In my last post about Overland Expo East I was telling you how much I loved Blue Ridge Overland Gear (BROG). I cruised their website repeatedly and looked at all of their stuff. I now have a long list of things I want from them because it will satisfy my need for order!
When we checked in at Expo we got this shoulder bag with some paperwork inside. I gave it a cursory look and it turned out I had most of the info digitally stored in my phone - maps of the grounds, vendors, schedules, etc. so I didn’t really look at it much until I got home. It turns out the bag was made by BROG!
It appears similar in size to their Map Pouch, made to hold road atlas sized maps, but slightly different in style and a different color. I decided to test it out with my old Rand McNally atlas and, sure enough, it fit perfect! The flap wasn’t secured like in their traditional Map Pouch so I decided to have some Velcro added locally.
After an initial mix up in what I was actually looking for, the shop got it right. They didn’t even charge me! They said I already paid, but I didn’t recall paying so I think they were just trying to make up for not doing it right the first time. I also brought in one of my buddy’s from the trip is as well. We added another, thinner, row of loop on the bag and a row of hook on the inside of the flap. That way the flap would keep things inside the bag if it ended up tumbling around. Our work issue laptops happen to be quite large and this actually swallows it too.
Having thoroughly examined the BROG catalog I knew they had a flat Velcro pouch and it looked like it would fit on the field of this bag just like it fits on their regular map pouch. I measured it to be sure and ordered a couple for me and my friend. The pouch is 5" x 14" so it will hold a standard folded map, which tends to be 4" x 9" along with a highlighter and pens. This is going to live in the seat back pocket of my vehicles from now on.
