CabinZero Bum Bag 2L Review

If you’re excited about the hip pack trend—but not quite 100+ bucks excited—then take a look at the 2L CabinZero Bum Bag. This sleek, sophisticated accessory will cost you less than $40, and, yeah, it’s not full of features, but it gets the job done.

We’ve been testing it for three weeks now around the U.K. and have mostly good things to say. In this case, budget is not synonymous with bad.

Before we jump into the review, we want to clarify one thing. We’ll be referring to the CabinZero Bum Bag as a hip pack because that’s what the folks at CabinZero decided to name it. But we think of it as a sling bag. It can be worn as either, although we’ve found it to be more comfortable slung around the chest or back.

So let’s check it out.

Materials & Aesthetic

Of course, if you’re still aghast that fanny packs are back, you won’t like the look of this thing. The oblong, skinny shape is reminiscent of “fashion sling bags”—you know the ones you see on runways and at festivals. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but we’re digging it.

The thin, narrow design looks great on basically every body type, which is a huge plus. It’s rare that an accessory will fit a 6-foot-something man and a smaller woman.

At the time of this review, it’s available in 12 colorways, so you can find one that lights your fire. We’ve been testing it in Absolute Black, which features the CabinZero logo also in black, creating a sleek, sophisticated aura. Black always seems to make everything look more expensive and that’s certainly true in this case. But if you’re more of a bright pink or lime green kind of person, CabinZero has your back.

Now, this hip pack is made of 600D polyester. Polyester isn’t the hardest of synthetic fabrics, but you don’t necessarily need anything fancy on a hip pack. Will it last you as long as a pack made of 1680D CORDURA® Ballistic nylon? No. But it won’t cost nearly as much either. Plus, polyester is lightweight. This thing clocks in at 160g, which helps keep the carry comfortable.

Sure, it doesn’t feel luxurious, but it doesn’t feel cheap either.

Luckily, the folks at CabinZero haven’t skimped on the hardware. The zippers, which are usually the first to go on budget gear, are from trustworthy YKK. And the buckle is from equally trustworthy Duraflex.

External Components

As we mentioned at the beginning of this review, this hip pack is nothing fancy. So there’s nothing fancy going on externally.

There’s the simple adjustable strap that can be worn around the hips, chest, or back. You can choose to keep it tight with the bag flush against your body or loosen things up for a more casual look. You do you.

The strap keeper will make sure everything is looking tidy—no matter how loose or tight you have the strap. It’s a clip, which is unusual for a strap keeper, but it works really nicely. So hats off to the design team over at CabinZero.

The buckle is off-center, which usually indicates that it’s more sling bag and less hip pack—the latter usually touting centered buckles. Like we’ve already said, you can wear it whichever way you want. But we’ve found it to be especially comfortable as a sling bag.

The back has a comfortable, spongy mesh to keep the sweat to a minimum and ensure overall comfort.

Again, nothing wild going on here, it’s just solid.

Inside the Pack

There’s a bit more going on in the interior of this pack than the exterior. First up, we’ve got the front pocket, which is a great place to stash items you’ll want to access quickly. We’ve used it for our phone and sunglasses, which has worked out well.

A word of warning—this pocket is long and can only be accessed on one side. If you put small items here, say marbles, you’ll likely lose them. And no one wants to lose their marbles… just take a moment to appreciate that one, folks. In all seriousness, stick to putting long, thin items in this pocket.

Moving on to the main compartment. Inside, you’ll find two stretch pockets—and that’s it. For us, that’s the absolute perfect amount of organization. We’ve put our wallet in one of the pockets, a power bank in the other, and then whatever else we’ve had with us in the roomy space left over. While the stretch pockets don’t seem like much, they add a lot of value.

The final pocket is the security pocket called as much because 1) it sits against your body and 2) it’s RFID-blocking. We don’t utilize it much for everyday carry, but it’s nice to have for traveling. You can stick some extra cash, your wallet, your passport inside and not worry about pickpockets or criminals with RFID-readers.

At 2L, this hip pack won’t hold a huge amount of stuff. But it’s the perfect size for your essentials plus a few extras. It’s especially great for flights. Store your pens, a small notebook, earplugs, an eye mask, headphones, whatever you need to pass the hours, inside the hip pack and clip it to the seat in front of you for easy access.

Durability & Testing

As we mentioned at the beginning of this review, we’ve been testing the CabinZero Bum Bag (2L) for three weeks around the U.K. So far, so good. We have no issues with durability to report.

All in all, it’s a solid hip pack that does exactly what a hip pack is supposed to do. If you’re looking for a stylish, sleek, budget sling then look no further.