RiutBag Crush Bag Review Crushable 14L Backpack That Folds Into Itself
A crushable 14-litre backpack that literary folds into itself about the size of a small toiletry bag! When compacted, the RiutBag Crush measures 23cm long, 15cm wide and 6cm high and stores neatly inside the included drawstring pouch, which is made of the same ripstop material as the Crush bag (80% nylon and 20% polyester) but of thinner denier, which still provides some water resistance.
There is RiutBag branding printed in white fonts on the front of the pouch. The drawstring lace is made of thick fabric and it's long (14cm long), which is plenty of cord excess that you can use as a handy lanyard to carry the Crush around with you. The drawstring barrel lock is spring loaded and made of plastic.
Total weight of Crush (including the drawstring pouch) it's 275 grams. The drawstring pouch by itself weighs 18 grams, while the Crush bag weighs 253 grams, which is about as heavy as a smartphone. It's useful that the drawstring pouch is not permanently tethered to the Crush bag. This allows you to use the drawstring pouch as a handy carrier bag for storing other things like a Nintendo Switch, which fits jsut about inside the Crush drawstring bag.
When taking the Crush bag out of the drawstring pouch, you are presented with what looks like another pouch, which is in fact the Crush bag folded into itself. You simply undo the metal sliders and begin to unpack and unfold the Crush bag out of itself, which takes no more than 10 seconds.
When fully unpacked, the Crush bag becomes a fully fledged backpack inclusive of shoulder straps and secret D-pocket compartment. Dimensions of the Crush bag, when unfolded, are 46cm long, 32cm wide and 1cm thick, which is super thin making the Crush bag perfect for storing flat.
The thin and flexible construction of Crush bag makes it possible to loop the shoulder straps over so you can wear the Crush bag with the zipper compartments facing out if you wanted to. That said, the Crush bag is designed to be worn like an anti-theft backpack with the zippers rear facing against your backside. This will deter anyone from undoing the zippers and taking stuff out of the bag. The rear facing design of the Crush bag is neat, although it's worth remembering that the bag's material ins't cut/slash resistant.
The Crush backpack has three zippered compartments and no side pockets. The top (stash pocket) compartment is located below the top grab handle and, it is the smallest pocket designed as a quick-access pocket. The stash pocket opens up via two metal zip sliders and measures 14cm long, 5cm wide and 13cm high. The main compartment is the largest and has a horseshoe shape zip that opens up half way the bag via two ip sliders with cord pulltabs.
All zippers are YKK 5RCG. The main compartment has no organizational pockets. It is a very spacious pocket that can expand outward up to 20cm so, it can accomodate large bulky items such as a cyclish helmet, thick A4 binder or a pair of trainers (up to size 11).
You could also fit a small laptop or phablet, although you will need to use your own padded protective sleeve to keep it safe. The Crush bag secret D pocket also has a horseshoe opening. It measures 13cm high, 17cm wide and ~10cm deep (large enough to fit a small 500ml water bottle).
The green lining fabric material makes a nice contrast against the black fabric, as well as brighten up the inside of the compartments. Inside the main compartment, you will also find a large RiutBag tab with brand information and washing instructions. There is another very prominent RiutBag brand tag (made of thick rubber plastic) located externally on the front of the bag.
The Crush bag shoulder straps are v-shaped so, they're narrower towards to the bottom. The straps measure 33cm long, 6cm wide (top section) and 0.4cm thick and have breathable mesh fabric. There is very minimal padding, almost non-existant, although thin enough to make them comfortable when carrying load.
The shoulder straps integrate adjustable webbing straps with hard plastic (non-branded) ladderlocks. The straps have plenty of webbing excess, which are neatly managed by the included elastic fabric bands. The top grab handle is large enough to fit a hand with 8cm width.
Speaking of load, there is no rear back padding on the Crush bag, which means comfort will depend on the load you carry. Anything that pokes will dig into your back. As far as fit, it depends on the wearer too.
As an adult male of average height and average build, the Crush bag will feel like wearing an undersize backpack or a child's school backpack. It is very fitted, fitting very closely to the backside, although comfortable.
Someone with a bigger build, taller torso length and broader shoulders may possibly find the Crush a little too fitted. If your torso length is over 18 inches, the Crush bag will come up high up on your backside, around 6 inches above the waist.
When folded into itself, the Crush bag becomes a neat little pouch. The Crush bag is perfect for males and females. Ladies and gents can use it as a bag purse or "man purse" to carry stuff around stealthily through the city. The Crush bag also works great as a jogging bag. The possibilities are endless. You can buy the Crush bag from RiutBag. If you need a larger pack, it's best going for a standard one such as the RiutBag 15.3 and RuitBag X3
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