Bellroy – Venture Ready Sling 2.5L – You Have GOT to Try This! It’s One of the Best!

I BOUGHT and USED this item. It WAS NOT PROVIDED to me for review by any company.

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The Bellroy Venture Ready Sling 2.5L stands out as one of the best sling bags that I’ve worn. Its ingenious strap design puts it in a category all its own. Throw in style, smart organization, and compressibility and the ravings of so many reviewers and users alike make absolute sense. This is good!

The Time Saver…

Who’s It For?

If you’re a commuter just needing to carry a few items, a traveler wanting to keep your important travel documents close, a student needing to have your id and key cards on your person, or a creative, who has a few favorite small supplies you like to … Scratch that.

If you’re a human being who needs a pocket reliever plus, this brilliantly designed and executed sling bag is absolutely the sling bag for you. And at $89 on either Bellroy’s site or the Bellroy Store at Amazon, it’s a fair deal for what you’re getting.

The Hits

😃 Strap Design: The absolutely superior strap design and system of the Venture Ready Sling 2.5L provides the best comfort and wearability of any sling I’ve worn.
😃 Compression: The compression offered by the aforementioned strap system is ingenious and keeps the contents of the Venture Ready Sling 2.5L secure and in place.
😃 Materials: Both the durability and appearance of the baida nylon makes the Bellroy Venture Ready Sling 2.5L amenable to any environment.

The Misses

😐 Zipper Pulls: The Venture Ready Sling 2.5L zipper pulls simply cannot be tamed. The cording is just too thick for the zipper sliders.
😐 Sunglasses Pocket: The sunglass pocket is not my favorite implementation. A zipper across the top would be nice. If one needs something that’s lying on the bed of the sling, the pocket can become an obstacle to both seeing and getting to what you need – especially when there are bulkier glasses in there.
😐 Magnetic Closure: This style of magnetic closure on the strap buckle, although marginally better than others, is not everybody’s cup of tea. They just don’t instill confidence that they’ll stay closed and secure. There are precious few that give me, personally, that sort of confidence.

The Thick of It…

I’ve been wearing the Bellroy Venture Ready Sling 2.5L now for a few weeks and it’s good. Really good. I’ll just throw the recommendation on it now. I recommend. From its design and aesthetics, to its build quality, materials, comfort and wearability supported by that absolutely superior strap system, to its storage capacity and layout, you won’t go wrong. The only question is:

What color do you want?

Bellroy Venture Ready Sling 2.5L in (from left to right) **black, nightsky, ranger green, bronze** (all leather-free)

First Impressions

Upon removing the sling from its plastic sleeve, I wasn’t immediately taken by the material choice for my black variation of the Venture Ready Sling 2.5L, though it’s since grown on me. My first “wow” was the strap system when I put it on! This sling hugs the body in a way that no sling I’ve worn has done before.

Design & Aesthetics

The design and aesthetic of the Venture Ready Sling 2.5L is as varied as individual opinions. For me, the combination of the more matte, baida (ripstop) nylon with the sheen of the coated zippers and a strap that has texture gives this sling an urban flair that would work in almost any setting, be it the office or a night out.

The Venture Ready Sling 2.5L comes in four leather-free colorways: Black, Nightsky, Ranger Green, and Bronze. All four colors are muted shades that blend in well with any environment without drawing much attention. These are not bold colors. But that works well for someone like me.

Each of the color offerings is adorned with a subtle glued/heat-set gray or black “bellroy” that serves as the only external branding. Some have posted around the interwebs that this branding tends to fall off in time with some not waiting but opting, instead, to apply heat and remove it themselves. This particular Bellroy branding isn’t exactly my favorite but I do appreciate its subtlety.

There are two other subtle pieces of branding, one inside the bag on a simple tag and outside the bag on the buckle is the familiar Bellroy owl.

A Personal Touch

I am a huge fan of the heat-set text (is it heat-set? I keep calling it that) on the phone sleeve inside the bag – the text, not the way it’s fused to the fabric. A woven or printed tag would be a better more “permanent” solution. But the sentiment is great. Bellroy has been doing this on tags (again – tags) for quite a while now. This one says:

VENTURE
This bag is designed to go with you.
Twists. Turns. Leaps and Bounds.
For years to come.

That’s just wonderful! It not only communicates confidence in the product but it offers a sense of personality and sentimentality that is often lacking in cold corporate communications. This connects with people and I love that. O.k., Bellroy!

Bellroy Build Quality & Materials

The Venture Ready Sling 2.5L is constructed from Baida nylon, a nylon developed in South Korea specifically for Bellroy and made from recycled “pre-consumer” industrial waste. It’s technical but there’s a rather interesting read about the process, which involves heat treatment to achieve the crinkled texture and strength followed by a coating of “environmentally friendly chemicals” that provide water-resistance.

Bellroy uses industry standard YKK zippers (number 8, reverse coil) that open and close the “water-resistant coated” zippers (per the Bellroy website). Of note is the absence of the word “Aquaguard”, which typically causes zippers to open with a little more effort. Bellroy’s water-resistant zippers open smooth as silk. More on the zippers in the Storage and Organization segment.

One questionable matter of build quality is the material choice on the zipper pulls. They’re just too thick for the sliders, which causes them to stay in the position they were left in when last pulled. They just can’t be tamed.

The stitching throughout the Venture Ready Sling 2.5L is consistent and almost entirely internal. To a sewist, this indicates that the sling was likely constructed inside out and flipped as a final step. The only external stitching is the tacking on the straps. It is clear that great care is taken in the construction of this Bellroy product.

Finally, as I mentioned, it’s been a few weeks now and I actually just noticed a material transition that I really like a lot. The front panel of regular baida nylon wraps under and back to a seam where it meets the rear panel, cut from the same nylon. But running between and over the top between each zipper is baida ripstop. The subtle grid breaks up the matte and flat aesthetic of the front and rear panels with both visual and physical texture. Whether or not it was a functional choice, I can’t say. But it does offer some visual appeal.

Let’s Go Inside

Storage & Organization

Moving toward the inside of the Bellroy Venture Ready Sling 2.5L, we are met with three entry points, each underneath a YKK number 8 reverse coil zipper.

The front compartment has some volume to its two pockets, one of which includes a non-stretchable key leash. The generously-sized pockets are both lined with a soft material and separated by a gusset, which is a nice addition to a dump pocket in my opinion. Items can be kept separate from one another, such as keys from earbuds or something metal from something scratchable. This holds my keys and AirPods Pro with ease.

The middle compartment is the main compartment and opens from each side by way of two bilateral zippers. One stays at one side of the compartment while the other remains at the other. This allows for wider opening from one side or the other. It’s a neat idea but I’m not sure there’s much of a benefit for me.

Middle/main compartment – note that clearly a phone fits behind the dividing panel. I was using the phone to take the pictures.

Looking down into it immediately reveals a wide felt pocket that Bellroy shows holding sunglasses in the product photos. I use it to hold a couple of quick items that I don’t want laying on the bottom forcing me to fish around. Storing these items here allow me to quickly find them. I just don’t wear sunglasses enough to justify using the space solely to hold something I won’t wear much. I do wish that this stretchy pocket had a zipper.

Opposite the “sunglasses” pocket is a sling-wide pocket clearly meant for a phone. A phone the size of an iPhone Pro Max can fit in here with no problem. Note that I was using the phone to take the pictures. It clearly would fit in there without a problem.

My daily carry is relatively minimal compared to most. The main compartment has no problem holding (yes, these are Amazon associate links. If you use them, thank you!):

Between the sunglass and phone pockets is just an open dump pocket where odds and ends can float. One thing I do like about this dump area is that each side is open enough that items such as a small travel-sized bottle of hand sanitizer or a tin of mints can easily stand up. One thing I’m not so keen on is that if there is anything with any real mass in the stretch pocket, it becomes challenging to get to the items beneath and on the bottom of the sling.

The rear zippered pocket is the “hidden” pocket that holds only flatter items like a wallet, passport, or other cards. Though it’s typically for flatter items, it can accommodate flat items that have a little thickness to them. A reasonably-sized battery bank could fit in here as well. I typically have my wallet in a pocket like this one, an Alpaka Zip Pouch Coin. But when traveling, a passport fits perfectly well.

That said, the Bellroy Venture Ready Sling 2.5L holds a nice amount of stuff. Granted, my EDC is not the same as others, I’m generally pleased with it. I take what I need and typically have room for a little more, because I’m not one to totally load out any bag I have.

Comfort & Wearability

Comfort and wearability were surely two of the highest priorities in the design process. Bellroy chose both the materials and design of the strap system on the Venture Ready Sling 2.5L so well. They planned with intention and executed so well but ever-so-slightly diminished their efforts through the use of a magnetic buckle.

Magnets are fun and this particular piece of hardware is designed better than some others but it may not be the best. I, myself, prefer a simple and sleek-looking side release buckle, though I am, admittedly, not the only person Bellroy has to cater to.

The primary shoulder strap is not directly connected to the body of the bag itself but to another set of side straps that provide the means for compression of the bag when the primary shoulder strap is pulled or worn. Not only does this system provide compression but also “encourages” the bag to hang true and hug the body, front, back, or side, like no other sling bag I’ve ever worn. This is solely the result of the intentional placement of the offset attachment points of the side straps.

The comfort of the Bellroy Venture Ready Sling 2.5L will surely apply to people of most body types, although the roughly 47 inch length (45 plus 2 inches of give on the sides of the bag) of the strap may be restrictive or cause unwanted bag compression for larger individuals. Side note: it is notable that some companies offer (for purchase) extended straps for individuals who need extra length. This is nice and needed.

Price & Value…

At the time of this review, the Bellroy Venture Ready Sling 2.5L comes in at $89 USD on either Bellroy proper or the Bellroy Store at Amazon (for what will likely be quicker shipping). Considering the work and materials that went into its development, it seems a fair price. After all, they did develop an entirely new type of nylon in an environmentally responsible and beneficial manner.

Comparatively-speaking, the price is also in the median of other slings in its class from other makers, though one can always find more expensive and cheaper alternatives. These are NOT affiliate links.

Comparable Capacity, Higher/Slightly Lower Cost
- Aer City and Day Sling 3 (2-3L): $79-$119 (material dependent)
- Evergoods CAS2 (2L): $99
- Tom Bihn Side Kick (3L): $82
Comparable Capacity, Lower Cost
- Alpaka Metro Sling v2 (2.5L): $55-75 (material dependent)
- Peak Design Outdoor Sling (2L): $60
- Arc’teryx Mantis 2 Waist Pack (2L): $50
Comparable Capacity, Lower Cost, New Sling to the Game
- Bellroy Classic Sling (3L): $79 (canva weave, not baida nylon)

The Conclusion

As stated in the quick of it:

If you’re a human being who needs a pocket reliever plus, this brilliantly designed and executed sling bag is absolutely the sling bag for you.

Would recommend for sure.

How I Got This Item for Review

I purchased this item myself. Bellroy did not supply it to me for review. The opinions in this review are my own and would not be swayed one way or another if I had been given a review unit by Bellroy.