It’s surprisingly difficult to find an attractive, well-made medium to small sized backpack these days. Every company seems hell bent on offering XL sized packs with dedicated zones for your laptop, iPad, DSLR, blah blah blah. But who actually carries all that day in and day out? And while we constantly sing the praise of outerwear designed to function in multiple environments, commuting to work, carrying groceries, or enjoying a day hike with a pack made for extended stays in the backcountry just seems silly.
Anyways, the point is, we really like the new Davis Daypack design from North St. Bags. It’s lightweight, features a slim hourglass profile, is surprisingly affordable, and is made by hand in Portland, Oregon of just about the most bombproof materials available—waterproof 1000D Cordura with a waterproof sailcloth drop liner and equally waterproof zippers.
We’ve been running around NYC with the Davis for a few weeks now, and have nothing but positive things to say about the refined design. With just a single zippered outer pocket and large main compartment—velcro accessories like a laptop sleeve or key pouch can be added inside, but we opted for the true minimal experience—there’s no wasted time trying to remember which pocket you stashed your junk in. And if you are the type to just drop everything in the main compartment, the bright colored interior helps make smaller items more visible.
Additional details include dual side sleeves on the exterior for a water bottle or U-lock, a small bike light clip loop, and hyper lightweight contoured shoulder straps with a removable chest buckle to keep the pack in place when on the move.
And best of all, like every North St. bag, the Davis comes with a lifetime warranty (and can be custom made in a wild range of colorways, just for you). Though the likelihood of having to use said warranty is slim—spend any bit of time with one of these packs and you'll see, North St. Bags are made to last.
