I carry a lot of things on a daily basis. I keep books, tools, food, and drinks on hand almost 24\7, and that means I have to have a good bag that can keep up with my kit, and have easy access to everything I need. So I did what almost everyone does, and went to some of the people who do it best: 5.11 Tactical. The AMP 72 was their newest, biggest, bestest option, and the 5\11 sale was going down at the time, so I could snag a pretty great discount on one. So I bought it, stuffed it with as much kit as I could, and then started messing around with the configuration a bunch. This review is going to include my findings using the AMP 72 as my EDC bag and as a Backpacking bag.
EDC Bag
I generally carry a lot of stuff. Some of it I need, some of it I don’t. But when I’m carrying a lot of stuff, this bag is my go to. And after about four months of using them, I’ve found a few issues. First, I’d like to address the HexGrid panel on the bag. I am simply not a fan. It LOOKS cool. But I’ve tried different orientations, and I just haven’t found any of them to be more space effective or ergonomically pleasing than standard Molle webbing. It also stretches, and I definitely don’t like that. It doesn’t look very good after it’s stretched, which even further detracts from it’s value. With that in mind, I switched pretty quickly to the molle webbing panel. It’s a massive improvement.
My problems with the HexGrid panel highlights one of the things I truly love about this bag, and that is the outright wonderful ability to switch out any of their additional pouches very quickly, so if you need to change “gearsets” quickly, you can. I’ve paired the Molle panel with a Savior Equipment admin pouch for my EDC kit.
The handgun pouch is the next step back from the “gear set” Velcro , and I honestly don’t care to use this pouch. If you carry a firearm off body, it’s got the hallmarks of a great off body carry pouch. I’ve never used it for this directly, and when the bag is full, it compresses this pouch tight enough you might have trouble accessing the gun.
Above this is the sunglasses pocket, which I use to carry a variety of different pieces of equipment, but typically it’s my phone, a pack of gum, or other miscellaneous bits and bobs. It’s got a really soft lining, so it’s perfect for keeping your shades nice and scratch free.
On either side of the bag, you have a pouch that can be used to store a water bottle, but you have another pocket on the interior that serves the same purpose. You will have trouble filling both interior and exterior pockets at one time.
The next pocket is the “rifle” pocket. It’s designed to hold a folding rifle or PDW, and I don’t own one or have a need to carry one, so I don’t have any input to offer. For my uses, it would definitely have been better to leave this pouch off, and have freedom to use the extra room.
The straps on the AMP72 are perfect for short treks and daypack use, and the waist straps are pretty convenient. Each waist strap has a little pocket on it, but they are a bit too small to fit anything into. That being said, it would be a decent space to stash some spare cash and coins.
The interior of the bag is CAVERNOUS. There’s two mesh pouches along the interior, one hidden compartments, and two water bottle storages. The mesh is pretty thick, so you’re going to have a hard time seeing what’s in them if they aren’t hi visibility colors.
The long rectangular mesh has some elastic bands for organization purposes, and the top one is open. Behind the top mesh pouch is the hidden pouch, which is about the same size. All three of these pouches will take up space in exterior pouches, so you need to pick and choose your placement.
Summary
Over all, this bag is great for EDC, but there are pros and cons. The pros:
- Spacious
- Semi-modular
- Grey Man Styling
- Segregated Pockets
The cons:
- The straps could be thicker.
- The PDW/folding rifle pouch could be eliminated to add more space for those of us who don’t carry bigger guns daily.
- The mesh pockets on the interior could have been made with a clear plastic for visibility.
- Weird suitcase side handle for some reason.
- Hexgrid panel just doesn’t work well (unless I’m an idiot, which is possible.)
I’d LOVE to see a long range version of this bag for backpackers and the like, with a slightly increased load space, thicker waist and shoulder straps, and and maybe some more molle.
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