Impressions
A while back, Roaring Fire Gear sent me a sample of the Armadillo Mini Tool Roll and I have been using it for quite some time now. After putting some miles on it, I figure it’s time to share my thoughts.
The Roaring Fire Gear Armadillo Mini Tool Roll is a compact, organization-focused tool roll that has a lot of functionality in a small package. It is multi-functional in regards to how it can be employed and is a great balance between usability and durability. If you are looking for something to organize hand tools or your EDC, read on.
Overview
The Mini Tool Roll Bag from Roaring Fire Gear is a small, lightweight, compact tool roll made from cotton canvas. I’m not sure of the treatment, but it does come with a water-resistant coating that does a good job of shedding light amounts of water.
To gain access into the tool roll, you simply unclip the quick release buckles. Once those buckles are detached, the compression straps are free allowing you to unroll the bag.
Box-X Stitching where the grab handle and shoulder strap D-rings attach, which add reinforcement to the areas seeing the most tension.
Specifications
- Weight: 26 oz.
- Dimensions Rolled: 5.5″(L) x 11.02″(W)
- Dimensions Open: 18.9″(L) x 11.02″(W)
- 16Ann Cotton Canvas
- YKK Zippers
- Water-Resistant Coating
- 8 Side Pockets
- 1 Zippered Pocket: 3.35″(W) x 11.02″(L)
- 12 Elastic Loop Slots
- Padded Web Handle and Shoulder Strap
- Street Price: $39.99 at Roaring Fire Gear
- Street Price: $39.99 on Amazon
Why a Tool Roll?
Why a tool roll? Simply put…organization. A tool roll helps keep loose items organized or bunched together for easy access and convenience. It’s easy to keep a set of wrenches organized and in order with a tool roll. At the same time, it’s a convenient way to grab one “thing” and have a lot of things you may need.
In addition to tools, a tool roll can provide numerous benefits as highlighted below.
What can the Mini Tool Roll be used for?
- Utility Tool Roll
- Gun Cleaning Kit
- Knife Cleaning Kit
- Knife Organizer
- Flashlight Organizer
- General EDC Organizer
- Vehicle Kit
How Do I Use the Armadillo Mini Tool Roll?
I find myself using the Roaring Fire Armadillo Mini Tool Roll Bag most often for knife organization. Whether it be for additional protection, ease of carrying, or whatever else, I just find it handy.
I review a lot of knives, and as part of that process I like to expose them to a consistent level of testing for comparison purposes. As such, I will often take the bundle of knives I’m currently reviewing and throw them all into this tool roll.
Once I have my testing criteria lined out, I can simply grab this roll and I have all the knives I will need. This greatly improves my efficiency and helps me keep things in order.
Although I use my gear pretty hard, I do try to avoid unnecessary abuse and I find the Mini Tool Roll Bag offers and additional layer of protection without adding additional inconvenience.
For reference, as you see the the tool roll above, it comes in right at 4.7 lbs. This also includes two fixed blade knives in the zippered pouch on the side.
What Do I Like About the Armadillo Mini Tool Roll
There area number of things I like about this tool roll and I will cover a few of them below in no particular order.
Material
For the size and capacity of this roll, I find the canvas to be spot on in regards to thickness and weight. The 16Ann cotton canvas is a good balance of durability while considering how it will be used.
It wold have been easy to have added a thicker and heavier weight canvas, but I feel it would have taken away from the functionality of the bag. It is pliable enough to make it easy to use while offering enough protection against abrasion and other external considerations.
Organization
The organization of this roll is laid out in a way that makes a lot of sense for my purposes. Again, this can be used for a lot of different functions, so I’m looking at it from a “Jack-of-all-Trades” point of view.
It has 8 slip-style, deeper sleeves/pockets on one side of the roll with some variety in sizing. This allows you to store longer items, while maintaining easy access.
Above these sleeves are 10 usable elastics loops for additional organization. These are created by Roaring Fire sewing on a 1.5″ wide elastic band and then sewing “pockets” or sections of this band to create independent sections. In addition, there are two more elastic bands that I found to be nonfunctional for me. One had stitching through it and the other was really too small for me to use.
Covering both of these is a canvas flap that folds down and adds an additional layer of protection. This allows you to roll everything up without the items overly making contact with one another.
On one end of the roll is one zippered pocket approximately 11″ long and 3.3″ wide. This is great for long tools or items you want to keep isolated or for small items such as sockets, small knives, gun-cleaning attachments, etc.
Exterior
The exterior features a simple quick-release buckle system that allows quick and easy access while keeping things secure. While the buckles aren’t the heaviest duty I’ve seen, I think they will be sufficient for the weight I will be carrying. I have not had any issues thus far.
In regards to carrying capacity, this roll features a grab handle, which is found centerline, and a shoulder strap. I find the shoulder strap unnecessary for how I use this piece of gear, but your mileage may vary.
The grab handle offers a bit of additional padding, and if you find yourself overloading this thing with additional, it would make things more comfortable to carry. I definitely prefer the grab handle and it just make the most sense for me.
If you use patches in your organization, there are a couple of fields of loop velcro sewn onto the exterior which would allow you to place some smaller patches for identification purposes.
Conclusion
All in all, I find this tool roll to be a great deal, especially considering the price. I’ve settled on using it for my EDC tools (mostly knives) and I have found it to work great for that purpose. I may end up getting one for my EDC flashlights as well.
I plan to continue using it and based on the lack of abuse in this role, I don’t see any way it wears out or has any failures. However, if it does, I will be sure to update it here.