Last Updated on November 16, 2020 by Lisa Vargas
The Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag is at the top of our list for the best bug out bag for your vehicle. If you ever get stuck on the side of the road, this is the bag you’ll be happy to have packed.
As a military surplus-retailer company, Helikon-Tex was established in Poland in 1983. They have been in business for 35 years of experience gives them a solid background to push ahead of the game and deliver cutting edge designs to match prepper’s expectations.
If you’re into shooting sports, bushcraft, trekking, urban survival or simply seek for high-quality functional gear and garments, they will present you with their Urban, Range, Patrol, Outback and Bushcraft lines of gear. But one of the best bug out bags that they offer is called the Bail Out Bag.
We fell in love with everything about this bag! This company is no-joke when it comes to designing high-quality, superior bug out bags. Their durable, ruggedly-made bags made them perfect for any situation. The Bail Out Bag made our top pick for the best bug out bag for your vehicle because of its unique design and attachments for the car seat.
Take a look below at the review we did on this wonderful bag and see if you like what you see!
Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag Review
Editors Comments: This is the perfect bug out bag for organizing survival items in your vehicle. The sleek design and easy-access panel provides the security of knowing you can grab what you need at a moments notice.
Read Our Full Comparison Review: Best Bug Out Bag for SHTF
- Capacity: 25 L
- Dimension: 20×1.5×7.5 inches, empty weight: 4.6 lbs
- Pockets: No front or side pockets on this bag; One large back pocket
- Hydration: material designed to stretch to fit a water bottle on the outside; mesh pocket inside for Nalgene water bottle as well
- Material: 500D Cordura and 210D Nylon fabric
- Manufacturer: Helikon-Tex
Bottom Line: An extremely rugged and fantastically durable bag with superior organization for your vehicle.
Pros
- Removable beavertail allows for additional equipment carry such as extra jacket
- Gear easy to access when folded out and hanging from tree limb or car seat
- Sturdy clips on the straps
- You can attach extra pouches to this bag to create more organization and holding capacity
Cons
- Pockets on the side originally designed for hydro-flask don’t hold really well
- Top pocket on the bag a little too small
- Beavertail not big enough to fit a standard size laptop
Summary
The Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag is loaded with practically designed, high-performance features. To start, it has four inner mesh pockets for storing small survival gear and tools you may have. It has an internal velcro panel and a versatile insert system to allow you to stay organized.
One thing you may notice about this bag is that it’s very inconspicuous. It doesn’t have a lot of MOLLE strapping on the outside, so it tends to look more like a normal backpack than a bug out bag, which is good when you are talking about the “grey-man theory” and blending into crowds.
When it comes to design, you’ll find that it has a wonderful ventilation system on the back to prevent sweat build-up. The comfortable shoulder straps allow you to hoist this pack on your back as well and get to wherever you need to go on foot if needed.
There are four heavy-duty drag handles that make it nice and easy to grab and go if you are in a hurry.
Something unique about this bag is that it has a removable beavertail attachment. If you’re not familiar with this, a beavertail-type attachment fits outside of the pack that allows for space on the side and at the top so that you can stuff more things into your pack. The beavertail can also be used separately we noticed as a shoulder bag.
You can buy packs where the beavertail is already built-in, but a lot of companies are now making them so that you can add or remove them whenever you want. On the back of this beavertail, there are three fixed rifle magazine pouches, which make it super convenient for storing ammunition.
Read Our Full Comparison Review: Best Bug Out Bag for SHTF
Our Analysis, Comparisons & Test Results
performance comparison
The Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag is fundamentally one of the best bags I have seen designed since I started my bug out bag research. When compared to many others, there are several features that really stood out to us when we looked at the bag design.
The main plus is the low profile, external design that helps to prevent snagging on items and gives the bag a “greyman” look to it. Meaning that it blends in well with crowds and doesn’t look conspicuous.
And what’s even cooler is when you completely open up this bag, you can use it as a sleeping mat! There is also additional seating mat that can be pulled out of the pack. The internal zippered pocket on top of the backpack contains the seating matt. Now of course you would have to have all of the contents out of the bag when you use it as a sleeping mat, but it is easy enough to do.
Comfort And Fit
We really liked the suspension system on this bag. It made it extremely comfortable to carry on our back. The shoulder straps were comfortable for everyone who tried on the bag and many said it was the most comfortable bag they had tested yet!
We were also impressed with the ventilation system that this bag provided. It has 3D mesh on the back panel which helps keep you cooler if you’re sweating on the go. The bag also has a really nice heavy-duty drag handle so that you can quickly pick the bag up and go.
There’s a chest strap for added support with this bag, which makes it super comfortable and sturdy when we were doing our tests. Some of the other bags we tested didn’t have that, so we were happy to see that a chest strap was included.
Durability
The Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag is an extremely rugged and durable bug out bag because of its superior quality design and the fabric it’s made from. The durable Cordura fabric gives this bag more durability than some of the ones we’ve reviewed earlier.
Cordura is made with high tenacity air jet textured nylon 6,6 filament yarns in a range of sizes – 330D, 500D, 700D and 1000D.
Cordura fabrics are known for their durability and resistance to punctures and abrasions. The high-strength nylon fabric is perfect for use in outdoor clothing and military apparel. The dense weave makes these bug out bags tear-resistant (you might have heard that term float around before) and abrasion-resistant. And you can really feel this as soon as you touch the bag.
Zippers, buckles, and stitching
We gave this Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag a solid 9 out of 10 in the zippers, buckles, and stitching category. Right out of the box our team noticed the two external YKK®-zippered pockets.
If you’ve seen our other bug out bag reviews, you know that YKK zippers are a sign of quality.
The Woojin buckles on this Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag were extremely heavy-duty, which adds to the extreme durability of this bag. If you’re not familiar with the brand name Woojin, then let me tell you that’s it’s a lot like having YKK zippers. Woojin plastic is known for its excellent quality and superior craftmanship.
Helikon-Tex spared no expense when designing this bug out bag for its fans. We were pleased at the attention to detail that was given to this bag at every level. Every moment when looking at bug out bags, you have to think about the situation that you might be faced with at the time. Everything will be in chaos.
You may be under duress and these bags need to be able to last under hard conditions. That’s why having high-quality zippers and buckles is crucial in these types of prepping gear. And we absolutely loved this bags set up and we know you will too!
Storage Design (Pockets, MOLLE)
The Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag is fantastically designed for quick access to your essential bug out gear. We liked the MOLLE/PALS panel on that bag that allows you to customize this bag with even more gear if you wanted.
The main storage compartments are made up of a zippered, elastic top pocket, a zippered main front pocket with accessory loop, and then two side pockets for a canteen or windbreaker. I think the top pocket was a little small for me, but would be good to store smaller survival gear items like folding knives, compasses, firestarters, etc. in.
The main compartment pocket is easy to open up and has tons of storage for virtually anything you need. It’s well organized and makes it very easy to access all of your gear.
The two side pockets on the outside are designed to hold water bottles, but in reality you can use them for whatever you want. They didn’t hold my water bottle as firmly as I would have liked, but you could still get away with it. As mentioned above, you could stuff a windbreaker jacket in there and get better use out of the pocket that way.
Water Resistance
When it comes to the water resistance of the Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag, we gave it a 6 because the same thing happened when we put a little water on it – the contents got wet. With that said, it has a little more staying power than the other bags we’ve tested probably because it’s made with Cordura fabric.
From what we learned while reviewing this bag, Cordura fabric can come in a few different options to the manufacturer in terms of water proofing.
It can be purchased as the Classic Coated Fabric that comes in either waterproof or water-repellent options. With that said, we found this fabric, when we sprayed some light water on it, to react as all of the others did – with mild withstanding of the water. I wouldn’t call this bag fully waterproof, but because of the thicker material, it withstood our water testing much better.
You can add water resistance to Cordura fabrics by spraying them with commercial products such as Teflon, Scotch Guard or Never Wet.
Our Final Verdict
One of the best bug out bags we’ve reviewed to date, we would highly recommend the Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag to anyone who wants to have a bug out bag for their vehicle. Easy to maneuver and handle, it allows you to access its contents quickly and offers plenty of space for all of the gear that you need.
If you live in an urban environment, this comes in handy as well because it goes along with the greyman theory of blending in with your surroundings. It doesn’t look like your average tactical bag with MOLLE webbing on the outside, which gives it this distinct advantage of blending into large crowds.
No matter what you are preparing for, this bag will help organize the gear that you’ll need to stay comfortable and survive in adverse conditions if they should arise. A fantastic durable and rugged bag made perfectly for someone looking for a simple, yet practical bag for emergency situations.
conclusion
Final Thoughts
The Helikon-Tex Bail Out Bag or BOB is an awesome backpack for anyone that always wants to be prepared. Whether you’re a prepper or you’re just on the lookout for a great bag to organize your vehicular survival items in case your car breaks down – the BOB is all you need.
It was designed by skilled survivalists who know what’s essential and how to carry this type of gear. You can attach this bag to the back of a car seat, where it can hang open without spilling its contents – but allowing fast access to them. And this is why we absolutely love this bag and voted it our best bug out bag for a vehicle.