Optimal Thread Works Custom Backpack Review
Optimal Thread Works is a one-man maker named Elias running a small soft goods operation in Pennsylvania. He’s a self-taught sewer who is relatively low-key in the niche of custom backpack makers, but the quality of his work is on-par or better when compared to batch-produced backpacks from reputable companies. No website or store — just a social media presence and word-of-mouth marketing. Getting in the order queue for a backpack with custom materials starts with DM-ing, and options are constrained by what he has on hand or plans to order. I decided to take the plunge and the result is what you see here.
The Motivation
The story of deciding to get this pack made started with the GWA Citadel Micro Crew. There were a lot of things I loved about that bag, namely its front panel organization, padded flat bottom, smooth zippers, and light weight. It worked great as a diaper and EDC bag, and had many markings of an ideal (for me) day hike pack. I just wish it was smaller and had a hydration hose pass-through, like the GORUCK Bullet.
A custom built GWA Citadel, if you can even get the opportunity, is limited to materials and color choices — the design is fixed. Same thing with a GORUCK, though you can make some limited customizations through their SCARS program. Enter Optimal Thread Works. I had seen photos and videos of the OTW Backpack over the years and noted it had a similar organizational layout as the GWA Citadel Micro but in a smaller, 18 L volume. What I didn’t know was that the owner takes custom requests. Once I learned that, I reached out to see what was possible.
Standard Design vs. Custom Requests
The standard features of the original OTW backpack that were of note to me were:
- Clamshell design with 4 zippers, enabling access to any part of the main compartment
- Front panel pocket layout — 2 front zippered pockets on the outside without internal slots.
- Velcro-lined interior with padded laptop sleeve in the main compartment. Mesh zippered pocket along the top half of the front panel.
- Hydration hose port at the top of the bag
- Slightly slanted bottom with no padding
- Velcro divider/shelf which can be used to sub-divide the main compartment. Originally designed to create a space for a water bottle at the bottom of the bag.
At the time I reached out, OTW was in the process of transitioning to a newer, revised design of the backpack (let’s call it v2). Some of the changes in v2 are:
- Front pockets have their own volume, vs. being relatively flat in v1
- Revised shoulder strap shape
- Top handle made of folded webbing instead of padding covered with the exterior fabric
Custom Requests
Knowing I was trying to create a compact EDC bag that I could easily use for day hikes, I wanted to make the following customizations:
- Flat bottom. My number one criteria. Most hiking bags have a slanted bottom; I understand why, but I dislike it. Setting the bag down during a hike is a real use case (getting a jacket in/out, taking out a battery pack, or accessing snacks).
- Padded bottom. This goes together with the above so that the bag has a better chance of standing on its own. One of the very few things I didn’t like about the Mystery Ranch x Carryology collab bags (the Unicorn and the Cerberus), which were neat bags in their own right, was that they didn’t have a padded bottom. Even my beloved custom Mixed Works Falcon S has an unpadded (and slanted) bottom. I want to be able to set my bag down on the ground without needing to baby it.
- Keep the original/v1 front pocket construction (i.e., flat); this was necessary to keep the bag at 18 L
- Internal slots in the front pockets, similar to the GWA Citadel. This org is one of my favorite features of the Citadel and I wanted to carry it over to this custom build. The main difference is that the bottom front pocket has two larger slots instead of three smaller ones.
- Small webbing loops inside the front pockets to clip keys
- Additional lash points at the top inside the main compartment, and condensed PALS webbing on the sides, color-matched to the exterior for subtlety.
- Two columns of PALS webbing on each side, color matched with the exterior fabric
For colors and fabrics, I was limited to 500D nylon for the outside and 400D for the liner (that was all that was available at the time and I didn’t want to wait for new fabric orders). Given the color choices, I went with ranger green inside and out with black trims, and bright yellow lining for the front pockets.
OK, so is the pack good?
When I first unboxed the pack, I felt that tangible quality craftsmanship just like I did with my custom Mixed Works Falcon S. The build felt really tight and precisely constructed.
I could be making this up in my head, but if I had to guess, I would say that Elias took his time to pattern, cut, stitch, and finish the bag.
No sense of rushing or pressure to fulfill a quota that I assume is part of a factory. I had heard that OTW backpacks had excellent build quality, and I agree with that assessment.
The foam used is indeed a stiff, closed-cell foam that gives the bag plenty of structure without a rigid frame sheet. After some time and use, I can feel them start to break in and soften a little, which is good. Because there’s no inherent curve on the back panel, it does feel quite flat while wearing, especially with a laptop. Truth be told, it’s not as comfortable as I hoped it would be. The straps seem to have the same stiff foam which allows them to stay relatively slim, but as a result they feel almost sharp and dig into my body. If anyone was wondering whether dual-density foam makes a difference on comfort, my answer is yes. Even so, I’m still satisfied with how the bag wears and I think comfort will improve slightly as it breaks in more. There isn’t a sternum strap included, so I threw on the 8Timber SternLink that uses a Fidlock magnetic V-buckle.
The flat, padded bottom was executed very well. The pack does stand on its own when empty, and most of the time when loaded, depending of course on how it’s packed. It does have a tendency to lean forward since the contents in the front pockets will make it front heavy, but when it’s placed against a wall or table leg, there’s no chance of it sliding out and falling flat like a bag with an angled bottom would. Because the pack has less volume, the depth is relatively shallow, which means the bottom has less surface area making it harder to balance when it’s leaning forward. But overall, I’m pleased with how the bottom turned out.
The front pockets and their internal slots are also done well and function as you might expect. The slots have enough “slack” to contain thicker items without straining/warping the lining, but also not so loose that they look sloppy. They’re sized according to spec and can fit a variety of accessories like earbuds, battery packs, cables, and snacks.
The small internal loops to attach keys were done with flat paracord instead of webbing. This was one of the few things I was underwhelmed by because they feel a bit thin and not as robust compared to the rest of the bag. I could imagine with consistent pulling that the strands of paracord will start to stretch.
One of my favorite features is the 4-zipper opening on the main compartment. Being able to open the bag directly from the bottom is a game-changer for on-the-go access.
With the padded Velcro divider you can create a bottom compartment for a water bottle laid down horizontally. While it may seem weird to configure the main compartment this way, it’s very intuitive to pull out your bottle from the bottom while you’re wearing the pack. For day hikes, I usually use a hydration bladder (love that the hose pass-through feature is standard) so the bottom compartment can house snacks that are within reach while on the trail.
The main compartment as you can see from the above photo has a lot of loop lining. The back wall has a padded laptop sleeve that also doubles as a hydration bladder sleeve, and is covered in loop. On the front panel, below the zippered mesh pocket, is also just loop lining. Naturally, this means you can affix Velcro pouches or patches to the inside. In practice, I never really did that if I had books/binders inside that need the space.
One small quirk with the loop layers is that the edges of the panels can stick out or get caught on your finger tips when you’re reaching into the bag. Since the girth of the bag is relatively narrow, getting into the bag that is loaded often results in fingers scraping along the inside of the wall and thus catching the edges of the loop panels. This gets exacerbated if you have the Velcro divider positioned further from the bottom, since that edge is even thicker and easier for items to snag on when trying to push them in from the top. I wouldn’t characterize it as an issue/design flaw, but more of a consequence of the pack being compact and using strips of loop rather than one continuous panel of loop.
A subtle but key difference in the OTW clamshell opening vs. other bags like the GWA Citadel or GORUCK Bullet is that the zipper runs closer along the center of the bag rather than closer to the front. I think that contributes to the ease of access I described above since it allows for slightly wider access.
Speaking of zippers, I’m happy to report they operate very smoothly just like on the GWA Citadel Micro. The front pocket zippers are satisfying to just rip across open and closed. The paracord pulls have a basic but effective knot at the end for easy grip. On the main compartment zipper, the two bottom pulls are shorter than the other two that run across the top, which makes it easy to tell them apart.
The side compression straps are very similar to those on the GWA Citadel bags. I’m almost positive they use the identical SR buckles because they have that really stiff and robust feel to them. The main difference is that on the OTW backpack, the straps are shorter and have minimal extra slack. I think this is a practical reduction — the bag can still be cinched down tightly, and there’s no need for strap management like there is on the GWA.
The PALS webbing on the side ended up needing to be smaller in width due to the limited space, so they’re not compatible with most MOLLE pouches. It’s a little unfortunate, but it was necessary to keep the bag 18 L or less. I suppose I could’ve had the webbing distributed on both sides of the zipper, but I didn’t want to impede access. I suppose another option was to just have one column of standard-width loops. In any case, these smaller columns of webbing are still useful for clipping accessories like a pen and flashlight.
Lastly, there is a dedicated hanging hook on the back of the bag which I requested since I like to hang bags on a wall. It works great for hanging, but it is a little over-sized. Additionally, it tends to rest downwards which means you can feel it against your back when wearing the bag. It’s definitely not comfortable when that happens so I consciously need to fold it up before putting on the bag.
Head-to-head with the GWA Citadel Micro
While I had the OTW Backpack custom made with some features from the GWA Citadel Micro, there are still some differences and areas where I think the Micro is “better”:
- Strap/harness comfort. The straps seem to have a layer of softer foam and are underlined with Tweave.
- Back panel ventilation. There are raised foam pads covered in soft mesh on the Citadel for ventilation and comfort, and I think the back panel is more curved.
- Additional zippered pocket in the main compartment. I was OK not having this in the OTW since I hardly used it on the Citadel, and it would be impractical to access given the slimmer profile on the OTW.
That being said, I do think the OTW has a better build quality and finish at least compared to the GWA Crew (the full-size Citadels have a more premium feel than the Crews). The OTW also wins (imho) when it comes to value/price. My custom build came out to $250, vs. $285+ for the GWA Citadel Micro. $250 for a custom, made-in-the-USA, one-off bag is a really good value. Of course, the trade-off of that is OTW is just one guy and doesn’t have a lot of stock, so expect longer lead times and needing to follow-up regularly if you want to commit to a bag.
Summary
Again, the primary reason I had the OTW made was I wanted something close to the Citadel but in a smaller size and with hydration bladder compatibility. I also want to reiterate that the custom model I have retains some of the older/v1 characteristics of the backpack, and the newer OTW backpack has changes that distinguish it more from the GWA Citadel. Overall, I’m quite happy with the results of this custom build. While comfort isn’t as excellent as other bags I have, the utility in this compact bag packs a big punch. If you’re considering a bag from OTW, I would recommend it if you know your needs well and can afford to wait and discuss implementation details.
