Maxpedition Gleneagle messenger bag review

This will be the second review of a Maxpedition bag here at SCI, and it is a very different product than the Kodiak single-shoulder bag that I reviewed previously.
In my continuing quest to find the ideal EDC bag, and realizing that the Kodiak simply wasn't big enough, I started looking at the various messenger bags on the market, with a specific eye towards being able to not only carry my textbooks but also being able to relatively discreetly carry my usual EDC complement of pistol, magazines, trauma kit, etc etc.
There is a plethora of messenger-type bags available at this time. And I'm sure the number is steadily growing. Lots of uber-tactical looking ones as well, with MOLLE and velcro all over them. I decided I wanted something a little more discreet, although admittedly, the Maxpedition Gleneagle isn't exactly subtle either.
Those who know, immediately see it for what it is, but there are still a lot of people out there that have no idea and just see a messenger bag. But I'll talk about that in more detail a little further on. First, let's look at the specifications as provided by Maxpedition.




Product Features

• Design collaboration with EGL
• Main: 19"(L) x 4.5"(W) x 12"(H), fully lined with loop
• Frontal pockets (2):9"(L) x 2" (W) x 9" (H)
• Sheath pockets (2):1.5"(L) x 1"(W) x 7.5"(H)
• Lid sleeve pocket:18"(L) x 10.5"(W)
• Max. shoulder strap length:62"
• Max. waist belt circumference:62"
• Combat ready tactical messenger bag
• Enhanced for concealed carry and internal modularization
• Zipper on lid allows access to main comp. without lifting flap
• Adjustable 2" quick release shoulder strap
• Adjustable and removable 1" waist belt
• External 6"(L) x 4"(W) loop field for attaching ID patches

Product Materials

• 1000-Denier water and abrasion resistant light-weight ballistic nylon fabric
  
•  Teflon® fabric protector for grime resistance and easy maintenance
• high strength zippers and zipper tracks
• UTX-Duraflex nylon buckles for low sound closures
• Triple polyurethane coated for water resistance
• High tensile strength nylon webbing
  
• High tensile strength composite nylon thread (stronger than ordinary industry standard nylon thread)
• Internal seams taped and finished
• Paracord zipper pulls
• Stress points double stitched, Bartacked or "Box-and-X" stitched for added strength

It should be immediately apparent that the Gleneagle is not a small bag. To say the least. One of the bigger messenger bags on the market right now as far as I've seen.

It is a nice looking bag however and with the exception of the loop field on the lid flap, it doesn't look too tacti-cool. My pardons in advance for the quality of the pictures.

 The front of the Gleneagle. You can see the loop field where I mounted a Milspec-Monkey morale patch. The lid flap locks in place with the two side-release buckles you see on the front. No velcro underneath the flap.

 The back of the Gleneagle. You can see the carry handle and the very sturdy attachment points. Also note the removable waist belt. There is no real way to stow this waist belt. I have merely cinched it almost as short as it will go. The middle panel is open both top and bottom. I  imagine this is meant to facilitate carrying it on a luggage cart or by slipping the handle of a wheeled trunk through. 

Sideview of the Gleneagle. Note that the shoulder strap goes all the way around the bag. Note also that the bottom isn't really flat. Somewhat of an oversight, that, as the bag really can't stand up unassisted. Also visible is the side pocket. This is ostensibly meant to be a suppressor pocket, which I find to be a slightly ludicrous idea. Realistically, the vast majority of Maxpedition customers will never use this feature. A bottle pocket would be a far more useful feature.

Top view. The zipper visible in the picture allows almost instant access to the main compartment. This is the only concession towards making this bag concealed-carry friendly. Having a separate weapons compartment would be much better. Preferably with a bit of padding. 

The inside of the Gleneagle. Note that all the pouches you see are purchased separately and the interior of the bag is completely devoid of any organizational features other than the interior being mostly covered in loop. You can also see on the front of the bag, the slit pockets behind the two main front pockets. I usually carry my netbook in the manner that you see in the picture. It works quite well in that location and as the netbook is sandwiched in between the front pocket and the main compartment, it is quite well-protected.

The inside of one of the aforementioned slit pockets. Note the strip of loop. I have not been able to figure out a good use for that strip of loop fabric. This pocket should have been lined entirely with loop fabric instead.

The inside of one of the two front pockets. Very roomy. You can fit any number of things into these, quite easily. This pocket has trauma gear in it. Note the strip of loop fabric. Again, this is difficult to find a use for. Lining the pocket entirely with loop fabric would be a far better solution and improve the organizational capabilities of the bag immensely.

The inside of the lid pocket. I have sometimes carried papers in here, but generally, I don't find much use for it. 

I ended up getting it in a foliage green, which is a pretty decent color. Not too glaring, not too obviously Desert Tan. It is, as is evident from the pictures, a rather sturdy bag. I doubt that I will ever wear it out. 

The Gleneagle isn't a terrible bag, but it does have several areas that could stand improvement. 

First, the distribution and location of the loop fabric seems odd. The manufacturers specifications state that the main compartment is fully lined with loop fabric. This is a bit of a fib, as only the front and back walls are fully covered in loop. The side walls have each a 4 inch wide strip mounted directly below where the zipper ends but that is it. And the bottom has no loop fabric at all. That doesn't quite qualify as "fully lined" in my book. 

Also, the slit pockets behind the two front pockets, those only have, as seen in the pictures above, a 2 inch strip of loop mounted on the outer side of the pocket. I just cannot think of any use for this as you can't mount pouches to it and it's located right below the lip of the pocket. Bloody useless if you ask me. 

I also think they could have used considerably less velcro for the flaps of the front pockets. The strip is so wide that you can literally pick up a fully loaded bag by the flap alone and the velcro will hold it. This actually makes it difficult sometimes to open the pocket. A strip half as wide would do nicely. Additionally, the inside of the two front pockets have a strip of velcro at the top of the pockets. Just a narrow strip, which I have been unable to find a use for. 

And then there are the "suppressor pockets". Also known as: the most useless pockets ever.

These pockets are long and thin, with a velcro fastened lid. This lid is non-adjustable and the pocket itself has almost no give. It is too deep to stick a regular 2-cell tactical flashlight in, as it would fall out of reach and it is too narrow to use with the larger, multi-cell flashlights. Hell, a regular Maglite won't fit. The only thing I've found to use in that pocket is a set of trauma shears. It works and you can see it in the pictures, but it is frankly kind of retarded. I didn't realize quite how useless these pockets would be, until I actually had the bag in hand. 


Another annoyance is that the flaps that cover the two front pockets do not provide full protection against weather. There is, almost no matter what you might do, a sizable gap where dirt or water can enter the pockets. This is exacerbated if you carry the bag slung across your back. There are also no drainage holes in the bottoms of these pockets, so if you do get caught in a long downpour, expect those pockets to potentially fill with water. Again, this seems a huge oversight on their behalf. You can pretty much forget storing anything sensitive to environmental hazards in those pockets. I live in New Mexico, so we don't get much rain. Using this bag in a place like Washington or Oregon? Fuhgeddaboutit.

After using the Gleneagle for a little while, I realized that it suffered from some of the same issues as the Kodiak and was in dire need of a framesheet to stiffen it up some. The Gleneagle is completely un-padded and it was supremely uncomfortable to use with anything of substance in the main compartment. Like, for instance, a firearm. So, as can be spotted in the pictures up above, I made and installed a kydex framesheet which vastly improved the comfort and usefulness of the bag. This also had the effect of making accessing the contents of the bag easier, as it had less of a tendency to collapse on itself. A strip of kydex in the bottom also helped that some. 

Frankly, calling this bag "combat ready" is marketing hype of the highest order. As is saying that it is "enhanced for concealed carry". 

Now, all this sounds pretty negative, but the Gleneagle does have good points. It is exceedingly roomy. It collapses down in size well when it is not being filled to the brim. It is, like all of Maxpeditions' gear, incredibly sturdy and it looks pretty nice. But it could use any number of improvements in design, which is somewhat surprising as the designer, who owns Extreme Gear Labs, has a reputation for designing very well thought out products. I wouldn't say this is really one of them. To some extent, I think this may well be the last Maxpedition bag that I buy, as I can't really recommend this bag. Just too many areas that need improvement. I will probably keep using it, but that's largely because my wife would kill me if I bought another bag...