Pound Carlton bag review

[Jolt]

I never got an answer from Pound about my Custom Carlton, so i can´t order it

So if i can´t get my Custom i´m thinking about saving $100 and take a Stock, just waiting to see that rain-fly

 

[ODRB]

I never got an answer from Pound about my Custom Carlton, so i can´t order it

So if i can´t get my Custom i´m thinking about saving $100 and take a Stock, just waiting to see that rain-fly

What exactly was your question? Levi is good about answering questions and real good about responding to emails.

 

[Jolt]

What exactly was your question? Levi is good about answering questions and real good about responding to emails.

If he could build the bag in post #25 on page 3 . .basicly black zippers on the orange top and orange zippers on the black haul pockets.

You can only pick ONE color zippers in the builder. . my way looks better and fits the orange/black theme better, even the inserts are orange with a black stripe.
I really like this combo, but without the two colors of zippers it will not look good

 

[Titan037]

If he could build the bag in post #25 on page 3 . .basicly black zippers on the orange top and orange zippers on the black haul pockets.

You can only pick ONE color zippers in the builder. . my way looks better and fits the orange/black theme better, even the inserts are orange with a black stripe.
I really like this combo, but without the two colors of zippers it will not look good

Have you tried joining the pound disc golf group on Facebook? He's a regular on there, might be able to send a message through messenger

 

[Jolt]

I have bought two bags from them before with no problem. . i simply think my question was one those they don´t answer ( the Custom program have a lot of "do not ask" clauses )

 

[VictorB]

Has anyone picked one of these up recently? Or has had one for a while now and can add more experience with the bag? I have an octothorpe but I'm still kind of enamored with being able to have a slightly smaller loadout, while retaining the high quality and features I like from Pound bags.

 

[ODRB]

Has anyone picked one of these up recently? Or has had one for a while now and can add more experience with the bag? I have an octothorpe but I'm still kind of enamored with being able to have a slightly smaller loadout, while retaining the high quality and features I like from Pound bags.

I've been borrowing one from Levi while my Octo gets a couple repairs. I like it very much. A touch lighter, a touch smaller, really well suited to 10-16 discs, but I had my full 20 in it last night no problem.

That said, I look forward to getting my Octo back. I never really want fewer than 15 discs (except for a putter course, where I will just take 3 putters), and my Octo does just fine with 15 (even fewer on the occasions I put a small soft cooler in the main compartment). WHile I do really like the way the Carlton carries, it;d really have to be a second bag for me. I'm not going to get through winter weather with the limited storage the Carlton offers.

TLDR: Carlton is great bag. But more a great summer bag that would be compliment to an Octo, but it couldn't replace my Octo.

 

[Jowie]

fwiw, I'll let you know my thoughts when I receive mine. Order placed 7 weeks ago and could ship any day now.

I am in the situation ODRB described above. I carry 14 discs at the most.

In the AZ summer I need to camel up and love how much water it can carry. In winter, I'll store discs in the haul pockets and have lots of room for layers in the main compartment. Hope it ends up working for my purpose, as it looks great on paper.

I can see how carrying more discs would definitely push me towards the Octothorpe.

 

[VictorB]

TLDR: Carlton is great bag. But more a great summer bag that would be compliment to an Octo, but it couldn't replace my Octo.

I'm in a spot where I seem to carry always couple extra discs I probably don't need to have, and have all this extra storage in the Octo that I don't use (only thing in the haul pockets is a chalk bag, or I'll stuff my towel in there sometimes) In the winter I tend to condense and use an even smaller lineup, and don't have much need for the additional storage of the Octo. Not really shedding a lot of layers in Wisconsin winter golf, for sure. I feel like the loadout size of the UPD Shift with spots for extra storage and water bladder are most important to me. I use the Shift more often in the winter because it's better balanced for a single large insulated water bottle.

The Octothorpe does everything I want it to, don't get me wrong. I really enjoy the thoughtful engineering and storage of that bag. Sometimes, I just want to carry 16-18 discs and not have my bag fall over :\ I think the Carlton could have all of those things, with the ability to throw some backup discs in for practice or where losing one is a real possibility.

If I don't make a move, I'll continue to be happy with the Octothorpe. If I do, I'll likely go all in on the Carlton and sell my Octo.

 

[cjman]

I have bought two bags from them before with no problem. . i simply think my question was one those they don´t answer ( the Custom program have a lot of "do not ask" clauses )

This doesn't resonate with my interactions with Pound / Levi. At all.

 

[Jowie]

I've had about 10 rounds with the Carlton and so far I am really happy with it. Thanks to the thoroughness of Doth's review, I didn't really encounter any major surprises.

Like the Shift, it allows for a wide range of disc carrying configurations. I have found that in its intended usage (internal storage), 13 discs is about perfect while leaving the haul pockets free. I opted for the the two putter pocket inserts. So I've got those four up top plus 4 mids/putters on one side and 5 drivers on the other. Each haul pocket can hold another 4-5 discs if necessary. And obviously if you carry fewer mids and putters, that storage goes up slightly.

The middle storage area is not as difficult to access and is roomier than I thought, but when a bladder is placed inside, it can get tight.

I am not used to such a high quality build in a disc golf bag. It just oozes quality. It reminds more a backpacking pack than a disc golf bag. It carries the weight really well and is super comfortable.

Thus far I have only two complaints/concerns, but because it is still new to me, I may be able to resolve them or they may be unfounded.

I feel like the incorporation of a hydration bladder is incomplete. It is awesome to have a place in the middle of the pack to store the bladder, but there is no internal place to route the hose. That results in just having it just splayed out and over the top of the bag. There is a small D-ring to route the tube down the shoulder strap, but it is too small to accommodate any of the ones I own. This results in having a tube just flopping around with nowhere to attach it. I will be able to solve this problem, but it would have been nice to have this resolved through the manufacturing process rather than rigging something together later.

Second, I play in a rough area. I am tired of the bottoms of packs wearing through. I was hoping the bottom of this pack would be more giving like the octo, but the insert sleeves create pressure points on the bottom that I am afraid will lead to durability issues later. Again, I may be wrong about this, but I fear that despite how carefully I set it down, it will eventually wear through on those points. That may be acceptable on a less expensive bag, but with this price point I was hoping for years and years of use. Time will tell and I sure hope my concern proves to be unfounded.

I am super impressed with it so far and am so glad I pulled the trigger. When winter rolls around, I'll have all the storage needed to stow extra layers and I can carry all the water I need in the summer. And it really does look sharp in person! :clap:

 

[Jolt]

Happy with your choice of two putter pocket inserts? looks like it could be hard to get to the disc "under" the putters closest to the center of the bag

 

[Jowie]

I am happy with the two putter pockets and have not found it difficult to get the lower discs out. I went with the two putter pockets because I read that it actually makes it easier to access that storage than if you went with the three disc sleeve.

Also, I throw those 4 discs up top for ~90% of throws, so I may not be as affected by accessing the lower compartment than others.

Maybe someone can comment about the three disc sleeve configuration? Does the two putter pocket side make it easier than two discs stored in the three sleeves?

 

[VictorB]

Maybe someone can comment about the three disc sleeve configuration? Does the two putter pocket side make it easier than two discs stored in the three sleeves?

I'd be interested to hear about this also. I'm 99% on getting a Carlton at least by next spring. Still undecided if I want to do double putter pockets, or if the 3 disc sleeve works out better for 3-4 discs on the opposite side of the putters.

 

[SpikeHyzer]

A couple of friends have Carlton's and so i was able to kick the tires on a "2 putter pouch" setup and a "one putter pouch and one 3 disc slot" setup. If I were to ever order a Carlton, I'd go with the two putter pouch setup. I'd sacrifice the extra disc or two of storage in favor of functionality. I really liked having what would be my approach putters and putting putters at the ready(my most thrown disc's in a round).

I really wanted to get a Carlton(it is a badass bag for sure), but when it came down to it, there was just one design flaw I couldn't get past(Doth touches on this in his video). The ability to get discs in and out of the bottom storage just isn't all it's cracked up to be for me. Not sure how to fix this?! Maybe if the middle section of the bag were maybe a quarter or half inch wider on each side and the opening just a smidge bigger, then this would be the best mid-sized bag on the market.

I will say this about the Carlton...it is the most comfortable bag I've come across. The gold standard in terms of all-around comfort in a DG bag for me was the Upper Park Shift....and now it's the Carlton. So kudos to Levi and team for creating an extremely comfortable bag.

 

[VictorB]

Sold my Octothorpe and ordered a Carlton! Got a DBZ/Goku inspired color scheme. Cannot wait to get it in. Went with the double putter pockets after considering the feedback from Jowie and SpikeHyzer.

 

[Jolt]

SO hard to decide the custom colors so i might just take a standard and save $100

Maybe a standard Carlton with rain-fly for wet rounds and a custom Octo-Haul for practice rounds? hmm

 

[VictorB]

SO hard to decide the custom colors so i might just take a standard and save $100

Maybe a standard Carlton with rain-fly for wet rounds and a custom Octo-Haul for practice rounds? hmm

I thought I had it narrowed down to 2 custom combinations...then my wife started playing with the builder and came up with the one I ordered! DBZ is near and dear to me (having watched it 20 or so years ago, still a favorite of mine) she thought it was pretty fitting.

 

[Jolt]

I thought I had it narrowed down to 2 custom combinations...then my wife started playing with the builder and came up with the one I ordered! DBZ is near and dear to me (having watched it 20 or so years ago, still a favorite of mine) she thought it was pretty fitting.

Did you get the rainfly? One of the reasons i´m thinking of the Stock Carlton is that i might use it with the rainfly 90% of the time.

My Octo is getting real dirty after a year, but it´s worse on the "main disc flap" and the Carlton don´t have that flap. . so it might stay cleaner?

 

[VictorB]

I haven't initially bought the rain fly, but don't think I'll need it much until next year. If I really need a rain fly right now I can still use my UPD Shift and not adjust my loadout much, if at all. I do plan on getting one though. Just with initial purchase, I got insulated drink holders instead.

The teflon coated cordura is pretty easy to clean. I wouldn't run a rainfly unless it's actually raining.