My review on of the Caribee Platoon 70
After using this pack once on a three day camp/hike since buying it, these are my thoughts.
The Platoon 70 is one of Caribee's military inspired range and is based on the Cadet 65, but has a few key differences. While it looks similar to the Cadet 65, it is slightly larger at 75 x 36 x 28cm compared to 70 x 34 x 28cm, weighs a little more than the Cadet 65's 1.9Kg at 2.4Kg and the main visible difference is the inclusion of three large external pockets that seem to swallow up pretty much everything you want to put in there!
Wanting a pack for more adventurous camping/hiking trips with my son (who also owns a Platoon 70!), ruggedness, toughness, comfort and storage capacity were the main criteria for my new purchase. The Platoon 70 is constructed from water resistant 900D ripstop cordura Auscam nylon, and has plenty of storage space. Aside from the large pack dimensions, the external pockets are approximately 23cm x 16 x 4.5cm (according to my crude measuring methods) and are sealed by heavy duty zips under storm flaps, helping to keep the contents dry. There are two large elasticised drink bottle pockets below the external side pockets and quite comfortably take a 1L canteen and kidney cup up to the neck or longer, skinnier stainless 1 – 1.5L type bottles or water filters and accessories, etc.
The external pockets are covered in Molle webbing as well as having four more Molle attachment points on the base of the pack. On the subject of attachment points, the pack has a super strong grab handle at the top as well as plenty of molle webbing, plastic clips and nylon loops on the harness, corners of the pockets, waist strap as well as two large webbing loops on the base to hang larger items, so if you're built like Arnie Swarzenneger, you can attach heaps of extra storage/molle pouches, carabineers, fast ropes, tools, accessories or whatever you like.
The shoulder harness is nearly 90mm wide at the top and tapers down to around 60 mm at the bottom, is very well padded with high density foam (around 12mm), covered in airmesh where it comes in contact with your body and has two sets of adjustments, one for adjusting length and another set at the top to make it snug. It also has an elasticised, height adjustable sternum strap clasped together with a 25mm QR buckle with whistle.
The waist strap is a super wide 130mm at the widest point and has the same thick airmesh padding as the back padding and has excellent weight bearing/sharing properties. It’s two way adjustable for waist size and hip width, has a couple of grab handles to hang even more stuff on if you like, and held together by a 45mm QR buckle on 35mm webbing. Together with the AirFlow System (AFS) airmesh back padding with lumber support,as well as an aluminium contoured internal X-Frame, this pack is one of the most comfortable ones I’ve ever had!
Looking inside the pack reveals a cavernous storage area that is divided in the lower third by a draw cord diaphragm that can be opened right up to make one large storage area or pulled tight to divide the pack in two. In this arrangement, the bottom third of the pack can be accessed directly from the outside via a curved heavy duty zip under a storm flap and is great to place your sleeping bag or used to keep wet/dirty items separate from the main compartment. The main area is sealed at the top by a draw cord throat as well as a QR buckled compression strap, and is covered by a storm hood which has yet another pocket that takes up the whole hood and is easily accessible from the outside via another zip for those items you want to quickly get to, although, no storm flap on this. The hood is held in place by two compression straps with QR buckles which are anchored just above the lower compartment’s storm flap then continue down to the bottom of the pack with another set of QR buckles to form two more compression straps on the lower portion of the pack. These keep the pack snug and tidy when not heavily loaded out, but form excellent attachment points for a hiking tent, sleeping mats or any other large or bulky item you don’t want to fit in the pack!
I would recommend this to anyone wanting a large, full featured, tough, durable and comfortable backpack for just about anything you want including as a camping, hiking, bug out or travelling backpack! Aussie made? YES! Even better!
Could it be better? Like anything, sure it could (like the inclusion of hydration compatibility, built in storm/rain cover or some shock cord on the outside) but given the high quality materials and construction, 3 year manufacturer's warranty and unbeatable price, this is probably the best pack you'll get under $200 and even compares extremely well against imports worth $300 or more!
Well done Caribee! 4.5 out of 5Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
