Kriega R30 Review

Video Review:

Well, after several months of use, I’ve gotten a chance to really get a hands on look at my Kriega R30. I’ve spent about 4-5 years with the Kriega R25 and it quickly became my favorite backpack. One big draw back with my R25 was the lack of waterproof-yness and lack of pockets. I had several holes in it so I reserve it for the abusive jobs (like lugging around tools and grocery).

The R30 is marketed as 100% waterproof. The waterproof is a function of a removeable dry bag that is included. Without the drybag, the bag is water resistant and will keep your items dry in a light rain, but anything past that it will begin to soak up with water. You can take all of the contents and empty them into the dry bag to keep it dry. I’ve shot a water hose at it and all my items have stayed dry, so I give it a 2 thumbs up for function. I rarely use the drybag except for the times that I carry things that absolutely cannot get wet (computer, books and other paperwork). Otherwise, I keep in a ziplock bag inside one of my external pockets.

This is the bag when its soaked in water. Normally it isn't this shiny.

The external pockets are water RESISTANT not waterproof so eventually water will get in there and soak everything inside. It only took a 15 minute ride in heavy rain + a Ducati Monster (tail chopped) to get this small pool of water building up. My stuff was still dry, but i think another 15 minutes would of soaked everything inside.

These are the items in my bag which were dry for the most part. and the Pool of water building up from that short ride.

The strap is similar to the R25. It retains the quadlock system, they ditched however, the aluminum ring straps for the upper shoulder portion. I thought the ring system was a really cool and unique design. They kept it for the waist which was where it was needed most i think (especially for people my size, 5’6” 140lbs).

The shoulder pads are kept in a pocket and is allowed to move freely to adjust for larger people. The main flaw in this is that the shoulder pads have a tendency to come out if you pick the bag up from the shoulder straps. It’s a nuisance that wouldn’t deter me from buying it since I can just grab it from the hand strap instead.
There is no longer a laptop sleeve inside and no internal pocket like the R25. There is however 2 external pockets.

The bag is a ruck sack instead of a zippered book bag. The rucksack helps keep water out when using the drybag but it’s a pain in the ass to continuously open and close. I wish they had a zippered design so you can quickly get into it and zip it up only when needed.

The bag is designed with a slimmer person in mind as well. My R25 was WAY to big for me. I had to sew the chest harness together to make it smaller. The R30 is still a bit too big for me, but its manageable. With a jacket on, it fits GREAT, but without the extra girth, the bookbag is pretty loose on me. Nothing a little sewing machine can’t fix though.
Other than that, theres not much else to say. Kriega has always had high quality products so the bag is of course a very well built bag. Its not as big as the R35, and way more versatile than the R25. It costs significantly more than the R25, but if you think about the drybags cost, its well worth the money.

Keypoints:
Removeable drybag
2 external pockets
rucksack design
too big for normal use without jacket