Octoput Tank Pocket

OCTOPUT TANK POCKET

CW EVALUATION

A deep pocket for short rides

SOMETIMES THE SHORTEST TRIPS ARE the hardest to pack for. You can toss your sunglasses, wallet and maps in a tankbag, of course, but even with the smallest of bags it's a little like rent ing a warehouse to store a tooth brush. Or you can stuff it all in your jacket pockets, and ferret through ev ery item while you're hunting for your keys or change. Or you can sim ply put it in an Octoput Tank Pocket from Slope & Associates (P.O. Box 5449, Fullerton, CA 92635).

The vinyl Octoput ($29.95 in black, red or blue) measures 10 inches by 5 inches-slightly larger than a standard fold-up road mapwith a single pleat in both sides so that the pocket expands to about 2 inches deep at the mouth. That might seem tiny, but the Octoput's capacity can be limited more by a rider's imagination than by its sheer physical size. It's plenty big enough for a wal let and sunglasses, and for other small items you might carry or pick up on a short hop, such as a micro floppy computer disc, a set of guitar strings, or the odd speeding ticket. A fold-over top flap secures shut with Velcro, and Velcro also fastens a sim ilarly constructed pouch-about the size of a pack of unfiltered ciga rettes-to the front of the pocket. On the back, 45 ½-inch-diameter suc tion cups help affix the Octoput to your bike's fuel tank. Before you put it there, though, the manufacturer recommends coating the cups with a silicone spray or with vegetable oil, to form a better bond between the fuel tank and the cups. So modified, the Octoput does stay planted, even at elevated speeds. The maker also suggests that the bottom inch of the Octoput be pinched be tween the saddle and the fuel tank.

That's not entirely necessary, but it does provide an extra bit of security. Some riders might find a film of oil more appropriate for cooking a chicken breast than for keeping something on their fuel tank, but if they balk at that, they'll be missing out. Because the Octoput offers a convenient way to carry the impedi menta almost every rider seems to need or collect, so that he doesn't have to stuff his pockets, or crowd himself with a tankbag. It's a handy shortcut to packing for those short rides.