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I've had my eye on one of these for a little while and had to buy one. Ed Hawke makes these and other tactical/rescue/law enforcement nylon goods locally to me. Before anyone asks, I paid full price for the bag and have no stake in whether his shop sinks or swims. I wrote this because I like the bag. No other motive.

 

Hawkepacks' E&E/Bug-Out bag is basically a light carry bag designed for an 'oh ######' type real world application where you need to get gone quickly with a minimum of ###### weighing you down. Bug-Out, or E&E bags, are generally left pre-packed and ready to grab and go. However, in our airsoft application, we're probably gonna just use it as a kit bag in the field. Kifaru makes something similar, albeit larger, with their Tailgunner and E&E Back Pouch lines.

 

I liked this one for several reasons, most of which having to do with the size and features. In addition, Ed Hawke is a hell of a nice guy and builds these things locally, at his retail location in Clovis, CA. I've nosed around his shop quite a bit and his quality is very good.

 

So, on to the bag itself. We've all heard of man purses. This one is quite the MANLY purse. It features MOLLE compatible webbing around the outside and half of the inside of the bag, as well as some MOLLE real estate on the strap pad (of limited utility, granted, since it's one row wide.

 

You can see by the photos that I've put on some Emdom magazine pouches for carrying M4 mags around when it's too hot for the EPC or if I'm using my SP16, which requires that I lug around an HPA bottle/remote setup. Regardless, it's a cool little bag that stays out of the way for the most part and carries a bunch of stuff without covering your torso, which is a big plus around the Central Valley of California in the summer.

 

The flap of the bag closes with a fastex buckle w/adjustable strap (see bottom of bag for female buckle):

 

mini-EEBagFront.jpg

 

Inside the bag you'll see a movable divider. The divider has two open-top pockets suitable for holding small items. The inside ends of the pack feature elastic retaining loops for a flashlight, shotshells, cyalume sticks, etc.

 

In the photo you'll also note a pistol holster with a thumb break. The holster holds my real steel Glock quite snugly and is a nice addition to an already tidy package No, I don't carry a real pistol in games, I mention it to reinforce the fact that the holster is sturdy.

 

mini-EEBagTopDown.jpg

 

The pack can be carried over the shoulder by the Manly Purse strap, or you can stow the carry strap (two fastex buckles to remove the strap, or you can just flip the entire strap inside the pack).

 

Once the strap is out of the way, you can rig it up to your duty belt with one or both of the provided dropleg buckles and leg tiedown. I tried this setup in conjunction with my Battle Belt and found the pack to be a bit too bulky for my liking. The carry options provided by Hawke are pretty well thought-out, however. There's also a 'drag strap' handle on the bag as you can see in the photo. The dropleg hardware and leg tiedown are removable from the back of the pack, if you choose to remove them (I did).

 

mini-EEBagRear.jpg

 

The shoulder strap pad has plenty of MOLLE webbing - although only one row wide - and is lightly padded. The pad slides freely on the strap itself. This adds to the comfort factor as you move - the bag swings back and forth slightly as you move, as you might imagine. The pad allows the strap to move independently of the pad, keeping the movement of the bag from chafing your shoulder.

 

mini-EEBagStrap.jpg

 

Hawke makes a couple of different variants of their E&E packs, including the Escape Cube:

 

http://hawkepaks.com/prod.itml/icOid/205

 

and their small E&E satchel:

 

http://hawkepaks.com/prod.itml/icOid/203

 

I like this item and will use it when lugging around the HPA bottle and/or when the temperature or the game demand I not put on the Eagle Plate Carrier. It's also a nice alternative to a vest even when it's not 100+ degrees out as you can carry just about whatever you'd need for an airsoft game in a small tote.

Edited by Wupjak
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Thanks CZ. :)

 

It's probably a bit on the large side for a buttpack, but nothing's stopping you. It's about the same size as a gas mask bag, and I've seen guys running around with those on their butts as butt packs.

 

@ the Mods, I realized after posting this (and the edit timer timing out) that this might have been better posted in the Reader Reviews section. Please move it there if it is more appropriate there. Thank you.

Edited by Wupjak
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