New Maxpedition Jumbo Novo Versipack Review

The Maxpedition Jumbo Novo. Let's check it out. Maxpedition, known for its hard use gear. And one of the foundations of Maxpedition was their Jumbo. It was designed around 2004. And it's been an extremely popular bag. It is a VersaPak, which means it's a sling pack, but it really goes a lot farther than that. It's a very capable pack. And the Jumbo has actually been moved to their legacy series and Maxpedition has done a lot since that time. But now they're reintroducing the Jumbo as the Novo. And there's also the Novo Plus, which is a little bit larger. But the Jumbo is just one of those versatile packs that you can have everything right there to your side. And the sling pack system is really easy to get to, much better than dismounting a backpack. And I want to give Tim at Maxpedition a big thank you for sending the Jumbo Novo for this review. Maxpedition Jumbo Novo. The original Jumbo was one of Maxpedition's most popular selling packs. In fact, it was imitated a lot of times, but no one could really match the quality. Maxpedition puts out some great stuff. Now with the Novo, there's a number of different changes over that original Jumbo. And that was from the legacy series, which is their original, more of this style design. Maxpedition has done some other series to make it a little bit more modern, but for me, I love the legacy series. And so it's really great to see the Novo come out that still has that same styling. Now this is a Versa pack. So you have a sling and it's a cross body. You can just put it on your shoulder. But while this is a sling pack, it is designed to really ride well. And it really sits comfortably. And then of course it does have a waist strap. So while the typical sling pack can bounce around, you put that waist strap on and it really solidifies things. If you need to be in a hurry to go, that makes a great option. So they also have the Novo Plus. So the Novo is nine liters and that's 549 cubic inches. When it comes to the Novo Plus, it's 10.6 liters. So just slightly larger, it's gonna give you a little more capability, but personally, I like this size and I requested this particular size. It's nine inches in width, it's eight inches in height, and it's about four inches deep. Now you can pack it out and bring it on out from that. But as you can see, I mean, it's just a solid little pack and it fits again, very well to the body. Now guys, backpacks are very useful. They're great for carrying heavy loads and you just strap it on and they wear comfortably, especially if you're going on a long trek. But if you have gear that you need to get to, you wanna stay more mobile, you wanna be able to access whatever gear you have, the SlingPack or Versapack really fits the bill because I can just bring this around, I can get into whatever I need to and I'm ready to go. And that's one of the things about a backpack is I have to dismount it. The good thing about this, it's fully adjustable, it has the shoulder strap, and again, it does have the waist strap. So if you need to be very mobile, even if you're running, you can take this and you can attach it and it will remain right there on your side. So having a Versapack, while it's not the end all, it definitely is something that you're gonna find you'll use quite a bit. Of course it's cross body, but you can also switch it to the other side or you can just use it as a shoulder bag or what I like to call a satchel. We don't carry man purses around here. It's made from a thousand denier. One of the things they do is put a triple polyurethane coat. And so that just wicks away moisture. I mean, it's like water off a duck's back. But also it has a Teflon finish. So when you get it dirty, all you have to do is just take a damp cloth and wipe it off. No detergents, you don't have to use any kind of cleaner. It just really works very well. And it's one of the reasons why Maxpedition looks good for a long time. In fact, last year I did a video about the Monsoon and I've had it for 14 years. And I did an update video about just the quality of Maxpedition and I have used that pack so many times. But the Jumbo actually is to me a more useful pack because it's a little bit more compact. Now this is in the khaki, but they also make it in black and they make it in foliage green and wolf gray. So you have some different choices. So there's a number of different pockets on the outside. We're going to take a look at it. But one of the big pluses for the Novo is their water bottle holder. And this will hold a 32 ounce water bottle and they've expanded it. So you have a keeper here with shock cord and you can just pull this up. It keeps it retained. And then as we pull it out, we have an expanding chamber here. So you can unzip this or if you have a smaller bottle, you can zip it up and then again, you can tether it. So this is a big upgrade just in itself. And then here on the other side, we have a small little case. Now this actually has a pair of binoculars. It just fits it perfectly. And I really like to have a good pair of binoculars and it just allows me to see distance, see what's going on. But this is just an open pouch. And so you can fit different items inside. And it does have YKK zippers with paracord pulls. And the YKK is the industry leading standard and it's self-lubricating. They're just great zippers. One of the things too about Maxpedition and we've done a number of testing with it, you can cram this full and these zippers will work. And I've never had a Maxpedition zipper to come on loose. Now I'm sure it could be, but they do have lifetime warranties on. And then we have this flap over the front and this has been redesigned. It's got more of a taper and that way it'll just keep the water off as well. And there's some other features inside we'll take a look at just to keep water because guys, let's face it, you're outside and that's where it rains. So it's good to have that, to be able to protect your gear that's inside. Now we do have this front buckle and these are Duraflex buckles. It's the UTX, which is an anti-break buckle. But one of the things I also like is how quiet it is. And so you get the cheaper buckles and they make a louder noise. And so this just helps it to be quiet and it's gonna be more secure. And we have this webbing that comes all the way down. And I mean, you know, it's two inch webbing. It's actually a seatbelt material. And that's also with the strap. It has that seatbelt material which makes it extremely comfortable. Now, another big upgrade is their shoulder pad. And here it's a padded, close foam padding. We have a backing here and then we have some anti-slip pads that are kind of rubberized on either side. And so this gives it the breathability but this keeps it locked in wherever you place it on your shoulder. And this is actually three inches in width. And then we have these Velcro pieces here. And that way you can adjust this wherever you want to on the sling and then you can just close it up and it'll lock into place. And we have Maxpedition right here on this one piece. But here again, that two inch webbing, it's really smooth. It's very comfortable and it gives and it moves however you're moving. And so that to me was also a big upgrade. And then here at the other side we have another one of the UTX buckles. And again, this way you can have it over your shoulder and you can just pull it off and dismount really easily. Then around here at the back, we have Kudura here and this allows for breathability but then we have pads that are anti-moisture and they're anti-wicking. So this just gives you a very comfortable feel. And you can see we have different sections and this just fits naturally to where your body's gonna come in contact. And yet you're gonna have that breathability in between. And then here on the shoulder strap there's a pad right here where it starts. But these are seamed and taped and finished. Everything is done extremely well. And all the stitching is a high tensile strength. So it gives it a lot of life. I mean, these things are built to last. And we have a small little grab handle. Now, one thing I found is, is when I grab it here and I wanna walk around with it, it's long and it wants to swing. With this, I can get it up close and I can pick the pack up and I can move it to wherever I need to. And then we have a waist strap. Now this waist strap can be removed if you don't want it. But again, one thing about a waist strap is that it will allow you to move quickly if you need to. Because let's face it, you've got that sling pack going beside you and it can bounce. And so this just gives you that added ability to keep it stable. And we have those same Duraflex UTX buckles as well. And they're quiet. Now we have a hook and loop field here and we have it on the front. And that way you can take your favorite patch and put it on here and you can identify your pack. And one thing I like to do, especially if I have any medical supplies, is to put a medical patch. And that also just makes this pack less intimidating. And we have the Maxpedition logo right here. Now here at the top, and this is where I put items that I need to get to quickly. Because the VersaPack can just sling around and you can get right to your items and you can push it back, it just makes it really easy to get to your stuff. And that's one of the reasons why a sling pack, but even more so the VersaPack, is so useful. We have our YKK zippers. Open it up. And first I have just a pair of sunglasses or eye pro. And then, of course, one thing I always have is a headlamp. And this way I have a hands-free option. And then I can remove this light. And it's the Perun Mini. These things are great, very comfortable to wear. And then here I have a whistle and a lanyard. And one of the things about this is I can signal if it's an emergency. I can blow it if I'm lost or if I'm in bear country or whatever. And one of my Patreon members made this for us at one of our big range days. And this is a really loud whistle. So I can signal with this. And then inside we have two elastic loops. And so that's gonna give you just some organizational area, but otherwise this is just an open pouch. And then we're gonna move right down below that. And we have a small thin pouch. Now here I have a right-in-the-ring pad and I have a pen. And so if I need to write something down, I can get right to it. And again, I have everything placed where I know where it is and I can organize. And it has a lot of room. In fact, it goes all the way down to the end of the flap. Next we have our protective cover. Now again, this just keeps the water off, but we can open this up and we have more organization right here at the front. And so right in the front zippered pocket, little sleeve. And so I can keep items in here and I keep a Silcox wrench. This is something when you see municipal water spouts without handles, this is what you can use to turn it on if you need water. And you can put a lot more in here. That's just what I have. There's no paracord pull on this one. And then we have double paracord pulls on your admin pouch. And so for your admin, we have all of our different items. And one thing that I always keep around is a good map. But then, you know, just other items that I wanna use. And then pens, pencils, I even have an SOG multi-tool. This is a very unusual. I really like this because it's so flat. And this is the Q3. And then I have a regular backup knife. And this is of course, one of the UDTs from Microtech. And this is a capable knife and I have an extra flashlight. Now I'll have my EDC, but these are just items because redundancy on certain items is very important. And then we have this keeper and I have a flashlight here. So this gives me a lot of ability to organize my items. And even though these are just straight sleeves and there's one here at the top, this just gives you, again, some organizational ability. And those zippers, I mean, those things are just smooth as butter. So that's pretty much it on the outside. Now we're gonna get into the main compartment and all we need to do is just bring back our sleeve. But we also have a small little slip here. And inside here, I actually have a Frontier filter straw and I can filter water if I need to. And then I'm gonna have the actual straw itself. And so this is just something I like to have with me. Then inside, very roomy. I mean, you've got a lot of space. And guys, if you want the dimensions of all these different pockets, you can go to the Maxpedition website and it gives you all the specs. So bandanas, bazillion uses. Also, I have a fire kit and paracord. I have one of the Principles from Gerber. This is a great little knife. It's small, but yet it's full tamed. I can do a lot of processing with tender and wood. And so this is one thing. I just like to have a fixed blade knife that has full tang. And of course, my Silky Saw. And this is the smallest one I could find. And we just did some reviews on this compared to some Temu saws. But the Silky Saw is just a great saw. If you're looking for a good saw, this makes it easy to cut and I love them. And then at the bottom, I have my ever present contractor's bag. And you guys know, I like to put these in all my packs and it just fits down in the bottom. But inside there are actually two separate sleeves. And so here I have a med kit and this is actually one of the first responder kits from Amp3.net and USNERDoc makes these and a small little trauma kit. And it makes it easy to put in here. I'm not putting a full size trauma kit. This really works well. And it's in a lock sack. So it's gonna stay secure. And then in the back, I have wet wipes and I wanna keep clean, especially if I need to go to the bathroom. So this gives me that option and just keeps my hygiene up. And so that's it inside the main pouch. But one thing that's cool about this is you'll see this little area right here that comes up. You can take it, it's adjustable. It's got paracord. You pull it like this, it cinches up and this will also protect the items that are inside. So this is just a great option in itself and it'll keep it water resistant. And then again, you bring over the flap and then you have the triple polyurethane coat. So it gives you a number of options. And of course, last but not least, we have this one zipper that goes back behind. And this is the closest to your body. And as we open this up, of course we have a concealed carry compartment and we have a hook and loop field here at the back. The hook and loop field, and we have one of the universal Velcro holsters in here, which is from Maxpedition. And so that works out extremely well. It keeps it very secure. And then the other side is smooth. So that way you can take and put your holster down in here. But this is sold separately with the holster, but this is just a great place. It's very easy to get to. And if you're having to do off-body carry or if you just want to back up, this makes a great option. And then again, it's right here next to your body. One thing though I do want to point out is there's a lot of box X stitching, especially on the stress points, high tensile strength webbing and thread. In fact, they upgrade the thread to a beyond industry standard. So this is going to really hold up well and it's going to be secure. And those places that you need to have that tension, it has it. And of course you have your PALS webbing or MOLLE attachments here, here on this side. And so it just gives you a number of places if you need to. And then on this side, which we do have a couple of different items that we can attach on the outside of our pack. And this is one of the O-Knife and it's one of their small little razors. This thing is crazy. This is the U1 Ultra and it uses the ceramic blades, which actually lasts 10 times longer than steel. And then here I just have a Warrior Mini and I have it tucked in here in this little sleeve. Having things on the outside of your pack, you need to be careful because they can get caught on things but if you're just around town or you're running errands or you just had this without a lot of distraction, these can fit all over this pack. And one thing that I do want to show you that's kind of a secret place is this small little carabiner. It's really thin and you can actually run webbing through it. But what's beautiful is, is you can press this, push it back and now it opens up. So this is just a little mini carabiner. And these are the kind of things that Maxpedition does that you almost don't notice and then they can be very useful or it just looks like it's part of the pack. And last but not least, we have a new bungee system that's on the bottom. This gives you the ability to strap a small tent or a sleeping bag or even a shirt or a jacket. If you want to take it off, you can put it in here. Gets a little warm and this way, you don't have to carry it around your waist. But this is a great option. And there are also keepers here where you can have attachment points to put different things. So an extremely well thought out little pack. So overall, there are about 20 different upgrades to the new Novo. So it's just going to give you more capability, but yet that jumbo is still a great pack. And when it comes to price, these are running $189.99. And then you get the Plus and it's $199. So while Maxpedition is not cheap, there's a reason, you get what you pay for. And guys, again, 14 years, and actually that was a year ago. So for 15 years, I've been using the Monsoon Sling Pack. I have the original jumbo. In fact, a buddy of mine has it, or I would have it here to do a little comparison. And the Fat Boy, those are all great packs. They're still offered by Maxpedition. But if you want to really upgrade your game, check out the Novo or the Novo Plus. I mean, these really are very useful packs. Guys, having a fire kit is essential to survival. It will boil your water, cook your food, give you light, give you heat, keep predators at bay, and it just builds good morale. Exotac makes the best fire starters out on the market. Made from premium materials down in Winder, Georgia, replaceable ferro rods, a number of different types and styles. And having that fire kit together just makes a difference. You get 20% off using Suits20 with the link down below in the description. Get yourself a fire kit. So guys, if you're looking for a very versatile pack, but you don't necessarily want a backpack, you want something that's more mobile, easy to get to the items in the bag, and very comfortable to wear, check out the Jumbo Novo from Maxpedition. It is an excellent option to be able to just have those essential items and then still have enough room to be very capable. And again, a big thank you to Maxpedition for sending the Jumbo Novo for this review. And guys, just like the Jumbo, this is one of those packs that you'll use over and over. Be strong, be of good courage. God bless America. Long live the Republic. You put that sling pack, you put that waist pack, you put that waist sling, your favorite patch, bags, slingshots, slingshots. The Maxpedition slingshot is phenomenal. This gives you the ability to strap a backpack. I mean, just have a backpack. And you can put this over your shoulder. This really works well. This is a completely different little thing here. Fast to be able to get to your stuff. And that's one of your stuff. We're gonna get to our stuff. Maxpedition just puts out some really good quack. Just quack. Side, and it's one of the. Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. Liters, it's 449 cubic inches. Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-chocolate.