UF Product Review
by ez

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Just after Jump Britain aired on national tv, word spread about the UF team getting ready to set off on some European tour dates before heading over to New York for some filming projects.  This resulted in an email hitting us from Dom at www.surf-sales.com  asking us if we were kitted out with good quality bags for light to medium travel.  After giving it all of 5 seconds to think, we responded with the obvious "no".  Dom then promised that he'd ship some bags over to us in time for our travels and to be honest, nothing was ever expected.  A day later a very pissed off and worn out delivery driver turned up at the UF HQ carrying a huge box full of a vast assortment of Dakine backpacks.  With the team gathered together for the filming of MOM along with a team meeting, a savage bar brawl ensued as everyone fought over the bags that they'd earmarked for themselves.  A couple of weeks later and with some heavy duty travelling under our belts, we now feel ready to write up a little review for anyone wishing to be pointed in the direction of decent backpacks.

All the bags sent over were different so this review will be a general summary.  Of all of the bags, over two thirds had built in hydration packs which means that they have bladders inside that can be filled with water or juice and have a straw conveniently fitted into the main straps.  Dakine being a snowboard company, have developed these bags with ruggedness in mind and the strength of these bags is clearly evident.  The bags we received all varied in size from the dinky backpacks as seen in the Yamakasi movie to full sized ones with special compartments to fit camera equipment inside.  Aside from the strength factor, these backpacks have so many hidden pockets that you'll be provided with many of those special moments where you'll put the bag down, pick it up a week later and suddenly find a fiver that you never realised you'd lost tucked away in one of the pockets. 
Take a look at www.dakine.com to get a feel for the company in question.  Might be worth doing a search on google to find a more varied selection of backpacks.


Style - Look great with all the bags varying from urban colour schemes to full on camouflage army style.  5/5

Fit - Very comfortable with padded straps.  Also has waist and chest straps to hold the backpacks tight if ever you decide to use them while running. 5/5

Weight - No complaints here.  Made from lightweight material that is easy on the back while also being supper rugged.. 5/5

Durability - Fully washable and made from tough material. These bags were made for snowboarders with the mountain terrain in mind.  Translates effortlessly over to the urban jungle, so full marks there. 5/5

Value - The only drawback are the costs.  You'll need to shop around for decent prices.  The heaviest one we received retails at £60 GB Pounds which may be a bit steep for most, but what you really pay for is a high quality bag that will last you for years to come.  4/5

Overall - I've so far used mine to travel to Milan and Barcelona and have deliberately given it a tough time chucking it around to really test it out.  So far I have no complaints at all other than finding that the hydration bag took up too much space, so I removed it.  Also had a big laugh going through customs in Spain.....had a stroppy security guy pull me over.  Took him nearly 45 mins to go through all the secret pockets and by the time he'd finished he was starting to sweat and was in a right state.  He then took a look at Bam who was carrying a similar bag and instead of giving him a hard time too, he simply waved him on.  Quality! 4.5/5