LIKES: well-padded harness with sternum strap, external water bottle pockets, spacious main compartment, useful admin/laptop pocket In fact, bc of the material it retains it's shape really well which does lead it to be 'fully expanded' at all times so it can look both bulky yet streamlined bc it doesn't really have any pockets/accessories that just jut out randomly (it's got a pretty smooth silhouette). That being said, when I had the main compartment filled, it did feel like it was a little harder to slide a water bottle in. The watery bottle pockets are a nice touch and they can hold my 24oz water bottle without an issue. I could probably more fully pack out the cube too. I could fit a medium size packing cube, toiletry bag, tech pouch, and travel towel into the main compartment with a good amount of room to spare (probably 20-25% space left). The vent holes for the shoe pocket are made of hypalon and although I hear it's supposed to be strong, I still worry if they could potentially get worn away and rip just b/c it's at the bottom of the bag. Thankfully the lid has a little sleeve that you can stash the pocket into when you're not using it which saves some space in the main compartment. It's not bad by any means I just dont find them useful. I've never really cared for the shoe compartments of any bags, and this is no exception.

This bag was definitely made for loose clothing so I might have to adjust how I pack with it a little. Also, the packing cube I used was just stuffed with a towel in it so it wasn't nearly as dense as what I'd usually pack so it may be even harder to stuff a packing cube when it's truly crammed full.

Not a problem if you have soft clothes like T-shirts and workout clothes, but it would probably cause things like dress shirts/pants to wrinkle. It fits with room to spare when you get it in there, but it takes some mashing to fit it. That makes sliding in a medium size packing cube kinda tricky. However, the zipper line is actually a little on the shorter side so when you unzip it, the bag doesn't open as wide as you'd expect. All the review videos made it seem pretty big, and it sort of is at least depth-wise (it's about 6in deep). The main compartment itself is both more and less spacious than I thought. It's tight and you probably cant fit much else in there, but that at least gives you an idea of how much volume is really in there. When the main compartment is not packed out, you actually have just enough depth to fit like a 1.5in textbook-size book in there. The admin area has a couple of nice pockets that'll come in handy. Speaking of the laptop sleeve, I think it is just slightly elevated off the base of the bag so that'll offer some protection, though I'll probably have to remind myself not to drop it on the floor too quickly just to make sure. Hope this is just bc the bag was packed away for awhile and that it'll 'deflate' once it airs out. The zippers for the main duffel opening are still pretty sticky hopefully they'll loosen up some with useДЄt the 'corners' of the zipper line of the admin/laptop compartment, the zippers sort of snag at some of the inner lining. Shoulder straps have some elastic keepers to keep the trailing straps nice and oragnized which was a nice feature Shoulder straps are pretty beefy with a lot of padding The description of the bag had a lot of the things I was looking for: <45cm/18in length and small enough to double as an EDC bag while being big enough to hold at least 4-5 days worth of clothes, external water bottle pockets, sternum strap, quick access pocket, laptop sleeve with some organization pockets Here are a couple quick impressions with some photos. Finally think I've found my replacement with the Aer Fit Pack 3. Went through a bunch of reviews and a couple catch and releases in that time period. In preparation for that, I started looking for a new travel backpack since I sold off a bunch of bags during the past year. In any case, I'm finally going to be visiting some family at the end of the month after I finally get vaccinated. Except for my interstate move last summer, I haven't been out of town since before lockdowns started. It's been a long year being grounded thanks to the pandemic.

Aer fit pack review