Chrome Industries Bravo 4.0 Backpack

The Chrome Industries Bravo 4.0 Backpack is a very rugged, water-resistant and usefully sized bit of kit with good internal storage and stylish looks. Unfortunately, it also looks very expensive against the competition.

> Buy now: Chrome Industries Bravo 4.0 Backpack for £153.50 from Santafixie

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With a capacity of between 24 and 35L – depending on how tightly you roll it – this a very useful size, and its internal organisation is similarly useful. There’s a padded sleeve for laptops up to 17in, plus zipped internal pockets, open internal pockets, zipped external pockets, a side-entry phone pocket, water bottle pockets…

You even get an X of adjustable straps for lashing things on (a fresh supply of pockets, perhaps) should you somehow run out of pockets.

Much of this wonderful pocketry is inside the big external pocket (under the flap), along with the laptop sleeve; useful, as this way the big main compartment stays simple and open, and you don’t have to dig into all your wet, smelly clothes just to retrieve your laptop. Quite what you’re doing with such things on this trip, however, I don’t know.

I like the fact this is properly box-shaped – it’s easier to get everything stuffed in than with regular, circular cross-section rucksacks.

Sad you can’t admire all those pockets properly? You can! The front panel unzips down both sides to let you view and access everything stashed behind.

Outside on the front, the X-shape straps end with strong metal hooks, which means they’re easy to release or even remove entirely. Similar hooks secure the main roll top and the large, expanding external pocket, and the latter has various webbing loops for securing the protective flap tightly however full you stuff it.

Have I talked about pockets enough for the word pockets to start sounding weird yet? Pockets.

One drawback of the layout is that your expensive laptop is not inside the roll-top compartment, but relying instead on the flap to deflect water coming in from above. Similarly, the zipped phone pocket on the side – complete with useful cord for helping you grab the zip pull – is not totally sealed, as the zip isn’t waterproof. In both cases, however, it works just fine in the real world. Assuming you’ve zipped the zip and snugged the flap down tight, you’d need a really serious and prolonged downpour – and a lot of spray from weird angles – for any electronics-threatening dampness to get in.

The fabric beads water up so it rolls off quite quickly, though the straps and back inevitably get soggy in the end, which doesn’t make them any lighter.

I even tested this under the shower for five minutes, and all that happened was my wife kind of froze halfway through the door and slowly backed out again. This job. Seriously.

The bottle pockets look like they could do with drain holes, but even the unrealistic drenching in the shower didn’t cause issues there.

On the other side of this bag – let’s call in the non-pocket side – you get a comfortable pair of broad, padded straps and a knobbly foam panel intended to encourage airflow across your back. It helps a little (and it sits well thanks to cutouts for your spine), but this is still a broad, thick-walled bag that’s destined to trap heat pretty well. The panel does at least lift the bag’s edges away from your back, though, reducing the area usefully.

Those main straps have a smaller chest strap that very effectively keeps everything secure as you ride, but no waist straps. I didn’t miss them at all, personally, but some riders seem to like them. The main straps also have reflective stripes and long strings of webbing loops for attaching yet more cargo and extras, such as lights, carabiners, shotgun shells, first aid kits, Blue Peter badges, a whistle for attracting attention in the unlikely event of a landing on water, and grenades.

Yes, some of these are guesses, but ask yourselves: which ones?

All these features, plus the heavyweight ripstop fabric and chunky, padded construction mean the Bravo 4.0 is pretty heavy – just under 1.3kg before you even put anything in it. On the plus side, it’s also quite happy to carry some very heavy loads. It feels very tough, both in a ‘seams won’t fail if I pack my anvil’ kind of way and a ‘won’t rip if skidding down the gravel like an unopened parachute’ kind of way.

Its unladen weight isn’t excessive for this kind of bag, to be clear, but it’s worth remembering it’s hefty. If all-up weight might be a problem for you, something like the simpler Elops dry bag mentioned below might suit you better.

Value

At £221 this is expensive. For instance, the Craft Cadence Cycling Backpack Roll Top Waterproof is very similar in size, design and weight, but less than half the price at £99.99. Stu rated it highly for its tougness and organisation.

Meanwhile the Elops Cycling Backpack Speed 520 is also roll top (with a waterproof side zip for easy access), cheaper still at £69.99 and Laurence liked it. It doesn’t have the same level of internal organisation, though it’s also considerably lighter at 880g.

Overall

This is a very tough, smartly designed bag in a very versatile size – it should earn its keep for many years and in many outdoorsy scenarios. Unless you’re really smitten with the looks, though, it’s hard to get past the high price, or to ignore the many similar packs that do much the same thing for considerably less.

Verdict

Tough, comfortable and very capable – but it really needs to be given the high price

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