Maxpedition Fatboy Review --- By: jtice

[Joe Talmadge]

Hey, interesting Fatboy update:

As we know, the Fatboy is the best manpurse going, but it's still a manpurse. Don't know about you, but my wife teases me mercilessly about it. Well, this weekend, I was wearing it when we went out with my 18-year-old stepdaughter. I expected to get shredded when she saw the Fatboy for the first time. Instead she just looked at it and said, "cool bag." Ah, she must just be setting me up for the kill. "You think this bag is cool?", I ask incredulously. "Yeah, lots of people wear those at school." "Wait, they were bags JUST LIKE THIS at school?"

Well, as it turns out, they don't wear Maxpeditions at school, but the cool bags to carry are messenger bags. When she looked at the Maxpedition, she didn't see "manpurse", she saw a messenger bag, since it's slung across one shoulder. So, you just need to hang out with 18-year-olds, and you won't get any manpurse snickers!

 

[Sway]

[ QUOTE ]
this_is_nascar said:
Sway, which phone pouch did you add?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ray I got the #0101 CP-M Medium Cellphone Sheath fit's my Motorola V600 perfect.

Later
Sway

 

[LukeK]

Wow, that's a nifty looking purse you have there ticey. Errr I mean....not purse.....

......manbag. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif It actually looks very useful indeed.

 

[this_is_nascar]

[ QUOTE ]
Sway said:
[ QUOTE ]
this_is_nascar said:
Sway, which phone pouch did you add?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ray I got the #0101 CP-M Medium Cellphone Sheath fit's my Motorola V600 perfect.

Later
Sway

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks. Any suggestions as to where to purchase it online?

 

[SMcGill]

I got my Fatboy, M-2 pouch, and a CP-L to hold my Yaesu VX-5 handheld transciever at Tadgear. The CP-L was backordered, and is on its way now. I want to attach the M-2 and the CP-L to the attachment points on the bag (below the key clip and on the side zippered pouch). When the Fatboy and M-2 arrived, I realized that the M-2 didn't have any fasteners to attach it to the Fatboy, only loops for alice clips. So I called up Tadgear, and had them add 4 pack of tactical tailor malice clips to my order. Hopefully these will allow me to attach the M-2 and CP-L to the Fatboy. How do you guys plan to attach your CP-M to the pack?

 

[jtice]

TIN, I have found that the Maxpedition products are always the same price everywhere.

I trust Tadgear.com myself, they have alot of Maxpedition stuff.

 

[Joe Talmadge]

SMcGill,

Yes, the malice clips will let you attach something to the Fatboy, even if it only has loops. I use the malice clips to attach the roly poly to my Fatboy.

Joe

 

[Sway]

Tadgear or Opsgear prices are about the same both provide good service.

Later
Sway

 

[BigHonu]

Doesn't CountryComm carry the full line also?

 

[jtice]

I think CC just has the Proteus, Fotboy, and a couple of the M pouches.

 

[Spudman]

I'm hoping Frank will run a CPF special on the fatboy. All this reading about them has made me want one. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif

 

[TOB9595]

[ QUOTE ]
BigHonu said:
Doesn't CountryComm carry the full line also?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that they have em all if you call.
Best prices cause no ship charges. over $50
Tom

 

[Joe Talmadge]

I've been to CountyComm, they've got pretty much everything. Last time I was there, I picked up a roly poly and the Maxpedition laptop case. Gonna go there to check out the various backpacks next, they had most of 'em from what I saw

 

[rfdancer]

[ QUOTE ]
this_is_nascar said:
By the way, those $5 County Comm sheaths attach very nicely to the FB shoulder strap. I have (2) attached to mine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you have a link for this? Is it a light sheath or a knife sheath? I can't find ANY $5.00 sheaths.

 

[this_is_nascar]

Richard, look for the Inova light holster.

 

[Lumenous]

jtice,

This is a great review. I've been looking to get a Fatboy for a while now. I'd like to ask you a question, how do you like carrying the Fatboy like you are in pic # 14? Is it comfortable?

Thanks!

 

[jtice]

Lumenous,

Yes, I wear is hanging off to my right side,, strap on left shoulder.
It feels best, when the bag is slightly behind the hip. Not directly beside you.

Yes, it is very comfortable, even with a good bit of weight in it.

 

[glock_nor_cal]

I didn't really care for the fatboy. it wasn't big enough to carry a school book or notebook in.
The strap was extreemly uncomfortable, even with the "padding" thing they put on it. I didn't find it very useful, I sold mine.

 

[kevindick]

I use a BlackHawk Nytaneon strap pad on my FatBoy. It makes it a lot more comfortable.

 

[DaveT]

Hi all - jtice, great review. I'm a true believer - I've had mine since last fall sometime, and love it. I've heard others echo my main complaint - I wish it was a little bit bigger - I really would like to be able to carry a notebook and/or a full-sized hardback book in it...since I've converted to a Fatboy, I'm limited to reading nothing larger than a mid-format paperback (about 8.5 inches by 5.5 inches roughly). But, maybe Maxpedition is thinking that that size would make it a common messenger bag? I don't know - but I do wish they had a Fatboy format bag with a bigger main compartment.
But, in some ways that's a good thing...I had an LLBean bookbag (Turbo Transit) which, while being huge, is so poorly organized and sloppily large that I was carrying tons of crap I didn't need and yet it felt huge and bursting at the seams. I've trimmed down my EDC a lot with the imposed size limit, and it has most of what I really want (or can be added to the pack).
I got a pre-belt anchor version - that would be handy, because it will bounce annoyingly if you run.
I added an M1 (medium) Maxpedition pouch to the strap below the keyper clip - I don't think I'd want to attach a larger item to a Fatboy. And I didn't need a Malice clip to attach it to the hardpoint - the version of M1 I got has two snap loops to make the attachment.
I then bought a rolypoly to carry a water bottle, and could have sworn their web site didn't tell malice clips were needed...anyway, I haven't been able to attach it yet, and it will probably be a while before I can justify another countycomm order. Sigh.
And, to comment on a couple other posted comments/questions others had:
1 - When I first bought it, I thought it might be a big deal that it's set up to favor a "right-handed" carry - strap sitting on left shoulder, bag at right hip. However, I really like it this way, and even though I tried swapping shoulders occasionally in the beginning, it's small enough you probably won't overburden yourself to the point you need to swap sides to avoid sore shoulder/back.
Also, I agree with jtice that the most comfortable spot to carry it is riding just behind the hip. Sometimes I like to push it around so it's riding on the small of the back - especially when going through crowds, etc. When sitting on the subway, I have to swing it over between my legs to make enough room for others, although on a wide seat it can sit next to you.
2 - That pouch Richard was looking for - countycomm has the Inova-sized pouches and the larger (countycomm's own magazine pouch) that will hold larger 2-cell lights like the Pelican M6/Surefire size lights - and it's also $5. Can't go wrong with those pouches.
3 - Sway - as far as the cell phone pocket, I read somewhere that someone used a piece of stiff foam to fill the space at the bottom of the pocket so they could access their flip phone. I think Maxpedition might do well to offer the Fatboy with another anchor point where the phone pocket is, so people can carry whatever there...but then you're stuck needing a lot of optional stuff to do what it does now.
Anyway, great product, good observations from everyone.
Dave