Isolator Fitness Isopack: 10 Months of Use Review Update

It's been about 10 months since I did an initial review of the IsoPack so I figured it was about time I update you on how the pack is holding up, how/if I'm still using it today and etc. 

Short answer is yes, I still use it during the week and when I travel. Having everything in one place makes things so much easier for me as I have mentioned before and if I prep on the weekend then all I have to do is switch out the medication pod each morning, fill my water bottles and the lunch box area each morning and I'm out the door. I love it!

I don't carry as much in my bag these days as when I first started carrying it though. Over the past 10 months I've been working out what I actually need and what is unnecessary or redundant because I have it elsewhere. For instance, I have lessened the number of cords I carry in my electronics bag and found a USB charger that works with all of them... less bulk and weight than my original bag for electronics that had the cords that came with everything I might need to charge while out. A few other changes: fewer organizer bags, smaller (and fewer) salty snacks and electrolyte replacement options, less gadgets, and a more space efficient way to carry my workout clothes.


The bags I currently have in my bag are:

• Medical 
• This one is pretty much the same as it was before. The differences are simple: it has a few more essential oils than it did earlier this year and my blood pressure cuff has been removed. It doesn't fit in there properly in the case so it isn't in an organizer bag now.
• Make-up
• Much simpler selection with just one option of everything I might need to freshen up for a last minute meeting at work. No muss, no fuss, no extra baggage.
• Electronics bag
• I already mentioned the changes to this one. It used to be completely full but now it has room to spare after paring down the selection in the bag and using rubber bands to keep cords from tangling up. I did add an emergency charge/battery to this bag as I was having issues with my car charger for a while but everything is back to working again thankfully. 
• The "everything else bag" 
• This one has neck coolers, an ankle brace, some tissues, a salty snack, my glasses and electrolyte drink tabs and powder. 
• Other things in the bag:
• Workout clothes in a drawstring bag that also contains my phone's neoprene arm band
• Blood pressure monitor
• Stethoscope... which I can probably remove but I just haven't. I was having some issues with irregular rhythms for a while and my sister suggested carrying one during that time frame (she's a nurse and wanted me to listen for a specific pattern when my bp cuff said 'Irr. Rhythm Detected').

The front larger pouch I use as my 'purse' in that it contains almost everything I would have in a purse (and that come out quickly to be tossed in a purse on the weekend for church or etc.  

• Wallet, checkbook, hand fan, ear buds, daily meds pod, emergency meds container, my keys, sunglasses, contact case, and a pen.

The smaller front pouch is more meal related:

• Salt and Pepper shaker
• Spork
• Pop up cup (for electrolyte drinks... they don't do so well in my water bottles if I use a tab due to the fizz created as it dissolves)
• If I have a specific plan for the day that would require an additional protein bar, non-refrigerated snack, or etc. it might end up in this pouch as well. 

So, on to the question of how do I feel about this bag now: I still love it. The bag isn't perfect of course but it does it's job and is holding up to daily use better than I expected it to. Some non-positive things I've noticed about the bag this year are below but none of them would have made me change my mind on the option I chose.

• Some of the rigidity of the bottom/meal portion is gone now of course as it isn't designed to keep it's shape... but I knew that when I purchased the bag and made the decision that it fit my lifestyle better. 
• The lunchbox is a little more difficult to clean than I imagined it to be as I can't soak it and the seams can get messy if something comes opened.
• My new computer is a bit too wide to fit comfortably in the Isopack (and it makes it heavy to carry around), but it does still fit with some wrangling, so I only use that feature when I'm traveling or have a meeting that requires my laptop at the moment. The rest of the time I carry paperwork and the like in that area of the bag. It's not a big issue to me as I don't typically need to bring a laptop around with me. When/if I go back to teaching or have a job that requires bringing a laptop everywhere I will just opt for a lighter laptop. 
• I also had the clip on the chest strap break. Awesome customer service though, they simply sent me a new clip in the mail when I called- no questions asked and an apology given. I was quite pleased actually with their service representatives actually.

All in all I am quite happy with my purchase and would purchase this bag again. Though maybe in a bright color this time instead of the blackout... my personality has come back with a vengeance in the last year (it's been great rediscovering who I am again!) and I would be ok with a few random odd looks for a giant bright pink backpack now. Color makes me happy! :)


If you are interested in the original review series for the Isopack vs the Expedition 500:
Part One: The Isopack
Part Two: The Expedition 500
Part Three: The Comparison

Here's the post about packing for a trip (so you can see what I had in my organizer bags before).

If you are interested in checking out the Isopack on Amazon here's a link: 

Review: Light My Fire Salt & Pepper Plus

Salt is very important to my well-being due to the fact that I live with dysautonomia. We tend to use sodium to raise our blood pressure which will help abate some of the symptoms associated with dysautonomias. Personally, I'm hypovolemic so serious amounts of water and electrolytes, including sodium, are needed each day to combat that issue. Because these electrolytes are so important to my health I to keep various forms of salt, electrolyte drink mixes and some Thermotabs on hand at all times. To keep the salt on hand I've been using the Light My Fire Salt and Pepper Plus now for about five months. I keep it in the front pocket of my IsoPack usually but if I won't be using my backpack and I know that salt might be something I won't have access too throughout the day I will toss it in my purse along with a few other health items that come with me everywhere. 

The color option I chose was fuchsia (of course, I LOVE pink) but there are many possibilities: pink, orange, black, green (bright green), red, yellow, cyan, blue (dark blue), dark green, lime and, of course, fuchsia. If I bought another one I would either choose black or green I think but they are pretty much all lovely vibrant colors.

In the Salt and Pepper Plus there are three compartments for spices, one is labeled S for salt, one P for pepper and one simply has a dot for anything you choose to put in it. Right now I have pepper and sea salt in the P and S and the additional compartment is Himalayan pink salt. If I was going camping with it I might put paprika, lemon pepper or garlic powder in the final compartment for cooking. When I opened mine to take a photo of the inside I jostled the salt and pepper a bit unfortunately and got some pepper in the salt compartments... so that is a slight problem with this model. If you are one to only refill when things are out it really wouldn't be an issue at all I imagine.

 
(Sorry about the not so awesome photos of the tabs... they didn't want to focus on my cell phone sadly.)

The labeled tabs are simple to pop out to sprinkle your ingredient onto food but they stay attached so that you don't lose the stopper... a plus if you tend to drop things like me. 

Durability wise I would give it 5 stars. Like I mentioned, I drop stuff... a lot... but it still looks brand new on the outside and even using the shaker regularly at work and when I'm out and about I still haven't seen any problems with the tabs/stoppers in the 5 months I have had it. For $9.99 I was pretty happy with my purchase and would make a second purchase if I was a regular camper (I'm not) so that I could travel with more spices easily. I love cooking and adding a few spices to my bag for the space of half a pack of tissues is something I would totally chose to do. 

Does the salt come out too fast? Not at all, both myself and my brother-in-law have used it without issue. I mention him because I can't always tell if something is too salty but he doesn't eat salt as often as I do so he would be able to tell if he accidentally used too much. I use the salt and pepper at lunch reguarly and if I angle the container slightly down and shake slightly I get exactly how much I want every time. It might be easy to over pour though if I  dumped it vertically over my food... but the same would happen with any salt shaker. 

Another thing that I like is the fact that it is difficult to open the top to refill it. I know that seems to make no sense but the fact that it takes a bit more effort has meant that it has never opened accidentally in my bag or otherwise. It's a little annoying when it comes time to refill it but the lack of mess the rest of the time makes up for it in my opinion. As I mentioned at the beginning though, if you are refilling it when it is still mostly full you may have some cross contamination so don't refill it if you don't need too.

I'm really liking this company's products so far. I may be ordering one of their Sporks in Titanium (I snapped my plastic Spork in two when traveling sadly but I loved it while I had it and my parents are still loving theirs as well) and a Pack-Up Cup here in the next couple of months. If I do I'll let you know how I like them compared to the other Spork and collapsible cup I had purchased and reviewed in the past.

App Review: WaterMinder

One of the first things I was told to do once I started seeing a cardiologist for my condition (even before getting a diagnosis... remember, I was doing symptom management long before ever receiving a diagnosis as it took 6 years) was to up my salt intake drastically as well as my water. At this point, I'm pretty good about maintaining my salt intake as I have learned to listen to my body's signs that I need more salt and have adapted strategies that are, by this point, ingrained habits that get my sodium in. 

Water is a different issue though as I get lost in whatever I am doing and lose track of the time quite easily, especially if I'm out of my routine. The key I've found for my average workday is to keep two water bottles on my desk and just drink whenever I am thirsty... no stopping what I am doing, just reach for it and take a drink or two. Whenever I finish one I move on to the other... and usually fairly soon after that I need a bathroom break so fill the first back up while I'm already away from my desk. It's working fairly well so far when I have a normal day at work. I use two 0.75 L Camelbak bottles that I referenced in my travel post if you were wondering.

If I drink when I am thirsty and stop when I'm not, I drink between 3-5 liters per day. I don't know many people who drink that much water unless they are making an effort to do so personally but perhaps everyone I know is just dehydrated all the time (not unlikely). I've found that, for me, if I aim for 4L then I'm needing IV infusions of saline less... which is a plus. Unfortunately drinking too much water can make you nauseous so I have to be careful to space it out well... and you are constantly needing to take bathroom breaks it seems, which is a bit annoying. But you do what you have to do, right? 

NOTE: I would not recommend drinking as much water as I do without taking care of your electrolyte needs as well so as not to end up with an imbalance. This is a point I cannot stress enough. I am not a doctor and do not claim to know about how much water you personally need for a happy and healthy body, I just know what I have to do for my specific body to function well. My needs are rarely the same as the 'norm' so do not take my daily requirements to be average in any way. If you are concerned you are not getting in enough (or too much) fluids please consult your doctor to ensure a healthy outcome.

But what about those days that are not 'normal'... or the weekends? Well, there's the issue. I simply do no meet even the 3L minimum it takes to stop me from being thirsty (which they tell me is a sign of dehydration... bad news for someone like me) and definitely not the amount that has decreased my trips to get IVs when I'm out of my normal routine. So I started looking for apps to help me track as I always seem to misplace a paper version of a tracker and I'm never going to remember how much water I've had from the beginning of the day to the end unless the number is super low if previous experience has taught me anything about myself. 

I must've tried half a dozen apps and dismissed at least that many based on the reviews alone but I finally got down to the last three. I tracked with them both for a few days and finally landed on WaterMinder as the one I would keep due to its simplicity and ease of reporting.

When you enter the app (after registration) you will see an outline of either a woman or a man. Since I am a woman, I see this lovely outline. As the day progresses and you log more water the blue level raises and the percentages on the bottom portion labeled "Your Daily Fill" update. One interesting tidbit about that blue level is that it changes how it fills the outline based on the position of your phone, like water in a cup. I got a bit of fun out of that I'll have to admit. Anyways, to enter a serving of water simply click the plus sign and the 'cup' sizes you selected in the settings tab will appear for quick entry. A regular bottle of water is 500mL so I would click on the 500mL bottle to show I had finished one of those for instance. Since this is customizable it is completely up to you how many options you have, or if they are in in mL or oz.

As you can see, once I added a 750mL bottle to represent my Camelbak it showed up on the quick add menu. To add a custom 'cup' click over to the Settings tab and tap "Add Cup" then enter the amount of water you wish to represent. Since my app is in the mL setting it asked for the amount in mL but if you have set your settings to oz then yours will ask for it in oz of course, no conversion necessary.

Another way to add water quickly, if you are using an iPhone, is to add it directly from the Today tab in the Notifications menu. Simply swipe down from the top of the screen to access the Notifications menu.

The other two tabs on the app are History and Tips. I wasn't super impressed with the Tips area as they don't appear to ever change but rather has a small essay on the benefits of water. I found it less helpful than a tip a day type option personally and didn't learn anything new but it is worth a quick read through in case there is something new to you. I have added a screenshot of the table of contents below.

The History section was useful in that I can track my intake over just the day, the week, month or even the year. You can see that I had one day near New Years that I didn't come close to my goal in a quick glance as well as see an average for the time period and where I'm at today so far.

Other useful things about this app:
- It sends me reminders to stop and drink some water. Those reminders are customizable by time or can be turned off altogether if you wanted to do so. I have selected every 1.5 hours after my normal wake up time until a few hours before bedtime and for the reminders to stop once I've reached 100% of my goal.
- The app can estimate how much water you should be drinking based on your weight if you do not know what to set your goal at but you can also enter your own goal if you disagree.
- It connects to Apple Watch. I don't have an Apple Water so this doesn't help me but it might help you if you have one.
- It connects to the Health Kit app. This was one of the main reasons I decided to give it a try to be honest. I like the fact that I can see a lot of information in one area (Health Kit) and send it to my doctors if necessary. Adding my hydration attempts during a time when I am trying my best to stay out of the ER for IV saline seems like an awesome plus for me as I can toggle back and forth to other items like bp records and see if there may be any correlations.
- It isn't expensive. While this app isn't free I was able to get it on sale over the holidays for $0.99. When comparing it to the rest of the apps I tried (those that were free) the quality jump was worth $1 to me without question.

Have you found a water tracking app that is better than this? Have another app that you're sure I would love? If so, let me know! I'm always trying new health apps and would love to check it out.

Review: Cocoon CoolMax Blanket

When I went on my trip to Kentucky I realized that I needed a travel blanket and all the blankets I had currently wouldn't fit in my bag... so I headed online to start researching good options. I get either cold or overheated pretty much round the clock (there's not a lot of in between unfortunately) so I have collected a LOT of blankets over the years and found a lot of duds in the process. I needed something to keep me warm for those chilled times but still be lightweight enough that I don't have to devote my carry-on to a blanket. Typically I have a thick sweater I keep with me year round when I am out but I really wanted something that would keep all of me warm instead of just my arms as I was going to be trying to sleep on the plane and shivering doesn't work too well with that goal.
After reading a lot of reviews on travel sites I purchased the Cocoon CoolMax Blanket from Amazon as it seemed a good combination of quality and affordability. The cheapest color option was the 'tree frog' green so that is what I purchased. It ended up being basically a lime color which reminded me of my college dorm room but it wasn't a horrible color like some of the reviews had complained about (I didn't care so much about the color but rather the functionality). The color really isn't too bad but it is quite a bright color if you are opposed to vivid colors for your blankets. I ended up finding the bright color useful though as I could always find it... even when my niece decided it made a better ghost costume or superman cape than blanket and wandered off with it various times on my trip.

 

The blanket is quite large compared to other travel blankets I have had, which is a plus. The description states that it is 55" x 70" but I didn't measure it to verify... it covered me from shoulders to toes completely with a little room to spare so I was happy. Unfortunately, while it is large it is not particularly thick. The thickness is about what I would expect for a thicker bed sheet yet somehow warmer than a simple sheet would be. The warmth of the blanket was enough to keep me comfortable on the planes all but once, when it got particularly cold, but that was only for a few minutes and most people would likely be quite comfortable. 

You can use this, or any travel blanket actually, even when you are not traveling. I keep my blanket in the trunk of my car in case I need it personally. I actually used the blanket today at the office as I forgot my sweater today at the house so I was freezing (why is it that office's are always so cold!?!).

Space-wise I was quite happy with the amount of room this blanket took up as it was able to fit into my already quite packed backpack without issue. One feature that I liked was that it comes in a bag with a drawstring to keep the blanket in. I suggest that you keep the bag if you purchase this item as you don't need to roll the blanket or do anything special with it... just quickly stuff the blanket into the bag, pull the drawstring and you are ready to go, the bag doesn't seem to get much bulkier than when it is neatly folded and rolled. The blanket in the bag is larger than a can of soda but quite a bit smaller than my travel pillow. These are not my hands (and it is not my photo) as I have pretty small hands and didn't feel that you would get a good comparison.

Overall I would say this was a good purchase for me but for some people it might be a little more expensive than they are willing to pay. If you have more room in your bag for a slightly bulkier blanket then there are a lot of other options out there that may work better for you. Let me know if you have found a fantastic blanket as I'm almost always cold so pretty much always looking at potential new blankets for my home or for travel.

App Review: Zombies, Run!

I'm going to start this post with saying that I don't use this app like it is intended- to run with. Instead I walk to it. I am getting a little faster (yay!) but I can't push myself too much right now as I could put myself back even further if I do. I was right on the cusp of being able to job for a minute when things went a bit topsy turvy in my life and my health responded by getting worse, of course. I took my time, managed to get off most of most of the medications I ended up back on with the flair and even managed to leave behind some of my supplements over the past year or so. Now it's time to exercise again... slowly. So I pulled out my old standard cardio app and realized they had completely revamped the entire app! That was interesting but pretty cool. I had already paid for seasons 1-3 before they redesigned it to be an annual subscription which was a little sad because new players will have paid less than me when it is all said and done but that's ok... I was there back when it started and supported it's growth so I don't mind too much. The app is called Zombies, Run and is by a UK based company called Six to Start. They have a few other apps that I will be reviewing later this month as well that are along the same lines: game meets radio show meets exercise app. 

The game's website says the following about the game: "Run in the real world. Become a Hero in another. Only a few have survived the zombie epidemic. You are a Runner en-route to one of humanity's last remaining outposts. They need your help to gather supplies, rescue survivors, and defend their home. And you have another mission- one they don't know about..."
That's a pretty general but accurate plot line... at least for the two and a half seasons I have worked my way through in the past. I restarted the series so I am back in season one working my way back to where I was in the story before. There were plenty of details I missed the first time through so feel free to re-run missions. They don't get boring.
If you look in the settings area you will see that you can change the units to Standard or Metric, input your weight, change the volume of the game clips and etc. but there is also a section called 'clip spacing' that allows you to decide how often you would like a story clip to play... effectively lengthening or shortening your run. It is taking me about 20 minutes to get through a mission at 'clips play every 2.5 minutes' so if you want a longer mission then perhaps make it every 5 minutes or so. It is very easy to personalize your runs. I suggest checking this screen out fully before your first mission so that you know what your options are.
Click on the mission and you are brought to a screen that allows you to choose the playlist that you wish to run to from your phone, chose how ZR will track your movement/pace/run, and decide if you want zombie chases (more on this later). When you start a new episode there is a recap to start with, similar to a TV series, and then the new 'mission' begins. For the majority of season one, as I assume that is where you will start, your comms operator is Sam Yao. He briefs you on your missions, warns you of incoming zombies he sees on his scanners, provides humor and generally just watches your six while you are outside the gates. Once you have been briefed you head outside the gates for the day's mission.Your chosen playlist will be interspersed with story clips that keep you in the alternate world of ZR throughout your run... I don't suggest you run at night as those zom noises can get a tad creepy. And there's a reason we don't send scouts out at night... just sayin'. 
If you selected to have zombie chases, which you are also able to customize when it comes to frequency, then you will also hear a warning about incoming zombies throughout the mission at various points. There will be tones that warn you how far away the zombie is as well as a voice that will tell you if you outpaced the zombie or needed to throw an item at it in order to escape. In order to escape you have to put on a burst of speed for about half a minute if I recall (I can't do these right now so have the feature turned off)... basically you sprint as fast as you can. If you throw an item at the zombie then you have lost an item that you 'picked up' on your run. These items can be used to rebuild Abel Township... where your character lives and works. This portion of the game has really grown over the years compared to what it started as. 
That pretty much covers the story missions... there are other types of missions you can chose to run as well. You can use Airdrop mode to retrieve supplies from Mullin's airbase at a location you chose in the real world, run a supply mission that is general and doesn't affect the storyline (so you can skip them or run them again and again... like we used to do in between seasons), do interval training that you customize yourself in the app, run with Radio Abel instead of a mission, or run in race mode. Radio Abel is basically a radio show that takes place within the world of ZR. These aren't missions but rather you just out running but getting to also hear about the world of post zombie apocalypse and learn more about the world your character resides in. They are a good change of pace and I find the hosts quite humorous. Race mode is exactly like it seems. There are 2 sets of 3 races- a 5k, 10k and 20k race with story lines all their own that take place either in the world of Abel Township or New Canton, the militarized quasi-enemy township not too far away. Abel and New Canton's powers that be to not see eye to eye but the runners will generally help each other out in a bind if they can... it is, after all, the fate of the world at stake.
If you want to get really into the alternate world you can go into the game and read about the various things you pick up... some are supplies like water and sports bras (yes, sports bras... it's a running joke actually) and some are 'artifacts' that give you details about the developing story such as a CDC box or a newspaper clip about Netrophil. These items can be read about in the Codex tab. You can also go online and download the Abel Runner's Guide for free to get more into the mythology of the game.
Just recently they have added a store where you can make purchases related to the game on their website if you are interested. There are also fans who have etsy and similar shops for "Runner 5" gear. The big news though is that they just launched the first ZR virtual race. I signed up even though I won't be running it... I'm hoping to get a few short jogs in by then though, we'll see! This was big news in the ZR community and spots sold out fairly quickly. 
Finally, you can sync your runs to the cloud, use health kit with the app to track your workouts and, of course, share your runs to social media. This is by far my favorite exercise app of all time and it doesn't surprise me one bit that it is now an award winning app... it rocks.

(Once I am able to restart and complete the 5k training app that is a companion to ZR I will write a review of it as well but from what I recall it wasn't as in depth as this game is but it was still quite good. It takes place between episodes 1 and 2 of the original ZR game and is a C25K program so you go from walking to running/jogging a 5k by the end if you follow the program.)

Review: LevelOne Collapsible Travel Silicone Camping Cup

I've become so accustomed to home and work being within minutes of each other that I am still getting used to being as over-prepared as I once was for medical issues that might arise. One of the things that I used to keep in my car was an extra water bottle and Gatorade powder. I don't usually drink Gatorade anymore like I have mentioned in a previous post but I still need to keep electrolyte drinks on hand for emergencies. To this end it seemed that I needed a collapsible cup or fold-able water bottle to mix up my electrolyte drink powder in that could fit in my med kit. I could of course just use my water bottle but I like to retain that as pure water due to the bite valve and straw mechanism being a little more difficult to get completely clean at times. I ended up deciding against a foldable water bottle as it would be more difficult to clean as well so I started searching for a cup that would fit my needs. 
The cup I ended up getting held 16 oz, was made of food grade silicone, and had a lid. It is called the LevelOne Collapsible Travel Silicone Camping Cup. The lid was a selling point because i wouldn't need a spoon or straw to mix up the drink, just cover the hole and agitate the cup until it is mixed. The fact that it held a full 2 cups of fluid was important as well since a lot of collapsible cups are much smaller... this means that the drink would end up being thick which is not something I can handle if feeling ill already typically (nausea is one of the first symptoms once my heart rate and blood pressure start doing gymnastics... followed by headache). I believe this is technically a camping cup which is why it has a spot to attach it via a chain or similar to the outside of a backpack. For my uses it will be in the medical bag I keep in my backpack but if you want to use it for camping this would be nice feature I can imagine.

The cup doesn't collapse down as far as I would like but it isn't very bulky and fits easily into my med kit. One thing I do not like about it is that, due to the fact that it is silicone, it isn't particularly well suited to hot liquids. I don't see myself needing to drink hot liquids from it but when I gave it a try at home it wasn't a pleasant experience. The cup itself doesn't suffer from the heat at all but it was too hot to hold so I would not use it for coffee or tea should you use it as a camping cup. I did like that it was very easy to clean and that I can toss it in the dishwasher should I want to. I don't foresee a need to do so as I can clean it in the sink in a few seconds and let it air dry but I like options.

All in all I like this cup but it isn't something I would purchase multiple of or take camping as my only cup since I like to drink hot tea.

6 Pack Bags Expedition 500 VS Isolator Fitness Isopack, Part Three: The Comparison

It was a difficult decision but I eventually settled on keeping the Isopack rather than the Expedition 500. Both bags seem very well made and quite useful. They also have many of the same features as they are meant to satisfy the same customer needs so it really all comes down to what you are needing in the particulars. For instance, if you are more concerned with branding then you may go with the Expedition as it is by a more well known/popular brand. If you are looking for a lot of space or need depth in the main compartment like I do then you will likely chose the Isobag as it's main compartment is deeper and a bit more roomy than the Expedition. If you are looking for a bag that comes with all the extras then you may want to go with the Expedition. Should you need to keep your meals cool for 12 hours or longer then you will likely go with the Isopack... its all about priorities. I made my choice because I loved the following about the Isopack:

• lighter bag
• meal area was open and held slightly more
• ice packs were not gel and had a longer chill time
• less compartmentalization of the pockets meant there was more storage space
• easily replaced containers OR I could use my own
• roomier main compartment that can store more

Things I liked better about the Expedition:

• SureLock containers
• included drawstring bag and supplement container (and in some cases shaker bottle)
• shorter bag (I'm short... enough said) 
• meal area did not collapse when empty
• very nice padding on the back and straps
• labels (I know I said I liked the lack of compartmentalization but the organizer fiend in me loves those labels nevertheless!)

I wanted to offer a quick comparison chart between the two bags as the last piece of this series. If you have any questions about the bags just let me know and I will do my best to answer them!

	Isobag	Expedition 500
Dimensions	14 in x 10 in x 21 in	12 in x 12 in x 20 in
Weight	5 lbs	9 lbs
Supplement Container	Not Included	Included
Drawstring Bag	Not Included	Included
Chest Strap	Included	Included
Meal Area	12x8x6 in., holds 4-38/28 oz or 6-16 oz/12 oz	removable rack, hold 5 SureLock containers
Meal Area Opens	two openings on the sides	one opening on the front
Meal Area Stability	partially collapses when empty	does not collapse when empty
Containers	2- 12 oz,2- 16 oz,2- 28 oz, 2- 38 oz	5 SureLock containers
Ice Packs	2 large Isobricks	2 small gel ice packs and one large gel ice pack
Chill Time	12-16 hours	8+ hours
Water Bottle Storage	2 mesh side pockets	2 zip closed pockets
Padded Back	Good	Best
Laptop Area	lined, will fit 17" laptop and tablet	lined, will fit 17" laptop and tablet
Storage Pockets	unlabeled, non-item specific	labeled, item specific
Main Compartment	largest, no divisions	large but divided by meal compartment