Rothco Medium Transport Pack Review: One Tough Day Bag

Since 1953, Rothco has been combat tested, providing a plethora of military and tactical equipment to the high standard required. Rothco has done an excellent job at making quality products at an affordable price without sacrificing durability.

The Rothco Medium Transport Pack is a tactical backpack that is ideal for packing enough gear for at least a day or two. Ideal for scenarios like military operations, law enforcement patrols, hunting, hiking, or camping. The pack has multiple compartments that can store enough kit for you to survive out in the field for extended periods of time and can store 30L worth!

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If you’d like to learn all about this daypack by Rothco in detail, then please continue reading on!

Storage

Large Compartment

The Medium Transport Pack’s large compartment has a lot of room for storing anything bulky. I would add items like clothing in here if I were traveling for a day or two, which there’s plenty of room to do so. If you’re bringing a laptop, this is where it would fit best. I have a 13″ MacBook Air that fit’s nicely inside, even with a case. The mesh pocket is a good spot to put items you don’t want getting lost or having to go looking for with everything else in there. I usually store my underwear and socks in this area. There’s also a small zippered pocket in the main compartment. This is where I would store my passport or important documents that I want secured away.

Middle Compartment

The middle compartment is slightly smaller than the large compartment. In here I would put items such as toiletries, or if you have a tablet oppose to a laptop, then I would suggest storing it in this compartment. The reason is so if you lay the pack on the ground, the tablet is more protected by a layer of clothing or other stuff! If I’m traveling for a couple days, what I might do is put a garbage bag in here and store my dirty clothes in it for when I return either home or to another destination where I can wash them. There is a internal pocket inside which can have a flashlight, compass, or notepads.

Outer Upper Pocket

The outer upper pocket is a great place to store smaller items that you would want quick access to. A small first aid kit could be put in here, and if you add a Red Cross patch on the exterior Velcro, it easily identifies the contents inside, and the location of the pocket would make access to the first aid kit as easiest. If you’re simply using this backpack for traveling though, keeping items like ear buds or phone charging cables would be great to put in this pocket so you can quickly take them out when you need them without having to go searching inside the bag.

Outer Lower Pocket

The outer lower pocket of the Rothco Transport Pack is a place where you can store slightly larger items. If you have a laptop charger or need a place to store a book you’re reading while traveling, this is where it can go. Inside this pocket is a classical style pen and pencil pocket. If you’re wearing this pack out in the field or training area, we all know it’s essential to have a notepad and blue pen on hand. This is a great spot for these.

Quality Check

The Rothco Medium Transport Pack is made extremely well with the highly durable and lightweight 600 Denier Polyester material and some quality stitch work! Each pocket is also lined with water repellent material to keep your gear safe!

The backing of the pack has a mesh material which allows for airflow, preventing your back from getting extremely sweaty. Less sweat is always a bonus in my opinion. Shoulder straps are also padded well without being incredibly bulky. The zippers I don’t believe are YKK, but they are still a heavy gauge zipper. Some things I would prefer about the zippers is having a better quality of the pull tabs, which feel like a cheap plastic. Another thing with regards to the zippers is there is no overlap to protect zipper from the elements. Even though this makes opening and closing the pack easier, I think having material going over the zipper is always better to ensure no water seeps in when it rains out. Not a huge deal, but it’s worth mentioning I think.

Overall, the quality of this backpack checks out to be very well done, which should explain why, at the time of this post, it has received a 4.5 out of 5 rating on Amazon!

Additional Features

Quick-Release Straps

This was one thing I noticed right away on the Medium Transport Pack was that it had the quick-release buckles on the should straps. This is a feature that can easily be overlooked and even thought to be an odd thing, but this can be a life saving design. On my actual issued military tactical backpack, called a Small Pack, this feature is also included, but uses Velcro oppose to the buckles that Rothco went with, but both do the same job. In the event that your pack gets caught or if you fall in a body of water that the pack is just weighing you down and you begin to sink, instead of fumbling with the straps trying to get your arms loose, all you have to do is quickly pinch the two buckles, and off your pack comes, possibly saving your life in an emergency!

Waist Belt

Another great feature that was included is the waist belt. My only complaint on this is that it’s very basic and doesn’t have any padding for your hip area, but honestly something is better than nothing. The belt strap can also be removed so that if you don’t require it, you don’t have a bunch of strapping hanging down and getting in the way of thing. The best way to implement the waist strap is to pull the shoulder straps tight so the pack is sitting high on your back, then you tighten the waist belt nice and snug. Once you have the waist belt tight enough, you then loosen slightly the shoulder straps about an inch or two! What this does is it takes the load off your shoulders ever so slightly, which will increase your endurance on this long patrols or hikes.

Hydration Bladder

Mostly all tactical backpacks will include this feature, but nonetheless it is an important addition to have. The Medium Transport Pack has a compartment specifically for a hydration bladder on the backside of the bag. Having this feature makes a huge difference because now you don’t have to carry around a massive water bottle. Even if you stored the water bottle in your pack, if it’s not stored evenly then it makes the weight in your pack awkward, and the water would be displaced from left to right constantly. Having a hydration bladder keeps your water hands free – besides bringing the spout to your mouth – and always keeps the water in your pack in one location. I personally own both the Camelbak hydration bladder and the Osprey hydration bladder. Both of these will work fine, so should any other hydration bladder of similar size.

MOLLE Webbing

The MOLLE webbing (Modular Lightweight Load Carrying Equipment) is all over the Medium Transport Pack giving you so many options. If you require even more pouches to store gear, like a separate dedicated first aid pouch, the those can be attached to the MOLLE webbing on the outside. There’s even MOLLE webbing on the bottom of the pack, which may seem pointless to people, but this can be used to attach a sleeping bag or self inflating mattress with paracord.

Outer Webbing Tightening System

There’s not much to say about this feature but it’s worth mentioning. The Medium Transport Pack has a webbing system that goes on the front of the pack which can be tightened down, allowing you to squeeze the bag. What this does is it compacts the bag which prevents loose items from bouncing around inside. One of the worst things to have when hiking or going on lengthy ruck marches is having gear in your pack that’s shifting and bouncing around. It makes an already difficult trek for miles even more uncomfortable, and to be honest it could possible cause damage to your body! So this is a great feature to have for sure. If you don’t need this though it can easily be removed. There are also four straps (2 on the bottom, 1 on each side) that can also be tightened to compress the pack.

Sternum Strap

On the shoulder straps is a sternum strap, which is great for keeping the shoulder straps close together at all times during some long hikes or traveling. I’m sure you’ve been there too when you’re walking for extended periods of time and the shoulder straps will slowly start sliding off your shoulder, and you have to continuously adjust them so they’re not falling off. The sternum strap will prevent this from happening which is great. Also, they are removable and can be moved up or down depending on your comfort.

Conclusion

The Rothco Medium Transport Pack is possible the best price daypack on the market! This daypack can be used in many different scenarios such as military operations, law enforcement patrols, hunting, hiking, camping, traveling, etc. Rothco has been designing military and tactical gear for almost 70 years! Their experience and expertise allow them to make quality products without charging an arm and a leg. Be sure to check out the latest prices on the Medium Transport Pack on Amazon!