Invictus Tactical Tail bag / Backpack review

Product Snapshot:

1-Product Name – Invictus Tactical Tail bag / Backpack review
2-Manufacturer – Invictus Touring Gears
3-Fabric used – 600x900D Bcord fabric
4-Shape Retention – Yes
5-Capacity in ltr. – 34 ltr expandable to 50 ltr.
6-External pockets & Capacity- 1 front pocket, 1 back pocket (typically used to store rain liner), 2 top pockets.
7-Internal pockets & capacity – 1 mesh pocket on top flap
8-Fit (Type of motorcycles) – Universal
9-Reflective strips – Yes. On both sides.
10-Raincover included? – Yes
11-Warranty – 1 year against any manufacturing defect

Invictus Tactical Tail bag / Backpack
In the first look, the Tactical tail bag / backup looks good due to a dash of Fluroscent yellow colour used on both sides. Luckily Invictus hasn’t gone overboard with this colour and retained black colour for all other portions. Fluorescent yellow colour would add to the visibility.

Reflective strips are present on both sides and the “Tactical” name is also reflective. They will make you more visible during night rides.

There seems to be abundance of straps from almost all sides of the bag. More about them later.

Material used
This tail bag is made using 600 x 900D Bcord fabric. Extremely sturdy and excellent load bearing capacity. This fabric also has good abrasion resistance so low speed crash doesn’t translate to a torn tail bag.
Both sides of the Invictus Tactical tail bag have 15mm heatlon material sandwiched inside two layers of fabric. This helps in bag to retain the shape. So you need not fill it completely just for it to remain straight on the pillion seat.
Inside of this tail bag is made from 600D TPU nylon. It is soft to touch and is the same material that is typically used for raincoats.
Invictus Tactical tail bag has Foam padding on top flap. Soft to touch and easier to retain its shape (even when not fully filled).

Pockets
-1 front pocket, 1 back pocket (typically used to store rain liner)
-2 top pockets for storing small items like documents
-1 mesh pocket on top flap to store your cards, chargers etc. for easy access.
-Chain pulls on all external zippers makes it easy to open / close the pockets even while wearing the gloves. All these pockets are sufficiently big for the purpose they are designed.
-Soft PVC handle is provided when you want to carry the bag.
-Overall Stitching is by 4-ply nylon. All the stitching is double stitched. Invictus has provided double stitch on external straps so even if jerked, the straps won’t come out.

Usability
This bag is universal fit (for any motorcycle with rear seat). Of course, it won’t fit on a motorcycle that has cowl instead of pillion seat.
Invictus Tactical tail bag can’t be used as a tank bag because of its large size. Of course, you can use it as tank bag as long as you remember that it isn’t designed for it. It will scratch the tank and will be wider than fuel tanks of most bikes.
What it has been designed for is for use as tail bag / backpack. Let’s see how it works.

Mounting
This section explains the abundance of the straps, buckles etc that we talked about earlier. There are two ways you can mount the Invictus Tactical tail bag on your bike.

For bikes with removable pillion seat

1-Remove seat and pass the 1” belts from the under seat area, Fit back the seat.
2-Place the bag base panel on pillion seat. Attach it to the 4 quick release fixtures. This step creates a secure base for you to fit your tail bag on.
3-The base panel has 2 velcro strips of 2 inches each to hold the tail bag securely on the panel. In addition, there are 4 quick release fittings to fix the bag to the base panel.
4-In addition, there is one flap on each side of base panel. You can attach the flaps with double lock fittings on the bag.
So in all, you have 10 elements to hold the bag in place. I guess even in the extreme off-roading condition, these should be sufficient to ensure that the tail bag remains on the bike.
Benefit of different base panel for the tail bag is you need not remove the panel while leaving the bike unattended. You can simply lift off the tail bag and go where you want. The base panel will remain on top of pillion seat.

Photos of base panel on bike and tail bag on bike using this mounting method

For bikes without removable pillion seat (or when you don’t want to bother about removing the seat)

For people who don’t want to bother about removing the pillion seat or who just want to go for a quick spin, Invictus has provided another option. With available 2 straps, you can fix the tail bag to pillion foot pegs and the third strap for using under tail. This would provide sufficient anchoring for most usage.

Usability as a tail bag
Now this is the ONLY luggage I carried during my solo ride across United Kingdom (to read the travelogue, click here)
This single bag provided to be more than sufficient to carry my whole luggage for a 8 day ride. Need I say more?

This is what I could fit in this bag :
-1 pair of jeans
-1 pair of shorts
-1 pair of sneakers
-4 Dry-fit T-shirts
-1 warm jacket
-1 Quechua light weight rain jacket
-Toiletries, innerwear
-1 ltr. Water bottle
-Spare battery, mounts for GoPro
-Mobile charger

Usability as a backpack
Invictus has provided padded straps to use the Tactical tail bag as a backpack. These straps are hidden inside the base panel sleeve of the bag. They can be easily taken out when needed. However, to convert it back into tail bag, you need to stuff them back inside the sleeve. It is hardly a 30 second job so shouldn’t be an issue.

One challenge faced is the lesser height of the padded straps. The padded straps end at chest level so if you are carrying heavy weight in tail bag and intend to use it as a backpack for long distance, the unpadded straps may start chafing.

Invictus has also provided a waist strap so the overall load of tail bag is evenly distributed
This tail bag can also be used as a sling bag by taking out only one padded strap. Not many tail bags can boast of this feature.
One drawback while using this bag as backpack is – there is no laptop compartment. Yes. You can carry your laptop inside this bag (till 15.6 inch screen size) but it won’t have a separate compartment.

Rain liner:

Invictus provides free rain liner with this Tactical tail bag and I can vouch for its waterproof quality. I used this tail bag in my solo ride across UK where I faced storm conditions with winds at around 60 mph with heavy rain. Not a single drop of water entered inside the bag

Extra Features:
First Aid kit – Steralised cotton, Hydrogen peroxide, medical tape, WHO-ORS sachet, Bandage, Neomycin cream (for treatment of infected wounds, burns and boils) Merbromin solution (topical antiseptic used for minor burns, cuts and scrapes.)

Dimensions

Collapsed- internal 8 inch height x 12 inch width x 17 inch length.
Expanded- internal 13 inch height x 12 inch width x 17 inch length.

Things I like:
Large carrying capacity so that I need not bother about a saddlebag even for long rides.
Excellent build quality.
Multiple options for mounting on bike, so whatever bike you ride, you can fix it securely without using any bungee cords.

Things I dislike:
Multiple options for mounting on bike. Yes it is mentioned in things I like also. What I hate is the multiple straps. The bag has so many straps, I really need 10 minutes to count them. Why not offer different options so that a rider can choose the option that he likes/wants?

Verdict :
At a price of Rs.3500/-, Invictus tactical is one of the cheapest tail bag available in the market. Given the build quality, mounting options and pricing, I think Invictus has a winner on their hand.