The North Face Surge Daypack - Men's

This is my second daypack from The North Face. The first has served me well for about 8 years. I bought this one primarily for the padded laptop slot.

Here are the good points from the last month of living with it:

Very comfortable when worn over both shoulders

Fairly lightweight

Seems very well constructed with quality fabrics, zippers, pulls and stitching

The carry handle is strong and comfortable to use

Lots of storage spots for various everyday necessities

Nice padded and zippered compartment for cell phone/iPod/portable hard drive

Easily accessed, padded compartment for the power adapter

Well-padded laptop compartment

Chest strap adjusts up and down to fit

Waist straps are removable if you don't want them

Carries a lot if you loosen the cinch straps, or becomes compact when cinched (depth wise)

Laptop slides in and out easily. This will be perfect for airport inspection

Here are some of the things that keep it shy of perfection:

I don't like the appearance of the rubber accents connected to three of the straps and to the daisy chain

The daisy chain is too short to be of any use

Laptop padding is too thick between compartments. There are two long foam tubes that rob from the depth of the 2nd compartment

Cell phone pocket on shoulder harness only accepts small, narrow phones.

Easier, one-handed access to outside compartments would be nice

Bottle-holders are effective, but difficult to load while wearing the pack

Pockets in the second storage compartment are flimsy. They do not hold things in place very well.

All in all, I am very pleased. I loved my North Face Enterprise pack, but needed something that would protect my new laptop. The Surge is far more comfortable than any other similar packs I have worn from Jansport, Kelty, Lowe and The North Face. If you like to carry your pack over one shoulder, it must be held in place, but is carried effortlessly while on two shoulders. The fact that I have not been tempted to go back to my old, beloved pack is testament to how good this one is. I have yet to travel with it by air, but I'm sure I can pack enough in it for an overnight trip while still packing the laptop.

I bought this bag when my Dell laptop bag that i received with my XPS M1530 started fraying and tearing. The reason for this was that I would always leave for classes (I'm a college student) with my laptop and a bunch of books and I don't think that bag was built for that kind of loads. Anyways, I was looking for a very sturdy bag that was spacious and could hold a lot of weight. I have had good expereinces with The North Face in the past, so I decided to go for the Surge.

I have been using it almost for 6-8 months now. It is very spacious. Holds my 15" laptop, and ton of books, notebooks etc. It has a special compartment for the AC adapter of the laptop which is pretty nifty. It is extremely rugged showing absolutely no signs of wear and tear. One of the best things about it is that its compeletely waterproof. I don't ever worry about getting my laptop wet if I'm caught in rain.

Yes, it is expensive compared to other backpacks, but it's worth every penny of your money. You can rest assured this bag will see you through for atleast 2 years, maybe more.

Update:

I'v been using the bag for almost 2 years now, and in this duration, I have used it and abused it. Apart from college stuff, I have taken is trekking, rock climbing, backpacking, filled it till it was almost bursting at times, and it is yet to show the slightest hint of tear. Its built rock solid.

Buy The North Face Surge Daypack - Men's Now

So i bought this backpack to use at college this fall. I looked online at many different backpacks and brands and decided on this the Surge. It easily fits my Dell Studio XPS 16 in the laptop compartment. There is another large pocket which can hold several books at a time. There is also a rather large pocket that is divided which is good for holding small electronics and pens and pencils and other smaller items. I have carried it all over campus with books and other stuff and it doesn't bother my back at all. I also have used it in the Adirondacks. I climbed up 4 of the high peaks and had no problems whatsoever. I also used it to day hike Mt. Washington. I only really have two complaints about it. One is that there is no designated hole for the hose of a hydration bladder, not a big deal. The other is that the water bottle holders do not hold the wide-mouth 32 oz Nalgene bottles. I use it almost everyday and it seems very durable and reliable and I would highly recommend it!

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Purchased the Surge about 4 years ago and LOVED it. Unfortunately the pack was stolen from my vehicle (thank you Atlanta, GA). Without hesitation I ordered a new one same color and all. For some reason North Face redesigned the two front slots of this pack, completely ruining what was a perfect backpack. Version One had four compartments from front to back. 1) compartment for pens, pencils, etc. 2) full compartment for books, folders 3) full compartment for books, folders and 4) padded slot for laptop. The New Version rearranged the first two compartments. The first compartment now has zippered mesh storage with openings so small you can barely get a hand into them. Not sure of their purpose. The second compartment is now used for storage of pens and pencils making it completely useless for anything but, well, pens and pencils. Basically, where one used to be able to organize books and folders into two compartments, you now have to jam them all into one compartment. Being able to split stuff up into two compartments sure was a nice way to keep organized. I say to North Face bring back the original design!

Update: OK, agree that the quality of construction is excellent. Still not happy with the design "update" that negatively impacted functionality.

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This is my first review of any product I have ever owned. I just want to say that I have had this backpack for more than 3 years. I had a 19 inch laptop which fit in the laptop compartment and I had no problems going through airports, trains, buses, taxis and walking through just about everywhere. I used this backpack when I first entered Basic training 3 years ago and from there I have been using it every day in my travels from Iraq, Japan, Singapore, Philippines and during long trips and stopovers this backpack is very convenient even when fully loaded. Oh and now I have a MacBook Pro and it feels like I can put so much more stuff in there now. I usually carry My Macbook Pro, Bose portable speaker, Chargers/external hard drive/wires for everything, a bottle of Liquor and other things inside it and water bottles on the side compartments and this bag instantly carries my party wherever I go! Usually to the beach. And through all of this I just gave it an inspection and there are no Tears or Rips. It feels comfortable every time I wear it with both shoulders and only in the Mesh from the Side pocket is ripped because I must have put my knife in there on accident bit it is still useful for holding a water bottle or my work gloves. If I had to buy another backpack I would not hesitate to get this again.

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