If I were adventuring, hiking, or running, I'd not have given it a second thought, but I couldn't help but feel slightly "half-dressed" in the cos-play crowd. Later that afternoon, I wore it slung sideways (pouch under my left arm), which looked a lot less "chest-rig" and a lot more "man-bag". Again, no real issue, and it felt great, but something to be aware of in polite company perhaps.

As I've said though, it wears like a dream. The mesh-back is soft, and breathes wonderfully. The padded back of the pouch was both soft and breathable as well. The zipper-pulls worked perfectly, although I think I need to practice the "quick-draw" of the back compartment, if I want to be able to get my comb out in a hurry... The front pockets held my wallet and phone snug and easily accessible, yet securely. The back compartment -almost- fits my iPad. I think i could probably jam it in there and man-handle the zippers closed, but not without risking popping stitches. A pity, but I doubt that Evan was thinking of how to carry his iPad around when he designed the pouch, he strikes me as more a M1911 kind of guy ... The shock-cord retention strap is brilliant, really held the bottom of the pack stable, without constricting my chest at all. A real bonus.

The only gripe I had at all was the edges of the very clever double sided Quick Clip the stabiliser shock-cord was mounted to the pack with (pictured here) were quite sharp, and jabbed me all day. A quick lick of a lighter to heat the thermo-plastic and a thumb pressed to the edges rounded off these offending edges to protect my delicate flower-like body. The Fastex clips, large and small were perfectly placed for ease of use and wear.

This is a really versatile pack, and I can see myself getting a lot of use out of it when I get ready for next years Tough Mudder, or when I go adventuring, either on its current harness, or taking advantage of the forward-thinking modularity that Hill People Gear built in, and mounting it via those GrimLock clips, as there are loops top and bottom of the pack to accomodate those.

I'm really pleased with this addition to my collection, and look forwards to going running or rollerblading with my man-bag, now in khaki!

Wish Lust: Pouch - Hill People Gear - Kit Bag

I wanted to spread the word about a really cool product I saw online recently, (with thanks to Soldier Systems for the original link), that I haven't managed to put my hands on yet, but would dearly love to. I've yanked some pictures from their site, so you can see how cool these things are. These are the Kit Bags by Hill People Gear. Essentially what they offer is front-packs for runners and back-country trekers who want to have some needfuls high and tight on their fronts, and off their hips and backs. This is a brilliant idea, and I was really impressed. In their front-pack line, Hill People Gear offer three options in design; the Kit Bag, their biggest pouch, shown here in "coyote", the Runner Kit Bag, which is a slimmer version of the Kit Bag, for those running-about types who don't want a load of gear on them, and their Recon Kit Bag, which is essentially the Runner Kit Bag with 8 channels and 3 rows of PALS/MOLLE grid sewn to the front.


The packs are made of 500D Cordura for a tough but light finish, with hefty zippers with plastic nubbed pulls for ease of opening. The packs come with webbing straps and hefty furniture and Fastex buckles that connect at the back as a mesh backed H harness with a Grimlock based docking system that they say will connect with most packs as well as giving a natural hang without those uncomfortable twists than can sometimes occur when mounting different systems together. The Kit Bag measures 11.5 x 7 x 2", and the Runner/Recon version is 1" deep.
 
All versions feature two sets of pockets, with the Kit Bag having 2 slot pockets and 2 matching dummy cord loops in each, and the Runner/Recon just featuring these in the front compartment. Both designs are set up to carry concealed pistols in the inner compartment, which whilst is a cool idea, isn't a selling pint for me in particular. However, I can see the value in it for a lot of people in unpleasant countries. The bottom of the pouches feature attachment points for stabilising loops which they also stock, but are extras, as well as spare "lifters" for ease of attachment your pouch to different packs. They are offered in "coyote", "foliage", "Ranger Green" and MultiCam. They have one stock photo of a pack in "khaki" which is my preferred colour, but I've asked them what they can do for me ...


All in all, the functionality, ruggedness and modularity were big selling points to me, and I would really love to get my paws on one, maybe run it through the Tough Mudder challenge... otherwise, its certainly on my Wish-Lust-list!