6 minute read
KIT & GEAR: 5.11 RUSH MOAB
5.11 RUSH MOAB REVISITED
FRENCHIE HADN’T INTENDED TO DO ANY MORE BAG REVIEWS, BUT THIS ONE HAS IT ALL; A BOY, A GIRL, A MOUNTAIN IN SOUTHERN SPAIN, FRUSTRATION, AN ANGRILY-WIELDED KNIFE, DISILLUSION AND FINALLY REDEMPTION. GIVEN ALL OF THAT, HOW COULD HE IGNORE THIS LOAD-CARRYING SAGA!
In the beginning was a bag, specifically a 5.11 Rush MOAB 6, which I bought to take on a three week holiday in the south of Spain. That, at least, was my excuse and in fairness, the MOAB ticked a lot of boxes for me: it was well organised, big enough to dump things like cameras and water bottles in, had secure pockets and importantly it was a sling pack, which I favour for daily carry.
The MOAB is a well-specced bag with lots to like, especially when combined with 5.11’s build quality and design. It is, in short, a really good bag. I’m not sure I would run it in-game, it’s not a natural ammo carrier and while it has the inevitable concealed handgun pouch, that is no substitute for a decent holster. But as an EDC it was fantastic - or it should have been…
TO THE MOUNTAINS!
The elephant in the room, where the MOAB was concerned, came to a head at around 2,500 metres up the Sierra Nevadas on a day trip. The shoulder strap is ambidextrous, easily swapped at the bottom of the bag to suit the way you want to wear it. The top of the strap, however, is fixed and moreover, 5.11 have made this part of it wide, heavily padded and added an additional pouch to boot. And that, in my experience, is a problem! It’s a problem because the top of the strap, where it runs over your shoulder, is very stiff and not very compliant - you have to accommodate the bag, because the bag will not accommodate you. Alternatively, you have to let the pack ride lower down your back than you might be comfortable with.
As my wife and I stood overlooking the grandeur of the mountains in the late afternoon Spanish sunshine, watching the sun and clouds perform an awe-inspiring lightshow, I’d had enough. Out came the penknife and in about five minutes flat I had hacked off the shoulder strap, opened up the MOLLE loop on the side of the bag and fashioned a simpler, over-the-shoulder strap for it. It was, as you might expect, less than optimal - the strap was a bit shorter than I like - and when we got back from Spain, the bag was punted into a dark corner not to be touched for several years.
It’s starring now because, firstly I found it while
looking for something else and secondly, I have the time and importantly, bits, to try and sort out what I see as a major problem with an otherwise great bag. I’ll apologise right now for my crap sewing - my mother made a point of teaching me the basics and it is very functional …but jeez! It ain’t pretty.
My first desire was to sort out a proper shoulder strap. I now had the chance to raid some older bits of kit for D-rings and buckles and was able to do what I simply couldn’t while I was on holiday. The two D-rings were stitched on just above the uppermost MOLLE loop and I made an adjustable strap with two heavy duty plastic clips at either end. And just like that, the biggest problem I have with this bag was fixed. I have sufficient length on the shoulder strap to wear it cross-body and I have easy access to all the pockets it has to offer. Result!
Further experimentation revealed that with just a little imagination I could also use the same strap and existing fixing points on the bag to use it as a sling pack as well. Double result! Sort of…
I wasn’t happy about the upper anchor for the sling strap so I liberated a D-ring from another bag and stitched it into the grab handle, which was both more aesthetically pleasing and secure. The lower anchor is simply a double loop of 5mm paracord through the edge of the MOLLE loops. I might put a shackle in there one of these days but for now it’s perfectly adequate. All of this might seem like a lot of faffing about, especially when, as you have probably worked out, I have quite a few bags kicking about the place.
The reason why it’s worth the effort is that the Rush 6 MOAB is actually a cracking bag, especially for everyday use. It’s solid, waterproof and is exceptionally well appointed internally. This makes finding a place, not just space, for everything, very easy. That, in turn, makes finding what you need at any point much easier. It’s basic stuff but it really is the difference between good kit and bad kit, and despite my dislike of the original strap, this is really good kit. Sometimes it’s the little touches like the rubberised pads on the back which help stop the pack from sliding about too much. The decent sized main compartment. The incredibly useful Velcro’d pocket which sits between the front and main compartments and which stays completely out of the way until you need that extra space. I generally cannot be bothered with compression straps, but for some reason they work for me here.
Everything is good quality; the zippers, the material, the stitching and (most of) the design. These generally retail at around £70 GBP / $75.00 USD and I cannot fault them at that price. It’s a bag that should serve you long and well, regardless of how much grief it gets thrown at it.
If 5.11 were to ask me how to improve it (I wish!) I would suggest they put two D-rings top and bottom and supply it with a clip-on strap. That way the user can choose how to sling the bag or whether to run it as a shoulder pack. My gut feeling is that it would make it a little cheaper but I honestly think it would be so much more functional, not to mention comfortable. Given the features of the pack, the loss of that questionable pouch currently on the shoulder strap really wouldn’t matter to many prospective buyers.
For me, it’s been a journey, but an ultimately rewarding one. It’s taken a while for my brain to think of ways to realise the vision I had of what the MOAB should be, for me, but now that I have it simply remains to finesse some of the work done to date. Consequently, this is right back in my daily rotation and seeing lots of use. Some of the stuff you see in the pictures is there for dog walking, because that’s what I spend a reasonable amount of time doing each day. The great thing is that the Rush MOAB 6 will go from that to an impromptu shopping trip and then off to a cafe without breaking sweat.
It is a good bag which I think should be a great bag and I love it! AA
