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Standard Luggage Laptop Backpack Review
Cost: $119
Capacity: 18 liters
Dimensions: 17.5 x 13 x 6″ (45 x 33 x 15 cm)
Style: Laptop Daypack
Weight: 2.2 lbs (1.0 kg)
Laptop: 15” laptop & 10” tablet
Materials: 310D nylon, all YKK hardware
Origin: Manufactured in China, designed in Canada
I’ve been carrying the same worn-out daypack for years. It’s a school-style bag I’ve been carrying since college, and it’s seen better days. So when I started testing the Standard Daily Bag, it took some getting-used-to. The style is completely different than anything I’ve used before.
Designed with lots of interior padding to protect expensive photography and laptops, the Daily Backpack is a great option for tech-savvy travelers. However, if you’re not carrying a ton of electronics, the padding takes up a large amount of room in the main compartment.
Materials, Colors, and Size
Material and Aesthetics
I’ve already gotten several compliments on my Daily Backpack “Oh that’s nice, what kind of bag is that” being the most common. The light heather grey accents the shiny black color nicely. It’s a really sleek, stylish looking bag. And the firm rectangular design and small size of this bag help keep its shape, even when empty.
For the material, Standard Luggage went with a lighter weight 310D nylon with a polyurethane (PU) coating. It’s not as robust as ballistic nylon, but that would be overkill and heavy much heavier. A medium weight nylon is a good choice for a daypack like this. It’s durable, lightweight and water resistant, but not water-proof. They offer an included rain cover to keep your electronics protected in downpours.
Zippers and Hardware
The Daily Backpack is adorned with a full suite of YKK hardware, which is commonly regarded as the highest quality available. All of the zippers are a standard #5’s, with locking zippers on both the front and main compartments. The front accessory pouch has a waterproof zipper. The buckles, adjustors, and straps are all top quality and well manufactured.
The zippers all work great, with one exception. Because the fabric is stiff, the zippers on the main pocket tend to get caught up when rounding the corners. They are also difficult to close when the bag is over-packed. If you have too much gear in this backpack, you will have to fight the zipper to get it shut. A slightly larger #8 on the main compartment would solve this problem.
Size and Color
At 18 liters, the Daily Backpack is the perfect size as a daypack, but it’s a bit on the small side if you wanted to use it as your only travel bag. The rigid design and stiff fabric help the Daily keep its shape. The bag is kind of squarish, and will keep this same shape even when not fully packed.
External Components
External Organization
Organization is the key to the Daily Backpacks functionality. Inside every pocket are more internal pockets for storing small items. It’s great if you like organization and pockets like I do. The main front pocket has a large padded sleeve big enough for a book or a tablet. You will also find several large mesh zippered pockets, two more sleeves for phone or passport and several pen/pencil holders.
The other side of the exterior USB port runs into the front compartment. Store your external battery inside the bag, and connect your phone through the outside. This is a great feature if you use it, but I admit I’ve never actually owned a bag with a tech port, so I’m not used to using one.
There are three more additional small exterior pockets. A small top pocket, front slash pocket, and a hidden zippered pocket on the bottom of the bag for storing the rain cover. The front pocket has a water resistant zipper, and is about the right size for a cell phone or passport.
The small top pocket is useful for storing small items, keys, change, lip balm etc., but it’s not quite big enough for most larger smart phones (unless you’re sporting an old school Nokia). It’s RFID protected, but as these articles outline (read here, and here) you probably don’t need RFID protection anyway. Most credit cards don’t carry this technology, so there are very few items you actually need to store in an RFID pocket.
Water Bottle Pocket
Coffee anyone? The collapsible water bottle I use easily fits inside the backpack, so I mostly use the Daily’s external water bottle pocket to carry my coffee mug. It works perfectly for this. They use a similar style to the Carry On Backpack, an expandable stretchy mesh sleeve that collapses when not in use. The grey heather fabric conceals the pocket, giving the bag a sleek look when you close the zippered expansion pocket.
The eternal question that inevitably gets asked about water bottle pockets is “how big is the pocket.” Its hard to show in photos, so I like to use several different common sizes of bottles to demonstrate. Here my slim 16oz coffee thermos, and 27 oz water bottle fit just fine. The larger 1L Nalgene style water bottle however, is much too large for this pocket. If you don’t carry a water bottle, it’s the perfect size for a travel umbrella!
Carry Options
One of my favorite things about the full-size Standard Luggage Carry On Backpack is the carry options. And Standard shows just as much attention to comfort and detail in the Daily Backpack. It offers well-padded comfortable backpack straps, a nice (included!) shoulder sling, and two comfy side carry handles.
The good news is these carry options are actually all comfortable. The side and top carry handles are so well padded, you will actually want to use them to carry the bag. The backpack straps are well padded, with back mesh ventilation, and the shoulder sling is made from a comfy neoprene material and works perfectly.
Interior Components and Design
Interior Organization
There are a large amount of padded compartments in the main pocket. Two padded sleeves hold up to a 15” laptop and 10” tablet simultaneously, while two additional padded pockets can hold a camera, lens, or laptop cord. The downside? The padded sleeves that protect your expensive electronics will take up a ton of room in the main compartment if you’re not using them.
The Standard Daily Backpack does a great job with organizing your electronics. But I wondered, if you’re fully loaded with tech gear, how much room is left for the rest of your stuff? The lay-flat design helps you here. With your laptop and tablet out of the way in the back sleeve, you can easily open the bag completely in a clamshell style.
I have a giant 4 year old Toshiba laptop (can you tell I’m not a digital nomad?) It’s nowhere near as sleek as the miniscule Dell XPS 13, but not everybody has one of these. When I pack the bag full of tech; laptop, charge cord, camera, lens and charger, there isn’t room for much else.
The Camera Sleeve
As a main selling point of this bag, the camera sleeve warrants more attention. Standard advertises it is able to hold a camera and a lens in these padded sleeves. This is true, it does hold them, but a DSLR or mirrorless camera will only fit with the lens removed. My smallish Canon M50 with the kit 15-45mm lens doesn’t fit in the pocket. I’m not a huge fan of going lensless in an open backpack. The camera is more difficult to use quickly, and one mishap with the plastic cover and your camera can be damaged.
Summary
Overall this is a smart, stylish tech-friendly daypack. The large amount of organization and interior padding makes it a great option for protecting your expensive electronic and photography gear. However, if you’re not carrying a ton of tech, this padding takes up a large amount of room in the main compartment. The bag is easy to pack and comfortable to carry, but the main zipper tends to get caught up on the corners.
Best Features
- Durable water-resistant construction
- Hide-away backpack straps
- Included shoulder sling and rain cover
- Lay flat opening is easy to pack
Worst Features
- Zipper on main pocket is stiff
- Reduced capacity when not carrying laptop
- Camera lens pocket must be used with lens removed
- Organization style takes getting-used-to
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