Specialist Carry | Kriega R25

Our first specialist carry post revolved around riding your bike with a chainsaw. This time we introduce you to a potentially better way to carry when you’re halfway through your mid life crisis doing 40 clicks an hour on a Harley you paid too much for – Enter the Kriega R25.

The UK based Kreiga produces some of the world’s best motorbike packs. The funny thing is, that in designing for such specific use, they’ve stumbled upon a design that most other active daypacks really need to learn from*

The harness design for the Kreiga follows the shape of your ribcage, but we aren’t sure how far the harness stretches. And honestly, if you’re too big for the harness to fit, you might need a different solution anyway.

This design hugs the pack to your body, without then locking it to your hips. You can still bend and twist, and the pack will remain stable with your upper body. Flexibility is key here, you don’t want to be the tin man while riding right?

The packs themselves have quite a few other kinda cool details. Chest pockets (for ready access stuff like phones), bomber compression, streamlined shapes, and good weather proofing all backed by a nutsa 10 year warranty.

While not relevant for most of our community (all the non-bikers), we’re hoping that some other brands will understand just what a breakthrough this strap system is. Imagine a mountain pack that let you do backcountry rodeos with all your avvy gear held tight to your back?! The possibilities are endless…

*OK, we need to step back for a second and understand the general backpack market to grok why these packs are so unique. In semi-rigid trekking packs, the waist-belt takes some of the load from your shoulders and rests it on your hips. In smaller days packs, when designers wanted to stop the pack swinging about during activity, they borrowed this waist-belt idea as a way to stabilise the pack. But it has never really worked properly.

In activity, your back usually wants to bend (picture a skier or cyclist bending forwards against the wind). Add some twisting, and you can understand how much your shoulders keep changing their alignment with your hips. The problem with waist-straps is that if there is anything at all rigid in your pack, the waist-belt stops you bending or twisting – instead tying you to the straight shape of your pack.

Now you can see why we like the Kriega so much.