Having a handgun is great. They’re generally compact, you can carry them on you, and they’re absolutely a viable defense tool. With that said, if the crap really hits the fan, it’s nice to have something with more punch. A full sized rifle or a shotgun might be optimal, but that isn’t always easy to have around when you’re on the road.
A Short Barrel Rifle or Large Format Pistol gives you a lot of the punch of a full sized long arm, but in a much more compact size. Still, carrying an obvious gun case around, even a shorter one that fits an SBR can draw unwanted attention. That’s where something like the 5.11 Tactical LV Covert Carry Pack comes in.
Why Covert?
I love the guys in camo, with MOLLE packs covered in morale patches at SHOT Show, but you’re amongst your people there. Out on the street on a day-to-day basis, I prefer to keep things lower key.
I’d rather not draw attention to myself whether it be from the general public, the criminal element, or anyone else. Which makes the 5.11 LV Covert Carry Pack perfect. It doesn’t look tactical in design or colors, yet it’s built to the same rugged degree as their other packs. It’s built from the ground up as a weapons carry platform too, it isn’t just a pack that happens to fit an SBR.
Pack Details
The LV Covert Carry Pack is 24 inches high by 13 inches wide by 8 inches deep with a 45 liter capacity. It’ll fit a variety of folding stock SBR’s, AR’s with receiver extensions and barrels under 10 inches, as well as large format pistols with folding or receiver extension mounted braces. It will also work with most any AOW shotguns, and some short barreled shotguns.
The main weapons compartment is padded and has a reinforced pocket at the bottom, split into two compartments for the butt or base of the weapon, web loops for adjustment, and two rifle retention straps. It has a zip-open 4-inch drop-down extension in the bottom if you have something a little bigger that you want to fit. The extension stands out a little more when it’s extended, although it still doesn’t look like a gun case.
If you miss your MOLLE webbing, have no fear. The Covert Carry pack has it, it’s just hidden inside the dual front pockets. You can add what you want there to accommodate lights, first aid kits, spare mags, a pistol holster or whatever else you need. Behind that is a suspended padded laptop sleeve and a mesh zippered pocket.
The pack style itself looks much more like a large outdoors pack than a tactical one. It’s a pretty clean design with basic colors, Black, Iron Grey, and Blueblood. No camo, FDE or Olive Drab here. Sure, black can be tactical, but you also see lots of every day packs and travel cases in black.
While the pack is discretely labeled with 5.11 tags, they’re tuckable if you want to hide those away. While the general public may not pay attention, or possibly even know what 5.11 means, law enforcement certainly will and some bad guys may as well. I know as a police officer if I see anything 5.11 branded, or any other company I know that deals with tactical gear, I’m going to assume that person is armed unless proven otherwise.
I don’t have a problem with folks being armed, in fact I prefer it. I’m just pointing out that even the labels can be a tell, and I appreciate that 5.11 gives you the option of tucking them away.
The Covert Carry Pack may not look tactical, but it’s solidly made and has great carry options. It has a set of contoured, padded shoulder straps with quick-release shoulder buckles, a removable sternum strap, as well as a top grab handle and a side carry handle.
Zippers are all very heavy duty with pull tabs. An optional waist belt can be added as well. The lower portion of the pack has a set of straps that will accept the 5.11 LV6 bag, or let you attach other gear like a coat or rain gear, a sleeping pad if you’re configuring a bug out bag, or things like that. Load support is provided by an aluminum frame HDPE board, and a foam padded back.
What Actually Fits?
Okay, specs on paper (or on the screen, as the case may be) are great, but what actually fits in this Pack? I tried a number of SBR’s and here’s what I found.
With the pack in its base configuration I could easily fit my CZ Scorpion EVO SBR with a factory side folder and optic. It actually would just fit with the stock extended, although the muzzle pushed on the fabric a bit. With the stock folded there was more than enough room, so any of the large format pistols or SBR’s like the Striborg, SIG MPX and the like should work well.
My “N23A1” .300 Blackout AR with its carry handle, and 8 inch barrel, and a LWRC PDW buffer tube, fit perfectly. That’s the one in the lead in photo. I also have a Spikes 9mm SBR with a KAK Mini Mil Spec buffer tube that was just about perfect as well.
A 10.5 inch barrel AR was slightly too long to fit in the base configuration, but should work great if you have something like a LAW Tactical side folder, or were running something like the Brownells BRN-180 upper with a side folder. Basically you need to keep it under 24 inches whether it’s a short system to being with or can be made more compact with a folding stock.
With the pack’s extension opened up all the way (adding an extra 3 inches) I could fit my SIG M400 with a 10.3 inch barrel and Vortex flash hider. That one has a regular carbine buffer tube and Magpul MOE stock. A stock A2 flash hider is a little shorter and would probably make for an even better fit.
It also fit my MetaTactical Apex 10mm bullpup with a 16 inch barrel fairly handily. So other similar sized bullpups should work too. My Mossberg Shockwave has a slightly longer aftermarket grip on it, but it looks like you could fit a Shockwave with the factory birdshead grip. Any shorter SBS or AOW would obviously work as well.
The pack has a reinforced “cup” in the bottom of the weapons compartment divided into two pockets, and two sets of velcro to lock things down, so I also tried a 14.5 inch M4 broken down into two pieces with the pack in its basic configuration and it fits. With the pack expanded you can fit a 16-inch barreled upper in as well.
I was impressed with everything that actually fit in the Covert Carry Pack. Basically any large format pistol without a brace will fit easily. Folding stock SBR’s with a 14.5 inch or less barrel, and collapsible stock AR’s or similar guns with an 8 inch barrel or less. Rifles that can be broken down into two parts with 14.5 inch barrels or less for sure.
Size isn’t Everything…Or is it?
While this pack is very well built, and has a lot of great features, one thing to be aware of is the size. Online it looks like a typical daypack, but in person it’s a fairly big. No one is going to mistake it for an EDC backpack with books in it, and you may get a “what the heck are you carrying” look if you lug it back and forth to the office every day. For example, 5.11’s Rush 12 2.0 pack is a 24L pack, and it’s roughly the size of a Jansport school backpack.
No one really wants to see pictures of me, but I included a couple with the pack on for scale. I’m 5’11” so you can see the size of the pack compared to a fairly average sized adult male. With that said though, it still doesn’t look like a weapons case, just a good sized backpack.
Covert Carry for the Win
I’m sold on the LV Covert Carry Pack for discreet SBR carry. It really doesn’t look like a tactical pack with the basic color palette, and lack of MOLLE or Velcro on the outside. The tuckable labels are a nice touch too.
There’s a lot of space in the pack for other gear too. Plenty for spare mags, a trauma kit, lights, tools or the like. Or some food and water if it’s a bug out type bag. Honestly, I’m not sure about the laptop space. I’d use it for other stuff. I can’t really see a situation where I’d be taking my SBR and laptop around together, but your situation may differ. I guess it gives you the option of using it for more routine use too, even if you aren’t packing your SBR that day.
The packs padded straps and harness are comfortable, along with the HDPE board and back padding. You could easily rack up the weight depending what weapon you’re carrying and how much ammo and other gear but 5.11 seems to have built the Covert Carry Pack to handle the load.
Aside from using the bag as an active shooter/shit hits the fan/get back home piece of kit I think it would also make a nice discrete range bag if you live in the city, or even suburbs with nosey neighbors. When I was younger I lived in the city, and when I headed to my car from my apartment with gun cases it was pretty obvious what I was carrying. I actually had an old guitar case at one point that fit my 20 inch AR nicely that I used just to avoid attention. You won’t quite fit a 20 inch AR in the LV Covert Carry Pack, but it certainly will work for discrete transport of the smaller things in your collection. MSRP is $170.00 but as of this writing 5.11 has all three colors listed at $136.00.
DIMENSIONS
Concealed – 24″H x 13″W x 8″D
Extended – 28″H with drop down x 13″W x 8″D
Weight – 5.2 lbs
Capacity – 2746 Cubic in / 45L
4 Responses
It looks a like a school backpack that’s as big as a framed expedition bag.
Sort of like Pee Wee Hermans utensils. Giant fork, giant spoon, giant knife.
Plenty ridiculous.
Or maybe the model in the pics is a little person? Like, really little.
Two Pee Wee references in as many days? Sensiba referenced him yesterday. My kids know who he is because we watched the movies when they were little haha.
I don’t think I’ll be carrying an SBR. I don’t even carry a knife (don’t judge me).
An attention-drawing thing screaming ‘I’m big enough and unique enough to hold something I don’t want others to see” ?
“covert” my butt.
I use an old beat up guitar case with band stickers and peace signs. Lined it with foam for a good fit and It easily holds a full size AR or AK with all the ammo and range tools you could possibly need short of the Purge. Bought it at a pawn shop for $20. People don’t even look twice when I carry it around, except at the range. Until I open it up.