Swift question

[ladyinblack1964]

I was just reading an online review of the Swift that was a couple of years old. It mentioned a "half pocket" inside (not one of the two clear pockets) in which she could fit a water bottle.

I haven't seen mention of this anywhere else. Is this something that has been discontinued in later models of the Swift? I've also heard a "secret pocket" mentioned here on the forum. Could this be what she's talking about?

Thanks!

[moriond]

I was just reading an online review of the Swift that was a couple of years old. It mentioned a "half pocket" inside (not one of the two clear pockets) in which she could fit a water bottle.

I haven't seen mention of this anywhere else. Is this something that has been discontinued in later models of the Swift? I've also heard a "secret pocket" mentioned here on the forum. Could this be what she's talking about?

Thanks!

Hi @ladyinblack, I think you may be referring to the first paragraph of @terayon's post:

Inside a Swift: The medium OP fits nicely into the clear pockets.. The PCSB fits well in the main part. A 500-mL water bottle tucks nicely into the "hidden" pockets inside, though I loop a key strap with both ends attached to the o-ring around it to keep it upright.

…and also to the discussion in @adalangdon's thread, What do you put in your Swift's 'secret pocket'?

The "secret pockets" are the ones at the bottom two sides of the Swift (and Little Swift, and LUX bag Swift predecessor) where the material criss crosses to create a triangular overlap. If you click on the link in the first post of @adalangdon's thread, you'll see a picture that appeared in one of the old blog posts (pre-2011, I think, so hard for me to recover since the forum web page redesign).

I'll embed the image:


That black triangular region at the bottom of the bag, just to the right of the region of Kiwi Ballistic Nylon and between the two labeled "Clear zippered Pockets" is the one of the two "secret pockets" that is facing the camera. The other "secret" pocket is directly across it on the opposite side of the bag's interior, but is not visible from this angle. If you reach under the edge of the black tape binding that runs along the edge of the criss-crossed material, you'll access the "pocket".

HTH

moriond

[ladyinblack1964]

Thank you very much! I'll say it's "secret." It's really hard to see. LOL Good to know it is there, though!

[moriond]

Thank you very much! I'll say it's "secret." It's really hard to see. LOL Good to know it is there, though!

That "secret pocket" is probably more obvious if you have the Swift in front of you, and particularly if you had one of the earlier two-tone model Swifts before they added the reinforcing band at the bottom (or if you had the LUX bag that was the Swift predecessor -- pictured in this Gear Live Interview with Tom Bihn) with the photo shown below:


If you turn any of those bags to view the sides, it's pretty obvious that the two different colors of material from the front and back crisscross with a triangular overlap that forms a pocket on each side.

Here's a picture from the original October 12, 2007 review of the Swift at the indigodragonfly web site. (That site has some great pictures of the Swift and Little Swift, including comparisons of the bags worn or carried on people of different height, and with knitting accessories in the bag.)

I'll excerpt the relevant sections of the review, with pictures, but you really should read the whole article there, and look up her later reviews, which are all excellent.

And as an unexpected bonus, there are 2 slash pockets formed at the bottom of the inside, where the 2 colours of fabric cross over. Just the perfect size and shape to slip my wallet or other items, keeping them separate from my knitting, but in a place I can easily reach without putting the bag down and digging through it.

@dorayme also referred to these pictures and use of these pockets in another old forum post from 4 years ago. (That post links to @indigodragonfly's Flickr photostream instead of her review article.)

HTH

moriond (who also has the earlier LUX bag in crimson shown in the embedded image, in addition to the Swift. FYI The Swift added two clear pockets lined with Dyneema compared to the single zippered pocket in black Cordura of the LUX, Cordura fabric options, a button closure, and more O-rings. The original January 20, 2006 blog post entry for the LUX by the Knitty Context winner may be found from the Internet Archive here and my discussion of that article is in the middle of this old forum post from March 2006. Old web page links pre-2011 no longer work after the forum redesign, nor can the old blog entries and pictures be accessed directly any more.)

[ladyinblack1964]

Thank you very much for this thorough reply/post! That's really helpful!

[binje]

And I'll just add that I was super-excited about this pocket until I realized that it can't actually hold a water bottle. Or at least, don't expect it to hold a bottle upright. On the bright side, your Swift is incredibly water-resistant. The water did not so much as seep through. A bit of a problem for the books on the inside of the bag, but nice to know for when the water is loose on the outside of the bag.

[moriond]

@binje If you want to carry a regular water bottle upright in your Swift, you'd probably be better off inserting it into a yarn stuff sack and tethering it to one of the o-rings at the side of the bag. I think the clear bottom YSSs offer more support for a flat base that stands upright, but you can ask other forum members for their suggestions. The pictures were mainly meant to make it easier to see where these "secret pockets" on the Swift are located, and to give an idea of their size. It's also good to know about them because occasionally items you store in these bags can get caught there. But you could also imagine stashing some items there, like overflow loyalty cards from your wallet that you want to have available, but maybe not filling up your wallet, or a few spare singles.

HTH

moriond

[binje]

Fortunately, I usually have so much stuff in my Swift that "upright" is not often a problem. Me not securely closing my water bottle remains a problem, because I've recently transitioned from a Camelbak to a Kleen Kanteen and the lid of the KK demands more turns for a tight seal. My muscle memory simply refuses to add in that extra twist. Sigh.