One of my bushcraft buddy has got a Maxpedition Versipack. He has developed a hate-love relationship with it. He loved it because it was just the right size for EDC. The bag was with him on a trip to Rome as well. It accommodated a camera, sambo, beverage, wallet, keys, sunglasses just well. It was ALMOST perfect. And that's the keyword: almost. For some stupid reason Maxpedition removed the rain collar from its versipack series recently. They referred to customers' needs in this manner. Well, a rain collar is certainly not the fastest opening of a bag and it definitelly doesn't offer quick access to your stuff when you are in a hurry. But! I don't like when the bloody rain flows into my bag, ruining my luvly Subway sambo, my precious books, my cell phone or documents. My buddy is the same. And defo that Maxpedition's developers never been in BC, Canada or enjoying a luvly downpour from all of a sudden in the good ol' Baile Átha Cliath, commonly known as Dublin, Ireland. So, removing the rain collar and attaching nothing instead of was a really dumb pull from those highly respected guys. I have to fix their shit. I don't mind till I'm earnin' money for it. But, it is certainly not good for Maxpedition's image. So, the task was to sew sumtin around the upper edge of the main compartment what will keep the rain out, meanwhile it does not compromise the quick access feature. The basic request is not an easy-peasy already. If you just go around the edge you will end up sewing the concealed pocket to the back of the main compartment. Making the slide in pocket useless. Yes, you can remove the binding and pulling all the fabric away. Fix the issue. Than put everything together. But, where you can find a binding tape which is identical to the factory ones. So, I came up with a unique solution. I have made two identical flaps with pull tabs and YKK military Velcro on both sides. I have sewn the flaps only to the sides of the main compartment with a little overhanging on each side. He didn't insist to the special khaki color, thus I've made the flaps out of 500D Coyote Brown Cordura. The pulling tab is solution dyed 1" webbing. Thus he can open the bag even in mittens. With the slight angle of the flaps my buddy still has a quick access to the front slide-in pocket in the main compartment, without opening the flaps, where he can keep driving license, housekeys, mobile, or NLSDW (non-lethal self defense weapon) or parrots, short necked giraffe or what a f*** ever he wants. The point is he's a happy camper now and I can proudly present to you a simple, yet elegant solution for a factory fuck up. Here come the pics.
Those huge gaps are the major issue. This is unacceptable in such a top notch product like Maxpedition.
Solution is in progress. At the back is my 3x3m bushcraft tarp which is just slightly bigger than a Nalgene.
The quick access while flaps are closed
And voilá, gaps are gone. The remaining part is covered. So, worries no more.
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