PTI Mirror

Ikea Flaanje Triple Full-Length Portable Mirror

•                   Cost: ££££ (£120) GET IT HERE
• Value for Money: 4
• Ease of use: 5
• Construction: 4
• Alliness: 10000

  As a PTI I spend a lot of my time in front of troops trying my hardest to make them puke.  As such it is vital that I look my best.  You can’t inspire soldiers if your hair is out of whack or your foundation is smudged!  I needed a mirror that would let me view myself full-length and also from the sides.  Gotta be able to check the definition on those guns!  I was prepared to spend a few quid, especially as I get a bit of extra cash on the side shagging providing personal training to pads wives.

I immediately went to Ikea.  It’s my kind of place, lots of slick modern and above all shiny stuff.  I will admit, I find the names of the kit a bit hard, but I can’t read English without my lips moving anyway, LOL.  I also like Ikea cos I can have a cheeky portion of yummy meatballs as my cheat meal.

It took me a while to find my way to the mirror section, always been an issue for me but you can always pretend you’re taking the blokes out longer cos there “monging it” if you get lost on a PT class.  It’s not like anyone has anything better to do anyway.  When I got there, it took me a while to get out again.  I mean I’d been for my weekly haircut, facial and manicure & pedicure that morning so I was looking good!

I eventually found the Flaanje Triple Full-Length Portable Mirror.  I must admit after I’d worked out how to read the name it made me laugh cos it sounds rude, LOL.  This mirror is awesome!  The whole thing is on wheels so that I can position it to catch the best light for when I’m taking selfies to post on my Grindr account.  It’s also like totally adjustable at the sides to make sure that I can see my “Airbourn” tat properly.  I mean you’ve got to have a huge “Airbourn” tat haven’t you, even if you’re not a Para.  How will anyone know you can run fast with logs otherwise.  I would have given this a 5/5 but it doesn’t have any built in lights so sometimes it gives me dark circles under my eyes.  Time for more botox.

I took quite a while to put it together, it really helped that there was no words in the instructions just them funny cartoons.  I must admit I cheated, I got the fat lads on remedial PT to do it while I cleaned the full-length mirrors on the Gym wall ;).

To sum up I would say that this is a top mirror for a PTI.  You can get great angles for selfies and really flex those guns for definition!  You can get one here.

This Kit Pest Article was written by Smudge Smudginson. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

Escape!

Can You Get Away?

  I have travelled to some pretty “fun” places around the world over the years.  In a lot of these places I have been in danger of being kidnapped.  Yes, I have had specialist kidnap insurance so that a ransom payment could be made if necessary, and have had the appropriate security.  But but what if the worst happens and I wasn’t kidnapped for ransom?

  Quite frankly, I really didn’t fancy ending up on Al Jazeera in an orange jump suit.  So, I made sure that should the worst happen I had the means to get myself free.  With an increase in home invasions and terrorist hostage taking I feel there is mileage in ordinary people having a working knowledge of these techniques.  Certainly, Serving Military and Contractors should learn how to do this as a matter of course.  In fact, it wouldn’t do any harm for Police officers either, as it will show you how some of the scrotes you arrest could get free and cause you trouble.

  Before you read any further please be aware that the following information is given strictly for use in the situation you are unlawfully detained.  Do not use any of these techniques if you are lawfully detained by a legitimate authority.  It will not end well for you if you get picked up in the town on a Saturday night and hand a copper his cuffs back when you get out of the back of the Black Maria at the nick…..

  Where to start?

  Firstly, you are probably going to be restrained in some way.  Chances are that it will be by one of three most likely means.  Zip ties/plasticuffs duct tape or handcuffs.  These are all readily available and can be purchased almost completely anonymously, especially the zip ties and duct tape.  There are other restraint options, but I will deal with them later.  What we need to know is how to defeat each of these means of restraint.

  Without Tools:

  Zip ties are used an awful lot for restraints.  They were certainly used for prisoners when I was serving.  The good thing about these is they are really simple to defeat.  It all comes down to how they work.  You might have a big thick plastic zip tie around your wrists, but the part that matters is the “buckle”.  Think about how they work.  The loose end of the zip tie is pushed through the buckle where it is held in place by a stud which clicks into a slot on underside of the zip tie.  It is not the zip tie we need to defeat, just this stud.  There is a simple technique for doing this, it works both with your hands in front or behind your back.  Given that a picture paints a thousand words, see here for in front and here for behind your back.  It also works if you are secured by two zip ties.

  Here’s the next fun fact the techniques above will also work for duct tape!  This time instead of defeating a small plastic stud we are taking advantage of the way duct tape is made.  Duct tape is designed to be torn across its width so that you can remove the length you want from the roll simply by tearing it.  When it’s wrapped around your wrists that tear point is neatly placed right where it will take the most force when you use the technique.

  With Tools:

  “What if I have an injury that stops me from using that technique?” I hear you cry!  Don’t worry I’ve got you covered.  For this you are going to need a tool.  There are two options for this, some type of blade or a type of saw.  Let’s deal with the blade first.  We’re moving on to something a little more advanced here as it means we will need to conceal an item on our person somewhere.  But that’s another post altogether.  I have a great little tool that I carry on a paracord bracelet.  I regularly get onto planes with this and can safely say it’s never been noticed.  

  I have a short length of paracord on it to make it easier to use.  You can also use a good old fashioned razor blade, but they are trickier to use and risk injury to yourself.  Other small concealable blades are commercially available but tend to be more bulky and harder to conceal.

  Ok let’s move on to saws.  Two types we can use here manufactured and improvised.  First up manufactured.  There are a ton of commercially available saws for SERE use.  The better ones, to my mind, are constructed so that they can also be used as a handcuff shim.  When you are trying to minimise your carried kit to reduce the likelihood of discovery it makes sense.  This is a very simple item.  It’s straight and it’s serrated.  Don’t think you’re going to chop down trees or cut through cell bars, but you will be able to cut zip ties, duct tape and good old fashioned rope.

  Next we have the improvised saw and this is my personal go to as it is easier to use, with the caveat that you have your feet free.  The improvised saw we are going to use is a friction saw.  There are, again several commercial products available but they all use the same technique.  Where I can, I use paracord for my laces.  Paracord is great for making friction saws out of.  If you have your shoes taken away, which is a possibility, you can make a friction saw out of pretty much any type of cordage.  Simply tie a loop at each end, hang it over the tape or zip ties you want to cut, put your feet through the loops and use them to work the saw back and forwards.  Keep going until you are free!  A good old wire saw in the hood of your smock with loops made from a drawstring would be a good solution for a soldier.

  Handcuffs

  Now we are stepping up another level.  Before we start looking at how we open them, we need to know how they work so we can understand what weaknesses we are going to exploit.  Ok, the bit that goes around your wrists has a hinged arm with several slots in it.  When the handcuff is done up a stud on the inside of the cuff clicks into these slots.  This is so that the cuff can be sized for whoever is wearing them.  Obviously, the arm can only click in one direction.  The stud is connected to the key mechanism so that it can be withdrawn from the slots, by use of a key, to open the cuffs.  Roger so far?  

  Shimming

  The first technique we will look at is shimming.  We’re not going to concern ourselves with the lock at all at this point.  We are going to use a tool to exploit a design weakness in the handcuff.  The tool is called a shim.

  

  It is designed to slide into the gap where the arm enters the cuff and to disengage the stud from the slot.  This will let the cuff swing open.  You don’t need to use a specialist tool like the one pictured above, you can improvise one very easily.

  Picking

  To start with I am going to include a technique that isn’t picking.  Use a key!  We’re going to exploit another weakness here.  Handcuffs pretty much have one key type regardless of the brand.  The rationale behind this is twofold.  Firstly, Copper number 1 arrests a scrote, handcuffs him and chucks him a Black Maria.  Copper number 2, back at the nick, takes the scrote out of the Black Maria, takes the handcuffs off and slings him in a cell.  Each set of cuffs needs multiple users.  As such, one lock and one key makes sense across an entire organisation.  This is based on the premise that only those who are meant to have keys do...  Secondly, the more complicated the lock, the more expensive the cuffs.  Make it too complicated and you will price yourself out of the market.  

  You can get a universal handcuff key from an online retailer for a couple of quid.  They’re pretty small and easy to conceal.  If you chose to go down this route avoid plastic or polymer keys.  You can break them in the lock and that then stops you from using any other picking techniques to get free.  As an aside, if you are a police officer/prison officer or similar, you should be carrying a spare key hidden somewhere on your person.  Nothing more embarrassing being found locked up with your own handcuffs should a scrote get the upper hand.

  OK, on to picking.  First, let’s understand how the lock works so we can find a weakness to exploit.  There are two types of handcuff locks.  Single and double locked.  Single lock handcuffs simply allow the arm to be released when a key is turned.  Double lock cuffs have a secondary lock on them, usually engaged by use of a spike on the back of the key which stops the cuffs from being tightened.  This is so that should you get cuffed and decide to struggle or mess with them they can’t overtighten and cause you nerve damage or cut off/restrict blood flow.  Police/prison officers will have double lock cuffs.  A handcuff key is a very simple key for the reasons already explained.

  Quite simply when you turn the key in the lock it does one of two things.  Disengages the double lock or disengages the stud.  In order to pick the lock, we will need a tool.  Our tool can be one of two types.  We can either make something that is essentially an improvised key.  Or a straight tool which just pushes the lock release mechanisms.  The best materials for both of these tools are paperclips or hair grips.  Both are easy to conceal and might not be removed if found during a search as they are so innocuous.  As you know I love my simple illustrations…

  I’m out of my restraints, now what?

  

  Well that’s another post altogether...

  This Kit Pest Article was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

MWC Vietnam Watch

MWC OLIVE GREEN US MILITARY PATTERN VIETNAM WATCH (QUARTZ)

•               Cost: £££ (£38) GET IT HERE
• Value for Money: 3
• Ease of use: 5
• Construction: 4
•  Alliness:           4

As I'm a nerdy fan boy of G10 watches, I still wear one day to day, Alex at Gen Kit sent me over this watch he had bought to review.  This is a modernised replica of the US issue watch from the Vietnam War period.  The original watches were made from plastic as they were considered to be disposable.  MWC, who make the watch, decided to upgrade this by making it out of metal and giving it decent glass.

I received only the watch itself to review but, when purchased new it comes in a presentation tin which is apparently quite cool.  The watch itself is a little smaller than the issue G10 and doesn’t feel as weighty when you hold it.  That said it is about half the thickness of the G10 too.  The other difference is the colour of the watch itself.  The case is a slightly lighter than olive green with a matt finish.  Apparently, it also comes in black.

To my eye the dial on the MWC watch is clearer to read than the G10, despite being a little smaller.  This is probably more to do with the contrasting colour of the hands.  The glow is nice and bright, and is easy to read at night.  I found it to be brighter than the G10, although I would caveat that I have had mine for a good few years, and it wasn’t new when I got it, so the glow has probably faded.

The strap is quite different from the G10 one too.  The MWC strap is a single length, rounded off at both ends, and punched with 15 holes at the other.  This provides well for wearing it over the top of an NBC suit as is intended by the long strap on the G10.  

The other key difference is in the watch buckle.  On the MWC watch it is removable.  This means that you can actually adjust the length of the strap as worn on your wrist.  Unlike the G10 you won’t have to double it back on itself and tuck it in after you do the watch up.  Or, if you have girly wrists like me, punch an extra hole in the strap.  The MWC strap is softer than the G10 is new and is a slightly darker than coyote brown colour.

The buckle itself has a dark grey, matt finish.  It feels quite a bit slimmer than the G10 buckle.  I am unable to comment on its long-term robustness, but I am sure it will be fine.

This Kit Pest Review was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

How/Why GKE Exists Part 3

How/Why GKE Exists Part 3

I'd paid for some t-shirts to be printed with a simple 'G Bomb' logo on the front to spur the blokes to back the project. This was probably my best move as they loved them and pledged no end to make sure they got one. Thanks guys, you're the best. Back to the video. Bribed with a t-shirt each, I managed to get a cameraman and two on camera volunteers for comedic effect. The video was awkward and cringe-worthy, but it served it's purpose. To add some, honesty and personality to the project to let people know I wasn't a Ugandan Prince trying to give away my fortune. I think one of my mum's mates commented to her that although it wasn't a cinematic masterpiece it was honest and most importantly, existed, and I was happy with that. 

 Enter, Tom. Tom was a bloke in a different Battery at work who I knew had a business mind. He had owned a business before and was good with numbers, I'm shit at accounting and would never trust myself to do it and you'll be glad to hear a trusted accounting firm takes care of that for me now. So I thought he could help with that side of things and be a general asset to GKE. He was great and had some brilliant ideas for the direction of GKE and i'm glad he did otherwise it'd be in a very different place than it is today. Unfortunately Tom had to leave recently due to mounting work commitments which is a shame but that's one of the problems that come whilst still serving and founding a start-up.

Halfway through the Kickstarter campaign our Battery took part in a cycle charity Coast 2 Coast cycle. This was the second time i'd done the C2C even after expressing, 'never fucking again', after the first one with my good mate, Dan. That was fun and although it was a lick we all got a photo at the end wearing the 'G Bomb' tops which was sick. The Kickstarter was coming to a close and thanks to everyone that shared and talked about it managed to raise £1005. It was a mixture of family, friends and complete strangers who pledged varying amounts and i'll forever be grateful to those who did. Thanks again! (I hate using exclamation marks but I think if you don't use them it can look like you're trying to be sarcastic or a bit of a dick and I actually mean 'thank you' here so i'll use one.) Here's a link to all of the 52 backers. So that was the rollercoaster of emotions that went into funding the project and I had the start-up capital needed, coupled with personal contributions for the solicitors fees. The next part was to actually create Gen Kit Exchange.

- From left to right, Myself (half a face), Karl, Steph, Mark, Martin and Ash at Tynmouth, the end of one of the C2C routes.

By this time i'd amassed quite a bit of crowdfunding knowledge and it was time to replace that with Sharetribe, marketplace knowledge. I bought a tutorial on the ins and outs of it which was extremely useful and set to work creating what is now GKE. It wasn't exactly easy to create but Sharetribe has done a great job of making it as easy as possible for the average Joe and with a little perseverance I managed to get it all sorted in a couple of weeks. Whilst this was happening, Tom had sent a set of criteria over to a graphic designing firm to have a go at a GKE logo and that's the one you see today, that came back shortly after and was inserted neatly into the social media aspects and the actual site. Fuck. I haven't spoken about social media. 

 Social media is fucking 'UUGE' (Trump was elected whilst I was writing this), really huge and can be the make or break of any new brand. I know for a fact that I haven't even scratched the surface of social media knowledge but i'll keep going until I do. Get it wrong and you'll have to wipe the slate clean and even then, it might be too late. I set up a Facebook Page for the site a couple of days after the Kickstarter went live and invited everyone to give it a precious like. Instagram came soon after and coupled with Twitter it's formed quite nicely. There are loads of different social media tools that can be used, some great and some not so. My favourite is 'HootSuite', it allows you to post to multiple platforms from one dashboard and is another Godsend, I use it all the time and highly recommend it for anyone with multiple social media platforms they have to manage. I'm nowhere near a social media guru but it's an art from that can be researched until the cows come home and that's what I have done and continue to do so. I've found that a lot of this journey has been started with me having no clue about certain subjects and having to go and teach myself to become as near a subject matter expert as I can possibly get and to just not stop learning. If I can learn this sort of shit, then so can anyone.

  This Kit Pest Review was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

Agilite Tactical Advance Ammo Pouch

The Agilite tactical advanced ammo pouch.

Buy It here! 

•        Cost​             £35.99 

•        Value for money​4

•        Ease of use       5

•        Construction​      5

•Allyness             ​4

  This review will be of a Agilite tactical advanced ammunition pouch. The Agilite company is an Israeli equipment manufacturers based in Tel Aviv and has been providing kit to the Israeli Defense Force personnel including special forces. 

  The pouch itself comes in a few camouflage patterns such as ATACS FG and AU, OD green, coyote tan and of course multicam. For an ammunition pouch this is light years ahead.

  A commander with this on his beltkit can still carry three mags which are held securely as well as a small amount of command kit in a totally unique fold down panel built into the pouch. As well as this amazing feature, the pouch comes with a multi tool holder on a small side pouch attatched to the main body of the ammunition pouch. Furthermore there are elastic loops on the opposite side for glow sticks or even a maglite. 

  The pouch fits three Magpul emags and HK mags with ease. It also holds the 7.62mm emags well but slightly more snuggly. My only draw back with this pouch is the top part of the magazine pouch sits rather high and makes withdrawing the mags a little bit harder than other pouches. 

 

  My final observations is this pouch would be ideal for a junior NCO to mount on his battle belt. Whilst still carrying your ammunition you can carry a minimum of command kit in the laminated panel, so there's no need to search through a ton of crib cards for the most import ones such as a nine liner or frequency changes and grids. 

  The pouch itself is solid in construction with extremely compliant multicam cordura. It has also been designed by a company who knows what they are on about. As most of the Agilite staff have years of combat experience in The Israeli defense forces special operations world. 

 

  For more Israeli tactical gear visit www.agilitegear.com

This Kit Pest Review was written by Callum J Bickerton. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.

Fight Light

DISMOUNTED CLOSE COMBAT LOAD CARRIAGE

PROJECT PAYNE

FIGHT LIGHT 

AND WHAT IT MEANS TO THE AVERAGE SOLDIER

Written by Tom Cooper

  Fight light and Project Payne, are just the names for the plans that the Army have, to try and get you to carry less kit into battle. 

  During the Falklands war the Paras and the Marines tabbed/yomped across East Island carrying full kit.  This in my opinion started the British Army on its obsession of everything on your back just in case.  Also, we haven’t been in a conventional war since. 

Then comes the Iraq War (OP TELIC) and Afghanistan (OP HERRICK).  

  OP TELIC was the start of the I.E.D being used on a large scale.  From this body armour became thicker and heavier.  But, on OP TELIC we had fairly free movement, with vehicles that were able to carry some of our heavier bits of kit and extra ammo.  Then along comes OP HERRICK and we end up carrying what that carried in our wagons, on our back.  Plus, the I.E.D threat goes up, so does the amount of protection. 

  The Taliban used to call us the tortoises because of the amount of armour we wore and the speed we moved.  On top of that, the amount of carried ammo went up because we didn't have the speed and fluidity.  We would sit back a hit the enemy with everything we had. 

  In short, the average weight of a British soldier is around 72kgs and on average he was carrying 53kgs.  Which, you can guess, was shit for fighting! 

“The Soldier cannot be a fighter and pack animal at one and the same time, any more than a field piece can be a gun and a supply vehicle combined.  The idea is wrong at the start .  Yet is always being repeated “ 

                                                              Maj Gen JFC Fuller, to Brig Gen SLA Marshall (1948).

  Now we are back from Afghanistan we need to reasses of how we fight battles.  So the powers that be have done some thinking…

“When was the last time we had a fight with someone on par to us?”

  Well, it was WW2 of course.  So, they have looked at what we fought with in Normandy, and particularly what this Welsh bloke, Fusilier Tom Payne carried.

  As you can see it wasn't a lot, and he dropped most of that when he was bagging Nazis around Caen.  

  Look, here is one of his muckers doing a bit of “house to house“.

70 years later we are doing house to house like this 

  As you can see we now carry everything we need for a 24 OP on us, regardless of the type and length of the OP.

  So what can you do about it as an NCO or below ?

“ No soldier worth his salt is afraid of sleeping in the cold for two nights “

Brig Gen SLA Marshal

  The two heaviest things you carry are out of your control if you're lower than a Sgt, ammo and armour.  Back in the day when granddad was bagging Jerrys he carried 100 rounds, 2 Bren mags ( per day ), and his tin hat.  Now we carry 6 mags of 5.56 (180 rounds), a bandoleer of 150 rounds and another 150 rounds of link for the LMG. Not to mention body armour and helmet. 

  So, what can you do to reduce your weight in battle? 

  Well look at what you carry.  First, look at what you carry in your pockets.  Do you really need all that crap?  If it went all 'Bravo Two Zero' and you have to bin your belt kit will that stuff help? No? Mag to grid it! 

  Next webbing/belt kit.  This is what you fight in.  Think about what you need to fight add to that some water and emergency rations.  It grips me when I see any more than this in people's belt kit. Jet boils, T.A.Ms, Gore-tex jackets… get them out! 

  Next look at what you have in your daysack and think about what you need for 12-24 hours.  Small daysacks/jacksacks are becoming quite a thing now.  The good things about these is that they're about 20L so you can't over fill them.  There’s is a brilliant review of one here Linky. 

  All you need in your daysack is a Gore-Tex jacket, a piece of warm kit like the issue buffalo and a pair of socks.  Ultimately you need to say to yourself 'do I need to take a daysack at all?'  Remember the bigger it is the more crap you’re gonna put in it! 

  I’m not going to say what you should pack in your bergan just remember you’ll have to carry it at some point and maybe over some distance. 

  Okay, to summarise on my waffled ramblings… As a junior NCO or below you won't have much say over how much ammo or what scales of body armour you’ll be carrying, but you have got control of what personal kit you carry.  So try to minimise it. 

  If in doubt take it out!

  You're not gonna die if you haven’t eaten a full 24 hrs ration pack in one day or you haven't got hot brews on tap.

  For more reading look up 'Fight Light' or 'Project Payne' on the Army Knowledge eXchange accessible through the defence gateway.  Failing that ask about it over a few beers down the NAFI.

 Buying and selling kit look Here

 Talking about kit look Here 

 This article was brought to you by Coops and I hope you enjoyed it

Sea to Summit eVENT Compression Dry Sack

Sea to Summit eVENT Compression Dry Sack 

• Cost: ££££ (£35) GET IT HERE
• Value for Money: 4
• Ease of use: 5
• Construction: 4
• Alliness:         2

  As you may know from previous reviews I use a US Modular Sleeping System.  This is a bulky bit of a beast when you have it at its maximum level of insulation.  This in turn means that it can take up a good bit of room in a bergan.  So, I went looking for a means to reduce it down.

  Ever since the benefits of waterproofing my kit having been demonstrated to me by throwing my bergan in a lake during training I have, naturally, been a big fan of dry bags.  Back then all that was available was the ultra-thick, but utterly bombproof, ortleib bag.  Dry bags have come on a long way since then with lighter and lighter materials.  One issue that has stayed has always been how to get the air out and compress in down as small as possible.  Some dry bags have purge valves in them to let air out as you compress it.  However, I have found that they will always eventually let the air back in, and therefore eventually water.

  Having seen the above I was really interested in the Sea to Summit dry bag when I saw it.  It’s made from a 30D Ultra-Sil ® fabric.  What’s interesting about this fabric is its selectively permeable nature.  Basically, it lets the air out but won’t let anything in.  With a traditional dry bag you have to stuff your kit in as tight as you can, then try to squeeze as muck air out as possible and quickly roll it up closed before the air can get back in.  With the Sea to Summit dry bag you just shove the kit in, do it up and the air gets forced out as you compress it down using the compression straps that are part of the dry bag.  What you end up with is a much more evenly shaped and air-free bit of kit to stow away in your bergan.  For my US Sleeping System, it goes down to about 1/3 of its uncompressed size, which is a considerable reduction.

  In terms of its construction, the Dry bag itself has waterproof seams, that are double stitched and fully tape sealed.  A waterproof and air-permeable eVent® fabric base, a roll top Hypalon® closure that does not wick moisture.  Finally, it has Reinforced stitching on all stress points.  At first look it appears that it could be quite flimsy due to the lightness of the fabric, but this could not be further from the truth.  I have found it to be a totally reliable bit of kit.

  The dry bag comes in five sizes from extra-small through to extra-large.  The sizes roughly equate as follows:

• XL : 27 cm x 58 cm; 210g; 30 litre max; 10 litre min.
• L : 23 cm x 50 cm; 168g; 20 litre max; 6.7 litre min.
• M : 20 cm x 46 cm; 148g; 14 litre max; 4.5 litre min.
• S :18 cm x 40 cm; 129g; 10 litre max; 3.3 litre min.
• XS : 15 cm x 35 cm; 107g; 6 litre max; 2 litre min.

  They are dearer than a traditional dry bag, but to my mind the extra cost is worth it due to how much more you can compress your kit.  They only come in the one colour, grey, but as they are always going to be inside another bag that shouldn’t be an issue.  I am gradually swapping out all of my dry bags for these as I love the compression and how easy it is to do using the attached compression web.  You can get them here.

  Just to round off this review I’d like to chuck out one of my top tips for bergan/daysack packing.  Given that I have numerous bits of kit in various dry bags in my bergan/daysack I have cut a number of different shapes out of the plastic from an ice cream tub lid and zip tied them onto the buckles of the dry bags.  This way I can easily tell which is which visually or by touch in the dark.

This Kit Pest Review was written by Ben OToole. Hopefully you enjoyed it and if you have any thoughts or comments related to this article then leave a comment! 

 If you'd like to visit Cooper's Kit Corner, you can find it here.

 If you'd like to visit Gen Kit Exchange, you can find it here.