Proviz Backpack Review

Over the last few weeks, I’ve noticed that winter is slowly but surely coming - it’s getting darker both in the morning cycling to work and in the evening cycling home.

However, it’s not yet cold enough that I can wear my Proviz jacket - not the Nightrider I reviewed back in 2014, but the REFLECT360+ that I purchased in 2015. The newer jacket still suffers from some of the same issues as the original one that I tried - I overheat very quickly within the Proviz jackets it seems.

Yet, I put up with the boil in the bag effect for the commute for one reason - visibility. The bright reflective jacket is fantastic for being seen. I can say that when I’ve seen other LBC members wearing the standard, non fully reflective Proviz jackets that I’ve been impressed. Though as the weather isn’t yet at the point where I can comfortably wear the jacket (sweaty as I might get), I’ve had to look at alternative solutions for being seen.

One such change in commuting habits has been the purchase of a Lezyne Macro Drive Duo head light. This headlight will be covered in a separate review but works really well. The other major changes has been the purchase of a Proviz REFLECT360 backpack.

Proviz RFLECT360

The first reason I looked at going back to a backpack was that with my touring bike, I’d moved to commuting with panniers. Likewise, when I used my Brompton, I used to normally use my T bag. Having a backpack on just makes your back sweaty and I find panniers more comfortable. However, I felt that with my panniers, I was carrying to much into work each day (often taking two panniers for a change of clothes, towel and packed lunch). I also felt that it effected the bike handling if I only took a single pannier and there are locations on my commute where the panniers make it difficult to navigate thanks to narrow openings. Also, not all my bikes are capable of mounting panniers (yet perhaps).

The second reason was when I cycled home in the dark one night after a late cadet night, I was cycling home with my 5.11 Tactical Rush 24 backpack on and realised that I probably wasn’t very visible to cars coming up behind me. With the 5.11 bag, I had been able to attach a light to the MOLLE straps but I still didn’t really consider that to be sufficient and wearing the bag would negate the effect of wearing the Proviz jacket anyhow, at least for the majority of the jacket and people driving up behind me (the arms and shoulders are still just about visible).

So I decided to move to the Proviz backpack.

Impressions

When the bag arrived, I was fairly impressed. The bag is still as reflective as the jackets and therefore allows the user to be extremely visible.

This photo shows the reflection of the bag - not to bad for a photo taken under my desk with minimal light! I’d like to thing that it’ll show up more with headlights on the backpack.

Proviz state that the bag has a 30L capacity and it is pretty roomy. The 5.11 tactical bag I have is bigger and the Patagonia Black Hole 25L bag this sort of replaces is slightly smaller, so the 30L claim seems to be accurate. I’ve comfortably been able to fit in a change of clothes and assorted other items that I need to take into work each day.

The bag contains a light loop at the base, so I can still attach my Lezyne rear light meaning I don’t have to worry about moving between bikes (if I use the same bag).

The bag is formed of a single large compartment and a small pocket accessed on the front of the bag. Inside the main compartment, there is a degree of separation - there are mesh pockets sewn into the front of the bag. These are fairly roomy, but would be of more use for storing easy to hand items like wallets or similar. I don’t recommend the front pocket on the front for anything, based on the fact that the pocket is pretty deep but the zip is pretty small! So even with medium size hands, trying to get anything out can be a real pain. There is a small section at the bag, designed for laptops, though this isn’t that padded and doesn’t fit the monster laptop that work issued me (only a 15" Dell, but it’s about 5cm thick!) so it might not be ideal for those that have to carry laptops daily.

Strap wise, the item fits nicely - one thing I’ve noticed over other bags is the adjustable height chest strap which is a step up other backpacks I’ve used.

The waist strap (designed to stop the back moving on your back) is quite good and even features some of the reflective material on the strap, so people coming towards you will also get some of the reflective nature of the bag (like the shoulder straps).

I can’t really comment on it’s waterproofing ability but having lost a Kindle to water seeping into my Patagonia Black Hole bag, I now store all my cycling gear and anything else I don’t want to get wet within dry bags for my commutes. It looks like it would hold off for a bit but the zips aren’t waterproof.

Conclusions

Overall, I’m pretty happy with the purchase. I got mine direct from Proviz for a shade under £70 (they do a 10% discount for signing up to the email list). It’s perhaps a pricey backpack (in comparison to other backpacks I’ve purchased) but it is well made and at the end of the day, I’m paying for the reflective nature of the bag, rather than the bag itself. I could use the bag covers they sell but experience has shown me that I’ll not always use the cover, so having the bag as it is fine.