Victory Chimp Out There Hip/Sling Pack Review

I will be the first to admit, back packs or waist packs are not my favourite way to carry things on a bike, so I asked my good friend Dan Daniel Phillips Photography to try it out as he commutes by bike and also walks (shudder!) around taking photos with various bags so has a lot of experience of the genre. Here are his thoughts on the Victory Chimp Out There Hip/Sling Pack...

When I first started riding, I used to use a Hip Pack (back then known as a Bum Bag) most of
the time, especially when riding further afield and needing to carry a bit more than just a
spare tube and a multitool. I’ve used them in a range of different sizes and from several
different brands, which is why I’m guessing Gary from UK Gravel Collective asked me to
review the Out There Hip Pack/Sling Bag from Victory Chimp.

Victoria Chimp Out There Hip/Sling Pack additional bungie

Now I feel it’s only fair, for full disclosure, that I highlight the following, since my riding has
involved less mountain biking and more gravel riding/bikepacking adventures, strapping
bags to my bike rather than to myself has become the norm, and for most rides, it’s a
handlebar bag or a small frame pack that I use to carry the essentials. Taking the bags off my
bike and putting their contents into the Out There hip pack felt a bit odd, but there was no
issue with fitting everything I usually carry into it with a fair bit of space to spare.

The stated capacity is 6 litres and I easily fitted my wallet and phone (slid into the mesh
divider for easy access), my keys attached to the provided key clip ensuring they could be
easily accessed rather than them falling to the bottom and needing to be rummaged for, a
buff, a cycling cap, arm warmers, a multitool, tyre levers, spare tube, café lock, a set of
lights, my glasses , tubeless plugs and a small case I carry with spares, patches etc. All of this
fitted in the main pocket and I could have easily fitted some snacks had I not planned a café
stop. This also left the front and rear pockets empty had I needed any additional space.

Victoria Chimp Out There Hip/Sling Pack optional bottle holder

A feature I really liked is the quick release cargo net on the bottom of the pack which I used
to carry my waterproof jacket, (an essential with the recent changeable UK conditions). The
bungy cords that form the net are adjustable and held my jacket really securely, but the
quick release buckle meant it could be easily accessed should I encounter a shower, without
having to open the pack and expose the rest of its contents to the elements.

The pack Victory Chimp sent over came in a really nice olive-green colour, with reflective details, but
black and multi-coloured options are also available. It is made of 1000D Cordura so should
be very tough with a bright orange Waterproof liner covered in a subtle banana motif. Zips
are water resistant YKK AquaGuard and the waist belt connects using a really easy to
operate Fidlock magnetic buckle (I’m a big fan of the Fidlock system and have several bags
that utilise it).
The pack was easy to adjust to size (Victory Chimp state it fits waists up to 56”/142 cm) and
once set up the mesh padded back panel and wings made it comfortable to wear. One of
the most annoying things I’ve found with some hip packs I’ve owned, is that the waist strap
works loose when riding ,resulting in the pack sliding lower and me having to stop to tighten
it back up again. The Out There pack didn’t suffer from this frustration during any of the
rides I used it on.

Another nice little touch is the customisable Velcro patch system on the front of the pack,
allowing you to add your favourite patch and make it your own. (Victory Chimp sell a couple
of different patch sets separately for this very reason).

As well as riding with the pack I also used it on a couple of walks, but utilised as a sling pack
on my back rather than around my waist. Again, it had plenty of capacity to carry everything
I needed, the only downside with wearing it in this way is that the main strap lacks any sort
of padding meaning if you carry a reasonably heavy load, it does dig into your shoulder a
little.

So, was there anything else I didn’t like about the pack? Well yes there are a couple of
things that I don’t feel work that well and both of them revolve around the options provided
to use the pack for hydration purposes.
The first is the Hydration port which Victory Chimp suggest can be used for a water bladder
hose or headphones. Although I didn’t try using a bladder in the pack as I didn’t have one
that would fit, I feel that this would really limit the storage space and also the weight it
would add, could make the pack quite uncomfortable to wear. I also don’t know many
people who use wired earphones since the advent of Bluetooth ear buds, so this seems an
unnecessary addition and one that has the potential to make the pack less weather
resistant.

Victory chimp Hip pack Specifications:
 Size: 30 x 15 x 10 cm
 Weight: 308g (392g with bottle holder)
 Carrying Capacity: 6 Litres
 Materials: Cordura + Ripstop nylon liner
 Zips: YKK AquaGuard

The second is the removable bottle holster. This attaches using straps which slide through
the molle loops on either side of the pack. It’s quick and easy to attach and remove and the
bungy cord that slips over the top of a water bottle held it very securely in the holster. The
issue is the length of the straps used to attach it to the pack. Once attached the holster has
space to slide up and down meaning that when riding over even slightly rougher terrain, it
bounced up and down jabbing me in the ribs on several occasions. The holster worked much
better when I used it while walking, but as Victory Chimp is predominantly a provider of
gear for cycling, this seemed like a bit of an oversight. Again, as most cyclists have at least
one bottle cage on their bikes, I feel this is also an addition that could have been omitted
and wouldn’t have affected the usefulness of the pack.

Overall, the Victory Chimp Out There hip pack is well made and generally well thought out. If you’re
looking for one pack that can be utilised for riding, hiking and for everyday carry, then you
won’t go far wrong, providing being able to carry some kind of drink in it, isn’t a deal
breaker for you.

Big thanks to Dan for writing this review and for Victory Chimp for sending the out there packs for us to try, both the Bar bag (review here) and the Hip pack seem UK proof, i.e. well made, waterproof and robust and look like they’ll take on everything gravel riding can throw at them. For more details and a look at Victory Chimps other products check out their website www.victorychimp.cc

Victory Chimp Out There Bar Bag Review

The handle bar bag has become a bit of a cliché in the gravel bike world, along with check shirts and pictures of gravel bikes next to wood piles in the forest. However the bar bag does have a place on a gravel bike as we tend to carry more stuff than our skinny tired cousins because we go a bit further out there (did you see what I did?) away from civilisation. By that I mean away from cafes and shops. Gravel bikers also seem to be not such fair weather riders and go out when the forecast could turn nasty and inevitably being the UK the ground is muddy. So, the need to carry a decent waterproof jacket, some snacks, some tools and a phone for selfies next to a trig point is there. Stuffing all that into the aforementioned check shirt or the pockets of your cargo bib shorts can be problematic if not downright impossible.

The Victory Chimp Out There bar bag is cylindrical and 20cm wide x 12cm high x 12cm depth and has a 2.8L capacity. It is made from 1000D cordura with a waterproof lining and aquaguard zip. There is an elasticated fabric pocket at one end and a mesh pocket at the other. The mesh side also has a bungee cord and clip where Victory Chimp suggest you can secure a phone. The bag has Molle style webbing back and front to enable straps to fit it to a handlebar and front for attaching, well anything you like. I found it ideal for a cafe lock. The bag also has elasticated paracord on the outside for cinching down anything that doesn’t fit inside. The whole bag is stiffened by a plastic liner meaning there’s no chance of saggy bag syndrome. The inside fabric is bright (and bananary) enabling you to see inside better in low light and there’s also a mesh divider in there too to separate a wallet/phone credit card from the rest of your stuff. The ends of the bag have D rings so you can attach the supplied shoulder strap for carrying the bag off the bike. To fix the bag to your bars Victory Chimp supply two plastic straps with plastic buckles. There is also a cord to stabilise the bag around your bikes head tube or steerer. Victory Chimp have also added a nice touch as there’s a velcro pad area where you can attach a patch of your choice to customise the bag!

In use the bag passes the “can it be opened and closed with one hand while riding along” test with flying colours. So on the fly haribo or crisp rations are easily accessible. I managed to get a lightweight jacket, E-inflator, tubeless repair tool, multitool, Mini phone tripod (social medial, sigh), phone and sandwhiches (normal medium sliced 2 rounds, usually cheese) inside easily and used the side pockets for empty wrappers until I found a bin.

The bag is very stable even with a heavy load in it, I carried a large glass jar of chunky marmalade (don’t ask) for 36 miles over rough terrain and there was hardly any bounce or swinging. Also because of the lining there’s minimal rattle when you’ve only got a couple of things in the bag too. Fitting to the bike is easy, the straps are long and so should fit any weird wide aero bar you have. The straps could be a bit more elastic though, especially when it’s cold out and they stiffen up but then you are probably not going to be taking the bag off and on again like I do so that’s hardly a negative. In fact its hard to find anything but praise for this bag, it quietly gets on with it’s job, seems tough without being overbuilt and heavy, has lots of features but no silly gimmics and can resist typical UK weather. Then again Victory Chimp is based in Northern Ireland so I really shouldn’t be surprised at its design.

So the Victory Chimp Out There bar bag is perfect for day rides freeing up your pockets and holding your essentials securely and comes from a UK rider owned company.

At time of writing the bag costs £45, for that you get a lot of bag for your money. You can find more info on the Victory Chimp website

below are a couple of short videos to give you a better look at the bag and a bit more about that marmalade!

Northwave Celsius XT Arctic GTX shoe review

When it comes to feet, mine run cold and I’m always searching for the perfect solution to keeping my toes comfortable when the temperatures drop to single or minus figures. So it was either very brave or very foolish for Northwave to take up the challenge with their Celsius Arctic GTX shoes. Warning: there’s a lot of acronyms and product names in this review, such is the current fashion in the bike industry. Still, “Celsius Arctic GTX” does on the face of it sound impressively warm doesn’t it? Luckily the period of riding in these coincided with the UK weather reverting to normal with a named storm, torrential rain, floods that then turned into a cold snap of windscreen scraping mornings and crunchy puddles, so all in all perfect test conditions!

Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX the clean unworn edition

Ok, lets get some of the jargon and acronyms out of the way first, the Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX boots are advertised as having a “Cirrus XT 4L membrane made by Gore-Tex” for waterproofness and breathability, 200g recycled “Primaloft Gold thermal padding” inside and a “4 layer Arctic insole”. More of a shoe with a neoprene cuff than a boot they close using a “X-Dial SLW3” (think Boa but with a quick release lever) and a zip up the inside of the cuff. The sole has an aggressive looking “Jaws Evo sole” tread, with a SPD cleat pocket and the provision of fitting football boot studs at the toe for added traction if you are fit/mad enough to run with your bike on a cyclocross race.

Enough of the jargon, what are they like to wear? Well i asked for a size larger than my normal summer shoe size as I intended to run thicker or waterproof socks with them and Northwave agreed that was a good idea. With a thicker sock on my feet I attempted to put them on for the first time. There’s definately a knack to it. Inside the shoe are two red straps to aid pulling them on and they are needed. It was a bit of a wrestle to be honest and i was instantly worried I needed an even bigger size. However once on and my socks straightened by wiggling my feet in the shoe they felt totally the right size and i had plenty of toe wiggle room. Infact they are sort of T.A.R.D.I.S like as they seem bigger when on than when putting on if that makes sense?

Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX pull on straps

Once on and the dial turned to snug the front of the shoe down and the zip done up they feel really comfortable, there’s loads of adjustment with the X-Dial and the neoprene like cuff fits well around the ankle and allows unhindered ankle joint articulation. So no resistance to pedalling.

Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX sole & cleat pocket

the sole has a very generous amount of cleat adjustment, I’d go as far as saying the most I’ve experienced on any clip in shoe. I set it as far back as it could go thinking the shoes were like most others and soon realised I had to move the cleat back towards the toe which is unheard of in my experience! The sole is aggressive and there’s lots of grip even without the toe studs for hike a bike sections. The close spaced knobs will get clogged with clay and leaves (your soil conditions may be different) but a quick bang on the pedals soon clears them though. Taking of walking, the sole has just the right amount of flex for trotting up muddy trails and lets face it more importantly they won’t make you look like a penguin when walking up to the counter in your favourite coffee/cake/chip shop/pub. Despite this flex there is plenty of stiffness at the cleat for efficient pedalling.

Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX test conditions

Are they waterproof then? the shoe part of the “boot” definately is, i know this because I deliberately on your behalf pedalled my bike through all the floods, stood in X-dial deep puddles and tried to (unsuccessfully) leap across a ford. The neoprene cuff though isn’t, it’s weather proof but will eventually get damp from spray. Bear in mind though that there’s a big hole in the shoe where your foot goes in so a wet sock cuff is equally caused by water running down the leg of my waterproof trousers as much as the neoprene. The good thing about neoprene though and why it’s excellent as a wet suit is that despite being damp it still insulates the wearer by trapping body heat. On the wettest day when i removed the shoes the top of my sock was damp but from the ankle down was as dry as when I put them on.

Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX in the wild

Despite having to really tug to get the shoes on the straps have remained intact. the X-Dial looks fragile put I have accidentally smashed it into a concrete bollard (Northwave sell spares) and the release lever allows very easy adjustment, in a juxtposition to putting them on the shoes come off at the end of a ride very easily which messes with my mind somewhat.

Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX X-Dial adjuster

Did the Northwave Celcius Arctic GTX shoes keep my feet warm? Northwave needn’t have worried (I expect they weren’t losing any sleep) as my feet stayed warmer in these shoes a lot longer than I’ve experienced before. i’d go as far as saying they are the warmest cycling shoes/boots that I’ve tried so far and as the temperature drops the further we get into winter i’m looking forward to spending longer out on the bike than previous years.

Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX making waves

The Northwave Celsius Arctic GTX shoe is a comfortable, efficient pedalling, warm and weatherproof shoe that’ll help you go further for longer in the grimmest of conditions.

you can see more details on the shoes on the Northwave website

Northwave haven’t paid for this review, they took the risk of an honest review, there are no affiliate links or discount codes. I do (I hope) get to keep the shoes, not that anyone would want then after my plates of meat have been in them for a few weeks!