I always like to save the best for last, but when doing a review for people you have to do them as they come in. the problem is that the bag is so awesome that i'm scared the others might not seem as cool. As you guessed it, this bag is amazing! iv'e been hearing Reload bags rule for years and now I know why. The construction of the bag is flawless- no bad seams or crooked straps- you can tell thier seamsters take pride in what they do.

The bag has a lot of pockets- there are two big outside pockets and a side pocket that they say is for blue print tubes but works great for a ulock- (side note if you do carry a ulock in the side pocket watch out for things along side of you- for example, if you're riding down Michigan Avenue in Chicago and think you have room between busses, its very possible you might bash your ulock into the busses mirror and have to haul ass so the bus driver doesn't kick your ass!), an inside pocket on the front that holds pens and smaller stuff, and a large back pocket that works really well for a laptop. The shoulders straps are a nice shape- very ergonomic. it also has a sternum strap and a waist strap to help displace the load you're carrying. There are a lot of compression straps that will compress this bag so it's not a parachute when empty.

Ok- that's all the tech stuff, now let's talk about the fun stuff. This bag is huge- i'm serious! if you have a small girlfriend (or boyfriend...) you could carry them around in this thing. I took a load of orders to the post office- it was 41 shirts packed into 25 envelopes. I also picked up two boxes from the post office- one box had a set of full fenders in it and the other had the next messenger bag I need to review. Derek took the bag to the liquor store and brought home a box of wine (which later turned into a bag of wine so some friends could carry it in there regular size bags) and a six pack with more than enough room. I rode the Halloween critical mass with it and it poured rain and everything was dry as hell when I got home.

I also had to pick up my frame from yojimbos garage. I strapped it to the back of the back pack and had no problems. I'm going to buy this bag. I already have to many messenger bags, but I just can't let this one go. If you need a really nice big bag that would hold up to even the roughest messenger days spend the cash and buy a reload.

cole