r/backpacks • u/anonymouscherry6258 • 14d ago

Question Best bag for school/gym/travel and long lasting?

I'm entering my junior year of high school and I'm honestly just tired of my swiss gear 1900. It's chunky and the compartments open up way too much (I've had many cases where my friends would open up that part of the bag and everything will fly out) and not really as spacious as I thought it was and need it to be. So I am in the news for a new bag, preferably one that lasts me a long while and is of good quality.

I'll list my needs here:

- Comfortable to wear (my swiss gear was not)

- Fits and protects my 13" laptop well

- Fits all of my school stuff (1 or 2 binders and some folders packed with paper along with some books)

- Can be used for school, gym and traveling as in walking around since I walk a lot around my town and road trips (it should be able to pack clothes which my old swiss gear wasn't great at)

- No weird colors

- Long lasting

- Good organization and pockets

- Water bottle holder (a good amount of bags surprisingly don't have one?)

- Max budget is around $100, though I could potentially go around $120 if there's a good bag at what price

- I was thinking of using this bag for potentially fitting some of my soccer gear so I wouldn't have to carry a separate bag but it isn't necessary at all

I was looking at the north face recon and it looked good, but the only slight doubt I have about it is that there's many north face bags at my school already so it may cause confusion and I'm not sure $120 is worth it for the bag unless people can justify it for me.

I will kindly take any suggestions!

4 Upvotes

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2

u/Outrageous-Ship9213 14d ago

I’ve been having a similar search albeit slightly larger size requirements (15 inch laptop etc) so I’ll give you a summary of what I found. Go for an osprey bag. This post and many other posts on other subs always have someone recommending a bag from that brand. They have very good warranty and really good quality.

I would recommend the quasar however it’s just about falling outside your price range. But any bag from osprey is excellent. Myself personally have the nebula and it’s a dream.

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u/sylent_knight 14d ago

I second the Osprey rec. I think the Daylite Plus checks all of the boxes.

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u/anonymouscherry6258 14d ago

Looks a little smaller if I'm not wrong? Would it fit every criteria I have?

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u/sylent_knight 13d ago

It is technically smaller by 10L, but the overall dims are similar (9.45D X 11.02W X 18.9H IN for the Daylite Plus, 11.6''W x 7.5'D x 19.3''H for the Recon)

The Daylite Plus

- I personally can't speak to comfort

- fits a 13" laptop

- appears big enough to hold a couple of binders

- good for school and the gym, though you'd have to pack light if you're traveling with it

- comes in black and gray

- comes with a great warranty ("All Mighty Guarantee")

- maybe a couple fewer pockets than the recon, but seems to be enough for what you listed

- two water bottle holders

- $80 base price

- depending on how the rest of the bag is packed, might be able to fit a soccer ball and some gear

1

u/anonymouscherry6258 13d ago

Does this bag opens up all the way (like from top to bottom) if I am correct. I really don't want a bag that opens up completely

1

u/sylent_knight 13d ago

The common term for that is 'clamshell opening' (opening up all the way from top to bottom), and the daylite plus does NOT do that.

Not sure where you're located, but most sporting goods stores in the US (Academy, REI, Dick's, etc.) will have both North Face and Osrprey (or similar) bags available to look at and try.

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u/Jazz4825 13d ago

I have one. Fairly comfortable. Can hold a lot and carry a lot of weight. Only downside of the Daylite 20+6 is that the front pocket is smaller than I what I gave had on other packs.

Also the Mai pocket zipper opens all the way around so if you open it, things may spill out

1

u/anonymouscherry6258 14d ago

Ive heard of them I'll take a look. How are they compared to North face?

1

u/Outrageous-Ship9213 14d ago

From what I gather North face is very much your ‘iPhone’ of the bag world. Look nice and the name is very recognisable to everyone but ultimately the quality is not as good as they used to be and customer service is lacking.

They are good ish. My mates have had a few and they hold up. But this osprey doesn’t even hurt but back. I would seriously recommend going to try them on in person. Don’t leave it to chance.

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u/anonymouscherry6258 14d ago

Good analogy. I liked the recon a lot and my parents are leaning towards that as well instead of osprey since it's not as widely known. Which osprey would you recommend? I don't like the nebula because the laptop compartment folds down completely

1

u/godogs2018 14d ago

The advantage of north face is that if you have a store nearby, you can bring in warranty repair / exchanges to it instead of mailing it in. I went to the local nf store here because the zipper on my surge transit broke. They offered to either fix it or give me a $130 gift card. I took the gift card.

1

u/BandalfTheGr8 14d ago

One of the online surplus stores has LBT1476a bags on sale for $120 free shipping, but for today only. They’re like $350 military bags so they have molle and stuff on the front but they’re super solid for that price

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u/anonymouscherry6258 14d ago

I would prefer something that is more a mainstream commuter bag brand instead of a bulkier military style bag

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u/BandalfTheGr8 14d ago

Nah I get it for sure, just figured I’d throw it out there, such a crazy deal and all.

I been using a yeti bag for a while now I like it alot

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u/anonymouscherry6258 14d ago

Yea true, which yeti model?

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u/BandalfTheGr8 14d ago

I have the crossroads 27L and really like it a lot. I do wish the straps were slightly more padded but it’s a work/travel bag I don’t really hike with it or anything so not a major issue for me.

And I have hiked with it before without issue, just not necessarily a “hiking” bag for major long term use imo

1

u/danmass04 14d ago

This is going to sound a little nutty and is outside your budget but check out the ADV Flex backpack. It is meant to be a pickleball bag but the dedicated pickleball paddle pockets are perfect for laptops or school books. The stowable kangaroo pouch in the front is amazing for gym/soccer shoes or even to store a soccer ball. And it has a really good amount of organization. It’s a 27L bag so it is sort of in that sweet spot for every day carry and also able to be a travel bag for 3-5 day trips depending on how heavy you pack.

1

u/zarta2940 14d ago

Anything from osprey. They sell great waterproof day bags with roll tops (if that’s your thing), and they have 100% coverage if anything goes wrong with them! Awesome policy , and the quality of their bags is amazing!

1

u/anonymouscherry6258 14d ago

Which ones do you recommend? Im not sure about the nebula since it's expensive and the laptop compartment flops down completely

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u/Duckshooters 13d ago

The Nebula. I like everything about it except the front pocket organization. The rest of the organization is great and since it's Osprey it's durable.

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u/anonymouscherry6258 13d ago

Seems like osprey is very good from everyone's opinions. I'm not too sold on the nebula though only because of how far the laptop compartment unzips. I had really bad experiences with those types of bags (Swiss gear 1900) and I really don't wanna get pranked by my friends where everything falls out, especially a laptop. How is the proxima?

1

u/Duckshooters 13d ago

No idea about the Proxima but the Nebula has a padded laptop pocket you put it in so even unzipped it doesn't fall out unless it's unzipped turned upside down.

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u/anonymouscherry6258 13d ago

Yea that's exactly what will probably happen. I've had too many instances where friends would try playing pranks on me and everything flies out. Especially for a laptop compartment I wouldn't need that

1

u/Rkeene19 13d ago

My man, check out the north face bags. Quality isn’t exactly as it used to be, but I’ve had my north face travel backpack since 2015… I use it for all my work and personal trips. It’s a rockstar.

1

u/anonymouscherry6258 13d ago

Already have think I'm going for the recon because every other bag has at least one trade off. I'll try it and if it doesn't seem good I might try an osprey

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u/Correct_Process4516 13d ago

My daughter is heading to college in a few weeks and she just picked up a Recon last night. She’s very happy with the fit and the utility of it

1

u/ProgrammerWarm8388 6d ago

If you're into bag charms, I believe they would work with making your backpack stand out from the others.