When you walk down the street and see something that catches your eye, whether it is a bike in the window at your local shop or that ice cream cone the kiddo is eating on a bench, you likely do a double take. This is exactly what I did when my eye first caught a glimpse of the Restrap Saddle Bag. I instantly thought of a laced brooks saddle – a similarity to the elegant saddle bag that caught my eye. What I thought was just a piece of art turned into a functional bag made by a brand that just launched their new series of bags called the #CarryEverything range. Restrap started 5 years ago focusing their time and energy on redesigning the pedal strap. Since then they have moved onto backpacks and other small accessories. Their crew of 5 employees make all of their bags in a 200 square foot workshop in Yorkshire, England. While they started with accessories, and have since moved on to bags, Nathan Hughes and his crew have seen the growth and potential in bikepacking so they decided to devote their time to bike luggage. I got the sense from Nathan that they really take pride in their developments and make sure every stitch and feature is functional and esthetically pleasing. 

Saddle Bag – £89.99

photoshoot01_42 They started prototyping their saddle bag one and a half years ago, testing, tuning and tinkering to make the best possible product. After 25 prototypes, changing shapes, designs and sourcing materials, the Carry Everything Saddle Bag was born. Nathan stated that “we didn’t want to release a generic saddle bag,” and that statement holds true with the paracord holster design. While many bikepacking manufactures are using lightweight fabrics, Restrap went with a heavy duty military grade Cordura to ensure the bag is built to last. The holster itself comes with a hard casing making for easy installation and removal of any 8-13 liter dry bag (not included). The bag is then secured with Restrap’s proprietary magnetic buckle, which is said to be easy to adjust even with your gloves on. Another thought behind the design was to make sure the bag was made with a number of fail-safes that can keep your bag functional after a piece breaks. While manufactures know it is never good when something breaks, it’s good to know there are people thinking about it, and have a simple on the road repair without extra materials.

Bar Bag – £54.99

photoshoot01_24 Similar to there saddle bag, the Restrap Bar Bag is a holster system that carries a 8-13 liter dry bag (not included.) This system is made for easy installation and removal of your dry bags and contents without unstrapping the entire bag from your handlebars. The holster bag was also well thought out as Restrap made sure the bag would function with ridge and suspension forks as well as a variety of different bikes, which Nathan said was not easy to design. Like the saddle bag, the bar bag is also made up of a 1000D military-grade Cordura and nylon webbing for durability and ease of use. It also comes with a unique magnetic attachment point for the food pouch – a bar bag add on.

Frame Bags – £39.99 to £59.99

photoshoot01_29 The final piece of the Carry Everything product line is their frame bags. Three different sized bags are available to make sure the proper bag fits your bike. Each bag is made out of a 1000D Cordura outer and VX21 fabrics including waterproof zippers. Rubberized Velcro straps provide a snug and secure fit while minimizing wear on your frame. The bag also comes with an internal mesh pocket and dynamo cable slot to accommodate the popular generator hubs. All of the Restrap Carry Everything Bags are made for off road travel in mind, yet work just fine as an alternative to racks and panniers on your next tour. While the holster bags do not come with a dry bag, they do sell 13 liter Ortlieb Dry Bag –  for £9.99 ($15.67) on their website, or if you already have a 8-13L bag, that would work just fine.

Restrap started to ship their first batch of #CarryEverything Bags world wide last week, to order yours head over to their Website. Stay tuned for a full review.

 

21 Comments

  1. Pingback: Interbike 2015 - Day One Roundup - Bikepackers Magazine

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *