Ogio Flight Vest Review

    I got my flight vest a month ago and feel like I've gotten enough use out of it to properly give it a review.

     This is my vest in its ready state (minus water).  It may not look like much but I've got every tool I need for any trail repairs, a decent 1st aid kit, a 70 ounce water bladder, and my SPOT beacon all balanced out in those pockets.  To protect the vest from vibrating tools poking holes, I picked up some Husky tool organizer pouches from Home Depot ($10 for a 3-pack).  That first picture shows the two smallest pouches.  All of my tire repair items have a permanent home in my fender pack so those aren't included, however there is room if I wanted to move them to the vest.

     I'll admit the vest is not light and I can definitely feel it while I'm riding, but its 1000x better than even the best backpack.  I wear it over my chest protector which further helps to distribute the weight and has the added benefit of increasing airflow under the vest.  Having the piece of mind that I can remove any bolt on my bike is definitely nice and this is definitely the way to go if you want to ride far from camp and be prepared to get back on your own.

The negatives:

-Only one pouch has any sort of tool organization and its not particularly reinforced.  Using the cheap Husky bags is pretty much a requirement if you don't want your tools poking holes in this thing.

-The water bladder isn't the best.  70 ounces goes pretty fast, although there's probably room for at least a 100 ounce.  Also the bite valve is kind of a pain.  You have to bite way too hard and you really don't get the kind of flow that you see with many of the other bite valves.  Both of these issues I consider minor since you can easily replace the bladder and/or bite valve.


     All in all, I'd rate this a 9.8/10 and would highly recommend it to anyone that usually rides with a backpack.  Seriously this thing is golden.  Plus it costs about the same as a backpack of decent quality. 

For Sale (2.0)

     With no luck on selling the XR before the LAB2V, I turned my attention to the lonely DR.  Sadly my wife just hasn't developed the desire to learn to ride on two wheels.  She says its still too heavy and too tall - both of which are going to be true if you've only got 4 hours of cumulative riding time on the bike since we bought it 7 months ago.  Ironically with my 10 minute rides once per week to keep it running smooth I think I've got just as much time on the seat as she does.  I can't find a lighter or shorter alternative so looks like this endeavor was a bust.  Anyway its been a nice little bike, let the Craigslist lowball offers ensue!

7 months, 49 miles, and $450 worth of upgrades

Lighting Upgraded

     I had a couple of good nibbles on the 400 and really thought it might sell but it didn't.  Its getting too close to Los Coyotes, LAB2V, etc. so the ads are down for now and its time to work on the finishing touches.

     I'm hoping that I don't have to ride after sunset at all but its better to be prepared.  My DOT legal Cyclops headlight is great for road use, but not terribly good offroad unless you're going really slow.  Been sitting on a couple Rigid LED's waiting to see which bike they were going on.  Wiring is still a little temporary and I don't like how the blinkers sit so that will be addressed but I wanted to see how they worked.  1 spot, 1 flood, 1 hell of a lot more light!