Pickpockets Activity Belt: Strap It On

A few summers ago, on the Tree to Sea Loop, Andy and I climbed 17 km out of Kathleen Lake in the middle of a heatwave. I was shaky and nauseous, and strapped around my waist was a Rockgeist hip pack holding my full frame camera and lens. Somewhere on that climb I decided I don't like things hanging off me.

I really thought I liked that hip pack. It carried my camera for two seasons and went deep into the backcountry with me. Then it went on the shelf, and it has sat there ever since. Load a hip pack up and it hangs off your body, tips backwards and turns into an anchor. So when a little Vancouver brand called Pickpockets kept showing up in my feed, I was curious, and more than a bit skeptical. Pickpockets sent me a belt to test. I figured it would end up on the shelf next to the Rockgeist.

The Pickpockets Activity Belt straps on like a hip pack, but that's where the resemblance ends. It sits flat against your lower back, under your shirt or jacket, with three pockets laid out like the back of a cycling jersey. It's meant for T-shirt rides, gravel days, or anyone who wants jersey pockets without the jersey. It sells for $50 CAD, with free tracked shipping in Canada.

About Pickpockets

Pickpockets is Noah Novick, a software developer from Vancouver. He got into riding working at a bike shop in Ottawa in high school, and kept working there every summer through university. Since then he's bikepacked across Europe, raced, and lined up at the 2026 BC Provincial Criterium Championships.

The idea came out of COVID. A few friends were getting into riding and came to Noah for advice. He told them to buy bibs, but to hold off on a jersey, since the only thing they'd really want it for was the pockets. Pickpockets started as a cheap way to fake those pockets. A mullet for your back, basically: business on top, party underneath. It took off from there as an accessory for gravel and T-shirt rides.

Noah worked with a small team of designers, one of whom designed at Arc'teryx, with the goal of making it feel like you're wearing nothing, carrying the weight on your hips instead of your shoulders the way a good hiking pack does. It took about eight versions to land on this one, all designed here in Canada, with production done in China. Noah says it weighs about 100 g.

Built Like It Means It

Out of the package, the first thing I noticed was how well the belt is made. The stitching is clean and tight, and the whole thing feels sturdy. There are plastic stays in two places that keep it stiff and flat. The outside looks like a green ripstop, and the layer between the back panel and the pockets looks a lot like X-Pac to me.

The back panel is the interesting part. It's a textured, rubberized mesh with a slightly tacky feel, and you can tell right away the belt isn't going to slide around once you start sweating. My favourite detail is tiny. Inside the pockets, the logo is printed in rubber, which adds a bit of grip for whatever you're carrying. Someone thought about that.

Honestly, the Pickpockets is one of the best-built bags I've tested. I trust that this thing is going to last.

A Home for the GR IV

My reason for trying the Pickpockets was simple. All summer my Ricoh GR IV lived in the pocket of my cargo bibs. That works fine until it starts raining, and on Vancouver Island it has now started raining, and it won't stop until spring. A soaked bib pocket is no place for a camera. Mounting it on the bike in a bag isn't an option either. Too much shock, and I'm too afraid of breaking it.

The Pickpockets fits neatly under my new 7Mesh Northwoods jacket (review coming soon), which means the GR IV can come with me on every ride again, out of the rain and close to hand. Generally I keep my keys, my headphone case and my Fisherman's Friends in there too, which I consider essential winter riding equipment. If you've never had one on a cold climb, they're less a lozenge and more a small, legal act of violence against your sinuses. Everything fits perfectly.

You wouldn't want to load the pouch heavy. Most of what you carry needs to sit flat against your back, so a full camera with a lens attached would defeat the whole point. A body in one pocket and a lens in another might actually work, though I haven't tried it.

Hugging, Not Hanging

I wear the belt in two modes. Most of the time it sits low and loose, right down at the base of my back, the same way I wore my hip pack. When I'm going a little faster, or the rain picks up and I want the pouch tucked further under my jacket, I cinch it up higher and tighter.

Switching between the two is easy. Tightening and loosening takes a second on the bike, and I find myself doing it more than I expected. I really like that.

The buckle took me a while to come around on. It sits off to the left instead of in the middle, and at first that bugged me. Maybe it's left over from the Rockgeist, but a centred buckle felt more symmetrical, and I thought that's where I wanted it. Then I realized the off-centre buckle is what makes switching modes so easy. I can take my right hand off the bar, reach across my body and tighten or loosen it in a second. In the middle, I think I'd have slack coming out both ends, and it wouldn't be nearly as clean.

My hip pack extended out from my body, so the weight pulled it backwards, and I never got over that. The Pickpockets hugs you instead. There's nothing to tip.

If I'm going to have anything hanging off me, it's this.

One odd finding. The belt felt noticeably better with my long bibs, which I just switched into for the season, than with my 7Mesh MK3 Cargo short bibs, where I was getting a bit more pull. I can't tell you why. It doesn't make me doubt the Pickpockets. It makes me doubt my short bibs.

Sometimes, over a ride, the pouch will shift an inch or two to one side. I barely notice until I reach back and realize it has moved, and when I slide it back into place it feels great again. That's the whole story, really. I've gone from hating anything hanging off me to knowing it can feel good with the right product.

Wet Coast Problems

The pockets are straight top entry. On the bike, that means reaching behind you, up, and then down into the pocket, and there's a half beat of fiddling every time while you find what you're after. I'd love it if the left and right pockets had a bit of an angle, so my hand could slide straight in.

It's not a deal breaker at all. It's probably even safer for whatever you're carrying in there. I haven't dropped my camera yet, and that could be why.

The Pickpockets isn't waterproof. Even worn under a jacket, I've found my camera coming out damp, at least with some condensation on it.

I told Noah I'd happily pay an extra $60 or $70 CAD for a waterproof version. He made a fair point, though. Waterproof materials trap heat, and trapped heat against your back is its own kind of wet. I still want one. But I get it.

Pocket Math

My whole carry setup has been shuffling around lately. My phone used to live in my top tube bag. I've cut my handlebar bag down to something smaller, and losing that volume turned out to be a big deal. Now it's handlebar bag, stem bag, cargo bibs (which changed everything) and the Pickpockets. That's where the phone lives now.

I like having that many pockets. I'm always bringing something new out on a ride, like a new little tripod for the GR, and being able to choose what goes where gives me a kind of versatility I didn't have before.

Four years ago I was a designer at Nike, working on running product, and I got really into running and trail running because I kind of had to. At the time I went looking hard for something exactly like the Pickpockets, and I couldn't find anything. There were arm straps, and I found some running shorts with a back pocket, but that didn't work at all. I couldn't believe nobody had made it. That's a big part of what drew me to this little belt.

Wrapping It Up

So, back to that climb out of Kathleen Lake, and the guy who swore he didn't like things hanging off him. Turns out the Pickpockets changed my mind. I've been riding with it for weeks now, I grab it every single time I head out, and I actually really enjoy wearing it. If I'm going to have anything hanging off me, it's this.

When I first saw Pickpockets on Instagram, I had a feeling. You could look at it and go, yep, that works. I went in half expecting to be let down, the way you usually are when something looks this right online. Instead it was exactly what I thought it would be, and that turned out to be the surprise. The more I ride with this little pouch, the more I like it.