Maxpedition Gear - thoughts?

[KevinH]

Hey all

Just wondered what your thoughts are on Maxpedition Gear in general? I've just bought a Condor II (foliage green) and various Molly pouches for a daypack and/or overnighter.

Tbh I'm pretty impressed with the quality and love the fact it's modular so you can fit it to suit your needs (although fitting molles properly is pain in the A when you do it properly)

I'm sure this will throw up some interesting comments!!

Kev

 

[Bigfoot]

I have a few bits n pieces of Maxped kit. It's expensive but it's extremely rugged and hardly looks worn after a few years of hard use. I also like the flexibility it offers, it's always well thought out in terms of pockets, attachment points and straps. My one beef would be that for something that's offered for sale in the UK at say £50 will be $50 in the US. So if you are in the States on holiday, pick up some Maxped stuff whilst you are away

 

[Dark Horse Dave]

I've got a couple of their smaller pouches and like them a lot - good and strong, not heavy, quite simple. I think some of their larger stuff looks a bit fussy - too many bells & whistles, as they say, and some stuff looks a bit contrived, but then they are catering for a wide market, so it's good to have a wide product range I guess. Seems reasonably priced for the quality IMHO.

 

[Shewie]

I have a few bits, they've been bought as presents or secondhand off the forums though, I'm not much of a tactical person but the Jumbo Versipack and Rolypoly Extreme are really useful bits of kit.

 

[para106]

I agree - the versipacs & various pouches are very good & bombproof. I wouldn't buy their larger items myself as some of the outdoor non tactical kit is just as good at probably half the price. Only my opinion though as it certainly has it's devotees.

 

[KevinH]

Yeah must admit I'm not really into tactical kit just liked the idea of it being modular and being able to change the pack to suit! If i had looked around a bit more I probably would have gone for a Karrimor pack and saved some doe.

 

[Graham_S]

I've got quite a bit of it.
I use one at work and it's been horribly abused and still looks brand new.

 

[Mikey P]

I have a fair bit of their stuff and it's reliable and robust, well-designed and ... er ... reassuringly expensive.

 

[cbr6fs]

I think it really depends on what you want.

Ergonomically the Maxped stuff is extremely poor, any half decent rucksack will be better after 2 hours hiking than the maxped stuff.
Both weight wise and comfort wise.

If your more into rolling around the woods pretending your a solider then the maxped stuff will take a bit more abuse than the hiking stuff.


The quality of maxped stuff can be a bit hit and miss as well, unfortunately it tends to get a following bordering on fanaticism on many US forums so any problems are shot down or even deleted.




For me, if i'm going on a 2 hour or less walk i tend to through my stuff in my Maxped Jumbo.
2 hours is about the limit for me though with that style of pack, so if i'm walk further i'll use my Osprey pack instead.

Not really into the modular stuff as much of the area i walk is in woodlands so anything sticking out tends to get grabbed by any trees i pass.

So you pays your money and takes your choices.

In the US it's ok, but with UK prices i personally believe there are better (ergonomically wise) options out there.




Cheers
Mark

 

[santaman2000]

I think it really depends on what you want.

Ergonomically the Maxped stuff is extremely poor, any half decent rucksack will be better after 2 hours hiking than the maxped stuff.
Both weight wise and comfort wise.

If your more into rolling around the woods pretending your a solider then the maxped stuff will take a bit more abuse than the hiking stuff.


The quality of maxped stuff can be a bit hit and miss as well, unfortunately it tends to get a following bordering on fanaticism on many US forums so any problems are shot down or even deleted.




For me, if i'm going on a 2 hour or less walk i tend to through my stuff in my Maxped Jumbo.
2 hours is about the limit for me though with that style of pack, so if i'm walk further i'll use my Osprey pack instead.

Not really into the modular stuff as much of the area i walk is in woodlands so anything sticking out tends to get grabbed by any trees i pass.

So you pays your money and takes your choices.

In the US it's ok, but with UK prices i personally believe there are better (ergonomically wise) options out there.




Cheers
Mark

I generally agree with most of your post (except I do like the modularity aspect and the overall security inherent in MOLLE attachment, and I really cain't comment on the quality) But I am a bit confused by the last statement. How is ergonomically different here from there?

 

[cbr6fs]

I generally agree with most of your post (except I do like the modularity aspect and the overall security inherent in MOLLE attachment, and I really cain't comment on the quality) But I am a bit confused by the last statement. How is ergonomically different here from there?

Ergonomically it makes no difference if it's in the US or Europe.
BUT price wise i think that with European prices you can find better ergonomically and comfort wise.
By the time they've travelled to Europe and incurred import taxes they tend to be fairly expensive for what they are IMO.

When i bought my Jumbo i found that they tended to be around £90 in Europe, but $99 in the US.

$99 = £63

So for £63 i think they're still expensive but if you get a good one they'll last and although still poor ergonomically it's toughness and price puts it in a a fair balance.

For £90 though i think there are better products out there like say Osprey.

 

[santaman2000]

Sound reasoning.

 

[Corso]

they are overpriced a little and I find the erganomics and materials on the ridgid side

lots of other options out there if you hunt around

I've recently bagged a Hill people gear daypack wehich is getting rave reviews

 

[udamiano]

the only problem I had was with a pack of theirs I purchased and a month later all the stitching fell apart. I did contact them, about warranty. but never received a reply or even an acknowledgement, so personally I won't buy their stuff, or recommend it again. it was only a response type pack, but i feel that shouldn't matter.

 

[Dark Horse Dave]

the only problem I had was with a pack of theirs I purchased and a month later all the stitching fell apart. I did contact them, about warranty. but never received a reply or even an acknowledgement, so personally I won't buy their stuff, or recommend it again. it was only a response pack, but i feel that shouldn't matter.

Isn't the Response pack made by Snugpak, not Maxpedition? Whoever it was, they should have acknowledged you of course!

 

[udamiano]

Isn't the Response pack made by Snugpak, not Maxpedition? Whoever it was, they should have acknowledged you of course!

it was just the name of the type of pack, but this one was Maxpedition, i think it was part of their waist pack series, I think it was called proteus, and frankly not worth the cost of sending back, etc. yes you think for the sake of an email it would have been just common courtesy, but no, not even an acknowledgement.
I bought it in Scotland when I was last up there. and lost the receipt so.....not much I could have done really

 

[udamiano]

I had a snugpack response pack as well, and the the zip fell off, not the bit that slides, the whole zip, so I'm not doing to good with these small packs. I tend to really use kit, and in my job it gets used hard, not abused, but used hard. and not really found one that steps up to the mark yet.

 

[Trojan]

I have a fair bit of their stuff and it's reliable and robust, well-designed and ... er ... reassuringly expensive.

What he said!

 

[NetFrog]

I've got 5 Maxpedition bags, the Vulture 2, the Malaga Gearslinger, a padded pouch, a larger pouch, and a Octa Versipack. All of them are of exceptional quality and I have had no issues with zips, stitching or whatever. The Malaga Gearslinger has done countless miles on 1 day trips, stuffed to the gunnels and still looks like new, and the vulture 2 has done many walks of up to 120 miles and been a great companion which has been comfortable and well designed for ease of access.

Out of all the forum discussions i have see about maxi gear i have heard the occasional person complaining about stitching, which I think may be down to bad luck, counterfeit gear or maybe I have been lucky? However for every 1 person complaining about the stitching there are hundreds saying the stitching is one of the stronger points about maxi gear. A friend of mine has maxi kit too and has had no problems though so I can only go on the gear we have between us and the stitching holds up better than any other backpack I have seen (for example a friends snugpack is falling apart at the seams)

Pricewise I think their larger bags are very reasonable, at around 100 bucks this is not a lot to spend on something which will last you years and years and is probably going to be the most important bit of kit you own. When compared to bushcraft knifes going for £150 to the ridiculous for a bit of wood n steel I do find it funny that people complain about the price of their packs. However I do find their smaller pouches stupidly expensive in the UK.

Looking at the prices online just now they seem to have gone up a fair bit, but I have never paid list prices for any of the maxi products I have bought and you can usually find bargains on eBay, clearance, sales or whatever.

I'm not a fanatic and I would and do use and buy other makes, but for the quality my opinion is they are virtually unmatched.

Great gear

 

[santaman2000]

they are overpriced a little and I find the erganomics and materials on the ridgid side

lots of other options out there if you hunt around

I've recently bagged a Hill people gear daypack wehich is getting rave reviews

Isn't the ridigity of the materials one of their advantages? At least for the smaller to medium pouches? I haven't actually gotten any yet but was considering a couple for my FAK and personal meds pouch just for that reason (and the internal compartmentalization) I was thinking the rigidity would offer extra protection to the contents. Am I wrong?