It looks like eberlestock made a change to the bag recently. The compression straps no longer effect the clam shell portion of the bag. I picked one up recently
Of course they released this right after I ordered a Switchblade. I also have a Bandit and hated that it couldn't carry a laptop (can't even fit my 11" iPad). I agree that the Jackknife would be perfect if it had a little more organization. Oh, and it's pronounced "eber-LEE-stock". Thanks for the video!
Thanks so much for doing this, and comparing it to the F5 & bandit. I think they are coming out with a free fall soon that looks similar to the jacknife. Hope they see this video and take your recommendations.
I appreciate the review. I am looking for a bag to take on an upcoming cruise with the wife. I am leaning towards getting a bandit because I really don’t need a lot of room and I wont be able to use my iPad due to not wanting to pay for the connectivity upcharge. I will be used for a couple of novels, first aid stuff and other odds and ends. I intend to use whatever I get as a future EDC with a first aid kit, tourniquet, etc. What I am looking for is a smaller or minimalist bag that can hold a lot and not look like I may have a gun in there.
Beyond the jackknife, the Bandit is great for minimalism but not great for carrying a firearm, I’d recommend the Vertx Gamut for a good all purpose edc bag, the Eberlestock Switchblade for great organization and larger volume but low profile, or the Nomadic Research Raid 2.0 for bombproof and versatile EDC (just posted a review about this one!)
Does the switchblades ccw pocket have loop lining for 3rd party velcro retention holsters like vertx does? I dont like idea of firearm sloshing around!
I was looking at this bag as a discrete range bag. Feel like the layout might work well enough for me to stuff my work laptop, vertx unity clutch, earpro, a few rifle and pistol mags, a few boxes of ammo, and my 11.5" ar broken down. but would like the opinions for that use.
I’m pretty sure you could get it all to fit, and could be organized fairly well if you use velcro attachments for the mags in the clamshell. The bag would be pretty heavy at that point, just a consideration for how long you intend on wearing it
Yeah... If they had done this bag, this size with the features from the switchblade it would've been the winner for my current needs. Should've made this bag a mini switchblade... The clamshell option on the bag was a deal-breaker for me.