Alex Reviews: KR Multicase Kaiser1 bag

Fresh back from the ETC (well actually fresh back from the Edinburgh festival, but prior to that I was at the ETC) I've been handed the arduous task of reviewing the Kaiser1 bag from KR Multicase. First, here's a picture:

Before we go any further I should explain that KR generously sponsored team Scotland at the ETC this year and provided each of us with a KR Multicase to take our armies to Prague in. What we didn't know was that they also decided to send us each a bag for the case to go in, in my case, the Kaiser1.

I'm not going to do an in depth review of the KR Multicase itself this time round but might in future if Ben tells me to. In short however here is half of my KR Multicases:

(The cat food box is not a KR accessory.)

When it came to packing for Prague, I found I had a problem: I wanted to keep my army in hand luggage to ensure no one decided to re-enact Jonny Wilkinson scoring the World Cup winning drop goal against Austrailia in the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final, however the bag exactly filled my hand luggage sized suitcase. I therefore decided to really put the bag through it's paces and took it as my hand luggage. The fact that it survived the journey and is still in good nick is a massive plus for durability. Particular positives are the heavy duty handle and strap (with rotating clip so no annoying twisted straps):

So, I had to use the additional pockets to carry all my other stuff like my passport, documents, hipflask, e-reader etc. Fortunately it turns out this thing is tardis like in it's construction. Here come the pockets:

The main pocket is of course the bit which holds the case. It can also hold the army list of Michael Willner of team Germany as demonstrated (I assume it can also hold other people's army lists too in a pinch) it holds it exactly, it's almost like it was designed around it. That means no banging around which is great.

Next up are the two front pockets, these are excellently sized for the mini FOW rule book and an artillery template as well as an ebook reader, hipflask full of whisky and all sorts of other gubbins:

Next up is the funky little side pocket, this is perfectly sized for a battlefront dice tin as well as your hangover medication for day two of a tournement as well as some other necessary odds and sods like objectives:

It also has a removable KR card so you can put your name on it (or in the case of Marc, use your business card like a prat).

It then has three pockets parallel with the main case pocket, one at the front, which is huge and comfortably held loads of books, as demonstrated here by an army book and essential reading material for when you win 6-1 in 30 minutes:

It also has two pockets at the back. One is the same as the front one, and I found it was good for holding all my travel documents as it was against my body so I felt less worried about someone stealing them (my body is pretty big so pickpockets night be afraid they looked like they were trying to cop a feel):

And then the final pocket handily held my sweeties, which were very useful when you discover your team captain hasn't ordered lunch and you are gaming in the middle of a turnip field with no means of cooking said turnips:

So all in all, I really liked this bag and it is going to take over as my main tournement bag, it can hold pretty much everything I would want and is durable enough that I don't have to worry it's going to fall apart on me or the strap will break if I have to walk across town because Ben has got the postcode wrong when he books a B&B 

A brief pros and cons in case you are wondering if it will meet your specific needs:

Pros:

-Hand luggage sized

-Survived a whole trip to Prague with a drunken scotsman

-Managed to hold all my hand luggage as well as my army

-space for whisky

-seems custom built for FoW particularly the front pockets exactly fitting a rule book and templates

-easy to put your name on

-space for whisky

-easily holds an army book (including the hard back big ones)

-sturdy construction and handles

-rotating strap clip so you don't get an annoying twisted strap (seriously you have no idea how much I like this)

-room for whisky

-multiple pockets including more secret ones for holding documents. Also means you don't accidentally get out and lose your passport when you are pulling out your army list.

-room for whisky.

Cons:

-Doesn't fit in hand luggage sized suitcase

-Whisky has to be in a hipflask, a full bottle makes it bulgy and uncomfortable to carry around

So in summary, this is a great bag and could only be improved with the addition of a pocket shaped for a 750ml bottle of single malt whisky.

Alex