When I was trying to decide whether or not to purchase a Hazard 4 Second Front I found that reviews and user impressions were relatively few and far between. Having finally bitten the bullet and purchased one anyway (I depended mostly on reviews of the Switchback, which is essentially the same bag in sling form), I thought I’d share a few pics I had taken and thoughts I might have, so that they might serve as a resource for someone else.

Also, it has been a while since I had contributed anything to this forum so I thought it was time to give back a little.

NOTE: I was sick when I first started writing this so I’ll post the pics for now and update with thoughts to accompany them when I have a spare moment. I hope that is alright for now.

It seems that I am in a never ending quest to find an EDC bag that works for me. I’ve gone through many bags from a variety of manufacturers including everything from Timbuk2 to Maxpedition and various other brands in between, but none have worked out quite the way I wanted. Too big, too little, design issues, or quality issues, there seems to always be something, and as a result my gear closet is stuffed to groaning and begging for mercy.

I had been eyeing Hazard 4 gear for some time, but had kept my distance as I found a couple of things a bit off-putting. The first being the price. Their bags always seemed priced at such a premium as to almost be overpriced. The second was that their bags seemed a bit over-designed to me. That might be an odd thing to write, but the bags seemed to have an emphasis on innovation (especially given their Civilian Labs lineage), and as such I found myself wondering if they might be trying too hard, at the expense of practicality.

Anyway. A whole bunch of other bags, quite a few positive user testimonials (including Tarfus excellent writeup), and a drop in price later, I decided to take the plunge and give their Kato a shot. Turns out I need not have been as concerned about over design and that the Kato was the gateway drug (“gear”) of their line. And so when I found myself looking for something with greater capacity for longer range carry I put in an order for the Second Front. I also threw in a handful of accessories for good measure.

My first impression of the Second Front was of quality. Stitching straight and tight, no loose threads anywhere, and the materials feel of very high quality. I didn’t experience any of the twinge of OCD-induced-QC dissatisfaction that I sometimes experience from some of the other brands that make bags of this type.

The Second Front is covered in very usable MOLLE…with one caveat. What I mean by that is that, sometimes I run across a bag which has MOLLE that seems to have been sewn on for aesthetics more than functional use, but where and how the MOLLE is placed on this bag makes it all very useful and begging for customization.

The one caveat is that the direction of the MOLLE is setup to orient any gear that you attach in a sideways orientation. This is a clear carry-over from its Switchback lineage (the Second Front being essentially a Switchback with backpack straps instead of a sling), and works if you buy into the idea that the Second Front is also designed to be accessed by swinging the bag around to the front in a sideways orientation. If you plan to utilize and access the bag in a more conventional manner, this might be less ideal (as your pouches and such may be oriented sideways depending on their design).

The straps are nicely contoured and really hug your shoulders. The fit is quite snug (like a good shoe), and comfortable, with several points of adjustment towards the tops and bottoms of the straps as well as across the sternum. It seems like it should be possible to get a good fit.

The padding of the shoulder straps are of a very breathable mesh type. This should help keep things cooler, but the padding might be a bit light given the bag’s capacity. I did find that after a day of walking around with a fully packed Second Front, I did start to feel the straps digging into my shoulders.

There are some loops sewn into the shoulder straps, but they are oriented sideways. Those aren’t as convenient for strapping on/hooking in small gear/gear pouches, and the only other options are a pair of loops sewn too high up on the straps (when wearing the pack, they end up towards the back of the shoulders) or a pair of velcroed straps lower down (which won’t allow the gear to sit as flush as they could/should. My impression is that neither of those are really meant for the mounting of accessories. As such the straps could use some more horizontal mounting positions at more standard mounting positions.

Nice understated logo sewn into a looped bit of cordura (sewn on in that way just to hold the logo). A nice detail, though maybe an unnecessary use of material, in case that sort of thing bothers you. I like it.

So. Much. MOLLE.

Hazard 4 only provides one medium sized field of hook and loop material on the lid of the admin compartment for your patches. That’s fine for me as I tend to keep mine to a minimum, but if you are hoping for more… that’s all you get.

Turning our attention to the bag’s admin compartment we find what appears to be access to a small pocket for small gear such as a phone. From the outside, it is nice and low profile. When closed the zipper sticks into a little keeper which is a great detail.

When opened we find that this opening gives us access, not to a small phone sized pocket, but rather one that spans the entire length and width of the cover to the admin compartment.

Plus side is, of course, more room equals more better for some users of this bag. For others, a pocket like this might be more useful for small, frequently accessed items (such as a phone). In cases like those, having such a large space accessed by a small opening could be a negative, as it provides less efficient access and could require a bit of fishing around.

One very thoughtful detail is that this remains accessible even when the MOLLE on the cover of the admin compartment is in use.

Another nice detail are the bits of hook and loop strap “keepers” that have been incorporated into the various compression straps that adorn the bag. They help bind up any loose strap material that you may have and help keep the whole package nice and tidy and streamlined.

If I was to provide any criticisms on this binding system, it would be that there are times that I couldn’t quite get things to wrap up to just the right length that I wanted them to be. A strap winding up a few inches too long or a few inches two short, because of the way this binding system works. On some of the straps I also found that there was quite a bit of hook material exposed. This is a little worrisome as this material can be fairly destructive towards other types of textiles when left exposed in this manner. A better choice would have been to design the strap retention binding so that in these cases it would be the loop portion that would be left exposed.

Working our way around the Second Front we are greeted with more MOLLE (This is really a dream bag for those that like to customize their bags), and a few curiosities.

We find a pocket with a zipper along one side and an interesting looking elastic strap.

As it turns out, both of these have been designed for the holding and retention of a water bottle.

The zipper allows you to expand the pocket to fit larger water bottles (I have tried up to a 32oz Nalgene and it fits more or less fine), while compacting it down into a smaller profile pocket when such capacity is not needed.

It should be noted here that, though the pocket does expand to accommodate a large 32oz Nalgene bottle, the bottle will tend to push into the bag rather than protrude out from it. This may impact the interior capacity of your pack depending on your usage.

The elastic strap is meant to further secure a water bottle to the bag. The way it works is by releasing the top of the elastic strap from the bag and then using it to pull the “loop” formed by the strap over the neck of the bottle. It can be a bit tough to get this over some of the larger bottles (like the 32oz Nalgene), but it definitely makes it secure. This is a good thing as it is likely that the bottle will find itself being swung sideways if the bag is used as intended (swung forwards and sideways, sling style, in order to access its contents).

One thing that bears noting here is that, despite all of the MOLLE on this side, you may find it of only limited use. The reason for this is that the expanding pocket is very useful and except for very small MOLLE attachments, anything else would inhibit or prohibit the use of it.

Continuing to the other side of the pack, you guessed it, lots of MOLLE…

… Well, lots of MOLLE and a small pocket.

The MOLLE on this side is a bit more useful to me, and I have since attached a Broadside to the upper straps.

This actually works out well since this still allows access to the small side pocket on the Second Front, but also, when accessing the bag sling style, it actually orients the Broadside correctly so that the side of the pouch that opens the widest is facing you.

Nice.

Moving to the top of the bag we find a very nice perforated rubber handle. It’s very attractive, and fairly flexible, but maybe not the most comfortable shape I have ever held. It could maybe stand to gain a bit more roundness or champhering of the edges here or there. I also hope that the material holds up (every other rubber handled thing that I have owned ultimately winds up deteriorating before the rest of the bag). We shall see.

From this view we also have another good view of the adjustment straps for the shoulders straps.

Some other things that we find at the top of the bag include a D-Ring where you can clip things that you might like to be readily at hand like keys or a light. We also find a pair of covered access points.

The first of these is a zippered slit (again with a keeper that helps give the bag a premium feel).

The second is a small rectangular hole covered by a fully velcroed flap.

The purpose of the first access point is not very clear as it is pretty difficult to get into with the shoulder straps’ compression strap falling across it. Indeed it is difficult to even open it fully without some manipulation and maneuvering around the compression strap (there is no quick release for the strap at this point so you have no choice but to do this). The only thing I can think of is that it isn’t meant for access but rather for things like headphone cables or possibly to allow a firearm to protrude out from the interior of the bag. Not too sure but I don’t see myself utilizing it much either way.

The second access point is for use with a hydration system and seems fairly well suited to the task.

Coming back to the shoulder straps for a moment, the bottom end to be specific, we find a few thoughtful details that help enhance the performance and the feel of the pack.

A quick release at the end of each strap allows you to swing the pack around for sling style access more quickly and fluidly than if you had to first remove your arm from a strap.

We also find that, rather than being sewn directly to the body of the pack, the bottom of the shoulder straps are attached via a D-ring. This seems to allow the straps to move and adjust more freely than a fixed strap might. The effect may be subtle but it is a very nice touch.

Moving further across to the pack’s waistline we come across the pack’s rather controversial feature. The waist strap. It is certainly nice to have for a bag of this size and capacity, and is reasonably well appointed and constructed. But it is bulky and for those times that you don’t need it… a bit intrusive. It would have been nice if it had been removable and indeed, given how much attention that Hazard 4 seems to pay to usability design… I am a bit surprised that it is not.

So that’s the controversy. Now, how does it measure up?

As a waist strap it is nice and broad and does a good job of distributing some of the load from the pack. It has MOLLE all along its length so plenty of room for strapping on utility pouches for tools, lights, radios, etc. A pair of D-rings offer up a convenient place to hook up things like lights, tools, keys.

The adjustable strap is equipped with the same Velcro strap keepers as the rest of the pack… So at least there is a way to minimize the amount of loose strap flopping around that comes from having a waist belt.

The padding for the waist strap is similar in type and thickness to the pack’s shoulder straps. While this won’t win it any hiking enthusiast awards, it should be sufficient for light trekking.

At the end of the day I am glad to have the waist strap rather than not have it, but I do wish there was a way to make it less conspicuous when I didn’t need it.

As we start to examine the back of the Second Front, we find a rather flimsy looking handle to one side.

It doesn’t seem substantial enough to be for carrying the pack, so I assume it is meant to be something to grab onto when swinging the pack around to the front sling style,

Honestly this bit of nylon seems unnecessary. When the pack is on the ground, I actually have to go digging through the other straps in order to find it because it is so insubstantial. I usually end up grabbing the pack by the top handle or by one of the shoulder straps. When I am wearing the pack and need to swing it around, I actually grab whatever I can towards the bottom of the pack (compression straps, bottom end of shoulder straps, anything but this strap) because of where my hands naturally fall when reaching around in this manner.

I wouldn’t miss it, but I guess it doesn’t hurt anything to have it there either.

The back is covered in a firm but segmented layer of padding. I find it to be very comfortable and supportive and appreciate how the segmenting allows the pack to conform to your body as you move about.

Nice attention to detail with the inset logo.

And a closer look at the segmented padding on the back of the pack.

Arriving at the bottom of the bag we find a pair of compression straps, a drainage grommet… and a grab handle.

The compression straps are nice to have, as they can come in handy when you need to strap something to the bottom of the pack, and it is not uncommon to find a grommet, but whenever I find a handle in an odd place I feel compelled to understand its purpose.

Starting with an assessment, the handle seems to be made of a heavier material than the one on the back of the pack, and has been given a little bit more love in its construction. Those two factors alone make it a much more substantial and comfortable handle to use. Perhaps this was done to help the user distinguish by feel the difference between the handle and the compression straps it is surrounded by, thereby facilitating its role in the process of swinging the pack around sling style. Perhaps it was made more substantial so that the user could walk around carrying the bag in this manner. However

-dh-