Camelbak Motherlode - Multicam
[CB-MOMC]

I purchased a Camelbak Motherlode 500 daysac some months ago and after some heavy use including several exercises and 2 military parachute drops I have come to the conclusion that it is quite possibly one of the best daysacs on the market at the present moment in time and certainly the best I have owned. To review this item properly I am going to break down it down into different parts and go into some detail about each bit.

The camelbak motherlode 500 is made from 500 denier cordura which means it is somewhat lighter than other materials used in the construction of other daysacs, at first i was quite sceptical about this as i believed that having a thinner material would make it more prone to damage. However my fears were not founded because as of yet the Daysac has no damage to the material what so ever, it is also quite waterproof during use in a heavy period of rain the Daysac was only very slightly damp inside. The stiching seems good throughout and where the shoulder straps are attached to the main part of the pack there is no visible damage which is good as i have carried some quite heavy kit in the Daysac. I mention this because on previous camelbak daysacs i have owned i found this to be a weak area where the stiching has started to come away after carrying heavy loads, however it seems to have been resolved on this model. Overall the Daysac is well made and will take alot of punishment (comparable in quality to a Berghaus Munro) and i would imagine the user would pile in days before the Daysac !!!!

This Daysac has the ability to swallow kit up with a massive main compartment and loads of other smaller ones. The addition of a fleece lined optics pouch i think i was of the best upgrades from other camelbac daysacs and i have used it on many occasions. I'm not to sure about the smaller fleece pouch on the top of the Daysac but i would imagine that there are others that would find a use for it. The front pouch is very big and inside it is divided up into other smaller sections which are handy for storing smaller items in such as spare batts/med kit etc. I think this Daysac is the perfect sice for anyone working in a dismounted combat role as it has enough room to carry all the kit needed without being to big thus giving you the temptation to overfill it.

Now i come to the only downside to this item...the price. I purchased mine for £150 which seems to be about as cheap as you can buy one of these daysacs, the price does vary on what colour you get with Multicam being the most expensive. But i was willing to pay this as i believe it will pay for itself and so far i have been proved right, although there are similar items on the market for half the price i don't think they will be of the quality of this Daysac. My only advice would be to shop around before you buy one.

I have used this Daysac on top of the issued and somewhat bulky bodyarmour and i was very pleasently surprised. The shoulder straps have plenty of play in the and fitted even when I had warm kit and body armour on. I did find the chest strap very useful as it stopped the straps slipping off my shoulders which i do feel they would do if i wasn't using it. The back is well padded and more importantly well ventilated compared to earlier camelbaks. There is a small non slip bit of material on the bottom of the rear section which is supposed to stop it slipping on your back, to be honest i think this is a bit of a gimmick but i suppose it can't hurt.

In conclusion I can't really fault the Camelbak Motherlode 500 daysac, it is light years ahead of anything that is currently on issue and better than alot of others on the market as well. Due to the way it is made it is comfortable to use wearing bulky body armour which in this day and age is very important. It's large capacity and well thoughtout pouch configuration is a real plus and there is easily enough room to carry all the kit needed on ops these days. I would recomend this Daysac to anyone in the military and personally i am very happy with my purchase.

Daywalker @ ARRSE

Date Added: 08/10/2010 by Arrse Reviews