I am the original designer of the Shooters Connection Pro Bag. Midway and many others saw that this was the best designed bag and most widely used bag by USPSA competition shooters so they copied it.At the shot show we saw a new copy by Allen case, its even worse quality than the Midway bag. The 5.11 tactical bag is a closer copy in Quality but its still a stolen design. Not sure why they didn't change it even a little. Especially Midway who copied the design exactly and then claimed it was their design. We have now changed the way the top flap works so it can be locked. There was one issue we had with the old top and that is the shooters would rip the stop tabs off the zippers which couldn't be fixed once it happened. We fixed that in the newest design with the lockable top zipper. The Midway bag still has that flawed design, not sure for how long. They will probably steel that also. I have talked with them about this and it falls on deaf ears. I have to assume they are ok with stealing others designs and claiming credit for it. Ironically they still carry and sell my bag as well.
The reason to respond to this post is to give some background and then to respond to the claim its the same bag with the same quality. That just eats at my gut. It is the same design but it is not the same quality. I have made this comparison before so Midway has now changed their description to counter this claim. I have to question whether the new description is valid.
We use a PVC backed Nylon that is custom produced for our bags and the seams are double and triple stitched. We also use a thicker denser foam padding and heavy duty zippers and hardware. Many things are not able to be seen at a glance.
There are two different markets these will appeal to. If you will use it heavily and want the best quality then our bag is for you. Those of you that buy the copycat bag just keep in mind that the design was mine and you are using a product that I designed. There is a reason they can sell it cheaper. I can tell you I pay more for my bag than they sell theirs for. I have considered having the bag made much cheaper but I cant in good faith attach my name to something of such poor quality. We have a 5 year warranty, dont think there is one on the Midway bag.
I found a long time go that the only thing you can count on leaving this world is your reputation. No way i would copy somebody else's design, claim credit for it, make it cheaper and then prey upon the consumer using the originals reputation on design and quality to get their money and make a few bucks. Sad thing is this is not abnormal in todays society nor is it even frowned upon. I choose to operate with Ethics and Morals if I have to resort to the tactics others use to succeed I guess I will move on. For now its working for me.
