A slim styled pack for commuting essentials.
Smooth Sailing
The Vancouver Day Pack by North St. Bags looks and feels simple; it has a clean, compact, compelling design, and there is absolutely no fuss involved with packing it for any outing. Because I’m not as organized as I want to be, I often wear-test and field-test certain items without reading about them. I just pick them up, throw them on, and head out the door.
The first thing I noticed about the Vancouver Day Pack by North St. Bags was the yellow contrast fabric on the inside of the black pack that makes it easy to locate where my gear goes. First, my 13” MacBook Pro fits into the black sleeve located on the back of the pack. Next, my wallet, pens, and iPhone go into the zippered pocket located on the of the front of the pack’s inside cover. The pocket is easy to find because the zipper is black, the pocket is yellow, and the zipper pull is bright red. Inside the pocket there is a black clip for my keys!
Before I close the Vancouver Day Pack with its wrap-around zipper that is coated to provide water resistance, I put a notebook and a sweatshirt into the main compartment. Sometimes I add my laptop stand, too. I like that there are two zipper pulls on this pack because it allows me to unzip only the top of the bag if I just want to retrieve a single item without opening the entire compartment. Black nylon cords extend the zipper pulls about an inch, making them simple to find and grasp. (Photos are from North St Bags site, except for the view of the inside of the pocket.)
Sustainable and Functional
Made out of waterproof recycled EcoPak sailcloth, the sleek bag initially looks a bit stiff compared to the some of my old-school woven nylon material packs, but it is highly durable and has held up well to repeated use. It’s also an incredibly lightweight material. The entire pack weighs just a smudge over 16 ounces.
The slimness is carried through in the Vancouver Day Pack’s straps, too. They are curved to better contour to my body, nice and wide to distribute the weight when carrying, very lightly padded, and quite lightweight and flexible. They also have an adjustable chest strap. I rarely use the chest strap because I am often in a rush, but when I have to traverse any distance I am quite happy to use it to keep the pack from moving around. Options are always appreciated.
One of the design features I really notice with the Vancouver Day Pack is how well constructed it is. All of the seams, inside and out, are covered in tough nylon bindings with top stitching. The straps have nylon binding on the edges, and even the inch-wide strap ends from the shoulder straps are wrapped around D rings, preventing the strap ends from fraying and giving me more options for securing those straps when not in use. There’s also an inch-and-a-half wide nylon strap on the back of the pack that allows me to slide my Vancouver Day Pack onto my suitcase handle. The back of the pack has very thin mesh padding.
Another feature I love about this pack: flexibility. There are three removable pockets, sold as accessories for $20 each, that help make the Vancouver Day Pack even more organized: a zippered organizer pocket with flat organizer sleeves on front, a zippered pocket with a clear plastic cover, and an organizer pocket made out of EcoPak. All of the pockets are 9” wide and 10.5” long, and they attach securely to the inside back panel of the pack with two inch-and-a-half wide parallel Velcro strips. Easy and fast to use and to remove. You can only use one pocket at a time, and North St. Bags also sells shorter pockets if you want to have two smaller pockets instead of one large pocket.
I tested the regular zippered pocket, and used it for my MacBook Pro power cord, my iPhone charging cord, my inhaler, and anything else I need to stash, sometimes including a small roll of tape and a stack of note cards.
There are two sturdy nylon straps on the front of the Vancouver Day Pack that allow me to attach items to the outside of the pack if I want to—like my travel blanket, which I always take with me.
Finally, my favorite feature: double handles on the top of the pack. I am always late, so I am always grabbing my bag and rushing out the door. Having a handles on both the front and back of the pack makes it so much easier to carry when I’m in a hurry. Instead of the weight of the bag leaning to one side, it carries like a tote bag. It is a small thing, but to me, it really makes a difference.
Versatility
I’ve been using the Vancouver Day Pack for daily outings and errands around town, often transporting my laptop and sometimes stuffing it with items I’m returning to stores from late-night online shopping mistakes. It’s just the right size for a few folders and a notebook, and it could easily be an overnight bag, too. The pack comes in three colors; I tested a black one. I always prefer black because I go from urban settings to travel settings to trails. I need a pack I can wipe clean and wear to a meeting. What the pack lacks in padding it makes up for in ease and speed of use. I think of the Vancouver Day Packs as my “fast packing” pack for the city.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t notice the ingenious hidden water bottle sleeve on the front of the pack until about the fourth time I used it. Then again, I love a surprise. The fabric lies so flat against the front of the pack that I didn’t notice it until the pack was a bit crumpled, revealing the yellow contrast fabric on the inside of the sleeve. Such a better place for a water bottle than on the side of the pack. (Check back in a few days to ready about the nifty “I can use it with one hand” water bottle I have also been testing.)
Related: Click here to read our review of North St. Bags’ LTD Upcycled Pioneer 8 Hip Pack.
Details
Available in three colors: Black, Coyote, Kelp.
Size: 16” tall x 10” wide x 5” deep; 13 L (800 cu in), weights just a smidge over a pound.
Bottom Line
I really like the Vancouver Day Pack’s low-profile design because I’m not tempted to overpack it. Everything has its place, and that’s all I need. Also, I live in the rainy Pacific Northwest, so I appreciate having a bag that is fairly impervious to the weather, keeping my laptop safe.
Manufacturer: https://northstbags.com