Okay, this product is actually designed to carry a sidearm...hopefully it's okay to discuss it here. Because this pack is such a great piece of kit, even if you don't CCW, that it really deserves some ink, er, pixels.

I got my HPG Runners Kit Bag yesterday. Initially I was going to get the Snubbie, but thanks to some input from a fellow HK P30 owner over at HPG Forum I opted for the larger version.

Upon unboxing I was very impressed with the quality of the product. The material is great and the construction is top notch; no loose threads or badly stitched seams. This truly looks and feels expensive, moreso than I would have expected at the (relatively) low price. The best comparison I can make is to Maxpedition. This bag is immaculate! I was also really impressed with the ingenuity of the design. It was obviously a well thought out design. Everything works just right.

Initially I had a little trouble figuring out how to draw from it. Grabbing the front pocket zippers was a bit problematic as it only really worked if the gun compartment was left unzipped for a good four inches. I'm gonna get killed before I can get my gun out,I thought. However, leaving about an inch unzipped and hooking my fingers inside turned out to work very well. In fact, I was surprised to find that I can actually draw from the RKB faster than I can draw from IWB if I have it tucked under a shirt. Nice!

I had also worried about carrying a sidearm loaded with no "holster" to protect the trigger. In fact I purchased an adjustable velcro holster from ITS Tactical to use inside. Since they arrived at the same time I did fiddle around with the holster and found it to work okay. But I found that the rig actually does indeed work better without a holster; in fact, the holster is just baggage. There really isn't any way for the safety or trigger to be affected inside the bag due to the construction and design used. I'm sure the Hills aren't surprised! Perhaps if I was carrying my Beretta Nano (a gun with no safety) I might try the holster again but with my cocked-and-locked HKs I had no problems at all.

At first I was a little worried when I noticed there were no instructions. Hey, don't get me wrong- I don't usually read instructions anyway! But I wasn't sure how to go about adjusting the harness. I quickly realized though that it was very intuitive, ingenious even. I got a very good fit within about five minutes. The best position for me turned out to be very high on my chest, high enough that the pistol didn't press on my solar plexus.

I tested it by heading out on the 3 mile route that I walk every night. During the first mile I did a bit of experimenting to figure out how tight to set the bungee cord. Seems like I changed it half a dozen times. If I was jogging it I'd probably cinch it down a little tighter but for a brisk walk it stayed put with the cord pretty loose. At any rate, the RKB was very, very comfortable! It got a little bit warm right under the gun but no more so than under the gun & gunbelt, it just moved the hot spot. It was much more comfortable to have the gun on my chest than riding on my hip, especially as I jogged to cross the intersections.

I really love this pack! If I was to tweak anything, I'd say for my own preference it could have a tiny bit more padding on the back, and maybe channels to stand it off the body a bit (like the back of a Maxpedition Kodiak). It wasn't super hot but after I got home I noticed a bit of sweat just beginning to show on the inside. I wouldn't mind some type of barrier to keep moisture off the gun. Sure, it would make me sweat more but I'm more concerned about the gun. And the front pouch just barely had enough room for my wallet, keys, gun and Surefire E1B...a tiny smidgen more space would be nice, but I understand that no matter what size you make it someone would want a little more room.

But those are very minor quibbles! Again, I love the rig! So much so that I think I'll pick up a Recon down the road and probably a full sized Kit Bag for camping and hiking. Ultimately, the Recon with the bungee cord system might be even better than the RKB for me simply because I could MOLLE my flashlight to the front.

Even if you don't carry a firearm this pack is an awesome way to carry EDC gear that you want to have on your person. Unlike a messenger bag or something like that, this can't be dropped of carried away if fall in a stream, etc. It's very comfortable, although like any pack it will be a little warm on you when it's hot out. It's not huge but if it was you wouldn't want to carry it in this manner anyway.

Thanks to HPG for an awesome bag! I can't wait to try it out on my next camping trip out to Palisades Park.

Here's a picture from the HPG web site: