Brian_T
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 7, 1999
- Messages
- 1,766
The UPS man brought me this today:
It's the Camelbak Talon
From the Camelbak website:
The Talon has PALS webbing covering the smaller pocket and both side pockets so you can attach any number of pouches with Malice clips. This offers the bag incredible flexibility to suit various carry "requirements."
a shot from the strap-side:
You can see it has both routing straps for the drinking tube and plastic D-rings on each strap for...um...grenades? It was designed, afterall, as an assault pack.
I've been using the L.L. Bean Rucksack as my woodsbummin' pack, my diaper bag, and my carry-on luggage for months and it's done an admirable job but I have to keep up with the Joneses and all the Maxpedition gear that shows up on Sundays.
One of the features that attracted me to this particular design was the ability to carry odd-sized items BETWEEN the main pocket and the small back pocket. I've had a devil of a time finding a pack that could carry my Swedish Army Trangia in a dedicated pocket. This interesting carry method should allow me to carry food and condiments in the small pocket, the Trangia in between the pockets, and other gear in the main pocket:
The L.L. Bean Rucksack would hold a 32oz. Nalgene in each of the side pockets and had a little room left over for things like zip ties or plastic bags. The Talon has longer pockets that should hold more gear. Nalgene bottles are no longer a priority as the pack comes with the 100oz. (3L) bladder.
Inside the main pocket is a zippered mesh pocket for small items. This is where I'll put things like my wallet, car keys, that annoying cell phone...also notice that the entire interior is LINED. Plush!
The heavy-duty pull strap on the top should withstand quite a bit of abuse from both lifting the pack and hanging it on tree limbs or from the odd coat hook in the house. I suspect even fully loaded this strap won't notice the load.
The side-by-side pics with my L.L. Bean pack really put things into perspective. The Talon cost roughly 4 times what the L.L. Bean pack cost but the Talon uses better materials, better construction, more features, better shoulder straps, and lots of little design elements (like the drain grommets at the bottom of both pockets) that I didn't know I was missing. As long as you want a Talon in OD you can choose any color you want.
The L.L. Bean pack did an admirable job for those Sunday outings with the Woodsbums but it was lacking in certain areas and needed someone with a sewing machine (and some skills) to make it better. The Talon has most of those features plus the flexibility extensive PALS webbing offers to make it more suitable to individual users.
Am I happy with it? Absolutely. I'm over the moon now that the pack has arrived. I can't wait to get it loaded up for Sunday's outing. I'm going to need some time to really get to know all the features of this bag.
While writing this review I noticed the webbing loops on the underside of the bag. I could either hang a bivy bag/ground pad/sleeping bag from those loops or, if I wanted more storage, a buttpack should fasten easily with Malice clips or zip ties.
Who knows what else I'll discover between now and the end of Sunday?
It's the Camelbak Talon
From the Camelbak website:
My first impression--it's not as small as I thought. That's a Bark River Mini Canadian in the picture for scale.
The Talon has PALS webbing covering the smaller pocket and both side pockets so you can attach any number of pouches with Malice clips. This offers the bag incredible flexibility to suit various carry "requirements."
a shot from the strap-side:
You can see it has both routing straps for the drinking tube and plastic D-rings on each strap for...um...grenades? It was designed, afterall, as an assault pack.
I've been using the L.L. Bean Rucksack as my woodsbummin' pack, my diaper bag, and my carry-on luggage for months and it's done an admirable job but I have to keep up with the Joneses and all the Maxpedition gear that shows up on Sundays.
One of the features that attracted me to this particular design was the ability to carry odd-sized items BETWEEN the main pocket and the small back pocket. I've had a devil of a time finding a pack that could carry my Swedish Army Trangia in a dedicated pocket. This interesting carry method should allow me to carry food and condiments in the small pocket, the Trangia in between the pockets, and other gear in the main pocket:
The L.L. Bean Rucksack would hold a 32oz. Nalgene in each of the side pockets and had a little room left over for things like zip ties or plastic bags. The Talon has longer pockets that should hold more gear. Nalgene bottles are no longer a priority as the pack comes with the 100oz. (3L) bladder.
Inside the main pocket is a zippered mesh pocket for small items. This is where I'll put things like my wallet, car keys, that annoying cell phone...also notice that the entire interior is LINED. Plush!
The heavy-duty pull strap on the top should withstand quite a bit of abuse from both lifting the pack and hanging it on tree limbs or from the odd coat hook in the house. I suspect even fully loaded this strap won't notice the load.
The side-by-side pics with my L.L. Bean pack really put things into perspective. The Talon cost roughly 4 times what the L.L. Bean pack cost but the Talon uses better materials, better construction, more features, better shoulder straps, and lots of little design elements (like the drain grommets at the bottom of both pockets) that I didn't know I was missing. As long as you want a Talon in OD you can choose any color you want.
The L.L. Bean pack did an admirable job for those Sunday outings with the Woodsbums but it was lacking in certain areas and needed someone with a sewing machine (and some skills) to make it better. The Talon has most of those features plus the flexibility extensive PALS webbing offers to make it more suitable to individual users.
Am I happy with it? Absolutely. I'm over the moon now that the pack has arrived. I can't wait to get it loaded up for Sunday's outing. I'm going to need some time to really get to know all the features of this bag.
While writing this review I noticed the webbing loops on the underside of the bag. I could either hang a bivy bag/ground pad/sleeping bag from those loops or, if I wanted more storage, a buttpack should fasten easily with Malice clips or zip ties.
Who knows what else I'll discover between now and the end of Sunday?
