That bag is no joke. Scary price tag though.

But I'm sure you've gotten the most out of it and then some. Nice pictures.

The price tag is not scary to think about, but I agree it is a heft price for a "bag". But then again, think of the $ girls spend on their designer bags. Those things have no function other than to look ugly

OR (to relate it more to guys)

(if you smoke or drink regularly) think of the $ you spend on that fruitless habit. I remember a friend telling me he spent over $2K on drinking over the summer (of course he is the extreme example that, but even if you spend $10 a week on smokes or alcohol, in 10 months you would have paid for the bag)! NOW THAT'S SCARY TO THINK ABOUT!!!

I don't drink or smoke so the $ I might spend there get channeled into biking (and savings)

Another run

I don't even have a decent reply for this.

Touche'. Game, set, match. Etc. Well put.

I think it takes someone that is car free to truely understand how important a backpack or bag is to us. $400 or so is not overpriced for something that we use every single day, has so many functions, and will last a long time. Without a great bag we wouldn't be able to do lots of the things we need to.

this thread makes me want a messenger bag again. i wouldn't carry printers, piles of recycling & people in it. but... y'know.

lolwut, how much is this?

I bought my PAC Ultimate in 2004, before the prices went up and then up again. With shipping and her including the X strap and a phone holster for free, the bag was only $225. I know they are amazing bags but I would still be a bit startled by the current price. I switched out to a Freight backpack about 16 months ago but feeling the desire to carry this bag again. I wish that PAC made a backpack because it would be amazing and I think I had a dream last night about designing a backpack based on the PAC ulitmate.

Did some donating and recycling

I think Gyeswho may have already paid off his bag in recycling runs.

stellar review, 'specially likes the one where your trafikng human cargo, I cracked up.

bag's a tad spendy but I can sure see it's value for those that could use just this thing...

Gyeswho,

First, a big THANK YOU for reviewing this bag and posting such impressive pics. Did you have to buy any additional compression straps to attach the big cardboxes to the bag or did the ones that come with bag suffice?

No problem. Yup, I had to buy extra straps for the excess baggage

Hey Gyeswho,

Just got off the phone with Pat and pulled the trigger on a PAC Ultimate. Should ship in 2 weeks. Pat was extremely helpful and very pleasant to deal with. We discussed at length whether my needs better suited an Ultimate or an Ultimate OS. She talked me into getting the Ultimate as she believes the OS is really too big for most people. So when it arrives, we will <ahem> see.

Quite excited. This lovely piece of kit will accompany me on my commutes (40 km roundtrip). Should also make a fantastic day bag going out with the family.

I tend to have a backpack with me no matter where I go. I have never owned a car, so I do not know what it is like to have one to store things in when I am out and about. I love backpacks, though.

When it comes to expensive purchases, people tend to be hesistant with things such as bags, clothing, etc. If it is something you know you will use a lot, you have to look at it as money spent per use. As of now, pretty sure Gyeswho has received a great deal, as he seems to still be using it, almost four years later.

I have an REI backpack I have been using for 6 years now, and I feel special because I have seen ONE other person using one, down to the same color scheme, who happened to also live in Oregon, but in Astoria, which was 2 hours from where I lived when I lived there.

Love my Pac, wicked bag form a wicked company, The bag is expensive but they have a lifetime warranty, they stand behind. I have the old Regular large before they introduced the new street ones. the pac truck tarp liner is much more space efficient than the chrome liner, and the strap is simply the best on any bag anywhere.

In the chrome bag in page one, How did you attach the x strap? I'm looking to install one on my bag

Glad to hear I could help you out. Pat is good people and was very helpful when I ordered as well. Post up once you get it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do with mine.

The exorbitant price is a turnoff for some, but it has definitely paid off in what I've done with it over the years.

needle and thread

Just spoke to Pat a few minutes ago. The bag was supposed to have been shipped last Friday but they are running behind. Target ship date will be Wednesday next week now.

Great looking bag, I took some of there ideas for my bag from blicks.

Its here!!!

After a week delay, the bag finally shipped. Recall that Pat from Pac advised me to go with an Ultimate and NOT and Ultimate OS. So...




INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
The quality of the materials, stitching and finish are just top notch. Everything I expect it to be for the price. This is good, hardy, longlasting stuff. I ordered a Canadian Maple Leaf bag with an extra horizontal reflective strip sewn onto the bottom of the flap and the X-strap for heavy or large loads.

This is a well designed, highly optimized bag and its got a depth of features. It took me a good 15 minutes to figure out all the features of the bag. It then took me an additional few minutes to figure out the best way to snug the straps and to understand what each of the straps do and visualize how to maximize the bag's utility.

I put on the bag and had my buddy snap a crappy phone pic. Its worn too low in the picture but I'm just posting a reference of how large the Ultimate bag is relative to my body at 5'6", 141 lbs.

One thing I will say at this point: the main adjusting strap with the two large D-rings is too long someone my size. I need to fold mine over itself quite a bit or else it just hangs off my body and will get in the way of cycling.

I'm going to try and use it as much as I can over the next few weeks and write a more detailed review after that.

A lot of messengers in Vancouver use PAC.

i sometimes wish i had not gotten the OS, but then days come when i need to carry 2 bikes and im happy i have it. ive had mine for 3 years now. got it back when i actually needed the bag for work. it treated me great then and still does today.

Glad you finally got the bag. It looks great!

You'r not alone on that. Get a medium/large carabiner and attach it to the end of the handing d-ring. Use this to attach it to the d-ring that loosens the main strap so that way it doesn't hang. Works like a charm for me

The main adjusting strap seems to slip quite a bit and loosen the bag when I am walking. Is this normal or am I missing some finer point in adjusting?

Is the only way of making sure the bag doesn't slip loose after fastening to tighten the clips in such a way that the clip is exactly in the middle of the chest?