RBK 5K Bag: Money bag, or bag-o-crap?
Written: Oct 25 '05 (Updated Jul 16 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Well made, sharp looking bag with good straps
Cons: Pockets are too small to be fully functional. Disposable quality
The Bottom Line: This is a well made bag, but the design makes it far less useful than other 40X16X18 bags. Explodes after a few months.
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| puckmugger's Full Review: RBK 5K Hockey Bag |
So I needed a new bag you see . . .
I don’t know if it’s me being hard on my bags, or if it’s just a fact of hockey. It seems like I go through about a bag a year. Maybe it’s just because I like to see how much crap I can force into them. I don’t know. Surprisingly, the old Itech 1800 bag had actually made it through a number of seasons before the end pocket zipper screamed, “ENOUGH ALREADY!” and gave up the ghost. A few weeks of substituting a safety pin was enough or me. I broke down and ordered the RBK 5K along with the other gear that I needed.
Why the 5K?
There were two factors that I was looking at. The first was that I wanted a bag with skate and end pockets (sadly the end pockets are the skate pockets, more on this later). I also wanted a cheap bag. Hey I know it’s probably only going to last a year, why drop a bundle on it.
The fact that it was RBK might have been a small bonus. I want to review more RBK stuff, and it isn’t like you get much feel for how a bag works by borrowing one (nor is it a very practical thing to do). Hey, can I put all my stuff in your bag and carry it to my car and back? is a request that even the closest of friends will regard with a sense of awe and wonder. Yes, I know I’m slightly insane, but I try to keep that to myself most of the time.
The bag design
The RBK 5K is a 40X16X18 inch bag. This is a very generous size of bag for most players. For goalies it is generally as small as you can go (You cannot fit your leg pads in it, just the other gear). In fact I was planning to use it for my goalie gear as that is what the Itech bag it replaced was used for.
The 5K has two end pockets which are the skate pockets. I didn’t take a look at one before ordering and was disappointed to find out that the side pocket is not a skate pocket. In fact the side pocket is almost too small to be of any real value. I use mine for odds and end stuff (toe laces, skate laces, multi-tool, a rat trap and some spare shotgun shells).
The end pockets are a tight fit for a pair of skates as well. My size 9 Graf goalers just barely squeeze into one pocket. The problem isn’t really the pocket size as much as the top flap design. Rather than a zipper that bisects the top of the pocket, there is a flap that zippers around the top of the pocket. This makes it difficult to get the second skate inside and close it.
The other disappointment was that the second end pocket was too small for my trapper. This is actually a good thing since I crushed the old one to a normally shut position. Putting it in the main compartment of the bag should ensure that I have a nice target when the new one comes. Still the end pockets are a little less vacuous that I would have liked. If you wear a skate bigger than about a 10 or 11, you might want to check to see if both of your boats . . . er boots will fit in one end pocket before buying this bag assuming that they will.
Straps
The straps are a huge improvement over the bags I’ve had in the past. There is a shoulder strap and a carry strap. The carry strap is actually a pair of straps that snap together with a fairly comfortable grip. The shoulder strap is generous and very well padded. The pad itself is almost a gel pad which makes carrying gear very comfortable. It also is far less prone to slipping off my shoulder as several other bags I’ve used were.
There are also end straps on the skate pockets. These make wrangling a heavy bag of wet gear into a tiny trunk much easier.
Materials and appearance
The bag is made from uncoated heavy duty Nylon. There are mesh vents are the top of each skate pocket and attractive reflective graphics on the side. The RBK logo appears on the top along with the letters RBK on the side pocket.
All of the seams are double-stitched. Further reinforcing things are rivets at all of the major points were things might fall apart. Metal vents are located in strategic locations as well to help keep the bag a little drier.
Parting Thoughts
Admittedly, I tend to expect a little too much from my bags. I am attempting to stuff this bag full of goalie gear. Still I think that some players who carry a lot of gear will be will be disappointed by the size of this bag. For me, this would be plenty of bag for my player gear. However, the pockets are just barely useable. Just for kicks I tried to put my player skates in one end pocket and they are as tight a fit as my goalers are.
To me, a skate pocket should hold two skates, not just one. And the fact that RBK claims this bag has a “Spacious side accessory pocket” is laughable. My Itech 1800 bag of the same dimensions was somehow far more spacious than this one. Weird but true.
Still, there is nothing that I can complain about thus far in the overall quality of this bag. The bottom line is that this bag is well made, but poorly designed.
Update 7/16/2008
The RBK bag turned out to be poorly designed and built. After about three months, I ended up pitching it in the garbage due to not one, but three of the zippers breaking. I've heard similar stories of longevity from other RBK bag owners, so I've lowered my rating to one star.
Surprisingly, I pulled out my ancient old Itech bag and managed to fix the zipper in about 5 minutes. It only has one pull now, but it works fine. It's now over 5 years old and is being used 3 to 5 times weekly. In hockey-bag-years, the Itech bag is now approaching 130 and showing serious signs of wear, but no signs of failing.
A few of my other reviews that you might find helpful:
Fitting and Selecting Hockey Protective Gear
ITECH BG1500XL Hockey Bag
Nike Team USA Hockey Bag
Sherwoood 1355 Hockey Bag
© 2005 Scott Noble – All rights reserved. Unauthorized use prohibited.
Recommended:
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puckmugger
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