SOTech Go Bag

From talking to folks in the know, I gather this pack started life as a GAP bag. Someone in a USAF CSAR unit liked the overall size and shape of it, found that it fit perfectly beneath the seat of a helicopter. Good for an escape and evasion scenario. Chopper gets shot down or goes down with mechanical problems, grab the bag with important stuff and start running back to friendly lines. The only problem was that the GAP bag came in stupid colours and was made to very inexacting standards. Someone took it to S.O.Tech who made some modifications and built it to a higher standard in military friendly colours.

SciFi geeks and/or pack geeks (at times interchangeable) might recognize it as the bag carried by the USAF SOF guys in Transformers.

Rather than the usual backpack straps, this has just a single sling. At the bottom is a quick ditch side release buckle. It can also be worn as a belt, with the pack part at the back. I tried it and wasn’t so fond of that carry mode.

On both sides are two blocks of three rows of PALS.

And on the face of the pack are three zippered pockets.

The opening to access the main pack are two zippers along the back. They’re connected by a handle that allows both to be opened at once. The main compartment measures 51 cm (20") x 20¼ cm (8") x 20¼ cm (8"). (SOTech also has an extended version of this bag, big enough to hold an M-4 with a barrel of less than 17½", broken down into upper and lower components. Instead of the three outer pockets, it only has two larger pockets.)

There’s a sleeve in the back for a hydration bladder. I found it impossible to fit a 3 liter CamelBak bladder in there, whether it was ¾, ½ or ¼ full. I’m not about to put an empty one in there and then try to fill it with water. I suppose some brand or size of bladder might fit, but I reckon it’s too small.  Given where the “real” users of this product are located, I think 3 liters of water is a reasonable quantity.

The 3 external pockets measure 14 cm (5½") x 12½ cm (5") x 7½ cm (3"). I replaced the zipper pulls with coloured sinnets and added a square of 4" Velcro for patches. The two pouches are an HSGI Nalgene Pouch and a Maxpedition FR-1 First Aid Pouch.

Left side.

Right side.
In the two above photos you can see some sinnets that act as zipper pulls for 2 slot pockets that run along the sides. Each slot pocket is divided in two making for 4 pockets for small items or documents.

Besides a carry/grab handle on the top, there is also an additional folded and Velcroed down carry/grab handle. The main compartment and smaller pockets have drain holes.


It’s kind of a neat bag, but I wasn’t super keen on it. I really didn’t like how the sling carried, specifically when I was running. I already mentioned the hydration sleeve which I though was too tight. And (I feel a bit sacrilegious saying this) I wasn’t thrilled about the quality of it. I had always heard about how great SOTech’s stuff was, but compared to most of the other stuff I have, it was a bit underwhelming. The zippers worry me. It almost left me wondering if I hadn’t received a Chinese airsoft knockoff.

I don’t know if you can tell from these pictures (that’s the problem with black bags - they don’t photograph well) but the PALS channels are pretty wonky. They don’t line up well, the spacing is all over the place. In one spot I can just barely get a Malice Clip in there.

I had a couple of pouches mounted on the front of the sling, and at one point I noticed some frayed webbing. Right away I suspected it must be my sewing. Nope, my hand sewing was just fine. Some of the PALS webbing had come loose from under the seam tape. It was like the end hadn’t been burnt and it frayed to the point that it came loose. I was going to send it to them to fix, but figured that was too much of a hassle. I’ll fix it myself.

And then sell it.

The overall shape of this bag, scaled down a bit, with two straps rather than the sling, sans the PALS on the sides and the three pockets on the front, was partially the inspiration for the EscapePod though.