DISCLAIMER: it's not a typical bushcraft item, but still a backpack and I use it in the outdoor activities and for traveling as well, so maybe you find it useful, who knows?
Very recently I was looking for a carry-platform for my new bullpup air rifle (EdGun Lelya since you ask, full power PCP with accuracy good enough up to 100 yards, easily!). I searched through bags, cases etc. and finally I decided to go for a backpack... and what a great decision it was! Let me tell you about it...
But before I tell you how it carries, let's start with general checkup of the pack. S25 is slim, fairly long (64cm) and quite low-volume pack - just 15 liters (btw, I find this measurement very conservative). It's all with a reason, but I'll explore it later on. Anyway, on the outside it looks very technical & outdoor-oriented. No PALS outside, no tactical looking attachmenst, no tactical letterings, flags, insignia etc. It's one of those packs, which doesn't screem 'look at me, I'm sooo tactical!' from well over 100 yards. But there is still something in the design, what makes it slightly 'tactically flavored'... in a discreet way. S25 has been made of thick laminated cordura, with lightweight inserts and virtually indestructable hypalon attachment loops. Stitching, zippers, details etc. are all top-level, absolutely on pair with Kifaru, TAD, Mystery Ranch etc. Just top-notch, no doubt about it. No savings here. I'd say it's almost overbuilt... but in case of WEAPON PACK it's nothing but good. It just oozes quality and says to me 'lifetime service granted!'. Yes, I like it!
Now let's take a look inside... you can find two compartments - one called 'private', the other one 'public'. Closer to the back is the private one - it's been created for weapon carry. So it's fairly stiff, with padded back and high divider, behind which you put your carbine - let's call it 'weapon slip'. Eberlestock says you can fit there sub-7" barreled M4 (with collapsable stock) but you can put inside also all-kind of MP's like UZI, MP5 etc. or sub-compact bullpup carbine like FN-P90. In my case I use it for discreet carry of my EdGun airgun with combat-style scope on weaver mount. S25 seems to be tailor-made for it. The private compartment has also protective slot for iPad or Macbook Air. On the flap you'll find some space for accesories, paper-targets, keys (with keeper), zipper pocket for documents & ID, plus two dedicated pockets for M4 magazines. Of course you can use all the pockets & slots as you like - I carry there small 450 ccm tank with compressed air for my gun, some ammo, targets, allen keys, documents etc. But... that's not all! You can also see 3 rows of PALS inside, which you can use to personalize your compartment. Small personal medic pouch? Compass pouch? Backup holster with Glock 19? No problem! Just attach PALS-compatibile pouch and you're done (but make sure it's quite flat). Private compartment zipper is hidden behind protective collar, and it has the same color as the pack - correct, it's quite concealed! If you don't know it's there you'll hardly notice it. Secret weapon carry all the way!
In front of the private one you will find the public compartment. It's very visible, with contrast rubber-sealed thick zipper on the outside - looks obviously like the main compartment of the pack. Decoy? Hell yes! And it works. Inside again some PALS, zipper pockets, small slots for EDC stuff and also big slot for 2 liters hydration bladder. Personally I use this one to store my iPad, but it's even better suited for iPad Mini. Finally there is a small zipper pocket on the front flap.
Quite a number of pockets and storage slots! So... anything else? Actually yes, two side-pockets for items like flashlight and/or silencer. Both accessable with backpack on the back, which is quite handy. And also two hypalon loops with corresponding straps to attach walking sticks, spotting scope tripod, shooting monopod, etc.
Now one of the most important aspects of any backpack - harness system. Well, that was quite a surprise for me - S25 has been equipped with full-size adult harness system, which I'd be happy to find on a backpack 3-times the size! The pack is supported with wide padded mesh panels, with a slot for the backbone. Straps are fairly wide, soft, structurized, with full adjustment - incl. adjustable attachment point on the bakcpack, so you can REALLY tailor-fit S25 to your torso. It's not common among sub-20 liters packs! Of course the straps can accept hydration pipe via hypalon loops. S25 is also equipped with fully padded 'adult' waist belt, equipped with small pockets. It's detacheable, which helps to blend with the pack on your back in the city, mid of the day. Business-looking waist belt looks (usually) very out-of-place downtown! But you can still attach it when doing a hike in the local woodland. On top of that you'll find also chest-strap and carry handle. Complete harness system! Overbuilt for 15 ltr backpack? Well... think again...
So why such a serious harness system on a small pack? Well, it's a weapon pack! Imagine short M4 with spare ammo, supressor, scope, bipod, first-aid, basic AR tools, flashlight and some accesories. It can very well overweight 30+ liters hiking pack of an average tourist. Easily! Also steel & alloy of M4 is not a wool sweater & softshell jacket, so it must be very well separated from the backbone - that's where the backbone slot comes handy. You'll love that feature when running with M4 on your back. So... is it really overkill? Not at all - given the purpose of this pack. It's not 'Sunday walk' kind of backpack - it's a damn serious tool for undercover rifle carry. And last but not least - it's equipped with rain cover, hidden in a small zipper slot at the bottom of the pack. Standard raincover, it just works. But, when stored, it also dumps & protects your rifle butt when putting the pack on the ground. So I suggest leaving it there, it weights next to nothing - so don't leave it at home.
Now let's check (finally!) how it carries. I suggest to start with my needs - I wanted a pack for weekend countryside trips, in which I'd easily load: carbine, spare 0.5 ltr compressed air bottle, paper targets, ammo, documents, keys, small tools, compact camera and personal flashlight. All to be carried in one pack. Well, S25 works brilliantly! It's quite small and very discreet - my neighbours have no clue that I carry rifle in there. I removed the waist-belt as I carry my bag on a short distance usuallyt (to/from car) and it weights about 15 lbs maximum. And I can still use it as a family-walk backpack when I need to - I just have to unload gun/ammo and load it with some kid's stuff, binos and bottle of water instead. Quick and easy. Easily possible.
Any drawbacks? Sure! No pack is perfect. First of all if you'd like to carry your dSLR in S25... forget it. There are two compartments, both fairly flat. I *can* fit my full frame dSLR inside with tele lens, but it's not comfortable at all - the zipper is really stressed, and I'm not really sure if it'd last long as it's high-stressed in just some points. However, outside my 'garage studio' I use mainly Fuji X100, so for me it's not a problem. And I have other packs for dSLR carry. The other issue - straps on my pack are quite widely set apart. What do I mean... well, the straps are designed with big tough 200+ lbs Marine in mind, not average 180 lbs guy like me. So when I carry it in light jacket (or just t-shirt) I prefer to buckle the chest strap for full comfort. It's not a big deal, but worth mentionning. So if you're skinny - just use the chest strap and you're done. However, when wearing polartec jacket the issue disappears. So as I said - it's not a big deal. And last but not least... if you plan to put your jacket into the pack please make sure it's just lightweight outer layer - flat compartments of S25 are not designed for heavy padded jackets. But as I mentionned before it's a specialized tool, not your average hiking pack.
OK, time for the action! Let's check how it works as a shooting pack - does it allow to take a good shot? As you might have guess it doesn't disturb the shooter. It's slim, flat and it wears close to the back, almost like glued - it doesn't create any noticable inertia when moving & turning fast. Heavy backpacks, especially with center of gravity far from the back, tend to destabilize the shooter when turning fast. It's just phisics, even Sir Isaac Newton knew that
But S25 is almost free from this phenomenon - YES, you can shoot with the pack on the back as ease as you'd do without it. Also shoulder straps are well designed for shooting - buttplate is nicely supported by the strap (that might have been just coincidence, but it works anyway). It's a shooter's backpack after all.
But... it's not all. I also wanted to check how would it perform as a laptop backpack for air travel. Anyone , who had an opportunity to run through the airport with laptop bag on the shoulder, should appreciate a comfortable backpack. So on my very recent trip to Russia (connected flight through Vienna) I decided to ditch my Saddleback Leather Briefcase and use S25 instead. I fitted inside: 15.4" laptop, all cables incl. power supply (all in the weapon compartment), Fuji X100 with accessories, documents, paper magazines, flashlight etc. It was my most comfortable air trip ever, the pack worked great as a laptop carry bag. Also thanks to separate laptop compartment it was very easy to present my laptop for airport security controll and later on to put it back to the backpack. Try this with your regular tactical small pack... I tried it once with TAD Gear LiteSpeed - not as easy. Of course it fits the overherad bin without any problem. But it's been just a backup use for my Cherry Bomb.
Time to sum up. Eberlestock S25 Cherry Bomb is not a cheap bag. For the size it's in fact quite expensive! $250 for 15 ltr bag is a lot of money, more or less in line with packs like Mystery Ranch, TAD Gear, Goruck etc. But it's a very special pack, it's undercover shooter's rifle carry platform, one and only of it's kind! There are some other shooter's bags, but all of them are bigger, more in line with S34 Secret Weapon pack. And Eberlestock S25 is the only SMALL shooter's pack, it doesn't look strange or out-of-place in the city. It looks just good, like 'any other pack'. But it is still equipped with superb harness system, which let's you carry heavy load of weapon, scope, bipod and pile of ammo! It's a no-compromise pack and that's why I really like it. I wanted GUN CARRY TOOL and I got one. For everyday non-rifle use, for Sunday family walk, for laptop carry I can think of many packs, which would serve you much better (Mystery Ranch Spartan, TAD LiteSpeed, GORUCK GR1, Arcteryx Blade 15, etc.). But if your #1 use would be undercover carry of your sub-compact carbine or MP - I cannot think of a better choice than S25 Cherry Bomb by Eberlestock! Highly reccomended in my book. Or should I say... 'Essential'?!
Very recently I was looking for a carry-platform for my new bullpup air rifle (EdGun Lelya since you ask, full power PCP with accuracy good enough up to 100 yards, easily!). I searched through bags, cases etc. and finally I decided to go for a backpack... and what a great decision it was! Let me tell you about it...
But before I tell you how it carries, let's start with general checkup of the pack. S25 is slim, fairly long (64cm) and quite low-volume pack - just 15 liters (btw, I find this measurement very conservative). It's all with a reason, but I'll explore it later on. Anyway, on the outside it looks very technical & outdoor-oriented. No PALS outside, no tactical looking attachmenst, no tactical letterings, flags, insignia etc. It's one of those packs, which doesn't screem 'look at me, I'm sooo tactical!' from well over 100 yards. But there is still something in the design, what makes it slightly 'tactically flavored'... in a discreet way. S25 has been made of thick laminated cordura, with lightweight inserts and virtually indestructable hypalon attachment loops. Stitching, zippers, details etc. are all top-level, absolutely on pair with Kifaru, TAD, Mystery Ranch etc. Just top-notch, no doubt about it. No savings here. I'd say it's almost overbuilt... but in case of WEAPON PACK it's nothing but good. It just oozes quality and says to me 'lifetime service granted!'. Yes, I like it!
Now let's take a look inside... you can find two compartments - one called 'private', the other one 'public'. Closer to the back is the private one - it's been created for weapon carry. So it's fairly stiff, with padded back and high divider, behind which you put your carbine - let's call it 'weapon slip'. Eberlestock says you can fit there sub-7" barreled M4 (with collapsable stock) but you can put inside also all-kind of MP's like UZI, MP5 etc. or sub-compact bullpup carbine like FN-P90. In my case I use it for discreet carry of my EdGun airgun with combat-style scope on weaver mount. S25 seems to be tailor-made for it. The private compartment has also protective slot for iPad or Macbook Air. On the flap you'll find some space for accesories, paper-targets, keys (with keeper), zipper pocket for documents & ID, plus two dedicated pockets for M4 magazines. Of course you can use all the pockets & slots as you like - I carry there small 450 ccm tank with compressed air for my gun, some ammo, targets, allen keys, documents etc. But... that's not all! You can also see 3 rows of PALS inside, which you can use to personalize your compartment. Small personal medic pouch? Compass pouch? Backup holster with Glock 19? No problem! Just attach PALS-compatibile pouch and you're done (but make sure it's quite flat). Private compartment zipper is hidden behind protective collar, and it has the same color as the pack - correct, it's quite concealed! If you don't know it's there you'll hardly notice it. Secret weapon carry all the way!
In front of the private one you will find the public compartment. It's very visible, with contrast rubber-sealed thick zipper on the outside - looks obviously like the main compartment of the pack. Decoy? Hell yes! And it works. Inside again some PALS, zipper pockets, small slots for EDC stuff and also big slot for 2 liters hydration bladder. Personally I use this one to store my iPad, but it's even better suited for iPad Mini. Finally there is a small zipper pocket on the front flap.
Quite a number of pockets and storage slots! So... anything else? Actually yes, two side-pockets for items like flashlight and/or silencer. Both accessable with backpack on the back, which is quite handy. And also two hypalon loops with corresponding straps to attach walking sticks, spotting scope tripod, shooting monopod, etc.
Now one of the most important aspects of any backpack - harness system. Well, that was quite a surprise for me - S25 has been equipped with full-size adult harness system, which I'd be happy to find on a backpack 3-times the size! The pack is supported with wide padded mesh panels, with a slot for the backbone. Straps are fairly wide, soft, structurized, with full adjustment - incl. adjustable attachment point on the bakcpack, so you can REALLY tailor-fit S25 to your torso. It's not common among sub-20 liters packs! Of course the straps can accept hydration pipe via hypalon loops. S25 is also equipped with fully padded 'adult' waist belt, equipped with small pockets. It's detacheable, which helps to blend with the pack on your back in the city, mid of the day. Business-looking waist belt looks (usually) very out-of-place downtown! But you can still attach it when doing a hike in the local woodland. On top of that you'll find also chest-strap and carry handle. Complete harness system! Overbuilt for 15 ltr backpack? Well... think again...
So why such a serious harness system on a small pack? Well, it's a weapon pack! Imagine short M4 with spare ammo, supressor, scope, bipod, first-aid, basic AR tools, flashlight and some accesories. It can very well overweight 30+ liters hiking pack of an average tourist. Easily! Also steel & alloy of M4 is not a wool sweater & softshell jacket, so it must be very well separated from the backbone - that's where the backbone slot comes handy. You'll love that feature when running with M4 on your back. So... is it really overkill? Not at all - given the purpose of this pack. It's not 'Sunday walk' kind of backpack - it's a damn serious tool for undercover rifle carry. And last but not least - it's equipped with rain cover, hidden in a small zipper slot at the bottom of the pack. Standard raincover, it just works. But, when stored, it also dumps & protects your rifle butt when putting the pack on the ground. So I suggest leaving it there, it weights next to nothing - so don't leave it at home.
Now let's check (finally!) how it carries. I suggest to start with my needs - I wanted a pack for weekend countryside trips, in which I'd easily load: carbine, spare 0.5 ltr compressed air bottle, paper targets, ammo, documents, keys, small tools, compact camera and personal flashlight. All to be carried in one pack. Well, S25 works brilliantly! It's quite small and very discreet - my neighbours have no clue that I carry rifle in there. I removed the waist-belt as I carry my bag on a short distance usuallyt (to/from car) and it weights about 15 lbs maximum. And I can still use it as a family-walk backpack when I need to - I just have to unload gun/ammo and load it with some kid's stuff, binos and bottle of water instead. Quick and easy. Easily possible.
Any drawbacks? Sure! No pack is perfect. First of all if you'd like to carry your dSLR in S25... forget it. There are two compartments, both fairly flat. I *can* fit my full frame dSLR inside with tele lens, but it's not comfortable at all - the zipper is really stressed, and I'm not really sure if it'd last long as it's high-stressed in just some points. However, outside my 'garage studio' I use mainly Fuji X100, so for me it's not a problem. And I have other packs for dSLR carry. The other issue - straps on my pack are quite widely set apart. What do I mean... well, the straps are designed with big tough 200+ lbs Marine in mind, not average 180 lbs guy like me. So when I carry it in light jacket (or just t-shirt) I prefer to buckle the chest strap for full comfort. It's not a big deal, but worth mentionning. So if you're skinny - just use the chest strap and you're done. However, when wearing polartec jacket the issue disappears. So as I said - it's not a big deal. And last but not least... if you plan to put your jacket into the pack please make sure it's just lightweight outer layer - flat compartments of S25 are not designed for heavy padded jackets. But as I mentionned before it's a specialized tool, not your average hiking pack.
OK, time for the action! Let's check how it works as a shooting pack - does it allow to take a good shot? As you might have guess it doesn't disturb the shooter. It's slim, flat and it wears close to the back, almost like glued - it doesn't create any noticable inertia when moving & turning fast. Heavy backpacks, especially with center of gravity far from the back, tend to destabilize the shooter when turning fast. It's just phisics, even Sir Isaac Newton knew that
But S25 is almost free from this phenomenon - YES, you can shoot with the pack on the back as ease as you'd do without it. Also shoulder straps are well designed for shooting - buttplate is nicely supported by the strap (that might have been just coincidence, but it works anyway). It's a shooter's backpack after all.
But... it's not all. I also wanted to check how would it perform as a laptop backpack for air travel. Anyone , who had an opportunity to run through the airport with laptop bag on the shoulder, should appreciate a comfortable backpack. So on my very recent trip to Russia (connected flight through Vienna) I decided to ditch my Saddleback Leather Briefcase and use S25 instead. I fitted inside: 15.4" laptop, all cables incl. power supply (all in the weapon compartment), Fuji X100 with accessories, documents, paper magazines, flashlight etc. It was my most comfortable air trip ever, the pack worked great as a laptop carry bag. Also thanks to separate laptop compartment it was very easy to present my laptop for airport security controll and later on to put it back to the backpack. Try this with your regular tactical small pack... I tried it once with TAD Gear LiteSpeed - not as easy. Of course it fits the overherad bin without any problem. But it's been just a backup use for my Cherry Bomb.
Time to sum up. Eberlestock S25 Cherry Bomb is not a cheap bag. For the size it's in fact quite expensive! $250 for 15 ltr bag is a lot of money, more or less in line with packs like Mystery Ranch, TAD Gear, Goruck etc. But it's a very special pack, it's undercover shooter's rifle carry platform, one and only of it's kind! There are some other shooter's bags, but all of them are bigger, more in line with S34 Secret Weapon pack. And Eberlestock S25 is the only SMALL shooter's pack, it doesn't look strange or out-of-place in the city. It looks just good, like 'any other pack'. But it is still equipped with superb harness system, which let's you carry heavy load of weapon, scope, bipod and pile of ammo! It's a no-compromise pack and that's why I really like it. I wanted GUN CARRY TOOL and I got one. For everyday non-rifle use, for Sunday family walk, for laptop carry I can think of many packs, which would serve you much better (Mystery Ranch Spartan, TAD LiteSpeed, GORUCK GR1, Arcteryx Blade 15, etc.). But if your #1 use would be undercover carry of your sub-compact carbine or MP - I cannot think of a better choice than S25 Cherry Bomb by Eberlestock! Highly reccomended in my book. Or should I say... 'Essential'?!
