Monday, Nov 30, 2009 at 15:51
Hi John,
Yes I have owned the V2 and given several of them as gifts to fellow travel companions. Great rubbish bag as long as you watch the weight in them. The webbing is not as thick as the Maxi’s. My issue was that if you’re out for a few weeks, you can build up a fair bit of weight in rubbish alone. Like most travellers these days. I’m philosophically opposed to leaving any form or rubbish behind. If it can’t be burnt, it’s carried out and when you drink as much scotch as me, this can cause some issues ;-) Many bags, are not designed to carry big weights and once they have a bit in them, the added pressures put on them by hard travel (the constant hummocks of the Simpson for example) can take it’s toll. Downward forces from sudden drops can make 5 kgs a lot heavier ofr a few seconds and put a lot more pressure on the bag.
Not everyone does prolonged trips like me but I needed something to cater for my needs so these bags have much heavier canvas, much bigger zips, with a protective flap and are fully supported by the webbing (which is also much wider). As a result they are much stronger than the V2 and are intended to be so. I use one bag for fire implements and hoses so it contains the jaffle iron, billies, hooks, 5 litre pump sprayer for under vehicle fires, tyre pump bottle (full of soapy
water), shower hoses, ropes and a few other odds and ends. A bit of weight but nothing excessive (probably 12 kgs with the bottles full of
water).
The V2 is not designed for this sort of weight. They are a great bag though and for general outback travel with light loads are fine. If you want to put heavy stuff in, I’d go the larger bag. For short bursts, the Maxi is also great for shoving full of firewood prior to setting up
camp. They’ll take 20 plus kgs of firewood no worries but I would not travel all day with that sort of weight in them (Not good for the rear wheel carriers either).
Another thing I found with travelling outback is that dust will cause webbing to go brittle and break more readily. That iron rich red dust of the
Pilbara is notorious for it. It was a constant issue on the camper trailer in 06. The thicker webbing combats this to a large degree. Zips also get chewed out pretty quickly by dust so the larger the better. I always travel with a can of silicon spray though and give the zips a good go every week or so, not just the bags, the tent, awning, everything with a zip that gets dust affected.
So in answer to your question, yep I've got two of the V2's and use them for light trips of short duration. For big trips, a bloke needs a big bag LOL.
Cheers Mick
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