About this time last year, my wife bought me the cat’s meow in diaper bags. From Tactical Baby Gear (because no dad wants to look girly). With almost daily use since the twin boys came along, I can say it’s truly exceptional.
I got a late start at child rearing. Heck, I hadn’t even changed a diaper before age 51. And suddenly, after five years of trying, God blessed me with not one, but two babies.
Shortly before they came along, my expecting wife told me to pick me up a diaper bag the next time I went to Walmart or Target.
My reply? Oh, heck no. I’ll get something a whole lot more manly. Call it toxic masculinity if you like.
I figured I’d pick up a range bag or something similar. There’s no reason something like that wouldn’t work. The last thing I wanted was to look like I was carrying my wife’s diaper bag around when I’m out with the twins. That might work for some guys, but not me.
So a few weeks later, she surprised me with an excellent early birthday present. From her hospital bed, she said she Googled “tactical baby gear” and found exactly what I had imagined. Only better.
It’s the TBG Duece 2.0. It’s $99 ($80 at Amazon). Frankly, it’s one of those buy once, cry once purchases. And it’s worth every penny she paid. I carry mine with pride.
The outside pockets are tailor made for baby stuff, right down to an exterior pouch for carrying a pair of bottles (left), baby wipes (lower right) and pacifiers and other commonly needed stuff in the upper right. Plenty of Velcro acreage allows for lots of name-tags, morale patches or anything else you want to add to personalize the bag.
Inside, there’s room for food, feeding tools (a tactical spork, maybe?), diapers, meds, and other gear for caring for youngsters. Including TBG’s well-designed and very humorous changing pad.
It impressed me right out of the gate. So much so, in fact, that I left it in the wife’s hospital room for the hospital staff to see. They too were impressed, from the outstanding maternal fetal medicine doc, his PA, along with the nurses and staff at OSF Children’s Hospital in Peoria. Since then, I’ve had tons of positive comments out in public about my diaper bag, from men and women alike.
Dealing with twins, my bag is packed to the gills with more stuff than someone with a singleton would need.
Two exterior side pockets stow bibs, pajamas, and paperwork. Or, hypothetically, maybe a Taurus Model 85 .38 Special revolver for really deep cover peace of mind. Of course, when the babies started to sit up, the hardware went to out-of-reach locations.
MOLLE webbing covers much of the bag, including the ends where you can mount a Tactical Baby Gear dump pouch. When not in use, the dump pouch – which lives up to its name – folds up into a nice, compact package.
The bags come in a host of colors (including camo) if coyote brown isn’t your thing.
Even better, it doesn’t look like the girly diaper bags I see so many guys slinging at the pediatrician’s office, hospital or other public locations.
Even my wife likes loves it, and that’s saying a lot.
Specifications: TBG Deuce 2.0 Tactical Diaper Bag
Overall Dimensions: 11.25”H x 16”W x 8.25”D
Capacity: 24.34 liters or 1485 cubic inches
Changing Mat: 8″H x 12″W x 1.5″D
Bottle Pouch: 6”H x 3.75”W x 3.75”D
Dump Pouch: 5.5”H x 4”W x 0.75”D
Material: 600D
Price: $99 ($80 at Amazon)
Rating (out of five stars):
Overall: * * * * *
The bag itself looks practically brand new after a year of sometimes hard use. The zippers and fabric are top notch. The construction is as well. This, folks, is a diaper bag that anyone among the gun culture can use and be proud of.