[Review] Roaring Fire Shoulder Bag

Virisenox · 2019-08-16T20:15:53.000Z

Roaring Fire Shoulder Bag

MSRP: $19

Manufacturer page: N/A

Store link: https://www.amazon.com/Roaring-Fire-Tactical-Shoulder-Crossbody/dp/B07SN2TCM6/

I was sent this light to review free of charge but, as always, I've tried to be as unbiased as possible.

TL;DR

Laura, one of my old Olight contacts, sent me an email a while ago saying that she'd left her position at Olight to start her own outdoor company, Roaring Fire. This is obviously super cool, so I jumped at the opportunity to review one of their bags. I've never reviewed a backpack before, so bear with me. I know flashlight terminology, but I don't know the words for all things backpacks, so you'll see few mentions of "stuff" and "thingies".

Album link

Packaging

It just came in a plastic bag in a bubble envelope.

Build

First off, this is a $20 Chinese made backpack, not a Goruck or an Osprey or anything. You can't expect super high quality. There is some sloppy sewing, some so-so elastic, some non-YKK zippers, and lots of that one smell that Chinese made synthetic fabric based products always seem to have.

This shoulder bag is just that, a shoulder bag. It's small. Here it is compared to a 21L Goruck GR1.

According to the description, the bag is constructed out of 900D Oxford fabric (woven polyester), with a waterproof coating on the inside of it. This coating isn't flexible, and it shows signs of fatigue if you crumple it.

Here's a fabric comparison with my Goruck. I assume the webbing is nylon, but it's not specified.

Starting at the outer-most section of the bag, there are two rows of MOLLE webbing and a zipper pocket with a grommet at the bottom. I assume that's to allow water to drain, but I'm unsure.

After that, there's another zipper pocket, and inside that there's an elastic band with two sections, and a smaller interior pocket. Above this second zipper there's a velcro section (fuzzy) and a little bit of cord secured through four loops. What this cord is for, I also do not know.

Then comes the main pocket. Inside this are two sub-pockets. The sides of the bag are also covered in MOLLE. This is a great spot to add a water bottle holder.

The top of the bag has a carry handle and a large flap with a very large plastic clip on it that attaches to the shoulder strap.

The back has breatheable netting/padding stuff that forms another pocket, which can be used to store the flap if you'd rather not use the strap. There are plastic D rings on the four corners of the back side of the bag.

Strap

The strap is made of two inch wide webbing with one of those sliding length adjustor things in the middle. One end has a large plastic clip (male), and the other end has a plastic lobster claw style clip. This can clip into any of the four D rings on the corners of the bag, though the bag is a lot easier to carry when it's clipped to one of the ones on the bottom.
It's a good strap, and I have no complaints about it. There isn't a padded section, but the strap is so wide that it doesn't need one.

Use

I got this bag right before a road trip, so I had plenty of opportunity to put it through its paces. Right after I got it, I loaded it with a 32 ounce water bottle and some other stuff and went on a long bike ride. The bag wasn't designed for this. Very often along the ride, the bag rotated from my back to hanging in front of me. This wasn't any fault of the bag, just that it only has one strap, and riding a bike means your torso is bent over.
Just for walking around though, it's great. It's light, it's small, and it has lots of pockets. I used it for carrying my portable charger, extra 18650s, cables, phone, seashells, a particularly interesting rock, park maps, and a water bottle. It fared well, without breaking in any way.
Here's what the bag looks like on my friend Nick.

Bottom line:
Pros

Cheap
Lots of pockets
Versatile

Cons

Construction isn't amazing
Waterproofing seems fragile

Thanks for reading my review! If you have any questions about this bag, I'd be more than happy to answer them.

Virisenox · 2019-08-17T11:44:57.000Z

To clarify:

I’ve had a lot of comments (on Reddit) saying stuff like “Wow this is a critical review” and “So you don’t like it?” I need to clarify that I did indeed like the bag, considering its price. I don’t think you can get anything better for $20. Yes, I pointed out each and every little flaw I could find, but, like I said in the comments, that’s what reviews are for. It can’t be all positives all the time.

Binford · 2019-08-17T12:01:34.000Z

hi, thanks for the review. I have the exact same bag, just in black and potentially an older batch (but same model/looks the same).

Your review pretty much matches my experiences over the last 12 months, it is good to use for basic applications and hobbies. Like airsoft, hiking, and/or daily carry bag for very small items.

So far it held up great. I believe I paid less than 20 $US a year back, but I bought this on ebay and not a store.