After seeing a few reviews online I decided that I wanted to try out
one of the Sneaky Bags.
After having tried a similar product in the Hawkepack MA54,
I have been a bit wary of these designs, and definitely wanted to stick
with the Sneaky Mini.
My one concern was that by the time I was ready to order, One Source
Tactical (the prior retailer of these bags) had discontinued the most basic model, the MSB-DP, and was only selling
the version with a third front pocket, the MSB-DP-MP, with "MP" meaning
"Medical Pouch". I was concerned that this third pouch would start to
grow the bag to a size that wasn't manageable for me. I was wrong.
The
man behind the scenes at One Source saw some of my concerns on a
couple of forums, and contacted me and offered up a T&E of one of
the 3-pouch bags. As it turns out, the 2-pouch version had been
discontinued due to slow, or nonexistent, sales. The bag arrived a few
days later and I unpacked it, tried it on, loaded it up a bit, etc.
First Impressions (090102)
As reported on the Sneaky Bags website, the bag is 10" High x 8.5" Wide x 2.5" Thick. Total weight, with magazine insert (see below) is 1lb 9 oz., or just over 1.5 lbs. I
was sent a bag in a very nice non-tactical gray color that would still
serve as a subdued color if needed. The bag came with a 2" shoulder
strap, a 1.5" waist strap and an insert that fits into the largest
pouch of the bag and is secured with Velcro that will hold up to 4 AR
magazines. The large flap on the front of the bag is held shut with a
plastic 1" buckle and conceals all that is inside it, and the end
panels come with 3 rows by two columns of PALS webbing for attachment
of MOLLE pouches, and 2" D-rings at the top on each side as carry strap
attachment points. The center pouch has a bungee-cord around the top
to secure it closed in the event that you choose to use it as a dump
pouch. The outermost "medical pouch" has it's own flap that is secured
shut with Velcro, and with additional Velcro panels that can hold the
flap open. The interior has two closely space, one right next to the
other, elastic straps 1" wide each. These straps can be used to secure
pistol magazines or other gear. The back panel of the bag has two
D-rings for strap attachment. There is also an admin pocket that is
held shut with a Velcro tab and which secures a carry handle that can
be tucked out of the way inside the admin pouch and secured with the Velcro tab. Finally there is a leg strap secured to a second set of
D-rings at the lower back to keep the pouch from swinging freely when
on your body.
Sneaky Bags sells a "Deluxe Shoulder Strap"
for $27, but this part was not included with my bag. Further testing
in the "dry run" phase (see below) leads me to believe that this strap
would solve almost all of my strap issues, and could presumably be
substituted for the two straps plus sheath that com with the bag as a
no-cost alternative.
My initial impression is that the bag is
well constructed, and that it is thick where it needs to be and thin
where it doesn't. This is a good thing as it means that weight is
saved, and weight was a big issue with the Hawkepak that I tried
previously. The webbing was stitched securely, the edges were taped, as
were the interior seams (a very nice touch that will prevent fraying).
There is a well-dressed drain hole grommet in the bottom of the main
pouch but the dump pouch and med pouch do not have drain holes. I
would like to see a Velcro patch on the flap for attaching patches etc.
as I think patches could help to mask the contents of the bag.
Strap sheath unwrapped and removed from the bag
Front Flap closed
Front Flap open
Med Pouch Flap open
Med Pouch interior
Dump Pouch interior
Main Pouch Interior
Main Pouch interior with Mag Shingle installed
Admin Pouch open
Carry Strap deployed
Side Panel showing MOLLE and shoulder strap D-ring (left) and leg strap D-ring (right)
Dry Run (090102)
The waist strap and shoulder strap were
attached to the bag upon unpacking. The first was attached to the rear
D-rings and was 1.5" wide with a quick release buckle at one end. The
second was attached to the side D-rings and was 2" wide with no quick
release buckle but did include a padded sheath 15.5" long and secured
to itself, but not the strap, with Velcro. I removed the 1.5" waist
strap, preferring instead to use the leg strap. The one thing I
modified was to take the quick release buckle off of the 1.5" strap and
use it to attach the 2" strap at the front. I do not want something
effectively wrapped around my neck that I cannot quickly detach. The
one down side to the 2" strap was that without the quick release added
in the adjustment buckle landed right on my collarbone, and with it
installed the slider landed right on top of my trapezius from my
shoulder to my neck. The padded sheath will alleviate this to some
extent, but not enough. I added in the 1.5" strap between the buckle
and the bag, and this allowed me to adjust the strapping so that the
slider wound up below my collarbone, and the buckle was in the center
of my chest where I wanted it. An imperfect solution but one that
appears to work.
In terms of load, I can tell that 4 magazines
will be pushing the envelope for me in terms of tolerable weight on a
single shoulder. Add in more gear to the bag and it will quickly
exceed that threshold. I also will need to keep prior lessons learned
in mind and resist the temptation to overload the bag with gear. See
my "Evolution of a Chest Rig" article for more on this subject. My
Eagle M4FB Chest Rig weighs in at 4.5 lbs. loaded with three
magazines. At a 1.5 lbs unloaded weight, and at 1 lb each for GI mags
outfitted with Magpul Ranger Plates and loaded to 28 rounds, the Sneaky
Bag would be 5.5 lbs carrying four mags, and 3.5 lbs. carrying two. I
think that sticking with two rifle magazines will keep the weight down,
especially when considering that the Sneaky Bag rests on only one
shoulder compared to two for the chest rig.
I have, however,
already ordered a new MOLLE Leatherman pouch and am
hunting for a pouch to hold my Surefire G2 LED as well. Hopefully the
medical supplies that I have in mind for the front pouch won't be
excessively heavy. I think that if I can keep the whole bag, loaded
with all the gear I want it to carry, at under 5 lbs total weight I
will be happy. We will see how that changes from running a 3 hour
drills night as compared to a full 8-10 hour training day.
In terms of load distribution, having the rifle magazines on the
interior is 100% better than having them on the outside of the pouch
like the Hawkepak. These bags basically perform as subloads, and
having a subload that flops around the way the Hawkepak does is a
non-starter. Sometimes people say "well, it's a grab-and-go bag".
Great, then it better "go" just as well as it "grabs", and having an
eccentric load out there flopping around doesn't facilitate "go" at
all. The Sneaky Bag keeps the heaviest items closest to the leg/body,
exactly as it should be.
I would like to see the inclusion of the Deluxe Shoulder Strap in place
of the one with the sheath that the bag comes with. The curved Deluxe
is similar to the strap you see on a lot of messenger and laptop bags
and really helps to get the strap in the right place on the trapezius
for longer term and heavier load carriage. I would also like to see
the addition of two belt loops, even make them MOLLE loops, that are stitched in at the lower portion and snap shut at the upper portion.
These could be used to secure the bag to a pants or other belt in the
event that you have time to do so after donning the bag, or at a future
lull when the opportunity presents itself.
Pistol magazines in Med Pouch
Pistol magazines in Med Pouch with flap folded and secured
Front view of pistol magazines in Med Pouch with flap folded and secured. Note that the 10-round 1911 magazines are bottomed out in the pouch and still accessible from the top. Perfect size if I ever wanted to carry pistol magazines in this pouch.
Two rifle magazines in the Shingle in the Main Pouch
Four rifle magazines in the Shingle in the Main Pouch
First attempt at modifying the shoulder strap to add a quick release buckle
First attempt and where it sits when the bag is on my body
Location of sliding buckle after adding quick release to shoulder strap
Second strap modification to add a bit of length. This puts the quick release at the center of my chest, and the sliding adjustment buckle on the 2" strap below my collarbone.
