I really wanted to love this bag, but I wish I could return it. On paper it seemed great. I liked the size and the capacity, the bag looks professional and sleek, and the form factor seemed perfect. There are just a few things that don't make this bag a good fit for me.
First off, the material is a magnet for pet hair. I love their bags that use ballistic nylon, and I thought I'd give the black waxed canvas a try. I will never buy another bag with this material again. It just looks terrible when I leave the house and it's covered in pet hair or dust or lint. It's not reasonable to me to have to lint roll a backpack every time I leave the house. It doesn't come off by just using your hand to brush it off, you really have to be intentional about cleaning it off. Things just seem to cling onto the material. Since the bag is black/deep grey, it's extremely noticeable. I will stick with black ballistic nylon from now on. Pet hair does not stick to it, and it's much easier to clean off.
The storage in the front is extremely limited since the front is entirely flat. That may seem obvious given the design, but the bag does not have any give in the material for the zipped pocket. If the front was able to expand outward a bit more, the front would not feel so crowded when you put things in. While I appreciate the storage areas for specific things like pen/pencils, wallet, chargers, etc. if I have items that don't exactly fit into one of those storage areas, they end up roaming free in the bag in the front. The front compartments feel very crowded and difficult to find things. If I have less miscellaneous things of different sizes, it's not a problem to find anything. However, what I have to carry on a day to day basis changes, and the storage compartment doesn't really work for my needs.
One other thing that I find odd about the bag is that the side pockets are actually pockets, but they have no give for expansion whatsoever. I thought I might be able to put a water bottle on the outside, but since the pocket is sewn directly across to the other side, it doesn't really open. You can put flat things like your phone in the side pockets just fine, but if you have bulkier items you're not going to be able to fit them. I thought a small umbrella would fit, but even that is difficult to get into the side of the bag. There's a water bottle pocket on the inside, but I don't like to carry my drinks inside of my bag where all of my tech equipment is. The water bottle pocket is a soft material that can be put to the side, but it's still able to open up and things shift around into it which is a tad annoying.
The bag is well made, and it's obvious that these issues I have were made by design. I just have found that in the few weeks I've been using the bag, I cannot get around these issues. I like that it stands up on its own, and the weight distribution makes it great when I have a lot of stuff to carry on a long commute. The front pocket's space limitations and lack of give make it difficult for me to use. Pet hair makes the bag look worse, and the side pockets being unusually tight make it so that I cannot utilize anything fully. For now, I will stick with my Compact Executive bag, which I absolutely adore. I was hoping that this bag would be a good alternative when I need to carry a bit more stuff, but I guess my search will have to continue.
