New Era Rucksack $85

neweracap.com

The Good: Slim profile, with plenty of storage room

The Bad: Not enough pockets to stash small items meant digging deep to find my ringing iPhone

The Awesome: Urban style, plenty of room, and fast access points

We all have a bag that seems to come along on most adventures.  Full of books and a laptop during the day, then out on the beach with brews and a jacket after hours. The New Era Rucksack is one of those universal packs - with plenty of storage space and few exterior frills to snag every branch and hook that you pass by, the bag tagged along to work, on hikes, and almost anywhere else I wandered for a few weeks. In the end, I noticed all of my other packs had migrated into my closet gathering dust.

The rucksack easily carried my laptop, 5″ of paperwork and magazines, and every piece of tech I could find with room to spare. The large interior compartments make the pack’s contents easy to access, but it would be nice to have a few additional slots within the pockets to keep little items from getting lost in the bottom of the bag.

The Rucksack has a large cinch top main pocket, separate laptop sleeve with top and side access, a quick access side pocket and a large flip top compartment with a removable cap protector. The wide padded straps hold the bag close for a comfortable load distribution. There is no hip belt, so the load does stay on the shoulders, but for the size of this bag excessive weight shouldn’t be a problem. The back of the bag has strap loops for securing extra gear for a longer trek, but they stay flat and streamlined when not in use.

This bag is ideal for the urban commuter who spends their free time exploring the local terrain. While this won’t replace your dedicated hiking packs for wilderness play, be ready to put your other daypacks in storage.