Making plans to go away on a weekend hike, going camping with friends or family starts with choosing the ideal type of backpack that will contain all you wish to carry with you and still be comfortable enough to go with.
As easy as it may seem to choose from the costly backpacks you see, you must pay extra attention to the type of backpack you purchase in order not to make a mistake. When it comes to buying a backpack, there are many factors to consider and a lot of options to choose from.
One of the products that have caught our fancy is the North Face Surge Backpack, and it’s for good reasons. In this article, we take a look at the product and analyze whether it’s an excellent option to consider when purchasing a backpack.
Table of Contents
Details
This 31-liter backpack is ideal for professional hikers and campers as it comes with great features that are rich in update and also has a new technology inspired designed meant to help you organize your electronics and generally make your life simpler and smoother on the go.
There is a compartment dedicated specially for your flat devices such as laptops, tablets, documents, and so on; it also has a variety of fleece-lined pockets that are ideal for your sunglasses and phones too, as well as a loaded top handle and a laptop sleeve.
Then there’s also the lumbar panel which pairs nicely with an injection-molded shoulder strap and gives an all-round comfort throughout the day.
Features of North Face Surge Backpack
The North Face Surge Backpack has three main compartments, which include:
- Admin pouch
- Large carrying compartment
- Laptop compartment
PC Protection
This backpack comes with a pouch that holds your laptop; it can comfortably accommodate a 15-inch MacBook Pro, you don’t have to worry about your laptop touching the ground as the pouch is elevated. Also, it has padding and fleece lines too.
The PC compartment opens through to the top and lays flat on the ground when opened, hence enabling you to go through checkpoints very fast without having to remove your laptop from the bag. Although the laptop sleeve is meant for thinner laptops like the MacBook, you can use the rest of the compartment if you have to carry a much bigger laptop.
Also, in this compartment, there is a semi-rigid plastic frame that ensures the bag won’t compress and hit your laptop, thereby keeping your laptop safe. In it, you can place items like your documents, paper, or small books or anything you don’t want getting damaged.
Admin Pouch
It doesn’t open fully as the zip is cut off by the bottle holder, although it has a fantastic netting pouch where you can put your pen and pencil and anything else you wish to access easily while on the go.
There are three easy-access pockets, a mesh zipper pocket as well as a tablet sleeve. There’s also a small admin pouch where you can place a lot of things. However, note that if the pouch is overloaded without loading the rest of the bag, it will sag outwards. This can be easily solved by using a compression strap to fix the problem, although it’s not going to be perfect.
There are two vertical pouches in front of the bag in which one is interlined above the other; they are ideal for small items or items that require easy access to, however, do not put valuable things in that part to avoid being robbed.
Bottom Compartment
This is independent of the compartment on top and does not have so much space. In it, you can put items such as a t-shirt, some pairs of socks and other small clothes. You could even squeeze in a pair of sneakers, but it will not accommodate a pair of boots as the size in this compartment is limited. For times when you go outdoors, you could stick a rain cover in this compartment and zip it up; this ensures you can always access a rain cover and you can easily pull it out and cover the whole bag to prevent rain from penetrating. It also features an ice ax loop, which is not usually the case in a school bag.
Water Resistance
This backpack features long-lasting and heavy-duty fabric that is laced with water-resistant material, a feature that keeps your bag dry while also extending the shelf life of the bag. The compartment zipper leaks, although it has a well-designed flap.
Style
Tastes differ from one individual to another; hence, when it comes to its design, you have different colors to choose from.
Comfort
The back of the backpack features nice construction and features, too. There’s a flex vent injection-molded shoulder strap, these straps are also comfortable and are well textured. Even if it’s filled with items, it will not dig into your shoulders as it’s padded well enough to ensure your comfort. Its top shoulder strap is elastic which helps you clip items to it if you wish.
North Face Surge Backpack allows air to flow easily, thereby ensuring you are always kept dry even during hot weather. Its sternum strap is adjustable and uses a tubular design; this makes it easy to adjust up and down.
Pros and Cons
There’s a raincoat section there. It’s really useful. Although in fact, I used this department to carry a spare pair of sneakers. With this backpack it’s very comfortable to climb the hill, it does not increase the load on the back, and the ability to easily get to a new pair of sneakers really saves during the climb.
A noble brand and a decent product. Super comfortable, with an extremely spacious main compartment* and very smart other details.
You can remove all the waste straps + transport a laptop and a tablet safely together. Or use it as a serious travel bag. A Sturdy, lightweight and very comfortable. It’s five stars non the less.
Laptop protection pouch is excellent and the size 31l is just right for lots of clothes, shopping and whatever else you can stuff in it. Price is definitely worth it.
A good size, made from very attractive and sturdy materials, with tons of different compartments and expands easily to hold larger items. Sturdy zips. Good bag)
Is the bag weatherproof ? for example heavy showers, as I live in Wales and I require a bag that can survive the rain.
Can not withstand hours of rain. You need a cover if you will be traveling under heavy rain for long periods. But one rain it will, of course, get over)
Is the bag really weatherproof ? for example heavy showers, as I live in Wales and I require a bag that can survive the rain.
Can not withstand hours of rain. You need a cover if you will be travelling under heavy rain long periods.
Yes, good one. Zips are quality YKK. Fleece lined front top pouch, as well as fleece lining on one of the front vertical zipped pouches, and inside the front organisation sectio for a phone.
I’m in to durable laptop/tablet friendly backpacks. After owning an extremely durable Targus Grid Dust/water/shock proof, military grade backpack for 3y, took a great deal in research which led me to this masterpiece.
I don’t carry a lot of things, but I always carry my laptop with me. And it is easiest to place it in the middle pocket. Other backpacks are always difficult because of this, but here is a compression strap, and this is just a dream! The backpack always looks great.
Replaced my 12year old The North Face Big Shot backpack (33l) with this.
So far I’ve found the Surge equal to my last backpack.
I love being able to strap it on my stomach so that the bag fits snugly around the body. It doesn’t wobble, even if you bend or fall. It is always in the same state.