The good: The pack looks great and the stitching quality seems quite strong. Lots of pockets make it easy to organize. I got rained one one evening, and the contents stayed nice and dry.
The bad: Not deal-breakers, but things I wish I had known (or thought about) before I purchased. Most are related to my personal use case, so may not apply to you.
The shoulder straps meet fairly close together at the top of the pack. This is how vintage packs were made, so it helps with that 70s-80s look... but theres a reason modern packs have the straps spaced fairly widely.
The nylon seems strong but lightweight, so the bag does not have a lot of structure. Without the semi-rigid panel in the back, it would collapse into a puddle of nylon when empty. The bottom of the bag sags under heavy loads, and it tips over when set on the ground. (My previous bag was a Timbuk2 laptop pack which was structured to the point where it held its shape when empty, and stood up on its own when loaded.)
The laptop sleeve is quite deep and has a very long retaining strap (which I can't imagine why anyone would need, unless you plan on carrying the pack upside down). This strap has vey sticky velcro on it which adheres to the adjustable panels inside, so you end up having to wrestle with the bag to get your laptop out. It can be comically frustrating at times.
You should buy this pack for its great style, but be aware of its limitations. It is not a modern pack, so it doesn't have a lot of the ergonomic qualities people expect today. It would only be well suited to people who do not need to carry very heavy loads. If you're looking for a college book bag and need to carry lots of heavy textbooks, you might want something with a bit more structure. If money was no object, I'd get a Goruck GR-2. In the same price range as the Kelty Wing I might look at a tactical style pack like the 5.11 Rush 24.
Kelty Wing Backpack
Posted by
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on Saturday, March 29, 2014
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Labels:
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