Product Review: Ecogear Genus Bag

Product: Mohave Tui Bag, one of the new bags from the Ecogear Genus Series from Ecogear of course. This bag is available in three colors; garnet, slate, and ebony and is sized, 18.5 in. x 12 in. x 6 in. I reviewed the garnet bag as seen below in the middle. Genus bags are also available in other various styles – but with the same eco-perks (designs and sizes vary).

Uses: You can use this pack for the day-to-day (school, work, etc) but it’s also rugged enough to take on a hike or even on the river.

Cost: $39.99 – currently $30 off, a killer deal.

Eco Perks:

• constructed of Ecoweave (Ecogear’s patented PVC-free, harm-free coating) and toxic-free dyes.
• Toxic-free
• Chlorine-free
• No dioxin, phthalates or heavy metals
• This bag carries no ozone-depleting chemicals
• Clean to recycle—creates H2O and CO2 when burned
• Another thing I like about this company is that they have a full line of green kid bags as well – nice because I’ve got an 8-year-old, and finding green gear for tots over 5 years of age is hard. Lastly Ecogear is a company to keep your eye on too – they’ve got a cool new Recycle Series coming soon that includes bags made with recycled PET bottles.

Other Perks:

• Water-resistant zipper
• MP3 player pouch with port
• Ergo-padded shoulder straps and a padded lower back section as well.
• Scads of outer pockets and internal organizer pockets too.
• Made with Scotchlite Reflective Material – so safer for night walkers and bikers.

What Ecogear owner Jimmy Chan has to say… “Genus is defined as a class or group… We named these bags Genus because we think they are in a group all of their own. No other eco-friendly product is compatible enough to accompany you on a climb up a treacherous mountain, and stylish enough to act as a briefcase in the office. They are versatile, trendy, and best of all they are not harmful to the environment. We are very proud of this product, and hope everyone loves it as much as we do.”

WHAT I THINK:

Style: I like how this bag looks, in spite of it being red, my least favorite color, I’d still carry it, because it’s a pretty deep red, not a bold true red. I also like the pop of orange trim when you open the bag’s two main pockets and the contrasting gray interior and black exterior look great. I think this bag could transition from field to office well, if you’ve got a fairly casual office. If your office is a bit more professional you’d want to consider the Genius Tiger PVC-free laptop carrier. Note – I also got my friend Dave and my 8-year-old son to give their opinion on the style, and both said this bag was cool enough to carry around (in case you don’t trust my girl style know-how).

Packaging: Mine came in a recycled office supply box, which you could tell was seriously used before it got to me. I really liked that. I’m not sure if they package all their bags like that, but I hope so. Actually I wish they discussed packaging on their website, because not talking about it is a negative for me. The tags attached to the bag were made with recycled content paper and attached with easy to recycle string (not plastic bands).

Fit: I really liked how this bag fit. It’s slim, so it doesn’t extend too far out sideways, and super comfortable. I LOVED the padded extras, like the lower back padding especially but also the padded shoulder straps – both helped keep the wear comfortable even after I stuffed the bag with books to see what would happen. The mesh-like material kept the bag from feeling too warm on my arms too. The straps were easy to adjust and the bag stayed put. I hate when bags get lower and lower and hit your bum – this one didn’t.

Ease of use: I liked all the pockets,  including the top pocket for pens, keys or other little items. My friend who also looked at this bag said ALL the pockets were way too confusing and not simple enough and especially did not like the top pocket. I can see his point, because if you’re new to the bag and in a hurry the two top zipper might be annoying. The only pocket I though was non-useful was the one on the very front which opens sideways not across. I’m not sure what you’d put in there, and I think it was one pocket too many.

The press release I got about this bag says it’s fitted for a notebook computer. My laptop (which is huge by the way) fit right in there, but because it’s not padded I doubt I’d actually use it for my laptop on a regular basis. The MP3 player pouch with port was in the perfect spot and a handy feature.

My second bag reviewer and me both had the same favorite Genus feature, which was…. the zippers! I know it seems like a small thing, but zippers are a big fat deal on bags. These zippers are not only water resistant but have the most awesome large shape ever. They’ve got this big thumb area that’s slightly curved and are seriously easy to grab, and attached perfectly. These zippers feel like they’ll stay put forever.

Anything I hated?

Well, the main thing that bothered me about the bag were the tiny bottle holders. There’s a mesh bottle holder on each side and they’re both super short. I have a 27 ounce Klean Kanteen Water Bottle, and that’s just too long for the holders. My son’s 18 oz bottle did fit in the holder ok. On the plus side they’re tight – as in the elastic seems like it would hold even a tall bottle in but I wouldn’t personally chance it and lose my bottle. It made me nervous. Other than that, I really liked this bag.

Overall score:

4 and 1/2 little trees out of 5. I never give half scores, but I thought this bag was almost perfect except for the water bottle issue – a BIG deal to me, because I take my water bottle everywhere. Would I still use the bag if I was walking not biking, yeah, I’d just have to carry my bottle, which isn’t a big deal to me. So the bag loses half a point due to water and because there’s no packaging info to be found on the website (unless I missed it, but I gave it an honest try).

Overall, I’d recommend the Mohave Tui Bag; besides being eco-friendly, it looks good, fits nicely, and will work well for day-to-day use or for use on a hike (with two smaller water bottles).

Visit Ecogear to learn more.