I bought this backpack specifically to carry my photography equipment during travels. In addition, I purchased the photography cubes too. Perfectly designed to fit inside backpack with provided stationary clips to keep cubes snug in bag. Plenty of useable pockets and double side water bottle/umbrella/tripod pockets.
Like the pack, the water bottle pockets are great, hold big bottles. I feel it's a bit heavy with the magnet part that holds the straps in. I recognize that could be a nice feature to some, but I could do away with all that. It would be nice if it had load lifters, it can be quite heavy when full. The waist strap pockets are very small, don't even know what you'd put in there except some coins. I like it maintains its shape and the expandability of it. When you unzip the the full zip to get the additional space, the space is added into the smaller side of the divider with the pockets, not the main part, which was disappointing. I like the safety features for the zippers, which all the zippers were better quality. The one thing I really dislike is there is no handle at the top of the bag! There's one off to the side of the top, but I always find myself grabbing for the one that should be right at the top, and it's not there. quite frustrating!
I bought this, as well as packing cubes, for a busy summer of travel. As soon as I figured out what all of the zippers open (thank you for the videos!) it has been a dream. Packs well, comfortable to wear, fits easily in the overhead compartments on planes. Most cubes I have had, pop open or the zipper rips, not these. These are super durable and efficient. I love this system.
I love how durable and versatile this bag is. I switched from the Cotopaxi Allpa 42, even though the Allpa was more comfortable. There are a lot of very premium features on this bag and yet I craved a little more. Even though I don't intend to use it as my travel bag anymore, I will continue to use it as a gear holler, specifically for my drones and camera gear. As a travel backpack, the straps are simply too uncomfortable to wear it long distances that I would normally need. I know that the purpose for the shoulder straps was for them to be storable, but I have them out 95%. Maybe beefing them up a little more and widening them where folks wouldn't attach the quick release plate would make them a lot more comfy. Maybe even some semi removable load lifters could be of some help.
This bag is designed perfectly for both my professional and travel needs! The compartments, sleeves, design, construct and accessibility are perfect for the present day professional. Very protective sleeve for laptops. And all of the accessories fi perfectly within the bag. I cannot recommend this bag enough!!! I use this for my every day commute to and from the office and job sites; and it also accompanied me to Europe for 10 days and provided me all of my carry on needs, as well as using to take daily necessities.
I travel extensively for work, and the flexibility of this bag is what makes it for me. Having the option of a large, open bag for packing cubes often means no in-built organization, but this bag still gives you quite a few smaller, zippered compartments. The quality is standard Peak Design, which is to say flawless. No loose stitches, flimsy materials, or sloppy craftsmanship to be found.
My only complaint is the shoulder straps could be a bit thicker and wider. Fully loaded it's not quite as comfortable as my similarly sized Lowepro 45l. I know there are definitely engineering tradeoffs with how smartly engineered the strap stow system is, but for longer walks it gets a bit uncomfortable.