Maxpedition "Neat Freak" Review

Sproles

Sproles

Joined
Jan 11, 1999
Messages
700
I received my Neat Freak earlier this week and spent some time Thursday night outfitting it. Overall it is a great bag...of course the construction is very well thought out and it is built like a TANK! The size (for me) is just right. Let me tell you the purpose of this bag for me, what I plan on carrying in it and then give you the layout inside.

I work in a corporate environment and carry a leathe briefcase in/out of the office everyday, but there are those things that I really want to have near me. Well, a backpack or similar would not really cut in that culture. I also have the evening/weekend outing wih the family when you never know what you will need or want to help take care of 2 young ones. SO - this is nice to carry the essentials of first aid, lights, multi-tools, wipes, kleenex, etc. So - this bag has fit that bill perfectly.* I have a bigger Maxpedition Pygmy Falcon for the all day outing to the zoo or small hike or etc, but this bag needed to be smaller than that.

So far the bag seems to be very comfortable to carry and I love the handle on the top. That makes for a nice way to carry to/from the house when throwing over the shoulder is not needed. It also look very unassuming when carrying it alongside the briefcase by the handle. If i threw it over the should - it would be a little too tactical for me.

The other application that I will use this for are those weekend trips that you are going to see family or friends and you need one small place to carry the items you never travel without. No matter where I am going overnight, I carry the tool, the knife, the light, small first aidkit, iPod, iPaq, etc. So - I had no easy way of carrying all of those items without packing them in the suitcase (which was not accessible enough in my opinion.) SO - this bag will (once again) fir that bill nicely.

Now - the contents:
Leatherman Xti-charge
Leatherman Charge's extra bits
Inova TL3 light
Leatherman Squirt
Chris Reeve Small Classic Sebenza
Atwood Imp in kydex
various Sharpie markers
a 20' hank of 550 cord
County Comm 1x3x2 clear plastic cases (3) filled with:
-band aids, neosporin, etc
-lighter, cable ties
-Shout! wipes
A 7 day pill reminder filled with meds (you know that Sunday - Saturday pill boxes?)
20gig 4th Gen iPod
iPaq
Super Glue pen
WD40 pen
(going to add) Tide pen
and room to move around and find stuff.

The next thing to add (and will not be shown in the pics yet) is a custom kydex sheath for my:
Sebenza, TL3, Charge, Squirt, Fisher Space Pen and mini Bic lighter that DH is making for me - that will fit nicely inside the bag to keep everything there nice and neat and quickly mobile.

So - overall I give the bag 2 thumbs up!
I do NOT own a Spec Ops Pack Rat to compare, but if you are looking for a bag that could fit a similar "interim" calling, I think that you woul dbe pleased with the Maxpedition Neat Freak.

I DO want to stress that I am missing a few of my current EDC items as they are being carefully laid in Kydex by DH (over at edcforums.com) in a monster sheath (more on that later.) They are:
-Leatherman XTi-Charge
-Leatherman Squirt
-Inova TL-3 light
-Small Classic Sebenza
-Fisher Telescoping Space Pen
-Mini bic lighter

So, all that being said - here are the views and some descriptions:
Main picture of the Neat Freak
DSC01407.jpg

Open - from the top
DSC01402.jpg

Contents - strewn all about
DSC01404.jpg

Some close ups of the small plastic cases
DSC01405.jpg

My "working man's EDC"
DSC01400.jpg

A close up of the "Levenger Folding pocket briefcase"
DSC01401.jpg

The backside of teh Neat Freak and it's various hook&loop features.
DSC01406.jpg



Sproles
 
...I still think you are crazy for selling your Sig!:D

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
...I still think you are crazy for selling your Sig!:D

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...
Thanks Steve - Mnandi look familiar?:rolleyes:

Shaka Shaka!

Sproles
 
I have a female friend on active duty who just raves about the Neat Freak. It seems it is just the right size for her to carry all of her tactical gear. She didn't like the size of the bigger bags as she was already hauling around a lot of gear and kevlar for her size.
 
Is there any way to attach the Neat Freak to a molle panel? Looks from the picture as if those velcro closures could fit in the webbing, though you'd have to mount it horizontally.

I have a Pack Rat, I use it essentially like you use yours: to hold all the things I don't want to be without. Sometimes I just carry the Pack Rat, at work I often drop the Pack Rat into my briefcase, on hikes I drop the Pack Rat into my backpack, etc. The Pack Rat is smaller than the Neat Freak, something to keep in mind. If the usual pattern holds, the Neat Freak will be made out of heavier, more robust nylon. Overall, the Pack Rat meets my needs just fine, and I'm glad it's not bigger or else I'd fill it up and it'd be heavier :) Neat Freak looks great too.
 
Joe Talmadge said:
Is there any way to attach the Neat Freak to a molle panel? Looks from the picture as if those velcro closures could fit in the webbing, though you'd have to mount it horizontally.
Click to expand...

I've got a double mag pouch by them that has the same attachment system:
it's two flaps with velcro, that happen to be 1/2" too short to adequately go through two rows of molle/pals webbing found on most bags, and the little flaps at the top and bottom are velcro tabs ostensibly to fold over the long tabs to help keep them secure. They actually only work on the bottom end of the tabs and the resulting position stands the pouch itself either too high or too low for the position mounted... Easier to see in real life than from my attempt at discribing, but I'm not enamoured with this style mounting... :(
 
Joe Talmadge said:
The Pack Rat is smaller than the Neat Freak, something to keep in mind.
Click to expand...
Joe, according to Maxpedition, the Neat Freak is 9x11x3 but Spec Ops doesn't give measurements for the Pack Rat. Do you have that information handy?

I'm really more interested in an organizer insert for a larger bag, so I don't need more robust construction. My other Spec Ops gear is tough enough. But I'd hate to get something too small.
 
Thanks joeshred.

Esav, I measured and got 10x8x2.5. I also looked at a few sites to see what the retailers say, and not a single one got those same numbers, I saw everything from 10x9x2 to 10x7x2.5. It's smaller and lighter than the Max but not terribly smaller.
 
I've got a pack-rat, too. As to dimensions, Joe just gave 'em, but as to a visual reference: when I use mine, I also usually have a G-23 and an extra mag, extra eyeglasses, as well as a heck of a lot of other stuff... If you want a bag to organize the essentials in, and be able to transfer it from one bag to another quickly, the pack-rat is my recommendation. :thumbup:
 
Thanks. I am definitely going for the Pack Rat. It will easily carry the smaller load I want it for, when I don't need my BOB with me. It's a lot cheaper, too. :)

I am finally getting around to making sense of all the packs and bags I've accumulated. Each of the ones I'm keeping is getting organized around a completely different function, instead of rotating each one for general carry purposes.
 
Dang, Esav... y'all sound like me! Serious bag fetish here, and so far, I do rotate through several.. trying to 'find' the ideal bag... And too lazy to make my own (as if I could,) so I buy anorther one and try again! LOL!!! :D
 
The real problem is not the bags, it's the gear that goes in them. A little while ago, I took out everything, I mean EVERYTHING that I tend to carry always or frequently. Sort of like David did at the beginning of this topic.

I covered my bed with gear.

Now I'm down to an old convertible briefcase/backpack that I keep for NJKCA -- raffle tickets, money (I'm the treasurer), and a few items like pens, reading glasses, and a lot of open space to bring knives for show & tell.

Next, I got a County Comm Bailout Bag for my EDC. it worked great, with so much in pockets on the outside, I could easily reach what I wanted instead of digging in a large internal compartment.

Next I got the updated, latest version CC BOB in desert sage instead of black, for my EDC, and the old black one will now be my emergency services bag -- meds, tools, snacks -- in case I really need to bail out.

That's about it for day-to-day. I gave away a few older bags and I keep a couple of big cases for travel. Otherwise, everything is where it belongs, without switching constantly. The Pack Rat will be the only switched gear, all in one, though.

The Pack Rat is also going to be my lightweight gear bag, for when my shoulder can't take the weight of a full Bailout Bag. :D
 
Quick note: David mentioned the "County Comm 1x3x2 clear plastic cases". These are great. I've got about 10 of them now. All kinds of small stuf from snacks to earbuds to batteries. Tough, handy to pack or stack, transparent so you can see what's in them at a glance. They even have a rough area on the side by the catch, so you know where to open them by feel.
 
This is in regards to the question about how the Neat Freak attaches to belts/molle, etc...
The two tabs located at the top and bottom of the long tabs also allow for mounting vertically. However, neither set of tabs are very functional in respect to the various molle/pals webbing systems due to length issues (and I am refering to how mine actually performs on a Max. pack, the Falcon II), and NEITHER set of tabs are secure enough to retain the pouches under any stress - I could pull my double mag pouch off of the pack with a simple, light jerk.. rrrriiiipppp.. and it's gone... :grumpy: Now, if they made the Freak AND my mag pouch with their Malice clips, I'd say it was a great attachment system...
 
the pack rat is pretty dang cool i like all the pockets on the interior, my fav bag for sure i carry it in my backpack to keep all my little stuff organised, & really like it too,
 
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