I purchased a Camelback Motherlode 500 daysack some months ago and after some heavy use including several exercises and 2 military parachute drops I have come to the conclusion that it is quite possibly one of the best daysacks on the market at the present moment in time and certainly the best I have owned. To review this item properly I am going to break down it down into different parts and go into some detail about each bit.

The Camelback Motherlode 500 is made from 500 denier cordura which means it is somewhat lighter than other materials used in the construction of other daysacks, at first I was quite sceptical about this as I believed that having a thinner material would make it more prone to damage. However my fears were not founded because as of yet the Daysack has no damage to the material what so ever, it is also quite waterproof during use in a heavy period of rain the Daysack was only very slightly damp inside. The stitching seems good throughout and where the shoulder straps are attached to the main part of the pack there is no visible damage which is good as I have carried some quite heavy kit in the Daysack. I mention this because on previous Camelback daysacks I have owned I found this to be a weak area where the stitching has started to come away after carrying heavy loads; however it seems to have been resolved on this model. Overall the Daysack is well made and will take a lot of punishment (comparable in quality to a Berghaus Munro) and I would imagine the user would pile in days before the Daysack!

This Daysack has the ability to swallow kit up with a massive main compartment and loads of other smaller ones. The addition of a fleece lined optics pouch I think I was of the best upgrades from other Camelback daysacks and I have used it on many occasions. I'm not too sure about the smaller fleece pouch on the top of the Daysack but I would imagine that there are others that would find a use for it. The front pouch is very big and inside it is divided up into other smaller sections which are handy for storing smaller items in such as spare batts/med kit etc. I think this Daysack is the perfect size for anyone working in a dismounted combat role as it has enough room to carry all the kit needed without being to big thus giving you the temptation to overfill it.

Now I come to the only downside to this item...the price. I purchased mine for £150 which seems to be about as cheap as you can buy one of these daysacks, the price does vary on what colour you get with Multicam being the most expensive. But I was willing to pay this as I believe it will pay for itself and so far I have been proved right, although there are similar items on the market for half the price I don't think they will be of the quality of this Daysack. My only advice would be to shop around before you buy one.

I have used this Daysack on top of the issued and somewhat bulky body armour and I was very pleasantly surprised. The shoulder straps have plenty of play in them and fitted even when I had warm kit and body armour on. I did find the chest strap very useful as it stopped the straps slipping off my shoulders which I do feel they would do if I wasn't using it. The back is well padded and more importantly well ventilated compared to earlier Camelbaks. There is a small non slip bit of material on the bottom of the rear section which is supposed to stop it slipping on your back, to be honest I think this is a bit of a gimmick but I suppose it can't hurt.

In conclusion I can't really fault the Camelback Motherlode 500 day sack, it is light years ahead of anything that is currently on issue and better than a lot of others on the market as well. Due to the way it is made it is comfortable to use wearing bulky body armour which in this day and age is very important. Its large capacity and well thought-out pouch configuration is a real plus and there is easily enough room to carry all the kit needed on ops these days. I would recommend this daysack to anyone in the military and personally I am very happy with my purchase.