A little while ago now I had a stack on the MTB which burst my very old (late 90s) Camelbak bladder and tore a hole in the material. After that I picked up a current model Camelbak Lobo that was on closeout. Unfortunately another stack a few weeks ago rendered the bag on that one irrepairable (the civilian line up just doesnt seem to hold up to abrasion as well), and so i went back on the hunt for a new riding bag.
After being impressed with the construction of my 2013 Mil-HAWG i decided to look at the Mule and the Ambush, not needing too much in the way of pockets for gear. After a bunch of deciding i picked up an Ambush cheaply from US eBay and had it packed up with a bunch of other gear to come over. My big hesitation with the 2013 Ambush was that they have switched to raw webbing straps rather than padded straps, which is fit for their intended purpose as going over a plate carrier, but perhaps less so for my requirements.

All of the gear has now arrived, and I have taken a bunch of photos in its initial state. Ill be doing the review in two parts, first part today because I’m crook with the flu (winter here), and at home with little else to do, and i couldnt find an existing Ambush review to add these photos to. The second part after the weekend when I’ll be going out MTBing whether I’m 100% better or not. So onwards with the photos.

The 2013 Ambush is really a glorified Thermobak with a couple of extra pockets, and some loops ill get to in a bit. For now though, here it is as it came out of the packet:

Now one of the concerns I had with the pack as above is to do with the raw webbing straps that are likely to bite into the shoulders given half a chance (especially with 5-6kg of gear in the bag). To mitigate this occurrence i picked up a pair of Hazard 4 shoulder pads as well, to go with the bag.

And this is how they are fitted

By sheer luck they fit almost perfectly between the sternum strap and over the upper tube guide d-rings on each side. Loaded up the bag sits quite comfortably, although because of my shorter stature the webbing exits the lower part of the pad a bit awkwardly. Will have to see how this goes in the field.

Moving onto the rest of the bag, as I said above its really a Thermobak with a couple of pockets. The main bag itself opens up with the same mechanism as the Thermobak, revealing the Antidote bladder carried in a collar to keep it supported:

There is also a side zip to access the bladder compartment to get at the quick release (and in my case stash some gear).

The front of the pack has two extra compartments over the Thermobak. In the upper bladder mouth covering flap there is a small zip leading to a compartment that will allow a bunch of gear to be stashed in there

About the right size for wallet and phone, or a Maxped Mini pouch.

Down the bottom there is a PALS lined pouch with 4×3 ‘usable’ PALS slots on the front of it:

I say ‘usable’ as due to the taper of the pouch there may be issues fitting items to the very edges of the pouch, although from my test fit the Blackhawk STRIKE speed clips squeezed in ok.

Inside that pouch there are two mesh compartments, and a key lanyard:

The entire pocket is about two Maxped Minis in size, although perhaps slightly thicker (roughly 1.5in) I have a mini FAK (in the 3×5) a puncture kit and my multitool in there at the moment. Definitely room to jam more gear in there should the want/need arise.

The last feature of the bag are the six 1in loops found in pairs down each side of the bag. These are for use with a plate carrier, and allow for the straps to be tucked inside the back pocket so that it can be docked to anything with PALS webbing. Personally i think they will go well with ITW G-Hooks or Kifaru K-Connectors and my larger hiking pack, allowing me to setup a base camp and then go on with just the hydration pack and a few essentials.

That’s really all there is to say about the bag, ill be giving it a good test out over the weekend, and will report back with more photos of it in the wild and usage notes. I may also update the photos above with some in better light too. Any questions then ask away