Whenever I travel, either for press events or social, I am
laden down with tech and gadgets, so a decent backpack or messenger bag is essential.
I normally use cheap options from Amazon, and the Internet is full of options to suit all needs and budget. Recently Gaston Luga contacted me to check out their Clässic Backpack which is a stylish backpack suitable for either sex made from a canvas material with PU-leather straps.
This is quite a minimalist backpack adopting a pouch-style main
compartment with few additional compartments. The main compartment is extremely
spacious, and there is a smaller inner padded pocket holds most
11″-13″ laptops, however, the pocket itself lacks any form of closing
and is quite baggy, so I suspect it will allow laptops to slip out quite
easily.
I use a 15” Dell XPS 15 and this just fits in the main compartment allowing you to pull the drawstrings closed.
On the outside is an additional zipped pocket with the zip
hidden by a flap and secured with magnetic straps. The main compartment is also
concealed with a large canvas flap and again secured with magnetic straps. Finally,
there is a hidden back pocket to store your valuables safely.
As a fashion item, I think this is great, I love the classic design and this colour scheme which fits most of the styles and colours I wear. The main compartment is voluminous so that you can store plenty of items in there. I always hate wearing a technical style backpack when my style doesn’t suit it. It gives off a very nerdy vibe (though I am a nerd).
Where it does fall short is as a backpack for technology and security. Every time I attend MWC in Barcelona, there are reports of people having items stolen from their bags. This offers little in the way of protection. The PU-leather straps are magnetically sealed so provide no security, if your laptop is in its pocket nothing is slowing down a theft here either.
The hidden pocket on the rear has had no thought about it at
all. It is tiny, it will fit my Huawei P30 Pro but the phone sticks out of the
top. Furthermore, there is no zip on it either, so if you did put something
valuable in there, you risk it falling out when taking you back off.
Overall, if you are looking for something stylish to carry
around your daily essentials to and from work, or for social occasions, then the
Gaston Luga Clässic Backpack is fantastic. If you are looking for something to
securely carry thousands of pounds worth of tech, I would probably look
elsewhere.
Priced at £99 with free shipping and returns which is not
exactly cheap, you can pick up the Herschel Casual Daypack which is not dissimilar
in design for less than this. While I prefer the design of this to the Herschel
I feel like for £99 you should get real leather, not PU, and real buckles.
Brooks England Dalston is a similar overall design, and this uses a small amount of vegetable-tanned leather, the Sandqvist Roald Ground Organic Cotton Backpack is £5 more uses leather and roller buckles plus an inner zipped pocket.
Post from: Mighty Gadget – Gadget and Technology Blog
