u/amoeba1126

Blacked out Zebra Sarasa Grand from the limited edition Monochrome series

Energel is love, Energel is life!

Also, Zebra Sarasa Grand is my weekly tone setter!

• Top: Right Choice Paint Company Ti Frag Bolt Action (Energel)
• Bottom: BilletSpin CamPen Thunderstorm (Energel)

Also, Poke Ball pen holder and leather cover for Midori MD A6 notebooks!

Loadout fom right to left

• In Line Equipment Pocket Organizer
  • Rite in the Rain click pen
  • Olight E3T flashlight
  • CJRB Folding Knife Feldspar pocket knife
• Apple 96w charger with Anker USB-C cable
• Nintendo Switch 2 in Savage Raven case
• Flextail Zero Power 10,000mAh powerbank
• Owala 24oz water bottle
• Travel sized umbrella
• Slim wallet with AirTag
• Bose QuiteComfort Ultra headphones
• 11" iPad Air in Zugu case
• 16" MacBook Pro
• Peak Design Small packing cube
  • T-shirt, gym shorts, boxers, socks
• Hardshell sunglasses case with clip
• Hoodie
  • I swapped out for a lightweight hoodie to better represent a packed lunch
• A5 and A6 Midori MD notebooks

How it was packed...

• Laptop compartment
  • 16" MacBook Pro in laptop compartment
    • iPad can also be put here if you want
  • 96w charger and USB-C cable in tech pocket
    • Can also put powerbank in here
• Water bottle pocket
  • 24oz water bottle
    • You want to put this in first so you can better figure out how to pack out the main compartment
• Main compartment
  • iPad in sleeve
  • Umbrella in inner side pocket
  • Packing cube with cloths on bottom
  • Notebooks on top of iPad
  • Hoodie/"packed lunch" on top of notebooks
  • Headphone case on top over hoodie
• Front quick access pouch
  • Switch 2 case
  • Rolled up pocket organizer with pen, knife, and flashlight
• Latch point
  • HeroClip
  • Sunglasses case
• Side quick access pocket
  • Slim wallet
  • Can also fit keys in here

TLDR: Love the bag, but it has some design compromises that could be a dealbreaker to some and in hindsight, I would have looked to purchase the Rework Outbound instead. Still might, in fact!

The bag being reviewed here is an Able Carry Max EDC in Ocean Blue X-Pac (VX21). I gave my sister my Osprey Comet 30 as her old Swissgear bag (that I also gave her) was finally falling apart. This is the travel bag that I chose to replace it with and also replaces my previous Aer CPP2 Ultra as a weekender bag.

Experience with Bag

• 1 week trip to Taipei, Taiwan
• 1 week trip to Tokyo, Japan
• Weekend trip to Dallas, TX
• Multiple weekend trips to Houston, TX

The Good - What I liked (duh) about the bag

• Ocean Blue is a gorgeous color!
  • I waited almost a year for the restock!
• Reverse coil YKK zippers (no Aquaguard anywhere!)
  • While YKK Aquaguard zippers do not bother me as much as some people, I will always prefer reverse coil zippers instead
• Super comfy wide padded straps
• Hidden backside pocket for wallet/passport
  • Should honestly be mandatory for all bags
• AirTag pocket*
  • Every bag should have one, but more thoughts on this later
• Cavernous duffle-style opening front quick access pouch for quick dumping
  • Why I bought the bag!
• Side quick access pocket with divider
• Lots of discretely placed latched points around the bag
• Removable key leash with multiple attachment points
• Separate laptop compartment
  • Essential if you fly a lot
• Lockable zipper pulls
• Single water bottle pocket*
  • I hate having dual water bottle pockets so loved to see this. With that, some spicy thoughts about this water bottle pocket later.
• Hanger loop in addition to beefy top handle
  • Great feature to have as it allows you to easily hang your bag on ooks such as at hotels or in bathrooms
• Tan interior ripstop lining
  • Sick of orange!

The Bad - What I disliked but understood

• No front admin panel
  • Really hurts the EDC aspect of this bag and a dealbreaker for me in using this as an EDC/work bag
• Rear hidden pocket is a tight fit
  • Getting the passport or wallet in and out was annoying
• X-Pac VX21 fabric
  • I wished ripstop fabric came in Ocean Blue as well
• A-frame design limits what you can pack into the main compartment
  • As a result, this bag gives you the feeling that you cannot pack as much into it despite the advertised 26L capacity. Looks great though!
• AirTag pocket is very wide and has spacing between Velcro clasp points
  • This pocket is obnoxiously wide and only has Velcro in 2 sections to keep it closed. While admittedly not likely due to the tightness of the pocket location it's located in, you can still run the risk of the AirTag slipping out of this dedicated pocket.
• Horizontal luggage passthrough
• No center air channel to backside padding to increase breathability
• Magnetic sternum strap

The #$%&-ing dumb! - What I disliked and don't care to understand

• Interior water bottle pocket
  • While I love ethat there is only one water pocket, Able Carry chose to make this an internal one, meaning it eats into the main compartment. This was primarily a form over function design choice too to keep the minimialistic appearance of the bag. This means that if your water bottle leaks, it will pool inside that pocket without you knowing and inevitiably leak into your main compartment. A better solution would be to simply have the pocket zipped up to hide it when not in use but let you expand it outwards when using a water bottler via ultramesh and have X-Pac line the side facing the main cmpartment instead.
• No sunglasses pouch/top quick access pouch
  • As someone who brings their Eagle Eyes fiton sunglasses everywhere, this was something I sorely missed on the bag and a contributing factor of why I may sell this bag for a Rework Outbound. I put on my sunglasses every time I go outside, so not having this as an option is another huge factor in why this will never be an EDC bag for me. Thankfully, I always carry around my Rework Toshi v2 2.5L sling bag with me when traveling and that DOES have a sunglasses pouch.
• No dedicated pen pocket
  • Really, Able Carry?! How hard would it have been to put a pen pocket in the front QAP or even a holder in the tech pouch of the laptop compartment? The lack of one was the final nail in the coffin for me regarding why this bag just sucks as an EDC/work bag for me personally.