I have been searching for the perfect commuting bag for awhile. When I was in grad school I happened upon the Osprey FlapJack version 1. At 21l it was great for my needs at the time. BUT as I have become more of a working artist I needed something a little bigger. Plus I had worn out the fabric on the back of the bag, and no matter how much I repaired it, it continued to wear and tear. *

I knew I needed something larger, so I picked up a 27l Decathalon bag, I forget the name of it, from Walmart and it was okay. But it didn’t have the features I really wanted. It was a smidge uncomfortable.

Then I decided to turn toward Topo Designs. Outside of Tom Bihn, I really like their designs and also their colors. The colors they chose are really great.

I got their Rover Pack Classic. It was spendy, but also seemed like it might be the right size. It turns out it’s wrong for me in so many ways. It’s a simple deep pocket of a bag with no organization and it’s back at 21l. It’s also HEAVY.

So I ordered the REI Co-op Flash 22 pack. In Pride colors of course. It has a lot of what I like- a little bit of organization, it’s super lightweight. BUT It doesn’t hold my tablet, and LOL at even attempting at holding either my personal OR my sad little work laptop. That said it is PERFECT for a hike or bike ride where I don’t want to carry ALL MY STUFF.

Enter the clearance and last sale of the Topo Y-pack. A bag designed to be minimalist and lower on the price scale than most of their other bags. It’s still good quality but the details I liked about eh rover pack aren’t there. That said, the simplicity and size of the bag are what make it better. Apparently the original design of the Y-Pack were much smaller, this one clocks in at 24l- which might be the happy medium of sizes for me. It’s got the external water bottle pockets- I carry a water bottle in one and a tripod and reusable shopping bag in the other. These pockets are also great for umbrellas. It is yet another single deep pocket. I remedy this with a bag-in-bag organizer. I can fit my tablet or laptop in the sleeve inside as well as my clipboard and a book.

It’s also a blank canvas. I have a couple of thoughts on customizing the bag, which I feel okay doing as I picked it up off Topo’s trade in site Re-Mapped.** I want to add a bit of organization to the inside as well as patches and pins on the outside, and maybe add some accessory loops.

*Yes I know I can return it to Osprey for repairs and replacement. BUT It was also too small.

** No affiliation just happy to see a spot where I can order used stuff that is in good condition.