Thought I'd do a quick review on the Millican Mark the field bag. I bought this as I wanted something a little smaller than my work bag to take on hols. Didn't need to carry much, camera, sunglasses, some sunscreen and misc bits and bobs. Would use it for the airport so a secure pocket would be good too. Always a big fan of canvas and I'd been poking at the Belstaff, something from Duluth and one of the Timberland earthkeepers. Time was running out so I plumped for a Mark the field bag which came with a free Andy the water bottle (with coupon code!)
The main problem I have with choosing a bag is the gauging the size, it's almost impossible to get it right, it's always a little bigger or a little smaller than you thought. I've tried to put in a few comparisons to help gauge it, if there's anything more you want to see, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Right on with the piccies.
First couple show Mark against the my custom Timbuk2 Classic Messenger Dims for the Mark are 33x27x13cm, 12 LTR, 960 gms and for the Medium Classic Messenger are 49.0x26.4x20.1cm 24 LTR 1.2kg So the Timbuk2 is about twice the volume for only about 250g more. The canvas is good bit heavier. Also in there is my camera bag a LowePro Toploader Zoom 45 AW.
Slight top view with rule
Front view on it's own.
This one shows the shoulder strap which is great, very comfortable, doesn't dig in and distributes the load pretty well. It's not a huge bag so it's difficult to load up too much but water etc is pretty dense. The strap doesn't disconnect but is very adjustable when fully doubled up is just like a long handle. Also shows their nice leather logo and my not so nice one. The bag is closed by two funky looking 'poppers' per strap. When I got these they were ridiculously stiff, so much so, I was worried I was going to rip the bag when I tried to open them but they loosened off pretty quickly to a nice secure snap. Also they're pretty easy to line up to close them and just closing one is still pretty secure.
Lifting the flap
reveals the internal pockets plus the main pocket. None of these are secured but I've never had anything fall out so probably a non-issue. Flipping it over to look at the back;
We have another logo and a nice big pocket secured with a popper. I found this handy for dropping in travel docs etc pretty secure, safe with reasonably easy access. Usual thing with the popper, really hard to pop but slackens off pretty quickly.
Inside view
Looking inside, it's very nicely lined, some nice detailing in there too. From this angle, you can see the divider in the front pocket (bottom right of the piccie) And just make out the secure zipped section. Zip seems of good quality and runs pretty well. Doesn't snag at all either which can be brutally annoying! Two pockets on either end for water bottles or I stick my Ipod in there. Spacious main compartment with a sleeve at the back. I think you'd be struggling to get a decent sized laptop in there, a wee netbook or tablet is fine though. Not specfically padded but the lining is pretty soft and thick and the lack of padding didn't worry me at all. I stuck a grimlock on the label to hang my keys.
This is it packed, standard bike bottle in the end pocket, The Andy bottle disappears so you can just see and grab the neck but this shows the max size. 5x7 medic pouch with usual EDC stuff, folder, torch, sun screen bug repellant, notebook, multitool, travel FAK, some batteries etc etc. Camera bag and Ipad. Plenty room for stuffing a jacket or fleece on top and with the 2 popper holes it does expand a little to accommodate more stuff stuffed on top, like say your wife's jacket....!
Top down view, shows the zipped compartment a little better.
Packed end view, nice detailing on the strap
Packed front view
Packed top view
Showing both bags on me, 6', 42 chest, if that makes any difference
Same but from the side, you can see the bottle peeking through here and also my beergut!
OK now the not so good news. I like canvas, I like the way it ages but this is the bag after about a month and a half.
I'm sure you guys noticed the fading in the pics above and it was pretty much like this after 5 days holiday. I was in Spain, Italy and Southern France and it was sunny all day, every day and it was getting a fair bit of UV exposure but 5 days is a bit too quick to fade like this IMO. Also it's faded only on exposed surfaces and in a kind of ugly way, usually canvas fades nice and gradually.
I didn't want to post this without getting in touch with Millican first and they were pretty good about it. I pinged them saying I think you have an issue with your dyes and they were very straightforward in saying, yep I think you're right! If I'd asked for a refund or a replacement I think they'd have been ok with that too. I'm actually really happy with the bag, I love the colour (but not the fading) and the design is ace, so they have said they are working with a new supplier and will pop me a new bag when they are up and running which will be towards the end of the year.
Millican are big on the environmental side of things and there is some fine tuning going on to match the fabric and the dyes to ensure good colourfastness. Could they have handled it better, not sure, no point in firing me a new green one if it fades the same and I'm happy to wait.
So overall, great bag, not big by any means but well designed, sits well and holds enough for what I want it for. I didn't like the colour of the 'antique bronze' one but it may be a safer bet until they sort out the fastness issue.
Cheers,
Alan
The main problem I have with choosing a bag is the gauging the size, it's almost impossible to get it right, it's always a little bigger or a little smaller than you thought. I've tried to put in a few comparisons to help gauge it, if there's anything more you want to see, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Right on with the piccies.
First couple show Mark against the my custom Timbuk2 Classic Messenger Dims for the Mark are 33x27x13cm, 12 LTR, 960 gms and for the Medium Classic Messenger are 49.0x26.4x20.1cm 24 LTR 1.2kg So the Timbuk2 is about twice the volume for only about 250g more. The canvas is good bit heavier. Also in there is my camera bag a LowePro Toploader Zoom 45 AW.
Slight top view with rule
Front view on it's own.
This one shows the shoulder strap which is great, very comfortable, doesn't dig in and distributes the load pretty well. It's not a huge bag so it's difficult to load up too much but water etc is pretty dense. The strap doesn't disconnect but is very adjustable when fully doubled up is just like a long handle. Also shows their nice leather logo and my not so nice one. The bag is closed by two funky looking 'poppers' per strap. When I got these they were ridiculously stiff, so much so, I was worried I was going to rip the bag when I tried to open them but they loosened off pretty quickly to a nice secure snap. Also they're pretty easy to line up to close them and just closing one is still pretty secure.
Lifting the flap
reveals the internal pockets plus the main pocket. None of these are secured but I've never had anything fall out so probably a non-issue. Flipping it over to look at the back;
We have another logo and a nice big pocket secured with a popper. I found this handy for dropping in travel docs etc pretty secure, safe with reasonably easy access. Usual thing with the popper, really hard to pop but slackens off pretty quickly.
Inside view
Looking inside, it's very nicely lined, some nice detailing in there too. From this angle, you can see the divider in the front pocket (bottom right of the piccie) And just make out the secure zipped section. Zip seems of good quality and runs pretty well. Doesn't snag at all either which can be brutally annoying! Two pockets on either end for water bottles or I stick my Ipod in there. Spacious main compartment with a sleeve at the back. I think you'd be struggling to get a decent sized laptop in there, a wee netbook or tablet is fine though. Not specfically padded but the lining is pretty soft and thick and the lack of padding didn't worry me at all. I stuck a grimlock on the label to hang my keys.
This is it packed, standard bike bottle in the end pocket, The Andy bottle disappears so you can just see and grab the neck but this shows the max size. 5x7 medic pouch with usual EDC stuff, folder, torch, sun screen bug repellant, notebook, multitool, travel FAK, some batteries etc etc. Camera bag and Ipad. Plenty room for stuffing a jacket or fleece on top and with the 2 popper holes it does expand a little to accommodate more stuff stuffed on top, like say your wife's jacket....!
Top down view, shows the zipped compartment a little better.
Packed end view, nice detailing on the strap
Packed front view
Packed top view
Showing both bags on me, 6', 42 chest, if that makes any difference
Same but from the side, you can see the bottle peeking through here and also my beergut!
OK now the not so good news. I like canvas, I like the way it ages but this is the bag after about a month and a half.
I'm sure you guys noticed the fading in the pics above and it was pretty much like this after 5 days holiday. I was in Spain, Italy and Southern France and it was sunny all day, every day and it was getting a fair bit of UV exposure but 5 days is a bit too quick to fade like this IMO. Also it's faded only on exposed surfaces and in a kind of ugly way, usually canvas fades nice and gradually.
I didn't want to post this without getting in touch with Millican first and they were pretty good about it. I pinged them saying I think you have an issue with your dyes and they were very straightforward in saying, yep I think you're right! If I'd asked for a refund or a replacement I think they'd have been ok with that too. I'm actually really happy with the bag, I love the colour (but not the fading) and the design is ace, so they have said they are working with a new supplier and will pop me a new bag when they are up and running which will be towards the end of the year.
Millican are big on the environmental side of things and there is some fine tuning going on to match the fabric and the dyes to ensure good colourfastness. Could they have handled it better, not sure, no point in firing me a new green one if it fades the same and I'm happy to wait.
So overall, great bag, not big by any means but well designed, sits well and holds enough for what I want it for. I didn't like the colour of the 'antique bronze' one but it may be a safer bet until they sort out the fastness issue.
Cheers,
Alan
