REVIEW – Friends, let me introduce you to a LifeProof Squamish 20 Liter backpack. If you’re looking for a bag that has a place to store every little thing, this is absolutely going to be your jam. We’ve got a ton of features to talk about on this one, so be prepared for lots of pictures. To the review!

What is it?

It’s a multipurpose 20 liter daypack designed to bounce between the workplace and the weekend.

Hardware specs

• 10.6” wide by 17.7” tall by 6.7” deep
• 20 liter capacity
• 1.9 pounds
• Cordura body fabric

Design and features

The LifeProof Squamish is designed as a multitasker. It leans more towards the adventurous side with all of those external pockets and attachment points, but clean geometric shapes and modern texture patterns give it a look that isn’t out of place in the modern office. Pops of color & contrast in the trim elements add a bit of subtle fun to the profile. Here’s a shot of your Humble Reviewer geared up to get on the daily grind.

There’s a whole lot to cover in this bag. A whole lot. Let’s start with construction, then we’ll get into all of the features.

Construction and Materials

The construction on the Squamish is very good. You won’t find the heavyweight fabrics or burly hardware that you’ll see in some competitors, but it’s a solid build overall with lots of attention to detail. 

The finishing bits are outstanding. Check out the weave on the Cordura, and the subtle LifeProof logo on the back seam.

As you wander around the bag, you’ll find more evidence of the finishing elements in just about every corner. Check out the reinforced edges and seams. They didn’t skip an edge anywhere.

Zips aren’t YKK, but they are sealed for water protection. That’s a good thing. They also include some nice zipper pulls as a finishing touch.

You’ll find extra reinforcements at all the stress points. We’ll see how these heat-bonded pads hold up over time, but I’m not seeing any issues so far.

A thick padded grab handle shows extra attention to detail. Check out the cool little LifeProof logo imprinted on the grip.

You’ll also find a zipper garage on top of the sealed zip for your laptop access, to help keep your precious from getting soggy.

The padding throughout the bag is rather light to help keep the weight at a travel-friendly 1.9 pounds. But the padding is well-positioned in the right places. You’ve got a padded base to protect the goods when you plunk your bag down.

The back panel & shoulder straps use a really interesting material choice. It’s a pressed grid made from a firm foam that minimizes bulk and weight. The shoulder pads are thin but provide firm grip and comfortable wear.

Here’s a closeup of that back pad. It’s thick and uses a different pattern to promote breathability. And while it flexes and rolls to match your back shape, it provides surprisingly effective protection for your laptop. It’s a winner.

Overall I am really pleased with the construction. It’s not a rolling tank like a Tom Bihn or Mission Workshop bag, but I’m not concerned about long-term durability. I’d put the build quality on par with the likes of Timbuk2 stuff. That’s not a bad thing.

Exterior Layout and Features

The Squamish is a classic box shaped top loader with access to the main compartment from a pair of zips that travel about 1/3 of the way down the front face. We’ll get there eventually, but we have to start with the external organization. This bag is made to keep all of your essential ready for quick access. 

You’ll find a pocket on either side that will flex to take hydration bottles, a small umbrella, and similar tall stuff. The whole pocket is elastic to take large items, and has a reinforced top edge to keep from fraying. I really like having two pockets like this, as I usually run with a 24 ounce Yeti on one side and my sunglass case on the other. 

Your workhorse storage space is a huge open pocket on the front face of the bag. It’s super-convenient for tossing in stuff on the run, and the generous 8″ by 8″ size gives you all kinds of flexibility for using this space.

Here’s a shot of me rolling to work with that pocket loaded up with healthy snacks. I think I could get a small football in there. Or maybe a pair of sneakers… definitely a pair of flip-flops for the beach.

Many bags like this present a water problem, but this design cinches with a clip that hides under a hood on the front face to help keep the water out. It also helps to bisect the space if you have a tall item (like a water bottle) to keep it from flopping around. Should the wet get in, the pocket also has a tiny drain hole at the bottom on each side. You can pull that chord to snug things up.

The LifeProof Squamish also provides a pair of anchored tie-down straps mounted on the front face to secure additional gear. These can be removed, or you can use the elastic bands to lock down all that extra strapping so that they stay out of the way when not in use. There’s one at the top and bottom of the front face (bottom shown here) to secure extra-long items like a big umbrella, a rolled blanket, or a tripod.

Now that your big stuff is secured, we’ll move on to the stash pockets. At the top of the front face is a soft-lined pocket accessed by a zipper where you can stash your phone or little doodads. It’s generously sized at roughly 8″ by 6″. It’s also got a pass-through port to the inner pocket if you want to rig up a charger for your phone. The zipper is built with a rubberized seal to keep the elements out.

Your laptop rides in a padded space on the back face of the bag, accessed by another sealed zip that runs the height of the bag. You’ll see it here in the side profile shot… that blue strip. That’s the thing.

This is basically an open space, with a separate sleeve for your tablet. The specs recommend a 13” laptop, but it is a huge space (10″ by 17″) that could probably handle a thinner 15″ computer like a MacBook. My 13″ MacBook Pro swims in this space with room to spare for a notebook and more. There is some light padding in the pocket in addition to the back panel and base.

And just when you thought you were done on the exterior, you’ll find a secret stash pocket on the opposite side! This space is sized to fit a wallet or smartphone, which snuggles in behind the water bottle pocket on that side. While the zippers sport stylized pulls throughout the exterior, this one doesn’t to keep it sneaky and unobtrusive for your valuable bits.

Interior Layout and Features

Opening the main compartment, you’ll find an open space that runs the height and width of the bag with about 5″ of depth. There’s plenty of room in there for all the things you don’t need to get to in a hurry.

The rear of the front panel sports a three-pocket organizer. There’s a deep (7″ by 7″) zipped pocket with a key leash, a bellowed pocket (3″ by 5.5″) that closes with a velcro strap, and a quilted soft-lined pocket sized for delicate bits (4″ by 5.5″). These pockets do a nice job of staying out of the way when you’re rummaging around for bigger stuff in the main compartment.

There’s a drop pocket on the back face of the bag with an elastic trim, perfect for documents or a tablet. You can also stash a 3L hydration reservoir in there, and feed the tube up through a port at the top of the bag that tucks into a loop on the shoulder strap (neat!) You’ll also find another clipped leash that you could use to hang accessories inside the bag, or your hydration reservoir.

By my count, that all adds up to 13 different pockets (including the main chamber) and four additional attachment points to organize all of your gear. Even the obsessive organizer will be hard pressed to run out of pockets in this bag.

The Carry Harness

We talked a bit about the back panel and shoulder strap materials. It’s a really good rig that is lightweight, comfortable, and doesn’t fight you with super-bulky strapping. This bag is supremely comfortable for all day carry.

You’ll find a waist strap that’s not removable, but does include those elastic bands to wrangle the extra strappage so that it’s out of your way. You’ll see it at the bottom of the pic below.

A stabilizer strap helps to keep things tight when you are on the run. And see those ribs that it is clipped to? You can adjust to the position of the strap to match your body type by sliding the clips up and down.

Finally, you get a padded carry handle which is always appreciated. Sometimes you just have to grab your bag and run.

Performance

If you’ve made it this far, you now have a pretty good sense for the breadth and depth of features in the LifeProof Squamish backpack. The good news is that, while we have a ton of stuff going on here, thoughtful design & execution makes all of those features work well together in an extremely usable package.

From a usability perspective, the layout is a treat to work with. Sometimes all those spaces get crowded in feature-rich bags like this, and you find yourself fumbling to retrieve things from one pocket or another. Not here. All the pockets are generously sized and their access points easy to get to. You can find a comfortable place for all of your goods, making the Squamish an easy bag to live with on a daily basis. Commuters will like this bag a lot for all of those quick-access areas.

This bag is great for sightseeing, hiking, and weekend adventures. The back panel design is excellent for breathability and flexibility, and the shoulder straps have just the right amount of grip & padding for comfort without being too bulky. Coupled with the thinner Cordura used throughout the build, you can lug this bag all day long without any noticeable back/shoulder strain. Those extra pockets will come in handy while you’re out and about, and you can strap in a hydration bladder for hiking. The 20 Liter capacity is perfect for a daybag, but there’s also a 30 Liter version that I think would work very well as an overnighter.

There are pros and cons to the laptop space. On one hand, it doesn’t get in your way if you’re packing for a sightseeing trip or a day at the beach. On the flip side, however, I would like to see a little more structured laptop protection. That big ol’ pocket is very lightly padded, and my 13″ MacBook does bounce around in there. The back panel is very good, but I’d like to see some more impact protection on the perimeters to prevent damage in a hard drop. Another note about the laptop area that I found out the hard way: your laptop slides very easily out of that space. I picked up the bag one day last week and forgot to zip the compartment, and my MacBook slid right out on to the floor. Given the size of the compartment, they could shorten that zipper by about 4″ to prevent accidental spills.

What I like

• Excellent pocketing and organization for all the things.
• Extremely comfortable for all-day carry.
• A serious multitasker.
• Outstanding attention to detail.

What needs to be improved

• Laptop compartment could be improved for better protection.

Final thoughts

The LifeProof Squamish is a great bag for active pursuits that smoothes out the edges *just* enough to take to the office. It’s an easy bag to like and live with on a daily basis, no matter where you’re going. You can purchase it in a black or red colorway if that better suits your style, and there’s a 30 Liter version if you want to take it as an overnight one-bag solution. If you’re looking for a solid multitasker, this bag is a champ.

Price: $139.99
Where to buy: Buy at the LifeProof Squamish product page.
Source: The sample of this product was provided by LifeProof.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Backpack

LifeProof Squamish 20L Backpack review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 23, 2019 at 11:00 am.

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REVIEW – My daughter is heading off to college this fall, and she needs a backpack.  All the buildings that she will use (dorms, classrooms, cafeteria, gym) are on one main campus, which means that she will be doing a lot of walking. She needs a backpack that is strong enough and large enough to hold everything that she needs for a day’s worth of classes, including textbooks.  It needs to have a protected compartment for her laptop, a cubbyhole for her phone, and spots for her water bottle and a small umbrella.  Last but not least, it needs to be comfortable. Is the Tropos everyday backpack by Osprey the right tool for the job?  Read on to find out!

What is it?

The Osprey Tropos is a large, everyday backpack that’s good everywhere from town to the trail.

What’s in the box?

• The backpack
• A tag that lists some of the features
• An Osprey sticker

Hardware specs

• Dimensions: 21 in high, 13.4 in wide, and 10.5 in deep
• Weight: 2.69 pounds
• Volume: 2075 cubic inches
• Fabric: Nylon

Design and features

Osprey makes a lot of backpacks, so many that it can be a bit intimidating to find the one that’s right for you.  To help with this, Osprey has created a Packfinder tool on their website.  You answer some questions, and it recommends a set of backpacks and rates how well they will suit your needs.  For example, if you were to select the following options:

• Male
• Everyday backpack
• Short trips (1 to 5 hours)
• Normal weight gear
• Side pockets for water bottles (required)
• Laptop sleeve (required)
• Secondary purpose:  Travel
• Less than $200

Then the Tropos would show up as one of the choices, and Osprey rates it as an A- for suitability. This is a very cool tool, and I encourage you to check it out.  (And just to be clear, my daughter is not a male, but the backpacks for guys are a bit larger than the equivalent ones for gals, and my daughter wanted that extra space.)

Installation and setup

When we took the backpack out of the box, we had three initial impressions.  One, this is a big bag.  I’m sure there are bigger packs for hiking and camping or for backpacking across Europe, but for an everyday bag, I don’t think you’re going to be lacking for space with the Tropos.  Two, this is a very attractive bag.  My daughter chose Kraken Blue for her color; it’s a nice slate blue kind of color, and I really like it.  They also have grey, black, red, and green, if you’d prefer something different.  Three, this is a well-constructed bag.  It’s made from Nylon, and everything from the outside to the zippers to the straps feels tough and rugged.  I think this backpack is going to last through 4 years of college and well beyond.

Other than removing the tags, there’s not really much set up to do, except for deciding what goes into each part of the back.  My daughter loaded the backpack up with all the things she’ll normally carry around with her and then added a few pins and other decorations to personalize it. Here’s how it turned out.

The front of the bag has a stretch pocket, which she will probably use for small items of clothing, such as gloves, a hat, or a scarf.

The next one is an organization pocket that she loaded with pens and pencils and dropped in a calculator as well—guess who has Statistics her first semester!  This pocket is a lot deeper than this picture shows, so she could certainly put a lot more in there.

This pocket also has a key clip.  Though her dorm lock uses a key card instead of keys, she’ll be able to put car keys here eventually.

Up top is a small, easy to access compartment where she put her phone with ID and debit card.

The next pocket is the main storage compartment of the backpack.  When the compression straps are fully extended, it can really hold a lot of stuff.  My daughter plans to put her textbooks in here as well as her laptop and Beats headphone case.

This brings me to my only complaint about this backpack:  There’s not much padding for her laptop.  To be fair, the sleeve where she put the laptop is actually intended for magazines, and the final pocket is where the laptop is supposed to go.  But there’s not much padding there either, and she was afraid that her laptop could be damaged as there was not much on either side to protect it.  Additionally, there’s no padding at the bottom of either of these areas, although the kickstand (see below) will help some with that.  As a comparison, I brought out my SwissGear backpack and checked its laptop compartment.  I estimate that the padding on both sides is nearly twice as thick, and there’s padding at the bottom where the laptop rests.  I don’t think this is a deal-breaker by any means, as there is some padding, and her laptop will have books and other things around it.  I think her laptop will be fine, but this is an area where Osprey could make an improvement.  On the bright side, the laptop compartment is large and can easily hold a 17-inch laptop along with cables, a mouse, a power brick, and so on.

The final pocket, the one where the laptop is intended to go, is deep but fairly narrow.  This is where my daughter plans to put her notepads and an organizer.  It also has a separate, zippered area, perhaps intended for cables.

Performance

When my daughter first put on her fully-loaded backpack, she was less than happy.  It road high up on her back, and she felt like it was pinching her shoulder muscles.  For a moment we were worried that this would not be a pack that she could use while walking for long periods, but then we began to adjust the straps.  First, we loosened these straps at the base of the shoulder straps; this lowered the backpack so that it sat further down on her back and spread out the shoulder straps to distribute the weight more evenly.

Second, we tightened these straps at the top of the bag, which tilted it into an upright position and made it feel lighter.  Suddenly her backpack was comfortable, and a smile appeared on her face.  At that point, we knew this is a backpack that she could carry all day without discomfort.

The Tropos has upper and lower compression straps, which are designed to horizontally loosen or tighten the bag and keep the contents snug.  The upper straps, however, get in the way of using the zippers.  For a student who is transferring things into and out of her bag all day, this could really become an annoyance.

Fortunately, Osprey had already anticipated this issue.  They added a “tuckaway garage” where the upper straps can be unbuckled and tucked out of the way.  Perfect!

Did I mention previously that this bag is big?  It’s easily big enough to hold our Yorkie, who looks ready for class.

Extra features

The Tropos has a number of extra features that we appreciate.  On each side is a stretch mesh pocket that is perfect for a water bottle and a small umbrella.

Integrated into the Tropos are 3 curved, metal bars:  one is at the back of the top, and the other two are at the front and back of the bottom. They serve two purposes.  The bottom bars function like a kickstand to keep the bag standing upright when placed on the ground.  To make this steady, it’s helpful to have a few heavy items in the bag, such as books, and to the have bottom compression strap opened up, which we’ve done to fit everything.  This kickstand is a nice feature, as the laptop is less likely to get stepped on if the backpack remains upright; plus it should keep things from spilling out if she leaves a compartment open.

The back two bars are part of Osprey’s Airspeed ventilated backpanel system.  The basic idea is to slightly keep the backpack off of the wearer’s back, thus allowing it to breathe.  The bars are curved and conform to the shape of the back, and there’s a taut mesh panel along the back that keeps the separation.  I think that my daughter is going to find this wonderful when she’s trekking from one end of campus to the other on a hot day.

The Tropos includes a handful of other features, including a clip on the shoulder straps for holding glasses, straps across the waist and chest for added stability on hikes, a spot on the back to add a blinker when hiking near traffic, and little circle grips on the zippers to make them easier to use.

One final test

I can’t find anything on Osprey’s site about whether this backpack is waterproof.  It rains a lot where she’s going, so I think this is important to know.  To find out, I put the backpack under the sprinkler in our yard for 10 minutes. Yes, I really did this.

What was the result?  There was a lot of water beaded on top, which looked promising, but when I opened up the bag, only 1 pocket remained completely dry, the one where her phone goes.  None the others were soaking wet, but they weren’t dry either.  As Osprey doesn’t claim that this is a waterproof backpack, this isn’t a surprising result.  My daughter will have to rely on an umbrella to keep to keep her school supplies dry.

What I like

• Durable construction
• Lots of room
• Adjustable straps to maximize comfort
• Ventilation system
• Plenty of extra features

What I’d change

• More padding for the laptop pocket

Final thoughts

My daughter is looking forward to college—she’s counting the days—and as a parent, I now have one less thing to worry about.  Her books and her laptop will be in good hands while carried around in Osprey’s Tropos backback.  I think she’s going to love it, and I think it will serve her well for years to come.  If you’re looking for a large everyday backpack, I commend the Tropos to you.  If you’re not sure what backpack to get, check out Osprey’s Packfinder Tool.

Price: $150
Where to buy:  Osprey’s online store.  Their website also lists local stores that carry their bags, so you can handle them first and get them fitted properly. It’s also available from Amazon.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Osprey.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Backpack

Osprey Tropos Everyday Backpack review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 1, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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