bitplay EDC Organizer Review

Having a tech pouch and a sling sometimes feels a bit redundant. After all, it doesn’t take that much of a leap to imagine a tech pouch sprouting a strap so you can carry it as a sling—perfectly understandable wishful thinking if you ask us. That idea probably sparked the brains over at bitplay, resulting in the EDC Organizer. Yep, there’s no “sling” or “tech pouch” in the name, probably because it’s a product that transcends definitions. Near-pretentious implications aside, the EDC Organizer does have clever features that cater to both use cases.

Inside, it has the stretchy loops you’d use to hold USB cables, zippered pockets for small adapters, and detachable drawbridge-style gussets to limit the opening. However, as a sling, the rather barebones strap design and shape of the entire pouch don’t feel optimal for comfort. Though the EDC Organizer showcases its cleverness in some cases, this is one of its main weak points. Are there more? We’ll see in the review below.

External Components

The main fabric on the outside is a 600-denier polyester. It’s not as durable as heavier 1680-denier ballistic nylon or X-Pac fabrics, but it feels durable enough for city use. If nothing else, its all-black colorway certainly looks durable, and it hides stains and other blemishes really well. Similarly, the zippers are unbranded, which usually makes us apprehensive about their long-term durability. That’s far away into the future, though; what about at the time of writing?

They’ve held up pretty well so far, reliably zipping and unzipping whenever we needed to. They’re not the smoothest, but at least they don’t outright jam at the most inopportune time. The front zipper appears very similar to YKK AquaGuard ones, with reverse coil and that signature matte black track. This should mean better weather resistance for this particular pocket. Though we wish the main compartment had this kind of zipper as well, having it for the front pocket makes the most sense, given it’s head-first into the wind (if you have the EDC Organizer in front of you).

The EDC Organizer also has some interesting features besides the standard hardware, like zippers and buckles. The most obvious one is the webbing at the front, comprised of three loops and flanked by D-rings to let you hang off extra accessories you might need day-to-day.

Interestingly, the EDC Organizer itself can be attached to a bigger bag. It acts as an add-on module for the AquaSeal Active, a larger and waterproof sling. There are three male-side FIDLOCK magnets on the EDC Organizer’s back panel, which bitplay put in small indents to prevent them from poking at you while you’re wearing the EDC Organizer.

On that note, let’s talk about the EDC Organizer’s strap. As we’ve mentioned earlier, it’s quite simple, apart from the fact that it’s removable. It attaches via two gatekeeper clips on each end, with corresponding loops on either side of the EDC Organizer itself. Strangely, the gatekeeper clips open on opposite sides, meaning each clip hooks on the loops from either the top or from the bottom. Is it a big deal? Not really, just something to keep in mind so that you don’t mount them the same way and end up with a twisted strap (and make sure the adjuster faces outward, too).

Fit Notes

We’ve found that the most comfortable way to carry the EDC Organizer is crossbody. Despite our skepticism about the simplicity of the strap, that part is fine. It’s wide enough to reasonably distribute the EDC Organizer’s weight, and none of the hardware pokes us in a distracting way. Whether that’s the adjuster, the three FIDLOCK magnets, or the chunky gatekeeper clips, none have posed a problem. The mesh back panel performed well, too, allowing hot air to escape relatively easily.

So, what’s the catch? Weight balance. The EDC Organizer noticeably pulls forward, and we think it’s because of its front-heavy design. The front pocket sticks out noticeably on top of the EDC Organizer’s somewhat rounded side profile. We’ve tried tightening the strap to mitigate this, but to little to no avail. Overall comfort is still acceptable, but the forward pull is something you can’t un-notice once you do.

Inside The Sling

Okay, the front pocket bulging out and affecting weight balance isn’t entirely negative. It comes with independent space, which is very important if you want a front pocket unaffected by the main compartment behind it. The front pocket on the EDC Organizer benefits from having lots of volume since it has a key leash inside. We don’t know about you, but most of the Pack Hacker Crew carry a bulky set of keys with them at all times for various reasons.

We also like the raised front pocket. We’ve seen slings with zippered openings along the middle or even under a gusset, making it kind of tricky to reach and/or find the zipper. Does all of this make the forward pull worth it? Not really, but at least you’re not walking away empty-handed in this tradeoff.

The main compartment’s twin zippers go all the way around the three sides: left, top, and right. They even go as far as the bottom edge, giving the main compartment a very wide opening. It’s unusual for a sling but quite common for tech pouches. However, the zippers are quite jangly because of the metal pulls, so having them hang off the bottom edge can exacerbate that jangliness.

Does that mean the EDC Organizer just flips open like a book once you undo the zippers in sling mode? Nope, because two detachable straps stop the front from fully flipping over. This is normally performed by fabric gussets, like on the ALPAKA Elements Tech Case Mini. The downside of straps is that they leave the sides open, so gear in the middle can fall out. If the item is big enough, however, it’s a non-issue.

So why did bitplay go for this drawbridge suspension-like approach instead of fabric gussets? Probably so the EDC Organizer could fully open like a tech pouch/cable organizer. With the EDC Organizer fully laid out, you get a good view of the three mesh pockets, each lined with a pair of elastic loops to help keep cables in. On the other side is a zippered mesh pocket for loose accessories like dongles and memory cards, as well as two liner pockets for chunkier items like a minimalist wallet and a small power bank. Behind the elastic cable pockets is a dedicated slot for a Nintendo Switch, which still fits with both Joy-Cons attached.

All in all, you can fit a lot of gear within the built-in pockets. That said, space feels very tight when you utilize all of them. In fact, there’s really not much wiggle room if you want to put something between the two halves like we did with the iPhone 13. This makes closing the zipper feel very tight as we have to pull around the corners with considerable force. So, unless your everyday carry consists mainly of tech gadgets and accessories, you may prefer general-purpose slings. Otherwise, this tech-centric sling has a compellingly unique layout.