FREITAG F35 CHEYENNE Review

FREITAG first started making bags in Zurich in the 1990s with one main principle in mind: assemble a pack using durable recycled materials. 30 years on, they’re still cranking out bags from recycled truck tarps and whatever else they can get their hands on. It’s a great story, but is there substance to back up their unique story and bag styles? Let’s find out.

Materials & Aesthetic

The most significant talking point of these pouches is the materials. Like all of their products, the F35 CHEYENNE is crafted from recycled materials. We see the typical truck tarps, but they also use automotive seatbelts.

FREITAG’s method of getting the materials is just as unique as their choice to use them in the first place. They employ five tarp buyers, or truck spotters, to scan the highways and byways of Europe to find the truck tarps to craft their bags and pouches. They focus on vibrant colors, unique designs, or in our case, minimalistic colorways like white.

After harvesting the tarps, they’re cut into usable pieces and thoroughly washed. FREITAG describes this process as turning used into patina and old into vintage. The tarps can then be designed and crafted into bags, like the CHEYENNE we have on hand.

Moving back over to the F35 CHEYENNE, the vintage truck tarps have a PVC coating that adds to the weatherproofing. You can easily manipulate the material with your hands, but it doesn’t have any stretch and feels extremely durable. This means there’s no give when trying to fit in that last piece of gear or toiletry, but you won’t have to worry about it tearing or puncturing very easily.

The material isn’t transparent in any sense of the word, so that means if you take it to the airport, you’ll need to open it for the security checkpoint and take everything out for the agent to inspect. This also means that you can’t see everything inside, which is nice because it keeps your toiletries, medication and other gear hidden, but makes remembering what’s inside more difficult.

We noticed right away that the exterior material has an odd smell to it. It isn’t terribly overpowering, but it’s noticeable. Even after two weeks of constant use between home, the office, and a road trip up north, the smell still lingers. It reminds us of a vintage car smell. It isn’t bothersome for us, but you can decide whether or not it’s a deal-breaker for you.

At the time of writing, there are 37 colorway options. This is due to the large number of different style truck tarps the spotters can get their hands on. This enables you to purchase a color or design that fits your style. This can make it harder to find something that works for you as well, considering their stock depends on what tarps they can salvage from the road. We think the uniqueness of each product is a lot of fun, especially considering that it isn’t very often that travel products are one of a kind!

The logo is crafted from hard black rubber, and FREITAG is spelled out in white letters. It might be a little much for you if you crave minimalism at every corner, but overall, we like that the look complements the industrial aesthetic of the pouch.

External Components

On the right side of the pouch is a thin handle. We aren’t sure whether this is the recycled seatbelt, but it feels like a similar nylon. It’s durable but doesn’t have much padding. The material is folded over on itself, so when you grab it from the top, your hand comfortably rubs against the rounded material fold. If you hold it from the bottom, your hand rubs against the two pieces of material, which is more noticeable.

The zippers aren’t identifiable, but the heads are large enough for our liking and they glide smoothly, even around the corners. The zipper track has a weather seal similar to what we have come to expect from AquaGuard zippers by YKK and appears to work just as well.

The zipper pulls are made of metal and have a small FREITAG insignia. They can be a little tough to grab onto in wet conditions, but the eye on the end makes it so you can get a good grip no matter what your surroundings are.

There are small attachment loops on the back of the pouch at the two ends of the zipper track. We didn’t find a practical use for these, but they enable it to be hooked onto a carabiner for attachment in your travel backpack, which adds modularity for the journey and hanging options for when you get to your destination.

Inside The Pouch

Moving onto the interior, the material inside is a black matte fabric that is a little rough. If you look closely, it has a nice texture to it. Still, toiletry liquids can grind into it reasonably easily. We noticed toothpaste residue pretty quickly because of the fabric’s black color, and it took a little bit of scrubbing with a wet rag to clean it.

The main compartment is large, and the clamshell opening increases accessibility to everything you stow inside. Unlike an accordion-style toiletry bag like the Peak Design Small Wash Pouch, you have more access to all your items, even those on the bottom of the pouch. There isn’t any internal organization, which might be a little overwhelming if you like to pack precisely.

As we mentioned when we spoke about the materials, there isn’t any give in the shell. Instead of the exterior material forming to what you have inside, the shell is the dominant force here, so there is bound to be some wasted space between items, especially if you use toiletry items that are rounded.

We can stow everything we need for a week-long trip if we pack minimally, so a weekend trip is a walk in the park. We can even bring a larger razor, full-size toothbrush, extras like hair product, and a standard-sized deodorant.

On the top of the interior is a small zippered pocket. It adds some nice separation from the hubbub of the main compartment. It’s a good place for a toothbrush and toothpaste, bandaids, small medication bottles, or other items you don’t want intermixing with everything else.

There’s a removable mirror on top of the zippered pocket too, which is a nice perk. Not many toiletry kits have this and being able to remove it is a big plus. However, the mirror’s focal length is a little awkward, for lack of a better word. It’s a super close-up, so it works well for applying mascara, tweezing eyebrows, or shaving, but doesn’t allow you to get a full face view. It’s nice for the little details, but it doesn’t work so well for the big picture. The mirror is mounted in place with a frame that uses the same white material as the exterior, and the handle to grab it out and re-insert it is made out of that too.

So far, we have talked about the F35 CHEYENNE as a toiletry pouch, but it can be used for a ton more than that. We thought it would be a unique fit as a camera cube and found that it fits a compact camera without even taking up a fraction of the space. It can stow a Fuji X-T3 with a Fuji XC 15-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens. It’s a little tough to close the zipper, but the camera fits with room to spare. While using it for camera gear, you can stow smaller items like an SD card or cable in the zippered pocket for safekeeping. The material doesn’t have as much padding as we would like for electronic protection, but if you have a padded backpack to stow it inside, it’s a nice option to separate your camera gear from the rest of your items.

Overall, the FREITAG F35 CHEYENNE is a versatile pouch that can stow a lot of toiletries or larger items like a camera or other accessories. The unique vintage car smell isn’t easy to get away from, but other than that, the pouch is durable, stylish, and usable in several different ways that will keep you organized on your trip.