Video Review
First Impressions / Setting up
It’s a great looking bag. It feels well constructed, the camouflage look is great (my wife tried to nick it off me the moment it arrived), set off nicely by the orange nylon inside the pockets and compartments. The zippers are all chunky and durable-feeling, and overall it just feels like a well-constructed, quality backpack.
There are a lot of different compartments and features that you’re going to want to discover before deciding the best way to use this bag.
Extras like the push-through cable hole for an iPod or phone on the small top pockets, loops for organising coiled cables in one of the front pockets, a key hook in one of the side pockets, the detachable zippered case and more, all demand you have a think about the best places for the stuff you’ll be carrying.
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In Use
The main compartment is basically for a single item – a small mixer, a DJ controller (again, small), a Midi controller or similar. UDG has a configurator on its website showing you which bag works for which type of gear, but I can tell you that at a push, you can fit the piece of gear I was interested in using this bag for into this main compartment nice and snugly: A Denon DJ Prime GO all-in-one controller.
The compartment offers a flap to hold your gear in place with elasticated sides, although if the gear you choose to fit in here is too small it will still wobble about.
The other main compartment (and the compartment this bag has over the slim version) is behind this, closer to your back. It is where you are meant to store control vinyl, a laptop (or two) and other sundries. It’s actually a large compartment, and I found it fitted perfectly all the other things I like to take with the Denon DJ Prime GO in order to DJ livestream.
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So a tripod (a fully collapsible travel one), cameras, bags with cables and microphones and so on all fitted, with room to spare. You could even fit in a change of clothing (no shoes, mind!) at a push, so this could work as an office bag, a DJ bag, and an overnight bag, all rolled into one.
The side pockets are very thin and useful only for small items, but the front two pockets are bigger, and I ended up using them for computer leads and interfaces, and headphones. There is actually a dedicated headphones pocket in the top, but because of the size of the DJ unit I had in the main compartment, there was no room for headphones here (I did manage to squeeze the console’s power brick in there instead, though).
The little iPod pocket on the very top has room for you to push your headphones cable in too – but fun fact, it also fits a pair of glasses. That works for me!
The bag has a useful carrying handle on the top, you can strap the shoulder straps together across your chest if you wish, and while there are no actual feet on the bottom, it has lots of extra nylon there so it should be sturdy enough when constantly been stood upright on the floor.
Overall, I found it easy to get on with this bag: It kept me organised and I felt all the gear was safe, and people definitely liked its looks.
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Conclusion
Not much to criticise, really. It isn’t cheap, so you need to be sure it’ll work for what you want to carry around. Size-wise, just look up the Denon DJ Prime GO dimensions if you want to know the absolutely maximum you can fit in the main compartment. Not an inch more.
One thing I would say is that even though it can hold quite a lot, that space is divided up among an awful lot of compartments, pockets and sections, so you’ll want to be sure you’re happy organising your stuff in this way. If you are more of a “bung it all in and sit on it!” kind of bag packer, it definitely won’t be for you. (God help your gear if you are, though!)
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If you’re prepared to get organised, and you’re sure the main compartment will fit the main item you wish to carry around, it’s a winner.
