Uncommon Breed Gym Bag

I was given the opportunity to do a product review on Uncommon Breed’s duffle bag. However, it isn’t what you’re picturing when you think of a duffle bag.  Those of you with military experience are probably picturing that green sea bag, and those of you without military experience are probably thinking about a mysterious black bag filled with money or drugs as seen on your favorite suspenseful TV drama. Well this isn’t that.

When the bag arrived I found myself scratching my head in wonder. I thought the bag would be too small to fit my usual daily necessities; i.e. my gym gear. Oh, my friends, how I was mistaken. Though I had a new revelation about how great the bag was I owed it to you, our readers, to find a way to analyze, test and quantify the results. Because I am a giant nerd, who happens to be able to shoot guns and lift weights, I came up with a simple three step test.

Step 1: Analyze the composition of the bag. The goal of this step was to take a look at the layout of the bag, stitching, pocket locations/construction, and the general layout of the bag.

The bag has the usual tubular design, however it is deceiving in size. It looks small but I was surprised by how much stuff I could pack in it. (See step 2)

The layout of the bag is excellent. The two additional pockets are zippered on the exterior but sewn to the interior in such a manner that they can hold a lot but they don’t take away from the interior stowage. There is a third pocket, sewn to the interior in such a manner that it hangs. I have not had a problem with this pocket getting in the way while taking gear out of the bag and have also found that a Springfield XDS fits perfectly into this pocket.

The stitching on the handles is reinforced but the handles could be beefed up to make them more comfortable to hold. The shoulder strap uses plastic clips which appear to be the only weak point on the bag. One of the side pockets has the company logo above it and the other side pocket has a Velcro area (hook pile tape, for you jumpmasters out there) that you can throw a patch on in order to make the bag more individual. Personally I recommend ordering a SpotterUp patch, they are bad ass.

Step 2: Load, use and abuse bag. Utilizing a 2 week period this bag was put through the usual experience of a gym bag to see how it would hold up.

My daily contents of the bag included:

Olympic lifting shoes, Memorial Wraps Wrist Wraps, Rogue lifting belt, 2x lacrosse balls, lacrosse ball peanut, 2 x shakers, jump rope, lifting straps, shorts, t-shirt, 2 x pairs of socks, knee sleeves, Nalgene, 2 x voodoo bands and MobilityWOD ball.

Additional gear on different days included:

BCAA container, Springfield XDS + additional magazine (internal pocket), and ream of printer paper (long story).

I carried this bag every day for two weeks to the gym, to work and home again. It rode in the pick-up bed while flanked by a loose spare tire and tire-jack most days or on the floor of my car other days. During the course of the two weeks the bag was dropped, thrown, dragged and bounced around on rough surfaces repeatedly.

I expected to see worn stitching, some threads coming loose or even small tears. At no point in time did I gingerly put the bag down in such a way to try to protect it. I treated this bag as if it was indestructible and it held up.

Step 3: The Team Test. Getting external perspectives on the bag.

Ultimately you need something that is functional and looks good. So this test involved getting additional opinions of the bag. Overall, most people liked they bag and asked where to get one. If you fall into this category you can head over to www.uncommon-breed.com to check out the gear they have.

Even though this was a rather straight forward product review it turned out to be a well-crafted, well thought out bag that saves space yet still carries a ton of stuff.  If you are in the market for a new gym bag, or gear bag for the team, go check out Uncommon Breed.

Pros:

• High quality stitching
• 2 x exterior pockets, 1 x interior pocket
• Looks small but fits a lot
• Interior pocket fit my Springfield XDS perfectly
• Holds up well to abuse
• Durable construction

Cons:

• Plastic clips for shoulder strap
• Handles could be beefed up a bit

Functionality: 4/5

Weight: 5/5

Durability: 5/5

Cost: 5/5

Comfort: 5/5

Overall Total: 24/25

Material Disclosure

I received this product as a courtesy from the manufacturer via Spotter Up so I could test it and give my honest feedback. I am not bound by any written, verbal, or implied contract to give this product a good review. All opinions are my own and are based off my personal experience with the product.

*The views and opinions expressed on this website are solely those of the original authors and contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of Spotter Up Magazine, the administrative staff, and/or any/all contributors to this site.