Zipper Mods- it's my bag!

[Grant Lamontagne]

Sorry, I couldn't help but make the bad pun above- one of my nephews is horribly lazy and when he doesn't want to do something he just says "it's not my bag" like that is some kind of legitimate excuse.  Needless to say, it has stuck in my head.   

At any rate, one thing that really chafes my bottom is paying top dollar for a bag like Maxpedition and getting those cheapo knotted paracord zipper pulls.  Really?  I shell out $100 for a bag and all I get are scraps of paracord?  That dog won't hunt, Monsignor.

Because of this a while back I bought a seemingly endless supply of glow in the dark zipper pulls.  Why glow in the dark?  Simple, they look cool.  This is my main EDC bag, the Maxpedition Tactical Operator.



As you can see from the massive amounts of dog fur on it, this one sees a lot of use.  You can also see a few of the glow in the dark zipper pulls I put on it.  I replaced all of the zipper pulls with glow in the dark ones.  Ditto for my Maxpedition Sitka Bag:



And my little Maxpedition organzer:



Unfortunately the unending supply of glow in the dark zipper pulls eventually ended, and I have not been able to find a new source- I thought I had a few weeks ago, but when they arrived they were (at best) reflective and not glow in the dark.   



But, they are still eye catching so I set my sights on "fixing" a few of my cheaper bags with them, starting with the Multitool.org Tenth Anniversary Backpack. 



As you can see, it's zipper pull is a simple D ring with a bit of nylon stitched around it.  These are terrible as you can see, because the D Ring always gets twisted around.  The flat part is supposed to be in the nylon and the round part is supposed to be around the zipper.  Often times they rotate even less conveniently so the corners of the D Rings are being pulled every time you zip or unzip.  The only redeeming quality of these ones is that they are all one piece, and not just bent wire, so you know they won't come apart and fall off by accident.

On purpose is another story, and one that the Gerber MP400 was happy to help with.



A quick loop of the zipper pulls and there you have it- new and improved!



Some of you may also recall the cheap tactical sling bag I got a while ago:



Well, the zipper pulls weren't even paracord, they were more akin to a cheap shoelace so they got the same treatment, and while I was at it I also replaced the cheapo shoelace along the top with a length of shock cord, like what is supposed to be there.



The bag looks and functions somewhat better now than it did, and while reflective red zipper pulls may defeat the purpose of a camouflage tactical bag I think they look cool, kind of like the REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT tags on combat aircraft! 

There you have it- a few subtle, easy and effective bag mods that literally anyone can do.   

Def

[MadPlumbarian]

Very nice,
  Zipper pulls make a BIG diff, Ive replaced I think everything that even has zippers, my two fave tips are the glow in the darks but also whistle tips(sorry don’t have any pics) the cord that I like is the reflective(on the bag going around), yet some color is good, makes that huge diff!
JR

[Lynn LeFey]

I used to think the long zipper pulls were silly, when you could just have the old-style metal tabs. Then we got an incredibly COLD cold-snap and ....Ohhhh man, did my tune change.

I always dangle a fauxton light from the grab handle of all my bags, so I don't need glow-in-the-dark, but that's still neat. I like the big loop glow in the dark ones.

I'll keep an eye out for those, and if I see them, I'll report.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Yes, as a Canadian I appreciate anything that allows me to work a zipper without having to take my gloves off.   

Back when I was in High School I was meeting my girlfriend at a local McDonalds, and it was freezing out.  I walked a fair ways from the bus stop to the store, and, being young I was far too cool for proper winter gear.   

When I got there I really needed to use the men's room, and after I did I realized that there was no way my frozen fingers were going to manage to do my button fly back up, so I had to spend a while in there trying to thaw my fingers out enough to manipulate the fly.  That was the end of button flies for me, and the beginning of wearing gloves. 

I'd have probably managed to leave that washroom with my machismo a little more intact had I had a zipper and a decent zipper pull. 

Def

[zoidberg]

Yes, as a Canadian I appreciate anything that allows me to work a zipper without having to take my gloves off.   

Back when I was in High School I was meeting my girlfriend at a local McDonalds, and it was freezing out.  I walked a fair ways from the bus stop to the store, and, being young I was far too cool for proper winter gear.   

When I got there I really needed to use the men's room, and after I did I realized that there was no way my frozen fingers were going to manage to do my button fly back up, so I had to spend a while in there trying to thaw my fingers out enough to manipulate the fly.  That was the end of button flies for me, and the beginning of wearing gloves. 

I'd have probably managed to leave that washroom with my machismo a little more intact had I had a zipper and a decent zipper pull. 

Def

 

Def: Hey baby, you're looking mighty fine today in that uniform. I just need to take a piss.

Ten minutes later.

GF: What were you doing in there?

Def: Arrrr... my hands were cold...

[MadPlumbarian]

When I was very young I was always cold, heck I even wore heavy socks that went over the knee, or even thermal underwear to school, back in high school I was walking to school bundled up and I was walking wacky not only because the sidewalks weren’t perfectly cleaned off but the wind was like 30mph, and there was a cop that I had to walk passed and his car was tucked in a little alleyway, he was watching me thinking I was high or drunk, but when he opened his door to got out of his car the freaking door almost ripped off the car, he grabbed his hat that almost went with the door, then slammed his door shut and waved at me now understanding why I was walking funny.. now our older kid hes nuts, he’ll wear freaking shorts in 40°f, like dude I know it’s not freezing but come on, it’s still cold out!
JR

[AlephZero]

Funnily enough, I've been known to replace existing zipper pulls with paracord one's of my own making 

Great stuff, Boss! 

[WoodsDuck]

Just wanted to bring up that Countycomm has some pretty good zipper pulls, both the kind you can hook your finger through and the slim kind, and their prices are decent. I put some on my  Mountainsmith Wizard. Unfortunately I didn't discover them until I already had much more expensive Maxpedition pulls on a couple other bags 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Just wanted to bring up that Countycomm has some pretty good zipper pulls, both the kind you can hook your finger through and the slim kind, and their prices are decent. I put some on my  Mountainsmith Wizard. Unfortunately I didn't discover them until I already had much more expensive Maxpedition pulls on a couple other bags 

The Multitool.org Store now has a variety of colored zipper pulls in stock in case anyone needs them! 

https://store.multitool.org/departments/-168zipper-pulls-270.html#/

The red/black ones pictured above are in stock, as are coyote tan, olive green, black and grey.



Def