On my recent visit to Red Oxx, I picked up the Red Oxx Safari Beanos Bag PR 5.5. I’ve needed a bag for overland vehicle travel for a while now. When room for cargo gets tight, duffels are definitely the way to go. Because they are soft sided, they give you a lot more flexibility to “lego” gear to make use of every inch of available space. And the Red Oxx Safari Beanos is the Cadillac of adventure duffels.
Red Oxx Safari Beanos Bag PR 5.5
The PR 5.5 is 27″L x 11″W x 11″H with a capacity of 53 Liters (3,267 cubic inches). It’s made from 1000D Cordura with heavy-duty nickel-plated and stainless steel hardware. Red Oxx even includes monkey fist zipper pulls.
All of the seams are double stitched and then bound with more nylon for strength and a finished look. The handles are box stitched and reinforced so they won’t tear easily away from the bag. A common point of failure on duffels of lesser quality.
The zippers are YKK #10 VISLON. They hold in place and the teeth rarely separate; even under hard use.
Overall, the bag just screams to be abused. I feel like I should have dragged it behind the truck as part of a torture test for this review. But it’s also a beautiful piece of gear so I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.
The bag I’m replacing is an eBags rolling duffel. It has served me well, but it’s bulky when packed and it takes up too much room in the back of the 4Runner.
You wouldn’t expect everything that fits in the bag on the right would fit in the bag on the left…
But it did. I had to “Ranger Roll“ some of my clothes, which is perfect for an unstructured bag like this one. Ranger Rolling is very space efficient and keeps clothes relatively wrinkle free, although it does work better with casual/vacation type clothing versus business attire.
I also use packing cubes like these TAD versions to organize smaller items like socks and underwear (Red Oxx also makes some very nice cubes).
Sandals and belts fit great in the end pockets.
Additional flat end pockets can be used to store smaller items. Red Oxx includes a nice luggage tag with the Safari Beanos PR 5.5.
To make transport easier, Red Oxx has included some other very nice touches. For instance, if you carry the PR 5.5 with a roller bag, a side zip pass through is provided for that purpose.
The “Claw” Shoulder Strap is padded and of the non-slip variety. I think Tom Bihn’s version is more comfortable but this one does the job very well.
PROS
Premium Materials
Outstanding Build Quality
Durability
Capacity
Included Extras
CONS
Cost
Weight (4.05 lbs)
Overall, I love this bag. Eventually, I plan on getting more for the rest of the family for when we go on our family driving trips. Probably in different sizes depending on what they feel they need and will use.
The Red Oxx Safari Beanos PR 5.5 Bag is available in 12 different color combinations and retails for $205. It can be purchased direct from the Red Oxx website.
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