the only place on the internet to bring 10 minutes of zipper vitriol! You are the best in the business and an essential part of the bag community. Thank you for all you do to keep us well informed and entertained.
Thanks again, for another great review, Mountain 🙌🏻 So glad I’ve pulled the trigger last night and went with the Able Carry Max EDC instead of this Bellroy backpack (in the 28l version). Oh man, although I think Bellroy produces some of the best slings in the game, somehow their backpacks regularly seem to miss important features or come with weird design choices (like with this one, not providing enough own volume for some of the pockets, or not having a side handle to operate the backpack when using the luggage pass-through feature 😐 Furthermore, after having been EDCing the Aer Capsule 35l backpack for a while now, I am tired of aqua guard zippers and prefer smoother to operate reverse coil zippers and simply use a light rain cover instead (should it be raining heavily) … 💁🏼♂️ Keep up the good work ✌🏻
My pleasure - I'm glad you found this video useful! And I hear you - I also think that Bellroy does some of the best slings out there but have had a more mixed experience with their backpacks - some really solid winners (the OG v1 Transit bags are still some of my favourites) but many others have - as you aptly put it - some weird design choices. That said, they have such a prolific output of new products that I have to admire their willingness to experiment even if not all their bags hit the target. Regarding aqua guard zippers - IIRC the zippers on the Aer Capsule in particular are quite frictionful due to the large duffel style opening and the way you have to kind of fight the zippers around the curve (it's been a while since I reviewed that one so I don't fully remember). But I hear you - I go through ups and downs when it comes to my preferences on water resistant zippers. Undoubtedly they are more frictionful than regular zippers but depending on how they are implemented in a particular design this can range from "slightly more frictionful but worth it for the improved aesthetics (depending on bag) and marginal improvement in water resistance" to "BLEEP this zipper man" 😂 I find myself generally more tolerant of them in travel style bags and less tolerant of them in EDC bags and especially in hiking/photography bags (where the last thing I want is to be fighting zippers multiple times a day just to get my stuff) That said - you've been EDC-ing the Aer capsule 35l!? Impressive! What do you carry on an EDC basis in the big main compartment?
@ Thanks for your reply, Mountain. I appreciate it 🙌🏻 Yeah, believe it or not, have been rocking the Aer Capsule as my main EDC bag for quite a while now. After I had watched your review back then, I decided to give it a try (although I had been warned about these aqua guard zippers). It’s a great back for transitioning between kinder garden and office/commute. I use the large main compartment mainly for kids cloths/stuff on my morning commute to the office and then for groceries on my way back home. The coolest thing about that bag is that it doesn’t collapse when not fully loaded. Always keeps its shape 👍🏻 Only downfalls are the lack of an additional front dump pocket and the friction when pulling these aqua guard zippers. That’s why I have big expectations for the Abble Carry Max EDC. 🥳
This was an update I had great expectations. The original design is so good that I was curious how they would improve it. I guess they couldn't really improve it. They have changed it in a way that it is another bag.
Thank you so much!! The Transit 28 travel pack is still one of my favorite goldilocks one bag travel bags - I definitely will do a review on that one of these days - added it to the queue! And the Aer Go Pack 2 is probably one of the most full-featured quasi-packable bags on the market (I say quasi packable because all those features come at the expense of size and bulk) - in general packable bags is a category I haven't done many reviews on yet so I should definitely do that as well :)
Nice detailed review. The refresh of Bellroy transit line was major disappointment for me. All they had to do was to give the transit work pack the back system from the 28L transit backpack and maybe change one of the side pockets to an external water bottle pocket. Job done. Instead we got these... Not sure why but all these new Bellroy backpacks including the Venture travel pack look kinda crooked to me when packed and worn on the back. Maybe its the new external gussets for the side pockets or the new material. Not sure, but something is off.
Also Bellroy don’t clarify how many deniers their nylon or polyester are. Just some fancy names and recycled stuff etc, but no technical details. I like the design of the Workpack Pro but yeah, it‘s look too saggy and their improvements are kinda downgrades. I wish, Mountain should review the Heimplanet Transit Line Daypack 24. A backpack with certain organization and enough space as a weekend travel backpack.
I have the first ver. of the Transit workpack. The shoulder straps is reall thin, so when it is load out, the thin straps sink into the shoulders causing pain and discomfort. Probably why it is now thicker. But i much prefers the 2 side pockets of the ver. 1 bag ove the newer ver.
Definitely - the v1 Transit Workpack was (and still is) a stalwart EDC classic for me for a long time - in general I'm a fan of the (non-pro) series of Transit bags - they are just so performant and look sharp enough for the office, as you mentioned.
I own several of them (in different colours/sizes) and generally speaking I am satisfied with them for indoor and light EDC use (depending on the lid type). Good points (in my opinion, in no particular order) * Wide variety of aesthetically pleasing colours * I personally like the design and aesthetics * Nice materials choice which have held up well over the years. * Variety of sizes and also different lid types, allowing for different types of mix and match for preferences/use case * Wide bottle mouth opening makes cleaning comparatively easier than some narrow type competitors * Over the years I haven't ever really detected any aftertaste (metallic or else residue from previous drinks etc) - as far as I can tell, this seems to live up to the marketing claims * I haven't explicitly measured, but I've generally been satisfied with the insulating properties of the bottles - informally seems at least on par with Hydroflask. Less good points * Minor nitpick depending on where one lives - while there are a variety of sizes, they're designed according to US (Imperial) units which makes them less convenient for most people using metric units (i.e. the largest size is about 930 ml instead of a round 1 liter, the middle size is an oddball 532ml etc.) * While not the heaviest or most expensive bottles out there, these are still pretty heavy and relatively pricey - there are definitely many other options in this general space that are lighter/less expensive or both and still just about as generally performant. * I wish there were more lid options - there's only three and of them, only the Element top is really suitable for EDC carry in my opinion since the other two leak relatively easily if inverted. Also, I wish there were a lid option with an internal straw (similar to what Hydroflask offers) which would allow for drinking without inverting the bottle when most of the contents are gone. So overall, I like them but mainly have gone with them because I like the design and appearance and generally am willing to pay a premium for aesthetics/colours. However, there are a lot of other water bottles in this space that are very competitive and which might be worth a look. Based on my experience, I believe their marketing hype of the internal lining not really leaving any aftertaste in the contents of the bottle - I've never detected any metallic taste and often drink a mix of water / coffee / tea out of a given bottle (not all at once of course haha) and don't have any issues with cross contamination of taste (though I wash the bottle out after every use). Also, I noticed that tea/coffee don't really seem to stain the inside of the bottles as much as happens with my Hydroflask bottles.
@@TheMountainborn thank you! That is incredibly useful, I'll have to pick one up soon. I've got a discontinued Stanley titanium bottle which made similar claims but there's definitely taste transfer and staining. I also love that Purist offer the "bare" finish, no paint to chip off!
Thanks for the review as always! I'm thinking on getting the 28L version for short travels. I hope that that version will deal with most of the problems you had on the 22 version (and hope that the side zipper is just that you got a lemon 😅) . Considering that the reasons that I'm buying it is its low weight (reason why I gave up on something like an aer travel pack) and that it looks decent for business travel, is there any other alternative that you think should be worth checking out?
My pleasure - I'm glad you found the review helpful! Regarding your question - yeah one of the problems I've had is that there's not that many travel bags I've found that are both useful and comfortable for travel and also look suitable enough for a wide range of "business" type travel (with the caveat that there is a broad range of things that can constitute business appropriate ranging from "wear a suit everyday" to "as long as you're not wearing shorts and open toed sandals anything goes" so I generally interpret business travel to mean something somewhere in the middle-ish). That said, if you're looking for a travel bag and you like the aesthetics and light weight of the Transit Workpack Pro 28L - I was originally going to suggest the original 28L Transit travel pack (which is one of the bags I showed in the "also consider" section I think) but I just checked and seemed like that is no longer available on the Bellroy site which is disappointing (it was there when I made this video). If you are able to find one at a third party retailer still then definitely consider it - it is a superior solution for travel and is still one of my favorite one bag travel/light edc use bags. Speaking of bags called Transit, the confusingly identically named but totally different Heimplanet Transit Travel bag 28L (by Heimplanet) should also work in many work contexts (at least in the black colourway) - I believe I did a review of this bag a while back. The downside is that it's slightly heavier than the 28L Bellroy Workpack pro. If you have the money and can find it in stock (he restocks only periodically and they tend to sell out right away) - the Rofmia Shift Daypack V2L (30L) is both sharp looking and extremely lightweight (around 950ish grams if I recall) . I know you mentioned that the Aer bags are pretty heavy - which they are - but if you can fit your stuff into a (largeish) 24L rather than 28L then the Aer City Pack Pro Ultra is an EDC pack that is lighter than the Bellroy Workpack pro but can still handle short trips decently assuming a tightly dialed kit. Whether the ultra fabric passes the "work suitable" look or not though I think is a mixed bag. Overall, I am partial to the Evergoods Civic Travel Bag 26L (which despite the name can easily hold 28L) - it's heavier than the Bellroy Workpack Pro 28L but it's still one of my favorite do-it-all one bag travel/edc goldilocks bags. I think the black Nylon 6 version is probably decently suitable for some types of workplaces. There's also the Trakke Storr 25L (which can also hold probably around 27ish liters) though the more traditional dry wax canvas fabric may not work for some types of business travel. But assuming it fits the business atmosphere of your company, I think it looks sharp in the black colourway and it is around the same weight as the Bellroy 28L (albeit heavier by about 100 grams I think). Sorry I couldn't be of more use - hopefully one of the above might be of interest to you! I think I have reviewed the Heimplanet Transit, the Rofmia (albeit the smaller version not the v2 large), the Aer Citypack pro, the Evergoods CTB26 and the Trakke Storre 25L on my channel previously if you want to see more details on those. Good luck!!!
@TheMountainborn thank you! On the contrary, you were of a lot of use. I went ahead with the 28L pro in the end, so I'll be able to inform if your zipper theory is right in the future. Of the ones that you listed, in terms of price and style I did consider the CTB but alas is indeed heavier and I consider the Bellroy to be a bit more "office friendly", hence taking the plunge. It is a bit ironic?strange circumstance? how Bellroy is always mentioned as overpriced (which I understand where it's coming from) in the internet, while being one of the more affordable/easily available of the popular brands on Japan (Aer n1).
Definitely a defect, though not sure if it's a defect of design or quality control (or both). Normally I'd start a warranty claim on this, but since I have a relatively distinctive name, when I buy bags for review I do so under a pseudonym so brands aren't aware it's me buying them. If I filed a warranty claim after doing this review it'd be pretty easy to match up the name I use for purchasing so I've held off on doing that for now. And while this may be a defect, given that this is exactly how the bag came out of the box when purchased directly from the retailer (and it's not exactly a cheap bag) I decided to do the review as is since this might be what an average consumer would experience if buying this bag. That said, I really suspect that this might be largely driven by them scaling down the 28L version without making more minute adjustments to account for how things work in the much smaller 22L size - I'm tempted to buy the 28L version just to see how the pocket is on that. (I am aware of the irony of me spending 5 minutes pontificating on a bag's flaws and then concluding that naturally I should buy another version of it just to see hahaha)
@@TheseUncertainTimes I had a great experience with Bellroy’s warranty. They offered two options: a different colored bag or a significant discount on a new one. And they were quick to respond.
I like this idea - I often reference "other bags you might want to consider" in my various videos so I've been thinking about doing a focused video on like "best pro pack" or "best edc packs", "best dopp kits" etc - basically give my thoughts on a few of the best options in a given problem space and how they compare to each other.
the only place on the internet to bring 10 minutes of zipper vitriol! You are the best in the business and an essential part of the bag community. Thank you for all you do to keep us well informed and entertained.
That pocket is clearly an anti-theft feature 🤣I'm very glad my wife and i purchased the outgoing transit models - those are clearly superior.
Thanks again, for another great review, Mountain 🙌🏻
So glad I’ve pulled the trigger last night and went with the Able Carry Max EDC instead of this Bellroy backpack (in the 28l version).
Oh man, although I think Bellroy produces some of the best slings in the game, somehow their backpacks regularly seem to miss important features or come with weird design choices (like with this one, not providing enough own volume for some of the pockets, or not having a side handle to operate the backpack when using the luggage pass-through feature 😐
Furthermore, after having been EDCing the Aer Capsule 35l backpack for a while now, I am tired of aqua guard zippers and prefer smoother to operate reverse coil zippers and simply use a light rain cover instead (should it be raining heavily) … 💁🏼♂️
Keep up the good work ✌🏻
My pleasure - I'm glad you found this video useful! And I hear you - I also think that Bellroy does some of the best slings out there but have had a more mixed experience with their backpacks - some really solid winners (the OG v1 Transit bags are still some of my favourites) but many others have - as you aptly put it - some weird design choices. That said, they have such a prolific output of new products that I have to admire their willingness to experiment even if not all their bags hit the target.
Regarding aqua guard zippers - IIRC the zippers on the Aer Capsule in particular are quite frictionful due to the large duffel style opening and the way you have to kind of fight the zippers around the curve (it's been a while since I reviewed that one so I don't fully remember). But I hear you - I go through ups and downs when it comes to my preferences on water resistant zippers. Undoubtedly they are more frictionful than regular zippers but depending on how they are implemented in a particular design this can range from "slightly more frictionful but worth it for the improved aesthetics (depending on bag) and marginal improvement in water resistance" to "BLEEP this zipper man" 😂 I find myself generally more tolerant of them in travel style bags and less tolerant of them in EDC bags and especially in hiking/photography bags (where the last thing I want is to be fighting zippers multiple times a day just to get my stuff)
That said - you've been EDC-ing the Aer capsule 35l!? Impressive! What do you carry on an EDC basis in the big main compartment?
@ Thanks for your reply, Mountain. I appreciate it 🙌🏻
Yeah, believe it or not, have been rocking the Aer Capsule as my main EDC bag for quite a while now. After I had watched your review back then, I decided to give it a try (although I had been warned about these aqua guard zippers).
It’s a great back for transitioning between kinder garden and office/commute. I use the large main compartment mainly for kids cloths/stuff on my morning commute to the office and then for groceries on my way back home.
The coolest thing about that bag is that it doesn’t collapse when not fully loaded. Always keeps its shape 👍🏻
Only downfalls are the lack of an additional front dump pocket and the friction when pulling these aqua guard zippers. That’s why I have big expectations for the Abble Carry Max EDC. 🥳
@@steequembino4891 That's awesome! Let me know how you like the Able Carry Max EDC when you get it!!
This was an update I had great expectations. The original design is so good that I was curious how they would improve it. I guess they couldn't really improve it. They have changed it in a way that it is another bag.
Thanks Mountain for the great review, as always. I’d really like to see your perspective on bellroy transit backpack 28L, and Aer go pack 2
Thank you so much!! The Transit 28 travel pack is still one of my favorite goldilocks one bag travel bags - I definitely will do a review on that one of these days - added it to the queue! And the Aer Go Pack 2 is probably one of the most full-featured quasi-packable bags on the market (I say quasi packable because all those features come at the expense of size and bulk) - in general packable bags is a category I haven't done many reviews on yet so I should definitely do that as well :)
Nice detailed review. The refresh of Bellroy transit line was major disappointment for me. All they had to do was to give the transit work pack the back system from the 28L transit backpack and maybe change one of the side pockets to an external water bottle pocket. Job done. Instead we got these... Not sure why but all these new Bellroy backpacks including the Venture travel pack look kinda crooked to me when packed and worn on the back. Maybe its the new external gussets for the side pockets or the new material. Not sure, but something is off.
Also Bellroy don’t clarify how many deniers their nylon or polyester are. Just some fancy names and recycled stuff etc, but no technical details. I like the design of the Workpack Pro but yeah, it‘s look too saggy and their improvements are kinda downgrades. I wish, Mountain should review the Heimplanet Transit Line Daypack 24. A backpack with certain organization and enough space as a weekend travel backpack.
I have the first ver. of the Transit workpack. The shoulder straps is reall thin, so when it is load out, the thin straps sink into the shoulders causing pain and discomfort. Probably why it is now thicker. But i much prefers the 2 side pockets of the ver. 1 bag ove the newer ver.
Definitely a +1 on both of your points!!
Still like my V1 Transit Workpack a lot. It’s dialed in for its mission. Evergoods CTB26 sees more use, but can’t compete as a clean sharp office EDC.
Definitely - the v1 Transit Workpack was (and still is) a stalwart EDC classic for me for a long time - in general I'm a fan of the (non-pro) series of Transit bags - they are just so performant and look sharp enough for the office, as you mentioned.
Nice review as usual. Did you do a review on the Aer Citypack Pro Ultra? Couldn’t find it. Also what kind of watch you wearing?Thanks again!
It's difficult to see but could be a bell & ross
Maybe Bulgari Octo?
@ too thick. They are extremely thin.
@@DaemonViews yeah, I think it’s a BR-05
@@DaemonViews Great eye!! It's the Bell & Ross BR-05 Horolum edition
How are you liking the Purist bottle? Does the glass-like lining live up to their claims?
I own several of them (in different colours/sizes) and generally speaking I am satisfied with them for indoor and light EDC use (depending on the lid type).
Good points (in my opinion, in no particular order)
* Wide variety of aesthetically pleasing colours
* I personally like the design and aesthetics
* Nice materials choice which have held up well over the years.
* Variety of sizes and also different lid types, allowing for different types of mix and match for preferences/use case
* Wide bottle mouth opening makes cleaning comparatively easier than some narrow type competitors
* Over the years I haven't ever really detected any aftertaste (metallic or else residue from previous drinks etc) - as far as I can tell, this seems to live up to the marketing claims
* I haven't explicitly measured, but I've generally been satisfied with the insulating properties of the bottles - informally seems at least on par with Hydroflask.
Less good points
* Minor nitpick depending on where one lives - while there are a variety of sizes, they're designed according to US (Imperial) units which makes them less convenient for most people using metric units (i.e. the largest size is about 930 ml instead of a round 1 liter, the middle size is an oddball 532ml etc.)
* While not the heaviest or most expensive bottles out there, these are still pretty heavy and relatively pricey - there are definitely many other options in this general space that are lighter/less expensive or both and still just about as generally performant.
* I wish there were more lid options - there's only three and of them, only the Element top is really suitable for EDC carry in my opinion since the other two leak relatively easily if inverted. Also, I wish there were a lid option with an internal straw (similar to what Hydroflask offers) which would allow for drinking without inverting the bottle when most of the contents are gone.
So overall, I like them but mainly have gone with them because I like the design and appearance and generally am willing to pay a premium for aesthetics/colours. However, there are a lot of other water bottles in this space that are very competitive and which might be worth a look.
Based on my experience, I believe their marketing hype of the internal lining not really leaving any aftertaste in the contents of the bottle - I've never detected any metallic taste and often drink a mix of water / coffee / tea out of a given bottle (not all at once of course haha) and don't have any issues with cross contamination of taste (though I wash the bottle out after every use). Also, I noticed that tea/coffee don't really seem to stain the inside of the bottles as much as happens with my Hydroflask bottles.
@@TheMountainborn thank you! That is incredibly useful, I'll have to pick one up soon. I've got a discontinued Stanley titanium bottle which made similar claims but there's definitely taste transfer and staining. I also love that Purist offer the "bare" finish, no paint to chip off!
@@MrJed_s My pleasure - glad you found it useful! Good luck with your purchase decision (and +1 on the bare finish!!)!
Thanks for the review as always! I'm thinking on getting the 28L version for short travels. I hope that that version will deal with most of the problems you had on the 22 version (and hope that the side zipper is just that you got a lemon 😅) . Considering that the reasons that I'm buying it is its low weight (reason why I gave up on something like an aer travel pack) and that it looks decent for business travel, is there any other alternative that you think should be worth checking out?
My pleasure - I'm glad you found the review helpful!
Regarding your question - yeah one of the problems I've had is that there's not that many travel bags I've found that are both useful and comfortable for travel and also look suitable enough for a wide range of "business" type travel (with the caveat that there is a broad range of things that can constitute business appropriate ranging from "wear a suit everyday" to "as long as you're not wearing shorts and open toed sandals anything goes" so I generally interpret business travel to mean something somewhere in the middle-ish).
That said, if you're looking for a travel bag and you like the aesthetics and light weight of the Transit Workpack Pro 28L - I was originally going to suggest the original 28L Transit travel pack (which is one of the bags I showed in the "also consider" section I think) but I just checked and seemed like that is no longer available on the Bellroy site which is disappointing (it was there when I made this video). If you are able to find one at a third party retailer still then definitely consider it - it is a superior solution for travel and is still one of my favorite one bag travel/light edc use bags.
Speaking of bags called Transit, the confusingly identically named but totally different Heimplanet Transit Travel bag 28L (by Heimplanet) should also work in many work contexts (at least in the black colourway) - I believe I did a review of this bag a while back. The downside is that it's slightly heavier than the 28L Bellroy Workpack pro.
If you have the money and can find it in stock (he restocks only periodically and they tend to sell out right away) - the Rofmia Shift Daypack V2L (30L) is both sharp looking and extremely lightweight (around 950ish grams if I recall) .
I know you mentioned that the Aer bags are pretty heavy - which they are - but if you can fit your stuff into a (largeish) 24L rather than 28L then the Aer City Pack Pro Ultra is an EDC pack that is lighter than the Bellroy Workpack pro but can still handle short trips decently assuming a tightly dialed kit. Whether the ultra fabric passes the "work suitable" look or not though I think is a mixed bag.
Overall, I am partial to the Evergoods Civic Travel Bag 26L (which despite the name can easily hold 28L) - it's heavier than the Bellroy Workpack Pro 28L but it's still one of my favorite do-it-all one bag travel/edc goldilocks bags. I think the black Nylon 6 version is probably decently suitable for some types of workplaces.
There's also the Trakke Storr 25L (which can also hold probably around 27ish liters) though the more traditional dry wax canvas fabric may not work for some types of business travel. But assuming it fits the business atmosphere of your company, I think it looks sharp in the black colourway and it is around the same weight as the Bellroy 28L (albeit heavier by about 100 grams I think).
Sorry I couldn't be of more use - hopefully one of the above might be of interest to you! I think I have reviewed the Heimplanet Transit, the Rofmia (albeit the smaller version not the v2 large), the Aer Citypack pro, the Evergoods CTB26 and the Trakke Storre 25L on my channel previously if you want to see more details on those.
Good luck!!!
@TheMountainborn thank you! On the contrary, you were of a lot of use. I went ahead with the 28L pro in the end, so I'll be able to inform if your zipper theory is right in the future. Of the ones that you listed, in terms of price and style I did consider the CTB but alas is indeed heavier and I consider the Bellroy to be a bit more "office friendly", hence taking the plunge. It is a bit ironic?strange circumstance? how Bellroy is always mentioned as overpriced (which I understand where it's coming from) in the internet, while being one of the more affordable/easily available of the popular brands on Japan (Aer n1).
that zipper is ridiculous, this is surely a defect… 😅 Bellroy’s warranty should step in for sure…
Definitely a defect, though not sure if it's a defect of design or quality control (or both). Normally I'd start a warranty claim on this, but since I have a relatively distinctive name, when I buy bags for review I do so under a pseudonym so brands aren't aware it's me buying them. If I filed a warranty claim after doing this review it'd be pretty easy to match up the name I use for purchasing so I've held off on doing that for now.
And while this may be a defect, given that this is exactly how the bag came out of the box when purchased directly from the retailer (and it's not exactly a cheap bag) I decided to do the review as is since this might be what an average consumer would experience if buying this bag.
That said, I really suspect that this might be largely driven by them scaling down the 28L version without making more minute adjustments to account for how things work in the much smaller 22L size - I'm tempted to buy the 28L version just to see how the pocket is on that.
(I am aware of the irony of me spending 5 minutes pontificating on a bag's flaws and then concluding that naturally I should buy another version of it just to see hahaha)
Good luck with Bellroy's notoriously horrible warranty process.
@@TheseUncertainTimes 😂I have heard some horror stories...!
@@TheseUncertainTimes I had a great experience with Bellroy’s warranty. They offered two options: a different colored bag or a significant discount on a new one. And they were quick to respond.
What are your thoughts comparing the pro pack 24 and city pack pro?
I like this idea - I often reference "other bags you might want to consider" in my various videos so I've been thinking about doing a focused video on like "best pro pack" or "best edc packs", "best dopp kits" etc - basically give my thoughts on a few of the best options in a given problem space and how they compare to each other.
@ ive also been looking at the v1 of the transit workpack. Hows the false bottom? Is it high? And is there a framesheet to help protect the laptop?