It’s always great to hear when gear manufacturers put a priority on soliciting and leveraging feedback from the people who use their products. It’s common and often required for companies with Mil/LE contracts to do that but that’s not always the case in the private sector. So it was great to hear that a new company was taking the concept a step further by crowdsourcing the design for their new Everyday Carry (EDC) pack.
Founder Helm Ashiblie has been manufacturing gear since 1998. Helm’s companies (SERT and Sneaky Bags) primarily focused on the Mil/LE sector but in 2013 he founded a third brand called Alpha One Niner to produce a line of products for travel and EDC. A Kickstarter Campaign got things rolling but rather than designing a backpack on his own, Helm made the shrewd business decision to tap into ideas from the EDC Community. A project was launched with the EDC Forums and their collaboration produced the Alpha One Niner Evade.
Alpha One Niner Evade Backpack
EXTERIOR
The Evade is a 1650 cubic inch (27 Liter) backpack that measures 18.5″ H x 12″ W x 8″ D. The outside of the pack features two elastic Cordura bottle pouches. I know during my time on EDCF, many members complained that their packs had no place to carry a Nalgene-sized water bottle. So both pouches on the Evade are deep enough and can stretch to accept bottles of that size.
There is a compression strap on each side that can help secure longer items if the bottle pouches are re-purposed to carry an umbrella, tri-pod, or trekking poles. The straps have to be unclipped to fully splay open the main compartment but they do not interfere with the admin panel.
The carry handle is lightly padded and it features reinforced stitching. The #8 YKK zippers used for the Evade’s four main compartments are a smaller gauge than I’m used to seeing on a bag at this price point. In fact, I checked and they are the smallest of any pack I currently own (and I have many). Only time will tell if they will hold up to heavy use. Since I prefer glove friendly 550 paracord with heat shrink tubing, I did replace the factory pulls. I had to use gutted paracord due to the smaller sliders.
The back panel is slightly raised and well padded. It’s Cordura and not mesh. I received the pack over the winter so I haven’t been able to test the ventilation during warmer temperatures. But, I’d imagine this pack will run a little warmer – similar to GoRuck bags.
Due to my height, the Evade’s straps were a bit of a problem for me. They can be adjusted for length but the strap pads are 1-2″ shorter than I’d need to avoid having the webbing cut into my sides under heavier loads (15+ lbs). It wasn’t an issue if I wore a jacket under the pack but I definitely felt it while wearing only a t-shirt. When lengthened, the straps also tended to twist like those on the Kifaru Antero – which made mounting the pack a frustrating exercise at times. I believe those of you with shorter torso lengths will have a different experience but if you’re taller like me then realize you could run into the same issues.
Is it a show stopper? Absolutely not. It won’t keep me from carrying the Evade in the future but, if I’m being honest, I will tend to reach for other packs if I’m going to lug around a lot of heavy kit j just to avoid the discomfort. Hopefully, A19 will consider emulating Mystery Ranch by offering different length harnesses as an option in the future. Or simply add an inch or two to the pad so it works better for a wider range of body types.
INTERIOR
As I mentioned earlier, the Evade has four main compartments. The front organizer pocket is stupid easy to reach and has a variety of different sized sewn pockets, a deep zippered pocket, d-ring hanger, and a key keeper to help organize gear. I always prefer elastic loops over dedicated sewn pockets. There’s a reason most of the best admin pouches have them so it continues to mystify me why more pack makers don’t do the same. But, as sewn admin panels go, this is a pretty good one. I was able to find a place to clip my ZT 0350 folder, Sunwayman M10R flashlight, and Leatherman Skeletool multitool as well as the rest of my smaller EDC items.
The main middle compartment, which opens flat, has generously sized zippered mesh pockets and enough volume to store a jacket or fleece.
There are four more d-ring hangers (one on the front and three on the back) that are designed to be mounting points for A19’s Matroskya pouches. They come in a set of four and they’re terrific. I nested the 12″ x 8.75″ and 7.5″ x 5.5″ pouches.
The larger one was a perfect place to store my iPad Air in a ZAGG keyboard case.
I used the smaller pouch for cables, chargers, and headphones. What’s great about these Matroskya pouches is you can pull them out of the pack for ease of access. And at $26 for a set of four, they are very affordable.
The padded laptop compartment will fit up to a 17″ machine. There are also a couple of sleeves to store a tablet, periodical, and/or file folder. The laptop compartment isn’t raised for added protection against drops but the bottom is padded.
The back compartment is fully lined front and back with hook and loop and has ambidextrous two-day zippers on either side for ease of access. It was large enough to mount my M&P Shield and two extra magazines on days when I opted to carry off-body. It could also be used to mount hook and loop pouches for more organization. The panels are stiff enough to carry the weight of a firearm and magazines without a lot of flexing and there’s enough padding to prevent anything stored in the back compartment from digging into the wearer’s back. Easily one of my all time favorite CCW setups in an EDC backpack that I’ve reviewed.
Finally, there is a small sunglasses pocket above the front organizer panel that’s large enough to hold sunglasses or reading glasses in a case.
The pack I received, in solid gray (kind of a dark charcoal Urban Wolf), is part of a new batch in 1000D Cordura. I like 1000D. The real stuff. Not the heavily polyurethane coated nylon that some manufacturers use. I just like the substantial feel to the material and yes – it comes with a weight penalty. It’s kind of the pack equivalent of driving a Humvee when the prudent thing is to go with a hybrid. But life isn’t all about being practical, right? With something like the GoRuck GR1 or this Alpha One Niner Evade, sometimes it’s fun with roll with the Humvee. If you disagree, then A19 does offer the Evade in 500D and 420D Ripstop nylon.
SUMMARY
Pros
External water bottle pockets that fit a Nalgene
EDC friendly organization
Low profile/Non-tactical appearance
Matroskya Pouches
CCW capable
Cons
Straps are short for longer torsos
Smaller gauge zippers
I really liked the Alpha One Niner Evade. This is the pack Kifaru should have built (could have built) instead of the Antero. It’s reminiscent of the excellent work being done over at Vertx. There are some aspects I’d like to see tweaked but overall it’s easy to see the influence that my former compatriots over at EDCF had on the design. The different compartments are laid out in such a way that it wasn’t hard to find my gear. The 27-Liter capacity is large enough to be a capable hauler but still small enough for travel. And the organization can be customized to meet a variety of carry needs.
I was also very pleased with the build quality. Other than the choice of zipper size, the attention to detail was evident. YKK, Duraflex, and WooJin hardware. Everything is reinforced in the right areas. Not a crooked stitch anywhere. Given my experience, I will be looking forward to any future products by this company; definitely a rising star if this release is any indication.
The Alpha One Nine Evade backpack retails for $195 and is available in a variety of camo patterns and colors. Loadedpocketz subscribers can get a 15% discount on any product in the A19 store by using discount code XBB-A19-15 at checkout (good through the end of 2016).
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