Molle Tactical Backpack 4-in-1 with Detachable Pouches

One pack for the swing, a bum bag for the crib room.

You get one bag allowance on the plane, and by the time you have packed for a two-week swing there is no room left for a day pack. So the day pack stays home, and every morning you are hauling a full-size bag into the crib room for a sandwich and a phone charger.

This one comes apart. The main pack carries the swing. Clip the waist pack off the front and it works on its own as a bum bag or over the shoulder for the day. The two side pouches come off the same way, so a first aid kit or a set of spare gloves can live somewhere you can actually reach.

The failure with gear like this is almost never the bag tearing. It is the bag you left at home because it would not fit — and then you do not have it, and you are improvising for a fortnight. Four bags that travel as one is the fix for that, not a stronger stitch.

What It Does

• Splits into four: a main pack, a waist pack off the front and two side pouches, each usable on its own.
• Takes MOLLE gear: genuine PALS webbing on the front panel and on both side pouches, so pouches you already own weave straight on.
• Carries a laptop: padded sleeve against the back panel, stated by the supplier to take up to a 15.6 inch laptop.
• Spreads the load: padded shoulder straps with an adjustable sternum strap and a webbing waist belt.
• Sheds a shower: the Oxford weave carries a water-repellent finish, so light rain beads off rather than soaking straight in.
• Lashes kit outside: compression straps and side-release buckles down both sides and across the bottom for a mat or a jacket.

Key Features

• Four-piece set: one backpack, one combination waist pack and two side pouches, all detachable.
• PALS front panel: four stitched webbing rows in two blocks, with more webbing on the waist pack and both side pouches.
• Main compartment: twin zip sliders, opens wide, padded laptop sleeve against the back.
• Secondary compartment: a separate zipped front section with a flat sleeve and a mesh pocket for a tablet and cables.
• Waist pack: its own carry handle, several zipped pockets and a PALS panel across the face.
• Side pouches: zip closure, deep enough for a flask, keys and a phone.
• Padded back panel: channelled foam with a webbing-reinforced grab handle across the top.
• Three colourways: dark green, black and khaki.

Limits

The capacity figure is the supplier's, and it cannot be checked.

The supplier's own artwork prints "Upgrade Capacity: 55L-70L" and then publishes no dimensions at all — no height, no width, no depth, on any panel. There is nothing to do the sum against, so we are not going to repeat that number as though somebody measured it. Sellers of a pack built exactly this way, with the same clip-on waist pack and the same two side pouches, publish 50 litres and 60 litres for the same thing. Take 55 to 70 litres as the factory's marketing figure, and judge the size off the photographs instead.

It is water repellent, not waterproof.

The artwork says "Waterproof Oxford fabric" and shows water beading on the weave. Beading is a coating doing its job for a few minutes; it is not a rating. No taped seams, no sealed zips, no storm flap, no IP rating and no hydrostatic head figure are shown or published anywhere on this pack. It will handle a shower and a dusty haul road. In sustained rain the water gets in at the zip lines. Line it with a dry bag if the contents matter.

No denier is published, so we are not printing one.

The copy that used to sit on this page said 800D. The supplier's own spec panel states no denier at all — it says "Oxford fabric" and stops — and other sellers of the same build state 600D. Three different answers and no source panel means the honest position is that the yarn weight is unknown. "Heavy duty" is a word, not a number.

Nothing here is rated or certified.

No standard is printed on this pack and no certificate was sighted. There is no rated carry weight, no load rating and no fall-arrest attachment. The D-rings and the webbing are for hanging kit off, not for taking a person's weight and not for restraining a load on a vehicle.

There is no frame in it.

No internal frame, no stay, and the hip belt is flat webbing rather than a padded load-bearing harness. Loaded heavy, the weight sits on your shoulders rather than transferring to your hips. It is built for hauling kit to a job and splitting up when you get there, not for walking day after day under a big load.

Q & A

Do the small bags actually come off, or are they sewn on?

They come off. The waist pack clips to the front on side-release buckles and the two side pouches strap on the same way. Off the pack, the waist pack works as a bum bag or over the shoulder, and the side pouches thread onto a belt or onto any PALS webbing you already run.

Will the MOLLE pouches I already own fit it?

Yes. The front panel and both side pouches carry a real PALS grid — horizontal webbing rows stitched down into channels, which is exactly what a MOLLE strap weaves through. Worth knowing before you order: the front field is split into two blocks with a bare panel between them, so the usable attachment area is smaller than the photographs make it look.

How big is it, really?

We cannot give you a figure we can stand behind, because the supplier publishes no dimensions and no weight. What the photographs do show is a pack that swallows a 15.6 inch laptop, a rolled towel, a change of clothes and a flask with room left over. If exact volume is the deciding factor for you, go by the pictures rather than the litre figure on the artwork.

Can I take it out in the rain?

A shower, yes — the Oxford weave has a water-repellent finish and rain beads off it. Sustained rain is a different thing. There are no taped seams and no sealed zips, so water works in along the zip lines eventually. A dry bag or a liner inside is the cheap fix and it is what we would do.

Does it take a hydration bladder?

Not specified by supplier. The padded sleeve against the back panel is described as a laptop compartment, and no hose port is shown anywhere on the pack, so plan on a bottle in one of the side pouches instead.

How long will it take to get here?

Ten to fourteen days from the day you order, and allow up to three weeks. Regional and remote addresses run longer again. Delivery is free to Australia and New Zealand.

Specs