When we last spoke I was searching for a new bag (or everyday carry or EDC) to handle my commute to work. While I primarily drove to work back then I also needed a bag that would handle client trips. The bag that won was the Topo Designs Y-Pack – a very simple, not-too-large bag. The Y-Pack, at that time, cost me a whopping $57.00.
Coming up on eight years later – eight years! – things are a bit different. I never commute to an office; my home office is my office. And while as of the writing of the start of this post I still owned and used the Y-Pack, after this long a time its mild negative qualities have worn on me. Truth be told, eight years is a great run for anything of this nature – it was used full-time daily for four of those eight years – but my needs have now changed.
Let’s talk about the Y-Pack for a moment in this context. This is an OG Topo Y-Pack, with no external water bottle pockets. It’s a big flap pocket on top, and outside of a laptop area inside, just a big space in the main compartment. No comfy straps, no suspended laptop space, no organization, no frame, no frills. That’s it! Early on while using it I kept with the “bags in bags” model that works for so many people only to find that I really got tired of it.
The size of the bag is still pretty great. It’s not a monster and fits very easily under an airplane seat. (Getting it out from the seat is a little hard – the top handle often gets smooshed underneath, so it’s a tough stretch for me to access the bag during a flight without using my foot to slide the bag out first.)
One thing that is critical about this bag, and one major reason I’m looking for a replacement: the straps. They are very cool, in the style of old-fashioned seatbelt straps, but they offer no support at all. (The current Y-Pack does have padded straps.) I had moved to a backpack to help out my shoulders in the first place and while the form of a backpack is totally what I need to stick with, I need something that has a little more give and softness. The handle atop it is also pretty uncomfortable as it, too, is just a simple strap with no padding; when I have even a light load in this, that strap hurts my hand.
In my last update post, I had noted the professionalism factor. The Y-Pack is absolutely not a professional bag in the bright turquoise color I have; it is a casual one. I strutted in that post a bit with a “I can rock it” attitude and, listen, I certainly can – but I am wanting something that can go both ways. A solid color, but a unique one, that is a bit more muted is in my current style wheelhouse.
The overall state of the bag is good. It is showing wear in a few places, and a stitch in the bottom of the laptop compartment is coming undone. There are a few small stains on the outer fabric that haven’t come off with (basic) cleaning, and the fabric around the main cinch cord is looking a bit ratty. Still the value of this bag, especially at its purchase price, is ridiculous. It’s well-made and gives me confidence in Topo's stuff.
A couple of my prior bags – the Timbuk2 Eula and Blogger 2.0 – are still completely usable, but don’t align with what I need these days. The Eula is a purse, good for when I don’t need a computer and just want to have a notebook and a lunch, or random things. The Blogger is on reserve as a standby backpack but I haven’t used it in a decade now; it’s partially the form factor and partially the color/aesthetic. Kudos to Timbuk2 from the 2000s for making good stuff.
Fine Tuning the Needs
Nowadays I need a laptop bag primarily for airport and similar travel. I’m traveling more than I did in the past, so a bag needs to be comfortable and manageable for walking around the concourse and hopping through TSA & customs. When I am local and head out to work at a coffee shop or coworking space, the bag still needs to do its job – but utility will be more important there. And of course it needs a presence at client meetings and workshops as well.
My loadout is much smaller than it was back in 2016, accordingly. My typical carry includes my 14” MBP, headphones, notebook, a book or two, pens, sundries, power bricks & cables, and a slim Kleen Kanteen water bottle. I may toss in a knit cap or a scarf and some snacks but nothing physically large. I am not a terribly tall person so having a backpack that is large (either tall or deep or both) is not great for a lot of reasons. And, well, weight is important too. My shoulders should only get cooked when I’m lifting weights. A bag needs to go easy on me, and not be heavy or overwrought on its own.
I do want some structure and not a floppy thing. Organization is now important to me; I like a bag that has some spots for things. I definitely need exterior water bottle access or something similarly fast. I also want a minimum of fuss to get into the main area (especially the laptop area) of the bag. The cinch drawstring of the Y-Pack is certainly not bad, and it is fast, but it is not terribly elegant.
Lastly it’d be nice if a bag could go on top of a carry-on’s handles but I’m largely on Team Always Check a Bag these days so this is less of a concern.
As far as budget goes, I’m planning to stay well south of $300, but $200 is far more comfortable and anything less is a bonus. Price is a factor, obviously, but I will admit I mostly want to be *done* buying bags. If this thing lasts 20 years I’ll be thrilled.
Contenders: The Brands
First, yes, I looked at a mix of brands without trying to get too wild. Mystery Ranch was probably the name I saw the most whose bags just didn’t hit with me. Timbuk2’s quality, as I understand it, did not stay the same in the past decade or so. Peak Design has lovely stuff but universally people said their bags were heavy. There are others but, again, I wanted to dig into this but not spend months in analysis.
I had originally gravitated towards Tom Bihn due to their reputation for quality, thoughtful goods that last forever. Tom Bihn recently got an investment round (Tom retired) so I had a small concern that the quality and the like could take a hit; based on reviews it’s unclear if that’s the case. The aesthetic of Bihn is a little busy and doesn’t play to fashion at all, but they offer some great colorways and I’m certainly not mad about that. However, the Synik and Synapse models I looked at ranged from $250 to $350, and the requirement to buy a laptop holster for several models ($50, and out of stock lately) just wasn’t great to think about. I set aside Bihn for the time being.
Evergoods is a little shop out of Bozeman that I caught wind of on a Tom Bihn forum. They have a limited line of products but are well known in the nerdier portions of the EDC and bag communities. I like a lot of their things and like that they’re a small company, designing and making things very carefully. Their product line for backpacks is very limited so it’s a “love it or leave it” type of offering. Everything comes in black, with an occasional second color. Some of their collabs have beautiful waxed canvas fabrics and colorways but aren’t returnable, and run way more expensive than the standard options.
Aer is another brand clearly going for the post-hipster tech aesthetic – simple, clean, understated looks. They have a nice variety of bags that look very high-quality and completely professional. The company itself is small, so you can sense a theme here, but there are zero names on their About page (with only four peeps on LinkedIn) and that makes it feel like a plug-and-play startup that could be gone after a bad quarter or two. That gives me a little pause. Colorways are sad and depressing – I’d look for something that’s olive or grey versus black.
Lastly, Topo is still very much in the mix! They’re a local company and obviously I can check out their bags easily in person at their flagship. There’s a joy and spirit in their stuff that makes me happy and that’s not worth nothing. They have a couple of offerings that lean a bit more subtle.
Contender 1: Topo Rover Pack Tech (RPT)
So yes, I first went to Topo’s flagship and checked things out. Topo’s entry in this category is the Rover Pack Tech. Based on the Rover Pack, this includes a bit more cushioning for a laptop - and both an internal laptop spot as well as an externally-accessible sleeve. The build quality of the RPT is very good, and this is the most subtle Topo bag design yet – everything is monochrome, down to the zipper pulls and drawstring. The only exception is the liner, which remains a daylight florescent yellow. The design is definitely not minimalist; there are a lot of buckles and straps and loops on this thing and I felt decidedly mixed about that.
The bag is stiffer and more structured than my Y-Pack. The RPT is several inches taller than the Y-Pack but not wider – this is a big rectangle. There’s a flap (with a pocket) secured by two buckles, and the top is a drawstring cincher just like the Y-Pack. Straps are nice and thick. There’s an external water bottle spot on either side, and both fit my Kleen Kanteen (but it’s snug.) When wearing it, this bag feels fine. When loaded with my regular stuff it’s not terrible. It sits higher up on the shoulders for me than the Y-Pack does. Loosening a strap and sliding it around to my front is a no go here, so accessing things quickly really isn’t an option.
I struggled with the RPT. The buckle & drawstring keeps things much more secure, but the fabric itself that cinches is far more sturdy and thick than that of the Y-Pack. This makes loud and crinkly in a not-good way. Second, the RPT remains a “you’ve got a big space, have fun” type of bag, so it doesn’t quite provide enough organization. The height of the interior is also pretty tall, honestly, and accessing stuff in it – already a struggle in the Y-Pack – is worse in the RPT.
The overall feel and quality of the RPT is there, but for what I need it’s not quite a fit. At the time of writing, Topo Designs had a few colorways on a deep discount ($65), but even at that price, I feel I’d be compromising too much.
Contender 2: Evergoods Panel Loader Classic (PLC) 20L
I appreciate that Evergoods offers the PLC in sage green. It’s a really nice color – almost green-grey – and it stands out really nicely against the sea of boring bags out there. The overall look of the PLC is understated: just a big front pocket, a little easy-access top pocket, and the main clamshell area. There’s a laptop spot and a couple of interior pockets, for various & sundry. I really like the look of the PLC and the quality and handfeel of the whole thing is just exceptional.
My challenge with the PLC was, well, the fact that the Civic Half Zip exists. It’s been a minute since I had a full clamshell setup and I have to say that it’s not really my favorite. I really do love the organizational spots built in to the PLC – there’s a laptop sleeve, as noted, along with a spot for a notebook and a pen right in front of that. Unfortunately, and very very sadly, my Appointed notebook of choice is just too big for this spot! And no, this model of bag doesn’t have an exterior water bottle pocket. I lived without it for a long time and the PLC helped me verify that yes, I’m done with that and I definitely want a pocket.
Wearing the bag was good, but it was almost a touch too small looking on my frame (and I’m not a tall person) and it was ever so slightly less comfortable when compared to the CHZ. I would hazard to say that if the PLC was slightly larger and had an outer pocket I’d strongly consider it in part due to the color and versatility. But thankfully, Evergoods has another few options, and I came to really like one of them. The PLC is a charmer but not quite the answer for me.
Contender 3: Evergoods Civic Half Zip (CHZ) 22L
That leads me to the CHZ. This is a really lovely bag. I first tried it in black – yawn – but it nails the understated aesthetic that Evergoods clearly has locked up. As the name implies the main compartment of the CHZ zips, uh, halfway down the bag so the front just flaps open. And honestly? It’s a pretty great way to access things. The exterior has a top pocket (it’s bigger than on the PLC – this is where I’ll pop my pocket contents when going through security), and two water bottle pockets. That’s all she wrote. The main compartment has two more zipper pockets, along with the laptop spot. Pretty simple stuff, but there’s enough in terms of pockets to make me question my need for any separate little bags and that is a very good thing.
The size of the CHZ is noticeably “just a bit” more than the PLC which makes sense on paper, but I noticed it most when doing a trial loadout. The CHZ simply has a bit more room to tuck things in, and I can more easily see using the half-zip when keeping this under an airplane seat. Honestly, too, the water bottle holders are something I really missed. I can’t quite access them when wearing it – a trick I could pull off with my old Blogger and its single strap – but swiping the CHZ off to access it is pretty simple. The zippers, both interior & exterior, are of course top-notch; I felt like they were just a bit smoother on the CHZ versus the PLC out of the box. When wearing this bag it also feels a bit better on my shoulders than the PLC, as if things are better distributed. The handles atop this and the PLC are both beefy and very good.
The handfeel and quality of the CHZ are exceptional. This (along with the PLC) feels and looks like a really quality product. The CHZ isn’t soft but it sits in that “not rough but tough” spot. I would extend this to say that it felt like the PLC would need “breaking in”, and – for some reason – I don’t see that being the case with the CHZ. It feels like it’s just ready to go.
I’m honestly wondering if I could go with the limited edition Burnt Orange color, though. Orange is a real commitment, but it looks incredible in photos. Honestly though, when I’m already past “yeah, this is the bag” and just thinking colorways, I think I’ve got my new pick.
The CHZ22 in Action: Initial Thoughts
I went with Burnt Orange. Late in 2023 Evergoods had a closeout sale on this color so I had less to lose at a very reasonable $129. It’s an uncommon, great color. Shortly thereafter the bag came with me on a couple of work trips. Here are my observations.
The half-zip format is dope. I love it. When in a chair, the front flap can just kind of be open and it’s no big deal; things are highly accessible.
Fits under an airline seat no problem.
The top compartment is perfectly sized. It’s smaller than the Y-Pack’s, but – you know – less stuff is less clutter.
As noted by many, putting stuff in that top compartment does mean the laptop sits “under” what’s in there. That means a slight adjustment is needed to get a laptop in and out. This is not a big deal at the moment.
The inner mesh pocket is fucking tiny and shallow, but good for a power brick and a couple cables and no more. (I was able to get a MacBook Pro brick, a tiny Anker USB-C brick, and a couple cables in there.)
Water bottle pockets are excellent and make it easy to get a bottle in and out – one-handed, even for putting back in.
My standard move to get the bag off is to just loosen the shoulder strap ripcords. Easy and quick.
When the bag isn’t completely stuffed, the items in the top pockets can kinda hang out over what’s in the bottom, causing a “waist” in the middle. (You can see it in the photo up just a bit.) This isn’t a big deal to me, but it sure could be to some.
Great weight distribution with the straps and sternum strap. My shoulders felt fine after hours of use.
Two tiny QC concerns I’ll watch. First, the zipper for the top compartment looks like it’s “pulling” towards the zippers for the main compartment. This doesn’t affect usage, but it looks a little strained. Second, the main compartment zippers do stick just a bit. I’ll drop Evergoods a note on this if things go awry.
The color is fantastic and unique. Super glad I went with it over black.
All told, the CHZ is an amazing bag and I think it’s a fantastic travel companion. (As of this writing, the orange CHZ22 is still on sale for $129 – but I expect quantities to be limited.)