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Powered-up rucksack, clothing and tech
Held Power rucksack £78.99
www.held.de
THE CLAIM
“The Power rucksack is ideal for motorcycling with padded straps, chest click buckle and waist strap and has three external pockets, mesh side pockets, a laptop pocket and an optional USB outlet for a powerbank. It also has a water-repellent polyester coating and a built-in rain cover.”
THE REALITY
With a 26-litre capacity and loads of features, the Held Power goes toe-totoe with Kriega’s R25 benchmark rucksack, but the Power has one pretty important difference — it is £60 cheaper. And in the first 1000 miles, it’s hard to see where the savings have been made: it’s almost as high quality.
The construction is impressive. For a start, it is easier to use than the Kriega, with a larger opening, a laptop section and enough pockets to store all your bits and bobs. I like the soft sunglasses pocket — it makes perfect sense.
Comfort is OK but so far doesn’t seem class-leading. There is a little more pressure on the shoulders than with a Kriega but it is more than acceptable.
The waist strap is useful too, though you can get away with not using it.
The polyester material is stiff enough to feel substantial and its waterrepellent coating really does work, keeping things dry for anything up to 30 minutes, even in torrential rain. For longer than that, you’ll need to use the rain cover — but at least it has one. It should be a bit better integrated though — it clips into place, but I’ve used rucksacks like Givi’s XS317 that have much better integrated covers. Overall though, it offers great value and I’m looking forward to trying it over a longer period. MATT WILDEE