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Off-road riding in Morocco and Mexico, Death Valley and Utah. Endless and wet road rides in England, Italy, and Japan. Countless flights, countless miles, countless drops and indignities. It's a long list, the things we've thrown at the Kriega R25 backpack, and we have yet to find a challenge it can't handle.
If you’re the kind to thumb your nose at a $189 backpack, that’s fair. We understand, and you’re completely right, and we agree that even the best backpack is little more than a sack and some straps. But backpacks like the R25 are what happen when avid motorcyclists turn their attention to improving a product, and those improvements can be dramatic. Founders Dom Longman and Michael Cottam wanted to shift the pressure points of a traditional backpack away from a rider’s underarms without counting on the traditional waist strap, which can interfere with a tank and add more hassle than it’s worth if the rider is in full gear.
Their innovation, and what sets the Kriega R25 apart from other backpacks, is a harness system that clips together at two points across the chest, spreading the load across the center of your torso instead of its edges. It’s quick to get in and out of, adjusts swiftly and easily with pull tabs near the hips, and the system works as advertised. Long rides with the Kriega R25 are as comfortable as they come. Cordura and ripstop nylon make up the bones of the R25, while accessories like a hydration bladder or a CE Level 2 back protector slip into the same sleeve that swallows 15-inch laptops whole.
It seems to swallow everything else too. At 25 liters of capacity, even the biggest packrats might have a hard time finding the bottom of the main bag. A second outer compartment is suited for organizing smaller items, like documents, while a transparent inner pouch keeps things like keys from rattling around. Taken together, it makes a bag fit for a world traveler on two wheels.
