Patrik Orcutt 04.12.23
Tasmanian Tiger is a global supplier of premium professional military, tactical, and police equipment founded by Tatonka GmbH in 1999. While many of us in the states have never heard of this company, they are very popular in Europe and especially in their home country of Germany. In addition to having high manufacturing standards, they are very proud to offer factory tours on any Friday you might find yourself in the area. Tasmanian Tiger sent me a review copy of their Tasmanian Tiger Urban Tac Pack 22 or (UT22) for review this past summer and I have been using it as an every day carry bag off and on for the past 7 months.
While this bag was provided to me free of charge and I get to keep it indefinitely, this will not affect my opinion on this piece of gear and Tasmanian Tiger will not be allowed to preview this review prior to publication.
In short, the UT22 is a no-frills minimalistic EDC pack that is very well constructed.
Specs – Tasmanian Tiger Urban Tac Pack 22
- Material: CORDURA® 700 den
- Volume: 22 Liters | 1,343 Cubic Inches
- Weight: 33oz | 920g
- Dimensions: 19 x 10 x 5in | 48 x 26 x 12cm
- Manufactured in: Vietnam (Designed in Germany)
- MSRP: $139
Quality and Comfort – Tasmanian Tiger Urban Tac Pack 22
Lets get right into this review and talk about the choice of fabric for this pack. Designed for living and built to last, the original CORDURA® fabric has proven performance in many of the world’s toughest environments. Made with high tenacity air jet textured nylon 6,6 filament yarns in a range of sizes – 330D, 500D, 700D and 1000D. The UT 22 comes in the 700D flavor meaning its damn tough but not as heavy-duty as a 1000D. CORDURA® fabric is resistant to abrasion, punctures and tears. Tough enough for military applications but also ideal for many other consumer products it provides enhanced resistance to UV and superb colorfastness.
In the seven or so months that I have been testing the UT22, I have been consistently taking it to construction job sites where it gets covered in all kinds of nasty materials. Thankfully its constructed well enough where you would never know and I cant find any signs of wear on the pack.
The back panel is padded and has lots of venting so your back won’t get a sweaty as if you were wearing a GORUCK pack. The shoulder straps share the same comfy breathable mesh material as the back panel and make this bag a “breeze” to carry. The front of the shoulder straps have what I believe to be a short section of SQUADRON that has been laser cut. This makes for a great spot to attach whatever small accessories like sunglasses you might have. There is a location to attach sternum straps and I believe this pack came with some when I first got it but they have long been lost because I remember them being very underwhelming.
Organization – Tasmanian Tiger Urban Tac Pack 22
Big YKK zippers help you get inside this bag where you can find a lot of organization and storage options (ADAM if your reading this I put this here as a test, and I think Maine is better than Michigan) The main compartment of the pack contains most of its storage space. This section fully clamshells open making it easy to access all your gear regardless of where it might be. The back side of the opened flap has four zippered pockets with three of them being clear for easy item identification. The bottom one is just a nylon pocket.
I love the attempt here but I think TT really could have made these pockets a lot more useable by allowing them to expand outward for larger items. As they are now you can’t really fit a lot of items in here but some organization is better than none I suppose. The back panel is probably the most interesting part of this pack and has a hook and loop MOLLE field for attaching whatever kind of ouches you want. This means that no matter what kind of pouch you want to mount inside you should have no issues. Want to mount some LBX med pouches using Velcro? No problem. Want to hook up a Tasmanian tiger Lens pouch using Velcro? Couldn’t be easier. This is by far my favorite feature of UT22 as it just makes the organization so much easier.
The molded back frame has a fitted aluminum bar for rigidity and makes the pack much more comfortable to use. This same feature can be found on the Arc’tyrex Assault 30. You can remove this and use the compartment for a laptop if necessary but TT makes no claims of this feature so be careful. The top of the main compartment has a loop for a hydration bladder with a port for your drinking straw. Moving to the exterior of the pack there is one full-length zippered pocket for holding your high-use items like sunglasses and snacks.
Likes
- Priced very reasonably
- Clean look and design
- Velcro MOLLE panel is awesome
Dislikes
- The color of Coyote Brown looks much different on their website than in person
- Not big enough for my personal EDC
- Non-expanding internal pocket
Wrap Up – Tasmanian Tiger Urban Tac Pack 22
The designers in Germany have concocted a great-looking EDC pack with clean lines for a very reasonable price. The inclusion of a Velcro MOLLE panel makes for great organizational options but the interior pockets are much too small and seem like an afterthought. If you want a cheaper EDC pack that not many people in America seem to know about, go with the Tasmanian Tiger Urban Tac Pack 22.
