We in the tactical community have our priorities ass backwards. We spend the most time and effort researching and buying gear that we don’t use very often, myself included. I love my AR and all the effort I put into picking the right accessories, but lets be honest, I shoot it on a monthly basis. In this article, I aim to review my favorite everyday bag, as well as impress upon you the importance of spending your hard earned money on things that you will actually use everyday.
Let me introduce you to the Black Hawk Block Go Bag.
This bag is my favorite for a number of reasons. The feel is relatively slim and disappears on your back when wearing it for long periods. This bag is very flexible due to it’s molle attachment system. It has segmented pouches to keep your gear separate and organized so you always know where to find exactly what you are looking for.
I attached a BlackHawk Serpa chest plate and holster where one of the larger pouches normally resides. This allows me to carry a full size pistol during the summer when it is otherwise hard to conceal on my person. The holster’s attachment system makes sure that the pistol is always located in the same orientation no matter how the bag gets jostled.
There are many advantages and disadvantages to off body carry, but to my mind, its quite appealing as it allows me to carry what I wish, and I can still access the weapon relatively quickly, with a little practice (strange concept I know).
Another advantage to the bag is it allows me to carry some basic first aid equipment in the pouches. I carry a CAT-T tourniquet, combat gauze, and a pressure dressing. I figure with those simple items I can take care of any emergency well enough until EMT’s take over.
Some other things I can carry include a Leatherman, extra set of ear protection, 550 cord, and a small flashlight. These are items I found myself using the most often out in the field when I was in the Marine Corps and still continue to use them quite often. They’re also small and take up relatively little room in the bag. I often load the remaining compartments with water or snacks if I’m going on a family outing or a day trip.
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- Go Bag
- CAT-T Tourniquet
- Combat Gauze
- Leatherman
- Ear Protection
- 550 Cord
- Serpa Molle Plate
- Flashlight
This is my basic load out and one I have found little reason to add or subtract from for several years. I actually carry this bag on my motorcycle, most often, as it is so compact and streamlined it doesn’t hamper my riding even when riding aggressively. The bag is also discrete and doesn’t scream there is a gun inside. I know, I know, it has external molle webbing which if you read the message boards will scream, “weapon,” or “military,” or “gender confused.” Well I’m pretty sure about the first two, but I’m still not certain about the last (see what I did there? Ah, thank you). Honestly, I cannot imagine a situation where anyone would notice the bag to such an extent that it might make you a target.
Human’s have a natural tendency to observe the person first not their accouterment. I mean, if you’re bent on robbing a store, or casing a joint, you probably aren’t looking around for special backpacks. You are looking for cops, or people that seem to have money that you can take. Trust me folks, most criminals are dumb as hell, they don’t read good or numbers good, like I do. . .
Now this is not to say if you are working an undercover assignment that you should carry this bag, because you shouldn’t, but for the vast, vast majority, this will work just fine.
The bag also has a fairly large external pocket that I usually use for carrying around my beanie baby collection, but it could be used for a hydration bladder (Camelbak) or if you wanted to carry the weight, a ballistic panel/plate. I’ve never done this, but it’s a thing. I suppose it would also be possible to use a molle weapons link attachment and carry a sub machine gun or folding stock short barreled rifle in the bag as well, I’m looking at you undercover folks.
I’ve tried other packs and I’ve found that if I go any bigger they become cumbersome for day in and day out activities. I would also suggest that if you need more equipment than this, your are probably taking to much crap along with you. Remember if it doesn’t taste good, go bang, or stop some bleeding you need to think twice before throwing it in the pack.
