Iv had the 5.11 Havoc 30 for about three months now. It’s been my everyday carry/car bag since. I have searched the forum and haven’t found any reviews but have seen some interest so I thought I would do a review. It is rather lengthy but I have included lots of pictures for reference. I hope y’all enjoy.

The bag is 21″ H x 11.75″ L x 9″ W
With the approximate volume being 1680 cubic inches or 27.5 liters. These specs are off of 5.11’s site.

The bag is self standing with a beaver tail, and 4 compression straps that allow you to really cinch down the bag. The beaver tail has a daisy chain on both sides along with a daisy chain on each of the side pockets. 

There is only one section of Molle on the semi rigid sunglasses pocket that is fleece lined and fairly deep. I wouldn’t use this to attach any pouches due to the bag may start to be unbalanced and slouch.


It fits a large to extra large sized pair of sunglasses in a hard sided pouch along with some ear plugs and lens wipes.

The admin panel is small but for my uses just big enough. There is two pen pockets, a smaller pocket with out a bottom that I keep a sharpie and usually a fenix PD tax 35. There is also a small little slash pocket that I keep a small travel size bottle of ibuprofen in. With a head lamp floating around the pocket. 

The side pockets are big enough to fit a nalgene but not big enough for a 40 ounce hydroflask. They also have some stretchable webbing that can fit an AR mag. I keep a morakniv companion, pak towel, paracord, and a charging bank.

The inside of the bag has a small mesh pocket up top and a small slip pocket in the bottom of the bag. I keep some essentials in the top mesh pocket.


Here is the slip pocket and it’s contents. It’s fairly deep and everything stays in place even though there is no type of closure.

The inside opens up almost to a full clamshell. It also has small slots on the inside as wide as the stretchy webbing but on the inside it’s just a nylon fabric.



I keep my camera insert, a first aid kit, toilet paper, and a pair of binoculars and I have room to spare for extras.
There is also a laptop compartment that can fit a large lap top.

The harness system is a yoke system but the back piece connecting the straps to the bag isn’t as large like the rush series so there is more comfort in my opinion. 
The straps also have great padding. I also like the new system for the sternum strap. It’s easy to use and allows for quick detachment of the strap.

The back panel is nicely padded with some ventilation along with a nice grab handle.

Behind the back panel is a place for a hydration bladder. It will fit a normal 3L sized bladder. 

The compression straps don’t utilize buckles, but a slip through system which I have come to prefer.