When Patch Collins dropped of his new version of the Collins Cycle Works (CCW) hip pack I didn’t like to tell him that I’m not the greatest fan of hip packs having tried many in the past. In fact I really want to like them and have been buying them since the early 90s in the hope of finding one that suits me.
I always find I dislike the way they bounce around, how narrow the waist strap is and how it cuts into you. How you constantly have to re-cinch the clasp or buckle as it constantly lose grip, usually because of the movement of the pack. They always seem to have too many pockets, all in the wrong place and either too little room for what I want to carry or too much room that stuff rattles about and the space is wasted. the clasps either are too fiddly or don’t work at all. A lot of them seem designed for running and have been marketed for bikes to cash in.
So you can see why I didn’t mention this when Patch very kindly dropped the pack off to me while I was having a pint in my local. He said I could try it out for a month or so and see what I thought of this version 3 of his roll top pack. Oh dear, this might not go as he thought it might.
The pack is made of a Xpac VX21 outer layer, which is very water and abrasion resistant, I didn’t hold back with chucking it around on and off the bike and it survived the worst that February in the UK could throw at it and still looked like new at the end. The inside of the pack features one large space lined with welded 210d TPU Nylon to ensure maximum waterproofness, now obviously this is a roll top bag so if you open it in the pouring rain it will fill with water and the waterproof lining means that water will stay in there mixing with what ever you put in the pack. My advice is to not do this!
The roll top means you can get away with over stuffing the bag in an emergency, maybe the shop you’ve stopped at have a sake on Haribo or something? anyway the space is generous. I deliberately took the frame and bar bag off my bike to see if I could just use the hip pack for all the things I needed on a normal day ride. I had a waterproof jacket, a multitool, a gopro and mini tripod (see youtube review video below) my phone and a snack. There was plenty of room for all this and I could have stashed an inner tube and tubeless repair kit in there too with ease. these last items though were on a Ridestash components bottle cage mount I was reviewing at the same time..
The Pack has two mesh pockets on the ends and a zipped pocket on the front. I put my house keys and multitool in the end pocket and my phone in the zipped pocket. All three of these pockets are easily accessible while riding. Even the zip pocket was easy to open and close with gloved hands for those last minute instagram snaps and reels (yes, i am that sad) I was happy to have my phone under just the Xpac fabric as it just looked as if it would keep the phone moisture free. There is a very useful bungy cord on the bottom of the bag and I stashed my waterproof jacket under there, it stayed put throughout.
The waist strap is broad and sat on my hips really well. It kept the pack feeling secure even over rough off road ground. When the pack was full there was some movement but it never felt annoying and the strap did not come loose, it did not need constant retightening. The strap has padding which added to the comfort but it was thin enough to not feel like a massive sponge on my back. It is also covered in a mesh material and my back didn’t feel like it was over heated but obviously the pack was used in February so temperatures were between -1 and 12 degrees.
CCW has chosen to go with a company call Fidlock for the fastenings on this bag and it makes a huge difference over the usual plastic snap closures other bag makers use. Fidlock features magnets and this makes it an absolute breese to open and close the roll top and waist strap. The fidlock clasps feel reassuringly secure but the standout feature of this choice of fidlock is the bottle mount, again check out the video below to see how it works but basically you just twist the bottle to release it to drink and then vaguely wave it next to the mount on the waist strap and the magnets pull it in and secure it, you don’t need to take you eyes of the trail at any time!
So, has the Collins Cycle Works Roll Top pack won me over, am I now a hip back convert? Well in a way yes, I still like to ride pack free and have stuff on the bike rather than on me but the design has solved all the drawbacks I mentioned at the start and has changed my mind on th concept of the hip pack.
If you already like hip packs you will absolutely love the Roll Top pack from Collins Cycle Works but the use of Fidlock clasps and bottle mount just takes this pack to another level above all it competitors.
It costs £130 which isn’t cheap but is on par with its rivals but then figure in that Collins Cycle Works ship these with a fidlock bottle for that price and it is worth every penny.
Check out the Collins Cycle Works website and Instagram page for more details and please watch the video below (and please subscribe, it makes a huge difference to a little channel like mine)
I wonder what Patch would have said if I’d told him I didn’t like hip packs? 🙂
UK GRAVEL COLLECTIVE 