Kit Up! was provided a T&E sample of the new Tyr Tactical E&E bag for a review. Rather than wax poetic from our desks about the bag, we sent it to our friends in Rivron 3, Det 1 -- the River Raiders -- for a full on test drive. Here's what one of their top NCOs sent back to us.
I didn't really use this as an E&E bag instead I used it as a boat bag and opfor bag.
After going through constant "it's not a purse it's a satchel" and " Indiana Jones had a satchel" jokes I came up with some positives from using the bag.
It has more than enough space for all my mission things. The mag space is real nice and it allows me to lighten the load seeing as most of my shooting is off the boat. It's nice to have those three mags handy for myself or any other of the crew that needs to pull from there.
The radio section is perfect when I'm on the move pushing opfor units around and timing ambushes. It's out of the way but close and accessible if I need to flip freqs while I'm face in the map.
The map flap is the real nice thing because I don't have to worry about it flying off the boat while working off it at high speed. I do wish there was a zipper so I can remove it and take it elsewhere on the boat or have guys gather around for a frago. I will start putting my maps in water proof bags because it repels a little water but when it pours it's done and you have a shredded map.
Most things are made for the desert and dryer highlands, the rain is rarely a consideration in most tacgear coming out today.I can see why, but there are OPs in some areas where torrential rain does exist.
Another thing I would've liked to see is clips that allow you to remove the shoulder strap completely, mostly because I was using zip ties to lash it to the boat. There's a bit too much strap. A minor complaint. But the belly strap came in handy to secure the bag to the boat.
Also, we had to cut a port hole a little bigger to get a hand set to pass through to the outside of the bag.
Honestly my opinions are based on this being a tactical boat bag, which no one makes. We have a lot of homemade things but this comes the closest to an actual Riverine bag that we would like to have. It would just need a few tweaks.
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-- Astroman
