The 14L City Pack X-pac
I spent a long time looking for my next backpack. I had been using the Peak Design Everyday for many years but found myself wanting something a bit different:
- 20L or less
- Can fit a 16” MacBook Pro
- An easily accessible zipper pocket on the top near the handle
- A side pocket for water bottle
- Ideally no visible logo
Lots of different brands came up in my search like Goruck, Evergoods, ILE, Aer, and Boundary, but eventually I landed on an Aer bag. In particular the X-pac material (waterproof) 14L City Pack. Build quality is great, albeit I don't exactly love that the interior fabric is neon orange, and there's tons of pockets.
I only have one qualm with this bag and it's more of a personal preference: I wish there was just one large section instead of 2 zippered compartments. I sometimes find it hard to stuff a few things in there when the space is split between two compartments. Aer has other bags like that, though I like the look of the City Pack and smaller size.
Here were some of the other bags I considered.
