Chrome Kadet WP Sling review: I finally understand why people love these bags

It is one of those brands that constantly pops up whenever you start looking at bags, EDC or cycling kit, and its owners always seem unusually loyal to it. Somehow, though, I had never actually used one.

Having spent some time with the Chrome Kadet WP Sling, I now understand it.

First things first: I absolutely love the smell.

That sounds ridiculous, but if you like bags and outdoor gear you will probably know exactly what I mean. The waterproof material has that proper new-kit smell when you first get it out of the box. Slightly rubbery, slightly industrial and deeply satisfying. I am going to be genuinely disappointed when it eventually disappears.

More importantly, the bag itself is very good.

The Kadet WP is a nine-litre waterproof sling, and for me that is probably about the sweet spot for this kind of bag. I have used smaller slings which are effectively just somewhere else to put the things that were already in your pockets, while some larger ones start getting dangerously close to being a backpack with a strap missing.

This sits nicely between the two.

There is enough space for the things I actually want during the day — phone, wallet, notebook, pens, sunglasses, battery pack, cables, headphones and various other bits that somehow follow me everywhere — without giving me enough room to start packing things purely because there is space available.

And I am very guilty of doing that.

Give me a 25-litre backpack and eventually I will find 25 litres of essential equipment to put inside it.

The Kadet makes you behave yourself.

I also really like the shape. Rather than hanging off your back like a stuffed pouch, it is long and relatively slim, spreading the load across you. It feels almost like a very small messenger bag rather than a traditional sling.

That works particularly well when you are moving around London or using public transport. You can swing it round to the front, grab what you need and move it back again without taking it off. It sounds like a small thing, but once you start doing it you realise how useful it is.

Chrome's cycling background is obvious throughout the bag. It sits securely against your body and there is a removable stabiliser strap if you want to properly lock it in place. Even if you never get on a bike, it means the bag feels designed to actually move with you rather than simply look good in photographs.

The WP part of the name is also important

Living in Britain, I increasingly have very little interest in bags which claim to be vaguely "weather resistant". If I am carrying a notebook, phone, battery pack or anything else I don't particularly want soaked, I would rather know the bag can deal with actual rain.

The Kadet WP has welded construction and waterproof zips, and the whole thing feels reassuringly sealed up.

There is a downside to that. The zips are noticeably stiffer than normal ones.

But that is a compromise I am quite happy to accept. I would rather put slightly more effort into opening a bag than discover the contents have spent the journey home marinating in rainwater.

Inside, Chrome has kept things fairly simple.

There is some organisation, but this isn't one of those bags with 37 tiny pockets and a dedicated slot for every cable you have ever owned.

I quite like that.

I have owned bags where the organisation becomes so complicated that I spend more time trying to remember which clever little pocket I put something in than I would have spent simply looking inside the bag.

The Kadet gives you enough organisation to stop everything becoming a complete mess while leaving plenty of usable open space.

The only real limitation is that this isn't designed around carrying a laptop.

For me, that is fine.

I already own plenty of bags for carrying a MacBook. I don't need every bag I own to do it. The whole point of something like the Kadet is that it comes out when I don't want to carry a backpack or briefcase.

That is the niche it fills brilliantly.

It is the bag for going out for the day, walking around town, travelling, commuting when I don't need a laptop, or simply those occasions where pockets are not enough but a backpack feels ridiculous.

I can also see it being very useful while travelling. Either use it alongside a larger bag or pack it for when you arrive, and suddenly you have a proper day bag without having to empty your main backpack every morning.

There are things I would change.

A couple more internal pockets wouldn't hurt, although I wouldn't want Chrome to go mad with them. The waterproof zips take some getting used to. And if you load nine litres of heavy kit into any sling, eventually your shoulder is going to remind you that you have put nine litres of heavy kit onto one shoulder.

Physics remains physics.

But those are fairly minor complaints.

What I particularly like about the Kadet is that it doesn't feel over-designed.

There is no pointless tactical webbing everywhere. It doesn't look like I am about to invade somewhere. Equally, it isn't so sleek and minimalist that it has forgotten bags occasionally get thrown on floors, shoved under seats and taken outside when it is raining.

It feels like kit, and good kit at that.

And that probably explains why Chrome has built such a loyal following over the years. There is a sense that somebody has actually used these things before designing them.

Most importantly, I just enjoy carrying it.

That sounds obvious, but it matters. I have owned plenty of bags which were technically very good but somehow never became the one I instinctively reached for and now the Kadet WP has.

After years of hearing people talk about Chrome Industries, I am very happy to finally be using one.

I like the size. I like the simplicity. I like knowing I don't have to panic when it starts raining.

And, yes, I still really like the smell.

Verdict: 9/10

The Chrome Kadet WP is a simple, properly waterproof and extremely usable sling which gets the basics right. Nine litres is enough space to make it genuinely useful without encouraging you to carry half the house, and it works particularly well for days when a backpack is too much but your pockets aren't enough.

I have been hearing the Chrome hype for years. But now, I finally get it.