Maxpedition Neatfreak Organizer - Premium EDC Gear Pouch for Tactical, Outdoor & Travel Use - Compact Storage for Tools, Gadgets & Essentials

Lots’O Pockets I’m a smallish tactical packageI purchased this bag in August of 2010 and it sat unused for a long time until I finally figured out how to properly use it as an EDC bag. It took a long time to get to that point for all of the reasons that people "Con" it. What I found out is that it needs a long break-in time packed tight with a lot of "junk" to expand it along with a lot of human crunching, twisting, and abuse to loosen it up. I removed the middle "flap" and retired it to the closet, making the Neatfreak a LOT less cumbersome.After I got it sufficiently "loose enough," I removed all of the "junk" used to expand it, and realised something that amazed me - my current EDC bag, a fully-loaded I love Maxpedition products and own a number of them, including the Neatfreak, Mongo and Organizer pouch. I thought the Neatfreak might be perfect for my EDC needs, however after working with it for several weeks I did give it to my wife who may be able to make better use of it. The quality of material, construction, zippers, etc...is the customary excellence Maxpedition provides. The issue I found was with the design.First, the size didn't fit my needs like I thought it would. I found it was just too small to rise to the level I needed. I found it really couldn't carry as much as I thought it might. It seems to me that unless you need to carry many small, thin items then you may find this bag a challenge. As with many of the pouch organizers Maxpedition sells, I found that the Neatfreak also suffered from adjacent placement of internal pockets that meet each other upon closure. This problem is exacerbated by the doubling and tripling of pockets, each sewn to the front of the one behind. If only one of those pockets is holding anything of substance it will limit or even eliminate the usability of the other pockets sewn behind or in front of it. In fact, if any of the pockets are filled with anything of substance, the act of closing the bag which meets pockets against each other will require the surrounding material to deform to achieve closure. The deformed material, which contains other pockets and internal spaces, are now no longer able to hold the volume they were capable of and the result is inefficiency and waste. Think of it this way, counting the external front and back pockets, as well as the internal pockets, there are 9 pockets that meet each other vertically that share the 3 inch depth of the bag. That means, on average, each pocket can not provide more than one-third of an inch worth of usable depth if all pockets are to be used. Remember, the denier material the bag is made of does not stretch. It can deform to provide greater depth, but at a sacrifice of surrounding space. I also question the wisdom of leaving approximately one half inch of wasted space on the internal perimeter of the bag, just under the zipper. The interior pockets lack enough material to extend the complete width of the bag from side to side, so this little bit of wasted limbo space exists inside the bag, just immediately underneath the zipper. In practical use this unused space never actually existed for me since the bag was always deformed and taut after closure, but if the bag were to be onl comfortably filled, it would exist. Yes, items could be slid or placed in that space, but they are not secured by anything and risk loss when the bag is opened quickly or at an angle. With respect to the zipper, while it is the customary excellent YKK zipper, it does not encircle the bag far enough to permit lay flat use when open. The shoulder strap is outstanding, if not overkill for a bag of this size.Other design issues included the robust but unusable Velcro strapping on the back and the pocket directly under this strapping which require great effort to access due to the strapping. Besides accessibility issues, I found this external pocket (much like the front mesh pocket) rarely carrying anything due to being stretched so tightly when closed. A pleat on each of these pockets might have helped. There is also a front flap which has very little storage capacity, but ample webbing loops. Attaching any of the other Maxpedition pouches here or onto the rear Velcro straps results in awkward carry and an odd look. With so little useful ability, most people wind up stuffing the flap into the front mesh pocket, thus wasting what storage space that pocket provided.Again, the bag quality is typical Maxpedition excellence, and many people find this bag serves them well. Great! I did not find it fit the bill for me and bought a Mongo, which does serve much more usefully for my particular needs. However I do believe the limitations I mentioned are not unique to me and others would also find that the bag could benefit from either fewer, larger internal pockets or more overall size.I think the Maxpedition guys might've been drinking too much coffee when they drew this bag up. As others have noted, there are lots of pockets for things...but many of them are just too small ! Here are the mods I made to turn it into a tough-looking purse/ outdoors gear bag or possibly a range bag.1. Lose the inside divider...or at least put it away somewhere. Makes for more inside room, as others have noted.2. I took off ALL of the tacticool stuff on the back (Molle strapping etc). If you load this thing up, it's going to be too heavy (IMO) to want to wear on a belt. This mod also makes the back pocket more useful, again IMO.3. The front zipper-flap has this gawdawful velcro patch under the strapping. I don't know what that's supposed to be for. Being handy with a needle, thread and seam ripper, I removed this and then re-attached the molle. This mod I wouldn't attempt if you're not a hand-sewing-type person, but it does make the front flap a little less stiff and cumbersome.4. I cut the velcro straps inside the bag back so they cover only the top two of the small pockets. Stuff in the bottom ones aren't likely to get jarred loose, and if it does the stuff will land in the bottom of the bag.For usefulness it gets three stars. For being Maxpedition tough and in a basically useful form factor it gets another star.SUMMARY: Strong, sturdy, well-made. Provides a mix of fitted and removable/adjustable storage. I bought it as an outdoorsy everyday carry (EDC) and it would've been great but for the very loud velcro and rather loud zips which rule it out for quiet activities e.g. birdwatching or at the dead of night on a campsite. It's now my car's "in case of emergency" bag.GENERAL: The bag sits upright on its own; I have a bag that doesn't and it's a nuisance. Measures 8"(L) x 3"(W) x 11"(H) without shoulder strap.COLOUR: Bought the Neatfreak in black. There's nothing that's tan brown as shown for the black one in the advert photos. The main compartment interior is actually dark grey with white-stitched black edges to the pockets.MAIN COMPARTMENT:1. Zips go all the way round, to give access to as much of the compartment as possible (not all bags do that). You can adjust how far the "clamshell" opens by how far you open the zips. You can't open the bag out flat.2. It has 18 pockets (13 built-in), large and small, different shapes, non-adjustable, non-removable. Large wide pockets: one pocket takes my 7-inch tablet and my Kindle at the same time, both inside hard cases. Several small pockets: ideal for rectangular cuboids e.g. swiss army knife or similarly-shaped multi-tool, small spray bottle, lip salve, rolled-up bandage. There are 3 more pockets which are removable, being on one side of the removable central panel. Two of the built-in pockets have velcro retaining flaps, which I found to be a nuisance in the confined space (they got in the way and kept attaching themselves to things) so I cut them off.3. The removable central panel has pockets on one side and is entirely velcro on the other, being designed for attaching modular Maxpedition items, but really only slim ones otherwise the bag interior gets too squashed. I've found I can attach Maxpedition's Entity Low Profile panel ASIN B079YYS6HR or the Entity Utility panel ASIN B079Z8JSGQ to the central panel as they are both velcro-backed; or place the two (grey) Entity panels back to back in place of the Neatfreak panel. The Entity panels are a bit shorter than the Neatfreak panel and that makes access easier to the Neatfreak's interior.4. Built-in long fabric cord with plastic carabiner/clip for keys etc.EXTERIOR / SECURITY:(i) The exterior material feels strong and sturdy, as you'd expect with Maxpedition quality. It's stood up to a couple of heavy downpours.(ii) Button lock for the main compartment's zip pull - you fasten a popper down over the ends of the zip pulls. The popper is stiff and hard to do up one-handed.(iii) The paracord zip pulls help to give the Neatfreak its outdoor look, but I replaced them with softer zip extenders which I find easier to use when wearing gloves.(iv) There's no security for the bag as a whole but can use padlocks, or like me replace the shoulder strap for one with TurnLocks at each end so you can attach the bag to a stationary object without having to carry padlocks for that purpose.CARRYING: It has top and side handles i.e. a handle on every side except underneath, plus a shoulder or across body carry strap that's adjustable and fully removable; the shoulder/across body carry strap comes with a removable pad to help weight distribution. Shoulder strap's adjusted length is 52" max. and 29" min.FRONT: This has a pocket that's mesh so from the outside you can see what's in it; the height and width dimensions are a good size but you can't get anything thick into it. It has a fold-over lid that incorporates an additional zippered pocket plus two rows of PALS webbing (Pouch Attachment Ladder System) for attaching things using D-rings etc. The rows (or rather columns) on the outside edges are, I've found, a tiny fraction too small to take Maxpedition's tac-ties! Personally I think the Neatfreak's front looks ugly like that, but fortunately it's been designed so that you can tuck the PALS flap inside out of the way.REAR: There's a slip pocket, which takes either a Kindle or a 7-inch tablet. There are modular velcro flaps (strong, very loud velcro) to secure the NeatFreak onto a backpack, leg rig, or tactical vest; I don't use them for those purposes but tried to find a useful purpose and couldn't, so I find the velcro flaps annoying.COMBINED PRO & CONA. The main compartment's zips are quite loud. The velcro is strong and thus secure, but because it's strong it makes an extremely loud ripping sound - not good if trying to be discreet e.g. lecture, birdwatching, on a campsite in the quiet of the small hours, useless for spies.B. Some of the pockets are attached to others which limits them especially as they face each other, so they clash with each other unless the items are tiny. Basically it's a compromise - you may or may not find those pockets useful.C. The external material is too thick to have any "give" should you need it. When very full the bag tends to stick out from my hip in an unattractive way due to the stiff exterior material.D. It shows up dirt easily, but also wipes clean pretty easily. It's a good idea not to let dirt dry on.SPECS NOT ON AMAZON PAGE WHEN I BOUGHT (from Maxpedition):- 1000-Denier water and abrasion resistant light-weight ballistic nylon fabric- Triple polyurethane coated for water resistance- High tensile strength nylon webbing- High tensile strength composite nylon thread (stronger than ordinary industry standard nylon thread)- #AS-100 high grade closed-cell foam padding material for superior shock protection- Internal seams taped and finished- Stress points double stitched, Bartacked or "Box-and-X" stitched for added strength- YKK® high strength zippers and zipper tracks (YKK = Yoshida Manufacturing Corporation, the world's largest zip manufacturer)- Paracord zipper pulls- Teflon® fabric protector for grime resistance and easy maintenanceCLEANING INSTRUCTIONS (from Maxpedition): "MAXPEDITION's nylon fabric is treated with Dupont Teflon for superb water and grime resistance. To clean, simply wipe down with a damp cloth. Allow gear to dry naturally. Do not machine wash. Do not use detergent or bleach."When I found I was regularly putting essential carry items in a carrier bag, or taking a jacket out with me just for the pocket space, I realised I had a gap in my gear list.Maxpedition have provided a shoulder slung kit bag with sufficient pocket and storage options to suit the most eclectic carry needs.In tough black cordura, the bag looks sufficiently rugged to calm the sensibilities of any chap needing to use it.As well as a good selection of internal pouches and securable pockets, the exterior has a secure zipped flap pocket and a mesh covered secure pouch I find ideal to carry my phone so it can easily be heard. Inside a removable load divider either gives extra pockets or tears out for larger general carry space. I can carry an iPad mini and kindle Paperwhite (both in protective cases) with no difficulty at all, alongside my EDC items and multi tool.As with all Maxpedition equipment, carry options abound - adjustable shoulder strap, top or side carry handles, back belt loops and a means to secure to larger bags or a tent pole (?).Plenty of external Velcro and kit loops mean extra personalisation is catered for.To sum up the Neatfreak lets you keep and carry all your kit in one neat and durable package, with the versatility to meet almost any everyday carry need.I am delighted with mine.If you are even thinking something liked this just might be handy, GET THIS; you will not be disappointed.I have a feeling that Maxpedition have carried the design of this type of bag to the logical and sensible limit. They already have a good pedigree and this is a worthy addition to their range. I just get the feeling that if you were able to use all of the pockets and holders that they supply then they weight of the bag's contents might hurt you!I have extended the use by adding a Triad admin module to the front using the useful supplied PALS system making this the ultimate in bags.My only complaint would be the use of velcro on the front pocket. It is noisy when you move and whilst, at my advanced age, I don't have to worry about giving my position away to the enemy, it does interfere with my recording equipment.First rate productIt's like a tardis, you can just get so much in and still get to everything, amazing!I've been trying for a decent edc bag for a while. This bag is expensive but worth every penny. I wish I hadn't wasted my money on cheaper bags previously.I highly recommend this product.