Patagonia Touring Red Hole Pack 32L

I swear I've never had a pack designed like this. Functional and extremely durable. Using it for business as well as pleasure, it needed to be very durable and have a lot of pockets. The durability is awesome, but I wasn't sure if the Blackhole Pack fabric was going to be too clunky and chunky, it absolutely is not. It didn't have a lot of pockets for stashing business essentials, so I was hesitant, but I have found that the top pocket has been the biggest surprise of all. It is bottomless and easily assessable right on top. It's seemingly bottomless, like some kind of magic trick! I can't understand how you did it really. I keep all my travel doodads and necessaries, keys, passport, tissues, chargers, cords, gloves, hats, all the important go-to's in this top ... MoreI swear I've never had a pack designed like this. Functional and extremely durable. Using it for business as well as pleasure, it needed to be very durable and have a lot of pockets. The durability is awesome, but I wasn't sure if the Blackhole Pack fabric was going to be too clunky and chunky, it absolutely is not. It didn't have a lot of pockets for stashing business essentials, so I was hesitant, but I have found that the top pocket has been the biggest surprise of all. It is bottomless and easily assessable right on top. It's seemingly bottomless, like some kind of magic trick! I can't understand how you did it really. I keep all my travel doodads and necessaries, keys, passport, tissues, chargers, cords, gloves, hats, all the important go-to's in this top pocket so I never have to open the main compartment, and I have never found the bottom of it. It's an optical illusion of some kind! Everything goes in the top pocket and the pack remains sleek and compressible. If you own one, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. And the fabric is chunky, but I really like it. It is extremely durable like steel plate but not as rigid as it looks, it is much more pliable and easy to scrunch into small places than it looks. The only problem I guess is for Patagonia. it's most likely the last daypack I'll ever need.

I was looking for a bucket-style backpack with a dedicated laptop sleeve for short business trips, and general airline travel. My specific requirements were strict, because when packed full, I wanted the largest bag possible that would qualify as a PERSONAL ITEM (not a carry on I want it to fit under the seat in front of me on a plane. Thank you budget airline baggage fees). I've now taken this backpack on multiple trips with Delta, United, Southwest, Spirit, and Frontier. It has happily fit under the seat in front of me in each of those scenarios, albeit with less footspace. The pockets, loops, and material are all perfect for airline travel, and I can easily fit everything I need inside.While the body of the pack is perfect (best I found to meet my needs after a ... MoreI was looking for a bucket-style backpack with a dedicated laptop sleeve for short business trips, and general airline travel. My specific requirements were strict, because when packed full, I wanted the largest bag possible that would qualify as a PERSONAL ITEM (not a carry on I want it to fit under the seat in front of me on a plane. Thank you budget airline baggage fees). I've now taken this backpack on multiple trips with Delta, United, Southwest, Spirit, and Frontier. It has happily fit under the seat in front of me in each of those scenarios, albeit with less footspace. The pockets, loops, and material are all perfect for airline travel, and I can easily fit everything I need inside.While the body of the pack is perfect (best I found to meet my needs after a year of trial and error with many brands) I am very disappointed in the shoulder straps, and lack of hip belt.Any backpack larger than 27L *should* have a supportive hip belt to help distribute the weight it is capable of carrying. I think this is a massive oversight since this backpack is meant for a laptop, has pockets for water bottles, and can carry quite a bit of weight. From what I can tell, the shoulder straps were designed specifically (only) for larger men, they are extremely wide-set for a 5'4" female, and are quite uncomfortable. That would be easy to work with using the chest buckle, except the chest buckle is only adjustable to 3 different heights, and when the shoulder straps are shortened all the way, none of these chest strap positions sit above where a woman's boobs are, and it is wildly uncomfortable. Now that would also be somewhat acceptable, if there was a hip belt to help distribute the weight off of the shoulders with a hip belt. At a minimum, the pack should have a small, but sturdy loop of webbing to attach after-market hip belts too. Ideally, Patagonia would come up with a removable version of the Ascensionist's hipbelts (lightweight, but sturdy and able to distribute weight) to satisfy everyones needs, along with adding another adjustment level to the chest strap to allow it to be moved up even higher on the shoulder straps. I'll be keeping my pack and modifying it myself until those changes are made.

This backpack is exactly what I needed and wanted to use as my diaper bag. I have two kids (5 and 1), and it’s perfect to carry extra clothes for everyone, water bottles for everyone inside and out of the bag, and any other necessities for an outing or the airport. Several pouch options for stuffing things, including all the spare diapers and wipes I need while traveling. It’s a blackhole, so I know I can rely on its durability. It’s a backpack, so I will be able to use it beyond kids, though it will be for the kids I’m sure for a long time…