Aim drag bag zip failure RUBBISH

[Overlay]

Yep
I had the exact some problem with 2 of the aim, love the design and pockets etc etc but the zips are pants, I looked at having them refurbished but the cost was eye watering, I went with the harkila gun bags and all three of them have been faultless after 3 years of use, on reflection though I do try and support uk makers so any new 0nes I would be looking to Ogdens to be honest his kit is really fit for purpose and uk made

 

[west_meon]

I had a zip go on a rifle slip after fair use, so took it to my local seamstress in Hereford as the rest of the slip was fine. They picked the seam apart and sewed in a new zip. They had to do it all by hand rather than using a sewing machine, and charged me £30. You might find a cobbler will do the same?

 

[Tommy2bucks]

I recently posted about a range bag on here, looked at a friends AiM one and then found a carp bag company NGT - the bags look very similar and appear to be made in the same place - one is £20 and the other £130….it would appear the small AiM badge is worth that to some…

I think your right I e got a ngt bag and the zip looks the same !!

 

[Tommy2bucks]

Yep
I had the exact some problem with 2 of the aim, love the design and pockets etc etc but the zips are pants, I looked at having them refurbished but the cost was eye watering, I went with the harkila gun bags and all three of them have been faultless after 3 years of use, on reflection though I do try and support uk makers so any new 0nes I would be looking to Ogdens to be honest his kit is really fit for purpose and uk made

I’m the same which is why I was so disappointed with his response he wasn’t interested at all I’ve ordered one of Phil at Ogden at least if there’s any issue he will resolve it as he does care about his reputation which is why he held up n high regards by many on this site

 

[Cottis]

I’m the same which is why I was so disappointed with his response he wasn’t interested at all I’ve ordered one of Phil at Ogden at least if there’s any issue he will resolve it as he does care about his reputation which is why he held up n high regards by many on this site

I have a quickslip made by Phil. I conservatively estimate it has been in and out of the house over 1000 times and zipped and unzipped more than that. The original waterproofing material stuff that sits over the zip has flaked away over the years but the zip works absolutely fine. It is clearly a heavy duty zip. The rest of the bag is battered and abused. It has got dragged over brambles, barbed wire, been used as a mat in horrible conditions and more. It certainly looks fairly mangled but 100% still does its job and when it finally gives up (and by all rights, it should have done by now) I would go straight back and buy another one immediately. It is comfortably one of the better value shooting items I have ever bought. The fact that it is made in this country by an old school guy who concentrates on quality makes it even better.

 

[Tommy2bucks]

I had a zip go on a rifle slip after fair use, so took it to my local seamstress in Hereford as the rest of the slip was fine. They picked the seam apart and sewed in a new zip. They had to do it all by hand rather than using a sewing machine, and charged me £30. You might find a cobbler will do the same?

Think I will find a company as per recommendation of the lads on here and get the zip repaired and sell it on as although the rest of the bag is fine I won’t have anything to do with that company again

I have a quickslip made by Phil. I conservatively estimate it has been in and out of the house over 1000 times and zipped and unzipped more than that. The original waterproofing material stuff that sits over the zip has flaked away over the years but the zip works absolutely fine. It is clearly a heavy duty zip. The rest of the bag is battered and abused. It has got dragged over brambles, barbed wire, been used as a mat in horrible conditions and more. It certainly looks fairly mangled but 100% still does its job and when it finally gives up (and by all rights, it should have done by now) I would go straight back and buy another one immediately. It is comfortably one of the better value shooting items I have ever bought. The fact that it is made in this country by an old school guy who concentrates on quality makes it even better.

Which is what I thought aim was …… how wrong

 

[NullMac]

For the sake of balance, I have dealt with Alan Rhone on more than one occasion and have found him to be a complete gent, helpful and always able to provide me with what I want/need.

Aye well he isn't. And it is well known he isn't. Everyone has an Alan Rhone story.

He will take your money and ship the kit. We can all do that.

If you have a problem subsequently then you are just an ignorant arsehole apparently. I can provide plenty evidence (written) to support that view if he fancies a run at a libel suit. Enough said.

 

[Cottis]

Aye well he isn't. And it is well known he isn't. Everyone has an Alan Rhone story.

He will take your money and ship the kit. We can all do that.

If you have a problem subsequently then you are just an ignorant arsehole apparently. I can provide plenty evidence (written) to support that view if he fancies a run at a libel suit. Enough said.

That's a shame. My various experiences with him are the exact polar opposites of yours and none of them have been basic retail deliveries. I won't bore you with them but I really rate them.

 

[Donkey Basher]

NGT Luggage

NGT fishing luggage range, bags, storage and more.

www.ngtdirect.co.uk

Or do you mean a link to the thread on here?

Link to the NGT bag - could only find Rod bag(s). Thanks.

 

[gixer1]

Link to the NGT bag - could only find Rod bag(s). Thanks.

The range bag I was referring to was the below, and you can see the AiM variant below that…pretty similar! Both made of 600d polyester…

 

[trickie]

As @west_meon suggested, find a local seamstress that does quality work and get a new KYK zip fitted.

Had my Aim bag and Matt for about 4 years. A buckle broke in the first week or so, they replaced it without question . Still going strong and I like it a lot.
The Matt is fantastic keeps me warm when it’s cold, dry when it’s damp, best of all it huge

 

[Tommy2bucks]

As @west_meon suggested, find a local seamstress that does quality work and get a new KYK zip fitted.

Had my Aim bag and Matt for about 4 years. A buckle broke in the first week or so, they replaced it without question . Still going strong and I like it a lot.
The Matt is fantastic keeps me warm when it’s cold, dry when it’s damp, best of all it huge

I’ve took it to Ogdens to have the zip replaced and it will be for sale if anybody interested it’s a aim 50 with the waterproof cover and it will have a proper zip on it
You wouldn’t be getting it fixed if it was more than 2 years old though ! They won’t cover it

 

[Dave_45]

Mine went the same way but the zip totally departed.

Had a ridge line as well ,great so far

 

[Rory]

Most durable drag bag I've had over the years has been a Webtex one that cost me £25 from a long closed surplus store in Brookwood. !

 

[Dan Newcombe]

That's a shame. My various experiences with him are the exact polar opposites of yours and none of them have been basic retail deliveries. I won't bore you with them but I really rate them.

Probably a lesson in the whole slagging off / promoting culture that the internet seems to promote - everyone has different polar opposite stories about most things.

 

[AlexD]

Some of the products we design have zips. We test the zips extensively before adopting into a product, as products each have their own nuances of weight, side pull, any corners or bends the zip has to go around: applications are military. Even then, years ago, zips would fail in the field after few years, whether from US or Chinese copies. The solutions we found are simple:

1. Only ever use YKK zips, not the copies or zips from anywhere else. No zip we have ever tested has done as well as YKK zips (a Japanese organisation), other than dry suit zips that are a specialist item from other companies. You get what you pay for with YKK and the only reason not to use YKK is you want to sell at the bottom of the market at a price point of a disposable product, or it comes from a small organisation that does not have the resources to test everything they design in so they are still learning.
2. Do not allow zips to run in two directions. They are optimised for one direction, and putting in a dual direction zipper invites failure.

YKK zips are marked YKK on the pull, so I look for the YKK stamp on products I buy.

The bag that failed breaks both "rules", but then is not at the price point for military quality equipment. The YKK zips alone would cost more than the wholesale cost of the bag in post 50. So either spend much more, or do what is economic and replace it when it fails with another cheap article, but no point whining when the cheap item fails. If it is a small producer, just drop them a private note letting them know the zip failed and you are replacing it with a YKK zip, perhaps the message would get through.

 

[Tommy2bucks]

Some of the products we design have zips. We test the zips extensively before adopting into a product, as products each have their own nuances of weight, side pull, any corners or bends the zip has to go around: applications are military. Even then, years ago, zips would fail in the field after few years, whether from US or Chinese copies. The solutions we found are simple:

1. Only ever use YKK zips, not the copies or zips from anywhere else. No zip we have ever tested has done as well as YKK zips (a Japanese organisation), other than dry suit zips that are a specialist item from other companies. You get what you pay for with YKK and the only reason not to use YKK is you want to sell at the bottom of the market at a price point of a disposable product, or it comes from a small organisation that does not have the resources to test everything they design in so they are still learning.
2. Do not allow zips to run in two directions. They are optimised for one direction, and putting in a dual direction zipper invites failure.

YKK zips are marked YKK on the pull, so I look for the YKK stamp on products I buy.

The bag that failed breaks both "rules", but then is not at the price point for military quality equipment. The YKK zips alone would cost more than the wholesale cost of the bag in post 50. So either spend much more, or do what is economic and replace it when it fails with another cheap article, but no point whining when the cheap item fails.

How is £200 bag cheap ?
It’s not whining it’s informing other members to not make the same mistake I’ve made that’s what this forum is for to help each other and share your experiences

 

[AlexD]

How is £200 bag cheap ?
It’s not whining it’s informing other members to not make the same mistake I’ve made that’s what this forum is for to help each other and share your experiences

Markups are high, it is a budget bag. If you pay for a name instead of the bag, you still get a cheap bag.

Indicators it is a cheap bag are obvious:

1. It is made from canvas instead of Cordura that a quality bag would use for that application, or for a drag bag PP trampoline fabric is horrible to work with but as tough as boots, or a laminated fabric.
2. The zippers are cheap die cast zinc, tabs breaking off and poor tolerances, instead of a branded zipper or YKK.
3. Bag zip teeth are too small for the application.
4. Untested zip running in both directions.
5. Webbing stitched termination area too small.

Everything fails at some point. Budget items tend to fail faster. Some chap branding a batch he has to buy in a large MOQ from China, it comes down to his customer service policy on how he handles it when they fail.

 

[Loler UK]

Same experience here, only didn't last anything like 3years. They are utter crap, bought a eberlestock bag, cost a bit more but well worth it so far!

 

[Tommy2bucks]

Picked up one of Phil at ogdens the quality difference is unbelievable and it’s cheaper which is contradictory to what the other guys going on about and he will repair any issues you may have absolutely lovely guy dead helpful