- The Arc'teryx Blade 28 is a 28-liter backpack
that uses some great materials and craftsmanship throughout.
Plus, our content strategist Hannah,
has been testing this thing for a little bit over a month.
So excited to dive in and share all
of our thoughts with you.
I'm Tom, the founder of Pack Hacker,
and we love helping people optimize their travel experience
with guides and reviews, just like this one.
So if you're new to the YouTube channel,
consider subscribing.
Let's jump right into the Arc'teryx Blade 28 review.
[upbeat music playing]
At the time of this review, the Blade 28 is available
in black and pilot gray, and we think that's plenty
of options. However, you will not find a bunch
of colors and choices with this pack.
The overall shape of this bag seems unique
to Arc'teryx, and it's a result of some
of the interior organization going on inside.
From a branding perspective, there is a very bright, large,
white logo that stands out quite a bit on top of the black.
And then below it, on the bottom of the pack,
there is a subdued, black-on-black 'Blade 28'.
We wish the embroidered logo on this pack
was a little bit smaller or more subdued.
We don't like when a ton of branding is on packs, typically.
However, nobody would then know you have an Arc'teryx pack,
which sort of defeats the purpose, right?
On the back panel there is a pressed logo
in the foam padding as well.
We think it looks pretty good, however beauty is always
in the eyes of the beholder - so we polled our audience
over on Instagram to see what they thought.
Be sure to go ahead over and follow @packhacker there,
if you want to be involved in future polls.
I know we'd certainly appreciate it, and we would love
to have you help us create content on this channel.
From a materials perspective,
we've got two different blends of nylon.
One on the exterior of the pack,
and then one as the interior liner.
There's polyurethane for additional weather resistance,
and durable Woojin hardware that's used
on the interior key clip.
Plus some smooth zipping, reverse coil YKK zippers
in a couple of different weights, depending on the pockets
and the area of the pack that the zippers cover.
The Blade 28 is made in Vietnam,
however Arc'teryx produces gear
and bags all over the globe.
This list includes Canada, the U.S., China, Vietnam,
Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia,
Cambodia, El Salvador, and Romania.
That list is massive.
Our friends over at Carryology have done a full tour
of the Arc'teryx Arc'One headquarters in Canada,
so be sure to check out that article
if you want to get into the nitty-gritty of how some
of their factory and production process works.
Kicking it off with the harness system.
The dual-density shoulder straps on the Blade 28 provide
some great comfort, and a good ride overall.
Although somewhat thin, the two layers of padding
here actually provide a pretty comfortable carry.
Although you won't find any strap management
for these adjuster straps down here, arguably
it's not necessarily needed for a pack
with only two external straps hanging off.
The rest of the face of it, and all other areas
of the pack are quite minimal, and those are
the only two things that are kind of dangling off.
You will not find a sternum strap,
or a hip belt on this thing - not even an option to add it.
And for a pack at 28 liters,
we think this is somewhat borderline.
And we're about getting into that territory
where this kind of starts to be required a little bit,
at least as an option to wearers.
Plus, the bottom of the pack tricked us a little bit.
At first glance, this does look like a pass-through area
for a hip belt -- however, it's not.
There's a secret pocket back here, which we'll get into
when we get into the interior of the pack.
But as a bonus, this is very firm and padded.
Speaking of padded - there's some nice,
dense padding that's going on in the back
of this bag, and there is a frame sheet
inside that provides some structure.
A little bit stiffer than other bags we've seen. However,
it's not to the stiffness level that say,
something like GORUCK would be at,
which is basically, like a military-grade ruck.
So kind of right in the middle there,
provides enough structure for typical carry.
There's a thin piece of stretchy, elastic-type material here
that's used for a pass-through for your roller luggage.
So if you want to attach this to your roller luggage
via handle, you can definitely do that,
and lay this on top of your roller bag.
We have seen this done better on other packs,
and we think it could be improved upon,
however it still works, even if it is a little bit loose.
One other usage, and a bit of a hack
for the stretchy material here, it can be used
to sort of stuff these shoulder straps away,
if you want to keep everything a little bit tighter
and more compact.
There are ample and large-sized grab handles on the top
and the wearer's right-hand side of this pack.
These are definitely a win.
They are very long and highly grabbable,
plus they still manage to maintain a low profile.
So great design thinking there -
creates a highly grabbable pack
from two out of the four sides.
The rest of the exterior is quite minimal,
and overall there's not a ton going on outside
of this pack, and we love that.
One other think to mention, is that there's
no exterior compression system, however this bag seems
to keep a low profile due to the pattern of some
of the fabric, and the overall design of it as well.
Kicking it off with the secure pocket
on the back of the frame sheet.
This thing is about the height of an iPhone Plus size.
So that's right in the back here.
It's the most secure pocket on the pack.
Overall, it's good for flatter items.
So if you have like a passport, or some cash -
you want to keep things a little bit closer to your body -
this is the pocket for you.
The size of the pocket is about the entirety of this section
that you see down here, and it goes all the way to the end.
And although this is ideal for flatter items,
if you do have something with a little bit more dimension,
you're not going to feel it sticking into your back
because the density of this foam is so thick.
One thing we wish Arc'teryx maybe would have considered
here, is a zipper of a little bit of a lower profile.
So you definitely see that thing going on,
it's pretty obvious it's a zipper.
Companies like Pacsafe and Peak Design really think
through security and access,
and they use lower profile zippers in some areas.
Maybe this could have been a little bit more inconspicuous.
There's also one exterior pocket
to the wearer's right-hand side.
This ends up being a really handy pocket
for quick-grab items like gloves,
keys and any other small accessories.
Although it is a little bit too small
to fit most phones inside.
Behind that, on the front of the pack, there is a ton
of organization going on in this side zip pocket as well.
First of all, the positioning
of this opening is ideal, if you want to swing it
around your body and quickly access it.
Also, it's good if you want to set this bag down on the side
on the floor, you can access things that way.
The sideways pockets are a little bit awkward,
however accessing it from the side is a nice feature.
The bottom of this compartment offers a space
for a 15-inch laptop, and it's highly padded,
but very loose. So there is ample space,
even if you have a fat laptop, or a fat case,
it'll still likely fit inside of here.
One thing about this though,
is we think it is a sub-optimal place for a laptop to go,
because all that weight is very far away from your back.
We typically like when laptops are right against your back.
It helps distribute the weight a little bit better,
and makes the carry more comfortable over all.
Quick tip on this - if you are using this as a daily carry,
you might want to consider putting your laptop
within a padded laptop sleeve,
and putting it in the main compartment
to keep that weight closer to your back.
Above that laptop compartment,
there is a separate tablet partition here,
with a bit of elasticity to hold things in place.
Again a tablet will fit well in there,
or small notebooks while you're traveling.
Above the laptop and tablet compartment,
there's some nice space for additional items as well.
And the top part offers a two-way zipper,
which is good if you want to access one side
of this little organizer system, or the other.
The whole system is overall cleverly designed.
So on the right-hand side, we have a stretchy mesh pocket
that's good for water bottles.
Directly to the left of that, there is a pass-through port
where you can feed cables through.
So if you have a battery pack inside one of these pockets,
feed the cable out, and you can get access with your phone.
To the left of that, you have two more pockets, and taking
up about 1/3 of that space, is a stretchy mesh pocket.
Then the remaining 2/3 of that space
has a nylon-liner pocket.
Overall these pockets are a bit hard to see.
But if you organize them by feel,
and you know where everything is at,
and you kind of have it memorized,
you have your system down -
it's not going to be that big of an issue.
Moving on to the main compartment.
It pretty much opens up in a similar style
to a suitcase, and that's clamshell style.
Plus, if you put these zippers near the top,
it can be easy to just reach in,
access what you need out of the main compartment,
without fully opening up the clamshell.
The liner inside is a bunch of different shades of gray
in a striped pattern, and it's a little bit funky.
This can help with visibility of your items.
However we have seen some other companies
go really high visibility with their interiors.
Although this isn't nearly as high a visibility,
we think it still works, and it's subdued and tasteful.
We like subdued and tasteful.
On the left-hand side of the clamshell,
there is a nylon pocket that's good
for organizing additional items.
The right-hand side offers a fully zippered compartment,
that acts as a bit of a compression system,
when you want to separate your gear a little bit more.
And when the right-hand side
and the left-hand nylon pocket are filled up,
there's still room in the middle to put additional items,
if you want to further organize everything.
Back to the right-hand side,
there is ample space and depth to pack clothing.
And we always recommend grabbing some packing cubes,
especially for a larger space like this.
Just helps with additional organization
and compartmentalization.
There's a zippered compartment at the top as well
that holds a frame sheet, and you could arguably
replace this for a thicker frame sheet if you wanted to.
However, we do think it's ample for this size of the pack.
Arc'teryx classifies the Blade 28 as a weekend travel bag.
However, we also think it could be used
as a one-bag, if you are a minimalist.
28-liters is on the lower end for one-bagging,
however we have heard of people,
and talk with people, that travel with a lot less.
During our testing, Hannah brought this pack
through Chicago, Iowa, Northern Michigan,
and Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio.
So far, we have not seen any scuffing
or durability issues, and no dirt on it either.
Arc'teryx does recommend just using some water
to wash off the exterior of the pack,
if some blemishes and dirt spots start to show up.
So, to wrap this thing up with some pros and cons.
The Blade 28 has excellent build quality
and great materials throughout.
The side grab handles are very accessible,
and long in length for easy grabbing.
The main compartment is ample in space, and packable.
This bag seems a lot bigger than it looks on the outside.
Overall we think the laptop compartment could be closer
to the wearer's back, and not so far forward on the pack.
There is no options for a hip belt or sternum strap.
The sideways pockets can be a bit tricky to organize,
especially when they're kind of hidden
in that main compartment.
Although the Blade 28 is a good pack, that's just it.
It is a good pack.
We expect a little bit more from Arc'teryx,
especially since the Beta SL rain jacket is one
of the top rated items on our website.
Although we love the comfort of the harness system,
for the pack of this size, we wish they'd offer
at least an option to throw in a sternum strap
or a hip belt, 'cause some people
really want those features.
The laptop placement and side organization aren't ideal,
however, we really love the main compartment,
and a lot of the other organization
going on within this pack.
We have no doubt that the great materials
and craftsmanship put into the Blade 28 will continue
to hold up after months, even years of testing.
Thanks for taking a look at our view
on the Arc'teryx Blade 28.
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Thanks for checking us out, we'll see you in the next video.
Hi ... talkin' about ... bags.
But not limited-ed [chuckles], limited-ed-ed-ed-ed-ed-ed.
[Tom laughs]
Cambodio ... Cambodio? [laughs]