Yeti sent me one of their large bags with all the options to review. Yeti is a one man operation- Jared Himsted started making bags because he needed and new bag and just decided to make his own. The first impression I got of this bag was, are you serious? The dude just started making bags and this thing is very, very well put together. I mean the detail is really amazing. The bag he sent was fully loaded- it had a really nice removable back pad. Three good size inside pockets and two large out side pockets. With all the pockets it was no problem to carry all my stuff with room to spare. The bag itself is a good size- might be too small for a working messenger, but a good size if you run to the store or pick up some packages from the post office. The strap system is pretty good- i'm not a fan of the thick shoulder strap. I really like the thin seat belt ones better, but that’s just me. I also think the stabilizer strap could be longer. I had a pretty big load in it and had a hard time making the strap long enough. The adjustments are easy enough and he used metal buckles which I like because they're built to last. Overall I really liked the design of this bag, plus the available custom designs make it really nice. If you want a truly hand made custom bag at a good price that’s going to last, email Jared and see what he can do. -cole

so, cole came to michigan for a visit, and came over to my place for the night. he shows up with this new bag, made by YETI. before his trip i saw a picture of it (making the YETI banner) and thought it looked pretty rad, and in person it was even radder. i was stoked on the retro color scheme. it's just a cool looking bag plain and simple. but i've always believed in function before fashion, yet this bag does both. my complaint with most messenger bags are that there's not enough little pockets (maybe that's the point and i'm just missing it...), but this bag had two half size pockets on the front (i believe they clipped shut too... edit: nope- just velcro- really big velcreo!), and two big pockets- the first having three little pockets on each side!!! maybe it was just one side (edit: yup- just one side.)- this is from memory... but i remember little pockets... and i'm pretty sure it had a padded back too (edit: fat back padding!!!). it seemed to be a nice, middle of the road sized bag. not too small, but not super huge either- definitely not a post office trip bag, but a nice everyday type bag, but big enough for a weekend- or in cole's case a week and a half- but that's another story. but i do know that YETI bags come in all shapes and sizes. comfort wise i never tried it on- i recently had shoulder surgery- yet another story (edit: this bag is set up for a right shoulder, so i can wear it, and it's super comfy- bt i have to agree with cole- the compression strap could be longer- which my better half can easily fix!), but needless to say i'm not carrying bags over my shoulder or riding a bike right now so i don't know how it is while yr riding either. construction wise, cole's bag was TIGHT (insert "that's what she said" joke here). seriously though, it WAS tight. super duty tough work. weatherproof. probably bomb proof too... check out their site- the rest of their bags look pretty rad too... other than that, i just need a sweet little add-on pocket for my phone, and i'm all set!
-greeze