All the features are great, but being able to create sections and alter the size of those sections to suit my needs at any given moment makes this my absolute favorite tote. Would love to see a detachable shoulder strap added in the future.
I used it for a recent trip to London and enjoyed knowing where everything was when I needed it fast. To be able to grab my tablet and AirPods in seconds before stowing my Totepack overhead, or having my passport handy at immigration was super convenient. It held everything I needed for international travel.
My review is not really product specific because all Peak Design products are extremely well made and thought through. The whole customer experience from understanding all the features to shipping updates and including the return policy are just 5 stars. I would also like to give my personal thanks to Louis in the Customer Care team who has been incredibly helpful in handling a return issue when I switched from Tote to Totepack (which was my own fault as I had the wrong laptop size).
I have used the totepack for a little over a month and it has done it's job beautifully. I've even had compliments and watched people's eyebrows raise when I swing it under the arm to open it at the checkout register. Today I needed to transport four full 20oz bottles of tea and all i had to take out of the bag was my clutch and my water bottle. All four bottles slid in in a matter of seconds as if it was designed for it. Works great with my Nikon D700 with a 35mm prime, a flash and travel tripod without needing to remove much of my daily carry. You could probably get even more than that if you don't mind having the roll top up. The roll top IS the biggest problem: the magnets on one end never close, but i guess it does have the zipper if you're worried about rain. External lash straps work great for securing it in my jeep. V.2 definitely needs a sternum strap. Capture is really too heavy and clunky/off-balancing for this bag, which is a shame. I ended up making an X across the front of the bag with the external carry straps and mounted capture there, but it's really not ideal and looks very odd. Colors, leather, zippers, material all top notch and match well with most of my outfits. Could use some better security features, maybe a more practical place for your keys and better integration with PD pouches. All told it's a great investment and I love it.
After tossing & turning - like a selection of sweet potato and pumpkin cut into serving sized pieces, tossed with some Cobram Estate Australian extra virgin oil & garlic, roasted for 30 mins, turning after 15 & sprinkled with dukkah - about choosing between the messenger bag and the totepack. I chose the latter and it has been as great as well roasted vegetables. The bag is described as vegan friendly & my vegan friends have been very friendly with me since getting the totepack I purchased the bone coloured one and it does seem to attract dirt like my suddenly growing list of vegan friends who are attracted to the smell of home made dukkah. The bone colour looks great, but if you can keep it clean then I'm unreliably informed that Peak Design will give you a red star*. And by red star I don't mean a five pointed adhesive - I'm talking about the actual red giants you can find down in the Delta Andromedae (*pick up only). If you're undecided with getting the totepack like I'm undecided on whether totepack should be one word or not then just get both bags and skip the tossing and turning.