Pantac Warthog (Black)

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Pantac Warthog Backpack

 

With my coyote tan 3 day assault pack starting to show its age I decided it was time to find a replacement. I was often asked why I wore a brown backpack as a school bag. The reason I used it was because it was a terrific bag. It stored a lot and was really comfortable. It was great for hauling around tons of engineering books, or when I was at work cans full of ammo. With that said it would be a hard bag to replace, would the warthog be a sufficient replacement?

Outside

 

We shall start with the top of the bag because I think it's pretty cool. I had the bag at work and decided to see if a man pack would fit in this bag. Now fitting the radio in most bags is not a terribly hard thing to do. However routing the antenna and headset through the bag is rather troublesome and often requires the bag to be left open at the top. On each side of the top there is a large flap that is held closed by snap and Velcro. This flap covers a hole roughly two inches long and half an inch tall. This means both the antenna and headset can be pushed through. Now you're likely sitting there going that's rather stupid when will I ever use a setup like that in airsoft. You likely won't in fact 99.9% of people who play airsoft would not. This does however mean you can pop a hydration hose through with ease. It also means you won't have to remove the nozzle from the hose to stuff it through a tiny hole. It helps so you can remove the hydration carrier and place it in when you need it with relative ease. At the top is also a one inch wide webbing carry handle.

 

On each side of the bag there are two compression straps which help keep your load from shifting around. Much like most recent bags released by Pantac you have the TAD style webbing keeper at the end to keep strap mess to a minimum. Where the zipper ends you also have a loop for attaching a carabiner or whatever you need to. The loop has a circumference of roughly three inches which is a generous size for random nick nacks. Directly beneath that there is 3 rows with 4 columns of Molle webbing. There is a small D ring at the bottom to aid in attaching a waist belt if needed.

 

The bottom of the bag has 3 rows with 6 columns of molle webbing. In between the rows of webbing there are four grommets to aide in letting water and dust out.

 

The front is covered in two sections of molle webbing. The top has 5 rows with roughly 4 columns each. I say roughly because the bag tapers outwards and the fifth and sixth rows are variable in size getting bigger as they go down. Attached to some of the rows and between them at the top is a large Velcro rectangle that allows in the attaching of name tapes or morale patches. The bottom of the bag has a deep circular zippered pouch. This pouch has 3 rows with the top having 4 columns and the bottom two having 6. This pouch is also attached to one of my favourite features of this bag. It has another zipper at its base. This zipper gets you into the bottom of the bag so that you don't have to take everything out to reach things at the bottom.

 

The arm straps have two D rings on each as well as a nice set of 3ish inch long strap running the length to route hydration or comms. At the bottom of the straps are two quick release buckles so you can drop the bag in a hurry. The straps are also part of the only complaints I have with this bag. The chest strap doesn't physically attach to the bag it relies on friction to hold it on. So unless you crank it down or thread it awkwardly through the d ring it's a relatively big time waster. My other thing isn't really a complaint more of a personal preference. It has these nice looking braided zipper pulls that allow you to have some para cord in an emergency. I prefer the regular single strand with a knot though they feel less clumsy. This seems to be a new trend in Pantac's gear since my MBSS carrier has similar pulls.

 

Inside

 

This section will be relatively short since there aren't a ton of features inside the bag. It has a nice snap right at the top to attach a key ring or other small item to. It also has a single row with 5 columns of webbing at the rear and top of the bag. There is also a nice laptop holder which doubles as a spot to separate your hydration carrier. There is also a nice clear zippered pocket so you dont have to open it and fish around to see what you have stored in it. The bag is missing the regular two loops of Velcro at the top to secure your hydration carrier.

Conclusion

 

The Warthog is a terrific bag capable of adapting to many situations. It can't quite store as much as my 3 day assault bag however it is a bit more low profile. For me this bag is going to be used as a school bag. For the average airsofter it will make a great field bag without making their figure to big when moving around.

 

Pictures

 

Stolen from Pantac since I still don't have my photo setup here.