May 20, 2011 Reader Review: MEI Executive Overnighter
OBOW reader Assaf sent us the following review of the MEI Executive Overnighter:
I got the bag a few days ago, haven’t got a chance to use it.
first impressions:
the bag arrived on time.
the build quality is excellent, better then i expected, judging from online photos. yet, it is not on par with the red oxx air boss - the zippers, for example, are
coil, not chain zippers as in the air boss. they are certainly heavy duty YKK, tough.
the shoulder strap is the same as seen on older photos of the MEI EO, not Terra grip.
the inside color is now all khaki, not the (ugly) yellow and khaki. i’m glad because that old inside color mix was a real turn off for me, it looked somewhat un-professional IMHO.
the side handles are more sturdy then the older pics implied.
the back straps are well padded and comfortable.
things i would like to improve:
1) the top carry handle - i hope the way it’s attached to the bag is strong enough.
2) the compression straps on the two outer pockets, are on the outer wall, not toward the inside of the bag as in the air boss.
i think this is less convenient to close the bag while packing. i prefer the red oxx approach where the bag once packed, is sort of a big bundle, covered by the outer flaps.
coffee brown rocks! ;-)
I hope this review would be helpful, as there isn’t really a lot of info on this bag.
Thanks, Assaf.
(Frank II)
Reader Comments (12)
Great re-look at my favorite bag. Couple of observations
(the personal musings of a long time MEI EO user):
"the shoulder strap is the same as seen on older photos
of the MEI EO, not Terra grip"
Get a TB absolute / Optech SOS strap. You'll never go
back... :-)
"the build quality is excellent, better then i expected, judging
from online photos. yet, it is not on par with the red oxx air
boss"
I would say that the build quality IS on a part with R-O - but
not the caliber of materials utilized, although MEI's materials
choice is still excellent. After many trips and various levels
of rough handling, mine still looks (and functions) as new.
"the inside color is now all khaki, not the (ugly) yellow and
khaki"
Interesting, a lot of folks love having the bright colored interior
for ease of locating items, although I've never had that problem
(the inside of mine is dark too).
"the side handles are more sturdy then the older pics implied"
Can you add a pic of them? I'm curious how they look these days.
The side handles on mine have received a constant workout and
continue to work a treat. I like a side handle to sit as basically flush
as possible, yet still be functional - and these do (this is one of the
features I like on my TB Aeronaut as well).
"1) the top carry handle - i hope the way it’s attached to the bag is
strong enough.
It is....It works wonderfully.
"2) the compression straps on the two outer pockets, are on the
outer wall, not toward the inside of the bag as in the air boss. i
think this is less convenient to close the bag while packing"
When I received mine, I thought so too... but, perhaps Ive adapted
to it because I've not even thought about it again, until I read this review.
"the back straps are well padded and comfortable."
They sure are. It's worth a small weight penalty for the comfort
they provide. I often dispense with the shoulder strap, and deploy
just one of the BP straps and carry my EO that way.
"coffee brown rocks! ;-)"
TOTALLY agree - (Yours is the same color as mine)
Congrats on your new bag, and welcome to the EO owners
club - you will get many miles of great service out of it. I have
a few bags, for different durations and types of trips, but I nearly
always reach for the EO first.
Many happy travels !
I ditched the included shoulder strap and have been using alternately a Red Oxx Claw Shoulder Strap and the Tom Bihn Absolute Shoulder Strap.
The side handles and main top handle have held up really well. The big rubberized grip is more than I thought I would like, but has actually been great.
The backpack straps are more comfortable than any backpack straps I've ever used, on any size bag - from day packs to internal frame hiking packs to other convertible carry-on suitcases.
Though it's anathema to this blog, I've been on a number of international flights where I've checked the MEI EO, primarily to pack back wine bottles that I couldn't take as carry-on. On one occasion the bag was lost on a connection and I didn't see it for a day. I have no clue how well it was treated or how much abuse it faced, but everything inside was intact and the outside suffered no damage.
While the internal straps took a little getting used to, I'm now pretty adept at packing with them.
My only have two persistent complaints with the bag. First I'm not sure how much value the external horizontal compression straps add. When locked down, they make it pretty hard to access the two external zippered pockets - pockets which I think are pretty important for having things like books, boarding passes, iPad, etc accessible on the flight. That could just be me and my use of them, but I would probably be fine without these compression straps on the bag. Second, I actually think the bag is a bit too big. It's right at the MLC limits and with the give of the fabric, it can go slightly beyond. It's also a big enough bag that you can seriously overpack it and weigh yourself down. That's probably more an argument for packing discipline than it is an argument against the MEI EO, though.
I really love this bag. I'd say between the fact that it's a convertible MLC and the superb quality of the backpack straps it's worth it's value with ease.
offer earlier than the AB). AND it does everything the AB does just as
well, and more - with its excellent backpack straps.
In fact, one can argue that it takes 2 Red Oxx bags to do what the EO
can do: the AB and the Skytrain. :-)
Happy travels ~
I couldn't agree more, I had a maiden trip with the EO last weekend, and I am convinced it's a great bag. I actually packed for my wife & myself, and took a lot of stuff. The EO performed flawlessly. I can see how easy it is to get the bag stuffed to the point that it becomes too big. Perhaps it's bigger then what I actually need? Only time will tell.
Incidentally, I used the EO on a trip to Houston last week and had it relatively overpacked (for me) at 21.5#. With the Op Tech version of the Bihn Absolute shoulder strap, I felt no reason to go to the backpack straps. I keep those reserved for situations where I have to walk longer than a block or two with the bag. Just schlepping it around the airport was very comfortable.
I would love to see a EO fully loaded.