Remember the Peak Design Everyday Backpack
that was hanging out in the background
of the Tortuga Homebase Everyday video?
Well, today we're gonna check it out.
Let's get into it.
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Here at Pack Hacker we take a look
at the best gear for travel.
And do bag reviews just like this one.
So in this video,
we're gonna be taking a look
at the Peak Design Everyday Backpack.
And it's important to note that they also
have a 20 liter version.
But since we're focused on travel here,
and one bag travel is a big thing for us,
we decided to go with the 30 liter version.
It's gonna be in this color right here.
This is the ash.
And charcoal is also available.
Now this works great and was originally
intended as a camera bag.
But it'll work good for one bag travel too.
And we'll get into it coming up.
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All right, the outer material is a 500D Kodra,
not to be confused with Cobra, a snake.
But it is a Kodra, K-O-D-R-A.
And to quote Peak Design,
it is DWR impregnated and poly coated twice on both sides.
Basically what that means is this
is a pretty weather proof material.
Thanks to these structured panels on this thing,
it holds its form even when it's empty.
So this bag is completely empty right now.
There are three shelves in here.
But it really holds its form,
which is nice.
And it's still a soft and flexible case.
So it's not a hard case.
And with all this material,
it's gonna come in at 4.63 pounds.
With the bag empty, the dimensions are going to be 20 inches
in height by 13 inches in width.
And 7.75 inches in depth.
Which means that it is carry on approved.
Great for one bag travel.
So a couple folks have actually commented
on this backpack in the wild.
I was in the mountains of Salt Lake City
and some random dude was like,
"Hey, cool backpack man."
Right?
And then I saw this woman in this elevator
at this hotel and she's like,
"Hey, that's a cute backpack."
And I was like, "Agreed,
it is cute!"
The custom aluminum hardware on this thing
paired with the nubuck leather
gives it that great polished look.
And you can tell that the folks at Peak Design
are really into their design and aesthetics.
So they put a lot of thought
into how everything comes together.
We did speak to a digital nomad, Jon,
who actually has an interview on our website.
He's been using this thing for about six months.
He's taken it with him on the motorbike trail
going across Vietnam.
On the roads there.
He's been using it as an everyday pack
as well as his only pack when he's been
one bag traveling and he loves it.
He doesn't really have much to say about it
in terms of the negative.
The one thing that he did run into on the negative side,
is that he ran into some aesthetic wear and tear.
So he basically had some discoloration on the pack
just from it being scraped up against things
and taking it on that muddy, motorbike trail with him.
He did share this with Peak Design
and they actually offered to replace
it free of charge for him.
He didn't want to be parted with the bag
because I mean, he's living out of it.
It's basically his home.
So he's just kinda bitten the bullet and kept it.
But that's the only negative he has seen.
He swears that he finds a new feature
on this thing every couple weeks as he's using it.
And he also has a Velcro strip at the top of the pack
where he attaches a solar panel to charge his devices
when he's out in the wild.
Which is a pretty cool addition.
So overall on the aesthetic,
most people do like the way that it looks
although I've met a couple people
that aren't into it so much.
That's to be expected.
Aesthetics are subjective.
But what I will say on that
is it does have a little bit of a sportier edge to it,
but it still mainly has that urban city vibe feel.
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All right, so the first thing to take in mind
with the features on this thing is that there are a ton
and even up until creating this video,
I feel like I was finding new ones.
So let's try to get through 'em as quickly as we can.
The first notable piece on this thing is the MagLatch.
And other than it being beautiful and fun to play with,
it serves a high function as well.
So, not only does it magnetize to these four metal bars
that you have here,
based on how much stuff is in your pack,
but additionally it latches onto one
of these four bars across.
And at the very bottom,
it's going to be an 18 liter pack.
And when it's strapped up here at the very top,
you're gonna get that extra space.
So that extra 12 liters.
That's when it becomes a 30 liter pack.
It's important to note this because some people
that use the bag feel that it's a
little bit smaller than 30 liters,
but that's because they're trying
to latch it all the way to the bottom here.
And when we're at the bottom it's about 18 liters.
So if you're gonna jam this thing fully up,
you want to have that attached to that top bar.
You've also got three handles on this thing,
which is great.
And they're big.
It works based on whichever side
that you want to pick it up on.
And check this out,
I've never ever actually thought about straps
and features on them,
but there's some cool stuff going on here.
So first of all, the strap rotates,
which is pretty great.
And that will fit a bunch of different body types
as well as make it easy for you to sling this thing around
and access this pocket,
which we'll get into a little bit later in the video.
As a part of that strap mechanism,
there's actually a Velcro kind of inlet here
that you can attach to a roller bag,
which is super handy if you're not only going one bag,
but you have maybe a carry on
or a checked roller bag with you as well.
It's also worth noting that the strap adjustment
on this thing is super seamless.
And we've never really even thought about that
until we tried this bag out.
So it just kinda glides across and readjusts itself.
The sternum strap is also a unique design
so that attaches to the strap itself.
And that's beneficial so that you don't
have a random sternum strap hanging down when not in use.
This straps to itself,
kinda tucks away nicely.
And that aluminum hardware looks great as well.
The one minor knock that we'd say on the straps
is that they are a tad bit thin.
And if you have this thing filled up with gear,
you know we think there could be maybe
just a little more padding in there.
So there are 10 different attachment points on this bag
where you can attach these things.
And cinch things down.
So whether you have a tripod,
a sleeping bag,
maybe just even something as simple as a jacket,
you can cinch a lot of stuff down on this pack,
which makes it pretty modular and great to use.
These stow away super well on the bottom.
So you just kinda slide them right in there
when they're not in use.
And there's actually a clever magnetic strap.
I love the use of magnets on this bag personally.
And we found them to be super helpful.
The one thing about these straps is that
on the side pockets here,
which we'll get into in a little bit,
they're just gonna be always free floating in there
when you aren't using them.
So just keep that in mind.
That's gonna add to the clutter of whatever
you put inside of this pocket.
So speaking of side pockets,
these things are deceptively expandable.
So you kinda pull these out
and stretch them around.
There's also a magnet that will fasten them.
And in addition to the strap that we saw inside
that we can use for cinching things down,
there's also a hip belt in here
that comes through this little stealthy hole.
Now the downside to these pockets are that they
do have that kinda hole in the bottom.
So if you're putting smaller items in here,
maybe coins, anything else that's small,
you know, if you put a water bottle in here,
it's gonna be fine.
But if you want to put smaller items in there,
you may run into things falling out of the pack.
So these side pockets kinda do a lot of things.
They have a lot of features to them.
And there are obviously trade-offs with that.
And another notable feature on this pack
is that these zippers are lockable.
So these loops right here,
you can unbutton them and attach them
to those kinda anchor points
that we were talking about earlier
that would also work for the cinch straps.
You attach them there and it makes it hard
for somebody just to quick come,
unzip your bag, and grab everything out of there.
Now it's not a super crazy high security measure,
but it's gonna deter somebody from quickly
being able to grab things out of your pack.
[snapping fingers] Oh, and one more thing.
Peak Design does include a bit of a lanyard
for your keys as a bonus item.
A lot of this attachment stuff
is used for their camera gear.
I think it's a little bit intense for keys.
But they do include that should you want to use it.
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So the laptop and tablet compartment is accessible
from this YKK water resistant zipper.
Nice to have that little extra protection
from moisture and inclement weather.
Another thing to note in this pocket
is that there is a somewhat stiff divider in here.
What that does is it kinda creates
a pouch for free floating items.
Which is pretty great.
Again, if you're just popping through airport security,
just drop everything in here.
You don't have to use one of those trays.
Boom, you're good to go.
We close that up.
On the other side
this is the main event, right?
We have the MagLatch on the top here.
And this basically just opens up to the main compartment
of the Peak Design backpack.
And one thing that's important to note.
We did find one issue on this.
So, if this is kinda strapped to the top,
and it's fully loaded up with stuff,
these sides can tend to kinda hang out.
And there's no cinch on this top loader.
So this is always going to be hanging out a bit.
If it's very full
these can sort of hang out the sides.
And the issue with that is if you do run into some rain,
you know, you're getting moisture in the pack.
So make sure to always watch that.
Try to keep these tucked in.
Not a big deal again if you have it latched
down to the 18 liter version.
But if you're going up higher to the 30,
you're definitely gonna run into that problem.
You're gonna want to watch that.
When we do open this main clamshell,
there's another mini magnetic pocket.
So again, the magnet usage on this bag is sweet.
I haven't seen it in a lot of other bags but
that's good to like store stuff for quick grabs.
You know, a passport.
Maybe flatter items.
It won't hold anything in there that's too large.
But it's great to have that available
just to grab quickly.
And it's at the top of your pack.
The inside of the pack on this side
and the backside are lined with Velcro.
And then you have this cloth material
on the other areas of the pack.
So what the Velcro does,
it's actually the hook side of the Velcro.
And you can put these shelves in there
to help organize your gear.
So whether you have a bunch of camera gear,
or everyday items,
they're gonna work well in here.
And I think the design in these is great.
Let me just pull one out real quick actually.
Just Velcroed it out.
So first of all,
it looks kinda like a Ninja Turtle shell,
which is interesting.
And then it sort of creates this shelf within your pack
that allows you to segment stuff.
So you know if you've got a big-ass camera lens,
boom, you just toss that on top.
And I also like the fact that you can sort
of create shelves within shelves.
Kind of a shelf section.
So all of a sudden you have a huge modular
organizational system within the pack.
Now, if you are a bit of a perfectionist,
it's gonna be hard to get this exactly centered
with where you want it on the Velcro
in terms of height and width.
But Peak Design does have some embroidered criss-crossing
which to me adds a nice brainy element
and allows you to kinda orient
where you put this shelf within the pack.
Even though this is a top loader pack,
these side zips make it fully accessible from the side.
And we can see here that's how we kinda access
that shelving system we were talking about.
So again, pull all the shelves out
if you don't want to use that.
But if you're a little bit more of a modular person,
you want to organize things better.
You got a bunch of camera lenses,
this is perfect for that.
So you can kinda organize your stuff
as you see fit right in here.
And a lot of people do knock a top loader
because it's hard to organize and get in there.
So this provides a nice solve
allowing you to use the pack in
whatever way that you see fit.
So within these side zipper flaps you do
have some additional compartments in here
to help organize your gear further.
Nothing too crazy, right?
Just kind of some pouches to help organize your gear.
We were a little underwhelmed with it.
But, one of the cool things is that they color code each
of these pockets inside of here.
So, maybe inside the red you
have your dead camera batteries.
Maybe in the black you have your fresh ones.
Or you create a mental model like that in your head
that can help you further organize your pack
in the system that works for you.
All right so to wrap this thing up,
this thing is highly water resistant
and it's made of great material
that also looks good.
So between the shelves and the adjustments there
as well as the MagLatch allowing you
to dictate the size of the pack inside,
it's a very modular set up and it's gonna work well
for you when organizing your pack.
It's got great style without sacrificing function.
So although the material on the outside
is a little bit thick,
you get that nice form.
And it keeps your gear inside nice and safe.
So some of the cons.
When the MagLatch is completely full,
you get those flaps on the side
that can let some extra precip in,
which is not great if you've got a bunch
of camera gear in there.
So just watch that if it's completely full.
Between the compression straps,
the hip belt straps and the elastic band
on the side pockets,
we think that pulls a lot of duty in one area.
Although all that stuff is great,
kind of individually,
we think it's a lot to load into one pocket.
And again, makes that pocket less usable.
So toss a water bottle in there, great.
If you want to put cash or coins in there,
maybe not so much because there is a hole
in the bottom of that pack
and it might fall out.
And lastly, sometimes the MagLatch can 'Mag', but not 'Latch'.
So you just gotta be conscious about pulling
this thing down and making sure it's secure.
Thanks for taking a look at the review
for the Peak Design Everyday Backpack.
Again, we think this is a great pack.
Definitely more pros than cons.
And the Peak Design team really gets
into the design details which we love
and we respect and we appreciate
that we're going in that direction with them.
We're excited for the next iteration
that they come out with.
So, be sure to head over to Pack Hacker.com to
check out the full review for
the Peak Design Everyday Backpack.
Thanks for checking us out.
We'll see you in the next video.
You pull this little loop down here
and the thing quickly adjusts to your needs.
Adjusts to your needs.
Wow, that was a lot.
How did I get that all in one?
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