Possibly the most utilised bit of kit I ever bought.
The very first day of work in 2012 I joyfully handed my notice in and a month later I was embarking on a month long trip around China to find myself and clear my mind before returning to find different work.
The culmination of that trip involved my first ever visit to Hong Kong; a dreamland for airsofters with countless big names and suppliers such as RoyalTigerGear who I’d already been using for a year or two to supply me with obscure Chinese PLA digital pattern uniforms to go with my Real Sword SVD & QBZ97.
The main (airsoft related) purpose of my stop, however, was to buy all the finishing touches to my FLYYE EDC backpack, which I’d thoroughly put through its paces on the trip so far, as well as back in the UK.
It was a dream bag that I saw whilst browsing for a MOLLE Compatible backpack to replace a worn out sports style bag, it didn’t come cheap, but I spent ages looking at it on RTG’s website and working out how to best use it for my needs.
In HK I bought a load of smaller EDC Mobile Phone and Grenade pouches to attach to it, as well as the additional inner ‘MOLLE bib’ which fills the back inside wall with loops to attach pouches or gear to to further divide the cavernous main space up, thus finishing it off as my ‘go to gear’ bag; I haven’t looked back since.
This backpack has been everywhere with me, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, China, Hong Kong, Cambodia and even to the local ASDA’s countless times (because, #TacticalShopping reasons; I usually get comments from the checkout staff about it and how practical and awesome it is!).
It is quite simply a cornerstone of my lifestyle and really earns the ‘EveryDay Carry’ EDC moniker. Eminently durable, practical, spacious, utilitarian and comfortable to wear regardless of the amount of load in or on it. I’ve slung a whole 10 Kilo sack of sushi rice in the very useful folding QD Bib at the back (originally intended for conveniently carrying a combat helmet, of course) among a whole host of other heavy items and it’s never failed me so far.
Like most offerings from FLYYE it has reassuringly rugged materials, construction and stitching, none of which show any signs of damage even after 5 years of abuse on an international stage and Biblical level ^^. It is abound with MOLLE PALS on all faces (even the underside!) And comes complete with a wraparound waist PLB belt which further extends carrying capacity & MOLLE loops, as well as weight distribution & stabilisation - I have removed this myself however after getting funny looks from people (especially airport security) and realising that I don’t need so much capacity on a daily basis, or the hassle with it being oversized for carry on air travel. Thankfully MOLLE bags in general seem to be becoming a lot more prevalent these days, with even mainstream ‘civilian’ manufacturers incorporating PALS into their normal people bags ^^.
I originally favoured the EDC Backpack due to its proclaimed 17” Notebook ready zipper enclosed padded section right up against the wearer’s back which has the usual padded and vented net supports for comfort and sweating reduction. Upon trying my chunky ass Dell Inspiron in the compartment I found it was just a little bit too big to fit in and fully close, but I’m sure a thinner MacBook or a smaller screen laptop would work fine, as it is I just bung mine in the main compartment without any problem instead anyway.
Further to this separate pouch is an internal ‘armour insert’ fold - I installed the included stiffener plate to make the bag always sit upright better, but I imagine you could put a replica or even a real SAPI plate in there like you would with a plate carrier, if you were for some reason possessed to do so!
Moving further back is the main compartment, it’s very reasonably sized and easy to pack things into; I lived out of it for nearly two weeks each xmas over the last two years without any problems, and it’s great for outdoor expeditions, weekender games with long recon style patrols, or survival themed games like the Vampire game at a disused Prison I recently attended; plenty of room for supplies or storing collected objectives should the need arise. You can also use the main compartment for hydration, or perhaps the laptop compartment also - but with a smaller bladder - and the back has the usual convenient hose routing gap’n’flap through the top to allow your drinking tube to emerge and run over either shoulder as with the dedicated FLYYE EDC Hydration Pack. Again, like the aforementioned dedicated EDC HydPack ot also has heavy duty, padded, PALS covered straps with QD buckles at the bottom and those convenient strap adjusters and excess strap velcro retainer ties to tidy up your loose ends once it’s properly adjusted.
The top main compartment QD closers also feature these, as do the quad side fasteners for the foldout helmet carrier bib at the bottom back. Both the top QD closers and the drop down bib allow for external attachment of loose or oversized loads. I tend to roll my 5.11 Tactical Aggressor Goretex Jacket/Fleece combination up and use the adjustable top QD closer to strap it down to the main compartment when the weather negates its need or if I’ve hiked far enough to work up a sweat.
The bib can also be used for jacket carrying, or a combat helmet, or other large loads that are too awkward to fit into the main compartment, it has quite a wide extension range to allow load bearing even if the main compartment is already packed to the rafters and pushing the whole backpack out.
Furthermore the bib itself is covered in MOLLE PALS allowing for the attachment of a reasonable variety of pouches, the only slight downside being the partially oval shape at the bottom end negates one or two of the loops being full width and thus unsuitable for proper usage, that minor issue aside my standard configuration is two side by side FLYYE Vertical Utility Pouches.
These are the best thing since sliced bread as far as I’m concerned; the perfect size for a 1.3L standard tuppaware box, 3 or 4 food or drink cans or large 500g yoghurt pots, a bag of 5000rnds of BB ammo, gloves, protective pads or eyepro - they are ideally size to fit a huge variety of useful things to the everyday outdoorsman, airsofter or #TacticalShopper alike!
The only failure I’ve had of the nine pouches of this type I bought was after thousands of vibration cycles on my messenger bag when my Fuji HS20EXR Digital Camera was carried on a daily basis when I first started my current job. As the camera was a bit loose inside the big pouch it flapped around every step I took and eventually after months of walking the movement wore through the PALS attachment strap at the top so I had to replace the vertical pouch. Impressive amount of wear to do that though!
Above the drop down bib is another reasonable sized PALS panel which I usually have a few FLYYE EDC Mobile Phone/GPS pouches or FLYYE Frag Grenade Pouches attached; ideal for little items like a business card holder, phone charger, Anker Backup battery unit or other similar gadgets or knick knacks.
These can also be attached to the full length side panels, although I tend to have a vertical utility pouch at the bottom of each side to give me 4 in total around the outside of the bag, as well as a mini first aid further up and an electronics utility pouch on the opposite side. Inside the PALS unit above the drop down bib is a zipper enclosed admin pouch space with separators for pens or perhaps shotgun shells if that’s your thing - perfect for keeping your liquids and toiletries in a handy accessible place for travel and retrieval at airport security, I have found.
There is also a further zipper enclosed pocket underneath the dropdown bib itself, as well as zipper enclosed compartments on each side of the bottom face and furthe up each side as well, but these have rarely found a use given all the MOLLE pouches I have already attached… this backpack really is cavernous and you could lose things in it with all the hidden compartments!
That about wraps up the backpack, the only further thing to note is a variant configuration I use where a FLYYE Bucket Bag can be attached down one side, this is an ideal pouch for carrying a can (or two even, if a little snugly) of Blow Back Gas, or similar sized canisters or bottles, maybe even an HPA rig canister for those who use them.
Again, like the EDC HydPack the front straps have D rings at around sternum height and the bottom face has two attachment or load bearing loops, all of which I have used with TacLinks for load carrying or weapon attachment points.