The New POC Lamina Hip Pack is Svelte [Review]

Are you in the market for a discreet little hip pack to cram the trail essentials inside? The POC Lamina pocketed belt might fill your trail packing needs just right. It won’t actually carry three 12oz beer cans, but you can get one in there alongside your house keys if you enjoy cold trail snacks.

This svelt hip pack fits close to the body and could work under or over a jersey depending on rider preference and how much crap you cram inside. POC engineers clearly had safety on the brain with this hip pack, and they added rigid padding between all of the pockets and the rider’s torso to take care of any pokey concerns. The safety layers are about as thick as a quality back protector, and it seems that most sharp objects should be just fine inside.

All that padding adds some heft, and the POC Lamina hip belt weighs a solid 306g empty. The belt wraps a 45″ (114cm) circumference fully extended, and it can cinch down to fit very small waists as well. As usual, there isn’t a good place to put the nylon belt once you cinch it down tight, so thinner riders may have some fabric flapping about.

Given its slender physique, the POC hip belt won’t hold a fortnight of sandwiches. The three main pouches and two flank pockets are all quite small, tailored with shorter lunch laps or shuttle runs in mind. The main cabin that’s closest to the rider’s back could fit a beer can or a large cell phone, but that would leave little space for the other pockets to stretch and mold around their contents.

The next pouch is filled with four smaller divider pockets, a key tether, and a cinch strap to keep things where they belong. The organizer system cuts this pouch into small spaces; one that could hold a phone while the others are closer to the size of a compact multi-tool, granola bar, or a stack or debit cards and an ID. This might also be a good spot to pack an emergency gel if the flank pockets are full. Finally, there’s a third zippered pouch on the outermost panel that a small phone or half of a PB&J could snuggle up in.

Flank pockets on either hip are notably small, expanding the pack’s overall space to include a few more credit cards or a single spare key. A patch kit, lighter, or compass could also live in these side holsters.

With all of these pockets, it is possible to overfill the POC Lamina hip pack and end up with a cumbersome little nugget on your hip. I may cut the dividers from between two of the pockets to make space for slightly larger items because I don’t need to separate as many thin and lightweight things as this bag allows. If you like to bring along every featherweight instrument you own, or simply keep the essentials ready to roll in a tidy package, this little pack is the one for you. If you need to bring more than one beer with all of those tiny trinkets you may want to keep up the search.