Quick observations from me:
Overall no reason to upgrade an existing MPL22 (to me). I’d rather take the hard-wearing 420d for 100g penalty, but great to hear the 210d is so rugged in their original prototype.
What started as a simple question quickly snowballed into the analysis I'll describe below. Like many of the degenerate carriers on this sub, I frequently find myself consuming internet bag reviews. Sometimes, it's in preparation for a bag purchase; sometimes, it's recreational. For me, Pack Hacker (PH, henceforth) is typically a first stop whenever I'm researching a new bag. Deep into a review binge one night, I found myself wondering how much reviewer subjectivity impacted PH's scores. Each review is attributed to either an individual author or the "Pack Hacker Team." I was also curious whether their average scores had drifted over time. My theory was that an established site with a solid reputation, like PH, could afford to be more discerning with their reviews, so maybe average scores would decrease over time. Spoiler alert, this turned out to be wrong.
Over the past few nights, I ran an analysis of the "Bags & Luggage" reviews published on PH. There are just over 1,000 reviews in this category, making it a healthy dataset for analysis. Here are some of the top-level results:
Top-level analysis results from the Bags & Luggage category on PH
Initial takeaways (again, only pertaining to the Bags & Luggage category):
And down the slippery slope we go. Next, I wanted to answer the question I initially set out to address regarding reviewer bias and subjectivity. Here's what I found:
Average reviewer score given in the Bags & Luggage category
This is remarkably consistent. If we want to nitpick, the data could suggest that Tom tends to grade slightly more generously than the rest of the pack, averaging a 7.70. In contrast, Kristyne is the strictest grader among the top 5, coming in with the lowest average score at 7.50. Overall, though, a 7.50-7.70 spread on the average across reviewers is pretty tight.
Next, I wanted to curate a short list of superlatives. For your reading pleasure:
Looking a little more closely at the sub-score categories (i.e., Form, Design, and Value). My AI assistant (Gemini, in this case) suggested a violin plot to compare this data. If you can look past the overtly sexual way in which this data is plotted, it's actually pretty interesting:
Get your mind out of the gutter
It seems that PH is slightly more critical of Value and Design than they are of Form. At the risk of over-extrapolating, maybe gear makers have gotten really good at making bags look nice and picking high-quality materials (Form), but they still struggle to perfect the internal layouts (Design) or justify the high price tags (Value). The sub-score averages:
And some updated superlatives:
The last thing I wanted to look at with regarding to the score values was whether there exists any correlation to other factors (including the year in which the score was generated). Here's a heatmap showing degree of correlation between the quantities that PH reports:
Heatmap showing correlation between factors for Bags & Luggage
Here is where my theory about score decreasing over time was disproven. There's actually a slight positive correlation between the Review Year and the Overall Score (as well as the Design and Value sub-scores). This suggests that as the years go on, the team is generally finding bags to be better designed and more fairly priced. Form, on the other hand, appears to be trending slightly down: while bags are getting better designed internally, the team is becoming harsher critics of the actual materials, aesthetics, and outer silhouettes.
I was also curious whether there was a score bias toward any particular bag type. Of the 1,079 bags reviewed by PH in this category, here's the score breakdown by bag type:
You'll see here that slings actually hold the highest average score out of all the bag categories. Camera Bags and Daypacks, however, tend to score just a bit lower than the standard travel backpacks.
Last but not least, I wanted to get a sense for how the brands stack up against one another. Keep in mind here that not every brand has received an equal number of reviews. I've limited this list to only the brands which have received 5+ reviews by PH, which took the list from 204 brands down to 45. Here's the brand ranking, with the number of PH reviews in parentheses next to the brand name:
Definitive ranking of brands in the Bags & Luggage category
And here's a summary of the rankings:
Ultimately, most of this analysis was unsurprising. Maybe the most surprising thing to me was how remarkably consistent PH is across their group of individual reviewers. They seem to be discerning when it comes to dishing out high review scores, which is obviously a good thing when many of us are leaning - in some cases, heavily - on their evaluations prior to making a bag purchase. If anyone is interested in any other plots, let me know and I'll do my best to generate them.
Disclosures: I am not affiliated with any review site. I'm just a dude who likes bags (and data).
After a few months of using the ctb 20L in xpac, i am here to really remorsefully say that whatever i try, this bag just ends up being extremely uncomfortable in every way, to the point where its sometimes better to hold it on the top handle than wear it.
Regardless of the weight i pack it, regardless of how high how tight i wear it, its just really sad to say that its not working out man. I really love this bag in every department except comfort..
Im curious to see if there is anyone else with similar experience?
I’ve carried this pack every single day for nearly three years. From customer meetings and coffee shop runs to the gym and international travel, it’s handled everything I've thrown at it and still looks brand new, after a little rewaxing ;P
Anyone else rocking this as a daily driver? I’d love to see some well-loved packs that have actually seen some miles. Post yours below.
Hi, where does one buy/sell a second hand evergoods backpack on Reddit? Thank you in advance!
I have been on the hunt for a bag to hold all newborn baby essentials (diapers, clothes, bottles, accessories) since my boy is born and here comes the new updated 25L transit duffel from EG.
Right away I knew this is the perfect size as a duffel, and I just tested the bag in person and really liked some of the features:
- luggage pass through is so clutch (we will take the baby for traveling so it’s a must have to lighten the load)
- the bag has great structure and holds its shape and sits straight up on flat surface, the main compartment opens up wide for easy access to bottles and diapers
- Handles feel premium and very well balanced (pretty much the same great handle carry system on CTB26 as well); the side cut outs underneath the side zip locks are such nice little touch!
This almost feels like the perfect bag but the reasons I haven’t pulled the trigger yet…
- the overall shape feels a bit too “boxy”, I feel like I’m carrying a rectangular shaped box around (I know this can be more of a personal aesthetic preference)
- no dedicated laptop compartment (I know a smaller 14” laptop can fit on the side pocket, but the fit is not as nice as having dedicated laptop sleeves compared to backpacks)
Just curious what are your thoughts and if you have any better recommendations for baby gears?
Thanks guys!
Off to Chicago for a three day business trip. The grey cube is coffee equipment (kettle & oxo express brew + ground coffee).
Got the inspiration from a couple others on here that have done this swap and couldn't wait to try it with a color matching coyote brown Cobra Buckle. Very happy with the final product!
Exciting news for any Canadian Evergoods fans - the USD-CAD conversion still hurts, but not having to pay $100+ for shipping and customs fees is pretty nice. Only a small selection so far, but hopefully they'll expand the offerings if the demand is there.
That's it. Just needed to say it. Just a plain ol' appreciation post for the CHZ22.
Has Evergoods ever mentioned or alluded to rolling luggage in their future?
My carry on luggage just died after 8 years and over 500k miles. I saw that peak design was having a sale on theirs (20% off) but would happily wait to see the Evergoods thoughtful design touch on a rolling luggage as I love all my Evergoods products (multiple bags and pouches).
Otherwise, if anyone has any recommendations on rolling bags that they love that go particularly well with the Evergoods ethos/aesthetic, please let me know! Thanks!
Used the TD25 for a long weekend road trip for Autocamping with family and friends. It was an ideal size for a variety of casual and active/hiking type clothes and gear. I packed it with a Peak Design size medium packing cube, a TPC 8, 2 jackets (Patagonia nano puff and another Patagonia jacket), and random other items. Everything fit with little issue, except for the PD cube being a little tall for the bag (it still zipped just fine).
The size is really versatile - prior to this trip, I used it for an office day to haul my usual office load (laptop, A5 and B5 journal, various work accessories, snacks, Yeti rambler 36 oz, fellow coffee traveller mug, etc). It fit everything better than my TB20. I love the TB20, but it tends to puff out with my normal work loadout.
With several more weekend road trips I anticipate this year, the TD25 will be an ideal companion. It’ll likely be my work bag between trips.
I have a few stickers that I’d love to have made into patches for my various EG gear.
The keyboard/case definitely takes up the lions share of the volume, but this works great for me. I’m hoping to add a Tern Setups portable monitor, carrying it in the laptop compartment.
I have every CAP (.5, 1, 2). I went on a trip with the CTB 35 this weekend and instead of bringing any of the CAP’s, I packed my gear directly into the CTB’s pockets. It was…great. I felt like I had easier access to my stuff, and less bulk in the pack because I wasn’t carrying additional packs. Sort of has me thinking about really changing up how I pack.
Anyone else eliminate their tech pouches and just pack directly into your bags pockets?
I recently took the Griffin CBB22 out to Las Vegas and I’ve honestly struggled to put it away since getting home. I’m so glad I finally pulled this out of the "collection" phase and into the "user" phase. It’s easily become one of my favorite bags in the lineup
Some quick thoughts after two weeks of near-daily use in a big city, primarily for work/commuting.
It’s heavier than it needs to be, and the admin panel should have been gusseted for expandable/usable volume when packed out.
The admin panel organization pockets are too small and only useful for the smallest items since they don't expand; mesh pocketing would have been way more useful here.
I wish there were an extra bit of internal organization, like some mesh slip pockets or even just a large zippered dump pocket in place of the "tablet" pocket.
Could it be improved? Sure, but I still love this thing. It's the most feature-rich tote I've ever owned and does the job of carrying everything I need for work.
I love the magnetic opening, although it can be challenging to close when packed out, and the luggage pass-through works great. The large open dump pocket in the back is more useful than I initially thought.
Was HEAVILY debating between this and Konbu, but after the dust magnet reviews, the fact that it’s actually 1 ounce heavier than the 840D version and $65 more expensive sealed the deal.
Also recently got the AC Daily Plus as my first work backpack but that probably won’t see much use now that CDT24 has come into play.
What can I say, I’ve always been a tote guy. 😂
Hey everyone,
I recently bought the Transit Briefcase 20 and overall I’m pretty happy with it.
For context, I had been using a Mountain Panel Loader 22 for my commute between home and the office. I still really like the MPL22, but with the heat and summer coming up, I was arriving at work with my whole back soaked in sweat. I sweat quite a lot, so I wanted to try a briefcase format instead.
So far, the TB20 has been working well for that use case. I think some of the contradictory reviews around this bag may come from different expectations of what a briefcase should be. Some briefcase fans may expect something more traditional: slim, clean, and mostly designed to move papers, documents, and a laptop. The TB20 feels different to me. It feels more like a compact mobile office setup in briefcase form, designed to carry a laptop, tech, food, coffee, and daily essentials without having a backpack against your back in hot weather.
My usual office loadout is: a CAP2 as a tech pouch, a CAP1 with my daily essentials, a CAP0.5 as a mini dopp kit, the laptop riser, a 0.5L Klean Kanteen that I use to bring coffee from home to the office or hydroflask 1L, my work laptop, a Wacom table, and a lunch box with my food.
With that setup, the size feels just right to me. It handles not just the laptop, but the whole office setup around it.
The front pocket also works better for me than I expected. It has just enough organization for my personal phone and work phone, keys, sunglasses in a soft case, a pack of Smints, a whiteboard marker and a pen and a tobacco pouch.
My main criticism is the original shoulder strap. I have some neck/cervical issues, and when the bag is loaded with my usual work carry, the strap can make the pain worse, especially over longer walks. For me, the issue is not only the padding itself, but also the fact that a loaded 20L briefcase puts a lot of asymmetric weight on one shoulder.
As a workaround, I bought a padded car seatbelt cover. It has quite a bit of cushioning, measures around 33 x 8 cm, and surprisingly it has been working pretty well. It makes the bag much more comfortable both crossbody and over one shoulder. It’s not the prettiest solution, but functionally it has made a noticeable difference and now it's pretty comfortable.
That said, padding only solves part of the problem. The real issue is still the asymmetric load. I know there are solutions in other contexts, like the Gruv Gear DuoStrap for guitars and basses, where a second support strap crosses the other shoulder to distribute the weight more evenly. I’m a curious guy, so I might eventually try to prototype something similar using a car seatbelt strap and another padded seatbelt cover. It probably won’t be the most aesthetic solution, but in theory it could spread the weight more equally across both shoulders.
Capacity-wise, I think the bag works very well. Comfort-wise, I think the usable limit depends a lot on how long you walk and how heavy your laptop, lunch, coffee, and tech setup are.
If I had to add one thing to the briefcase, it would be at least one external pocket similar to the ones on the CTB or MPL. In my use case it would be perfect for an umbrella or true quick access without having to open the main compartment.
For those using the TB20 as a daily office commute bag, do you feel the same? Great capacity, but comfort depends heavily on strap/padding, walking distance, and how the weight sits on one shoulder?
As expected, I drug my feet too long and missed the CTB26 Waxed Canvas. I signed up for notifications, but it says IF they come back in stock. I am new to Evergoods and these limited items. Historically, do they ever bring sold out items back?
