Mail Call: TAD Dispatch Bag

Today’s mail call brings us the Dispatch Bag from Triple Aught Design (aka TAD or TAD Gear), a mid-sized messenger bag that has 13L of capacity and is made in the USA. It is constructed from beefy 1000D Cordura, with some impressive built-in organization. At present (Aug. 2017), it is only offered in the black colorway, but used to be offered in coyote, foliage, and Multicam.

TL;DR – great bag for the urban EDC’er or road warrior.

While I’m not usually a big fan of messenger and shoulder bags (due to weight distribution), they do provide something critical: very quick access to your gear. This can be really useful in an urban environment, while traveling, or even if the bag is just next to you in a vehicle. And it’s always good to have options, which is why I decided to add the Dispatch Bag to the rotation. Not to mention, it will be able to pull double duty as a photography and range bag.

Rather than do an in-depth review, as there are several excellent ones out there already (see below), I’m just going to touch on a few points instead:

Likes:

External Velcro – go nuts, room for all sorts of morale patches!
Organization – not cluttered with bulky pockets. Perfect for sub-loads of gear.
Design – looks amazing, form meets function, top-notch construction.
Zipper Pulls – no annoying metal pulls, silent 550 cord instead.
Velcro Lining – add hook & loop pouches to your heart’s content.
Padding – built in, so your laptop / gadgets have some protection.

Humble Suggestions for Improvement:

“Flashlight Cave” – awesome idea, but a little tough to fit your hand in there to attach anything to the D-ring (workable, though).
Main Compartment – would be great to have a high-viz. liner, maybe a removable Velcro divider panel, and a couple of wide fabric loops for dummy cording key straps or Grimlocs.
Fabric – could probably switch to 500D for weight savings and water repellency. Just going to say it… Multicam Black would rock!
Overall Dimensions – if shrunk to roughly 75%, would be just about perfect, a la Goldilocks.

For a couple of excellent video reviews, be sure to check out those done by Black Scout Survival and RMK Outdoors. Links are below:

Black Scout Survival – YouTube Review | Click Here

Carryology – Drive By | Click Here

Expedition Portal – Long Term Review | Click Here

RMK Outdoors – YouTube Review | Click Here

Ongoing Update – June 2018:

After carrying and using the Dispatch Bag for the better part of a year, I’d still stick with my likes & improvements list mentioned above. My only addition is that it would be nice to see the shoulder pad lengthened just a bit — especially for cross-body carry. This is a great messenger bag and it’s accompanied me on several road trips. It’s well worth the price of admission for the quality and features alone, and I haven’t had a single problem or even so much as a loose thread. (Unfortunately, at the time of this update, it looks like the Dispatch is presently out of stock via TAD. Hopefully that changes soon for anyone interested in picking one up!)