Aer City Pack Pro - a compelling 24l clamshell-style urban-use EDC pack with good capacity & access 

Awww, thank you so much Antonio!! I'm glad to hear you found the review enjoyable even though you already bought the bag! 😂. How are you finding the experience with the City Pro so far? And yes, you always need a place for those business papers..... man! hahhahaa

Thank you!

Thank you so much Miya!!!

​@@TheMountainbornIt seems like the quick access pocket on original city pack was way bigger just by looking at this video. Is it?

Thank you so much for the kind words and I’m so happy my video was useful to you! I hope you enjoy your bag and it serves you well!!

Thank you so much Ahmed and agree - there definitely are some parallels between those two bags! How are you finding the experience with your original City Pack?

@@TheMountainborn it’s been great so far, and probably the most comfortable and functional bag I’ve owned! The back panel is cushy and stays close to my back. The front organization panel is catered to holding all the small EDC items that you need but never want to see until you need it (shout out to Chase). The main pocket suits my needs because it has my laptop, notebook, and charger, so most of the time I only need to open this pocket when I get to a coffee shop. It can get a bit tight if I put in larger headphones but I mostly use AirPods. My only two small issues would be that my water bottle can interfere with the main pocket zipper and the shape is a bit boxy. I also wish they had a navy blue color! I don’t think I could have purchased a better bag for the price with the Black Friday discount.

I definitely think that is the intention. It didn't work as well for me in that orientation (in general I tend to not have as much success with side-mounted key pockets) since I find that when I'm coming home I often have other things in my hands (some delivery package, or something I bought and am bringing home, some food or drinks or something etc.) so I have to set the bag down anyway in which case the top mounted access is more convenient. But for people to whom this doesn't apply I can see how the side mounted leash is convenient though I think here they would benefit from having some elasticity built into the leash (or else a longer leash, etc.)

Hi Jed! Those are great critiques - I did find that while being able to carry more, the City Pack Pro felt a little less "cohesive" or "refined" (or maybe just missing some of the charm?) of the original 14l City Pack. I chalked a lot of it up to the expanded proportions and move to a clamshell which kind of put it in a much more well-trodden and competitive space (23L clamshell EDC daypack) but reading your thoughts on the pocketing and orientation makes me think there are also responsible for this pack feeling less cohesive overall. That said, I am a fan of the yoke pocket on the EG CPL series, though that may be just because I love their bags so much (I've even gotten accustomed to the "wrong-side" orientation of the front panel external access pocket that when I use other bags with the front panel external pocket they now feel odd 😂)

@@TheMountainborn I love the yoke pocket on my CHZ22, so I know it's a well-executed and useful pocket, it's just a very personal nitpick. And the space is otherwise unused so I shouldn't really complain! Could never get used to the left shoulder sling unfortunately (especially since I also have a Topo Designs Global Briefcase which swings from the right and I love). Great review, as always looking forward to the next one!

Hi Matthew! Thank you so much! And great suggestions! I do have a few of those - will make a review of my most used (the booth pack 3-way duffel) one of these days!

Hi @laplthelullemann ! Great question! In Japanese, there's an expression that goes "大は小を兼ねる" which basically means "large will also cover the small". Now as a person with far too many bags for their own good, I have to admit that I am a big fan of using the right tool for the right job, but this only applies when there are no other constraints. If you are constrained (either by common sense and/or making better financial decision than me 😂) to only getting one single bag, then I think the idea of going with the Travel Pack Small is a reasonable one - it can comfortably cover both one bag travel and also has plenty of organization and features to serve as an EDC bag. While I haven't done a full review of the travel bag small on my channel before, I do classify it as a type of "Goldilocks bag" - that is to say, a bag that can comfortably cover both one bag travel but also serve as a competent destination-use EDC bag. (however, there are other bags that I think are better goldilocks bags overall, but it's still a good one) I think the main compromises you'll face if you go with the travel bag small are in its use as an EDC bag - it is quite bulky/big/and overly padded for an EDC bag, the side compression straps are finicky and annoying in EDC use and the main compartment tends to be too big and cavernous for most EDC type loadouts (though this can be mitigated somewhat by use of the compression straps though it does look kind of ugly when all compressed down). Also some features like the internal front lid pocket and the side water bottle are less well executed for EDC use than many other day used EDC packs (though they make perfect sense in the travel context) - but such is the nature of compromises one must make when looking to straddle two distinct use cases. That said - assuming your travel kit is sufficiently dialed in enough, I think the City Pack Pro could also competently handle some occasional usage as a travel bag (at least for shorter trips, assuming a tightly dialed kit). But I think you accurately identified some of the potential capacity concerns especially if you want to try to fit something like a steam deck in there - a steam deck and packing cube full of clothing would take up much of the space, leaving very little for a dopp kit, tech kit, etc. Overall, based on what you mentioned in your comment, I think the Travel Pack Small might be the slightly better choice for you - or if your budget extends, do what I do and just buy both and you'll have the perfect bag for each use case! 😂

@@TheMountainborn thank you so much for your detailed insights, it will surely help me to make my decision! Tomorrow I will be in London where Aer recently opened an official store, so I will have the opportunity to check out all of their bags in person before pulling the trigger on one. As of now I have my sights on the Travel Pack Small, but who knows, maybe I’ll reconsider once I see the bags side by side…if not and I go for the TP Small, I’ll give it a shot as my “do it all” backpack, if I’m not happy with it’s EDC performance, I can always buy a smaller pack afterwards to go along with it. Just one final question: You mentioned that you think that there are better “goldilock bags” overall than the TP3 Small, what would be your ultimate backpack in my situation as opposed to what Aer offers, any recommendations?

That's awesome!! Let me know which one you decide on once you visit the store! Regarding other goldilocks bags - a few that come to mind are: 1. Evergoods Civic Travel Bag 26 (I recently did a review on my channel. Probably my top choice for a goldilocks bag) 2. Bellroy Transit 28 - Don't let the 28L size fool you, it wears small and is totally reasonable as an EDC bag for most people but still holds an amazing amount in travel use cases. One of my favorite goldilocks bags as well. There is also a Bellroy transit work pack that might be worth considering though I feel that one is more squarely an EDC use pack. 2. Trakke Storr 25. Much less internal organization than the Aer, but a wonderful dry wax canvas construction and heritage good looks. I just recently did a review on it.

@@TheMountainborn Update: After a nice chat with a London Aer employee, I decided to go for the Travel Pack 3 Small X-Pac and so far I‘m very happy with it! Guess I’ll put it through it’s paces when traveling home from London, perfect to test it out in the field! I’ll keep your other recommendations in mind in case I want something slightly smaller for everyday carry purposes, Bellroy makes sleek looking stuff, a bit more stylish for city commuting while I dig Aer for their kinda minimalistic tech wear look. Anyways, thanks again for your input and great reviews in general, keep it up!

That's awesome! I'm so glad you were able to find a bag that works for you - can't wait to hear how it performs during your travels out in the field!! :)

Thank you so much Adrian! And yes, I will do a review of the CPL24 one of these days I promise! The problem is I love it so much and I have so many different variants that I can't decide if I want to do a single focused review on the CPL24 v3 or else like a "CPL24 overview" going over the evolution and different variants / special releases, etc. Decisions, decisions... 😂 (Also I should add, this is the same reason I haven't done the MQD24 yet - it's probably one of the most beautiful bags (IMO) in my collection though not at all practical for most of the things I do, so I don't know if I can be objective when reviewing it. All I know is I wish they would introduce a v2 of this, I would snag it in a heartbeat!)

There are not enough CPL24 V3 reviews on RU-vid. Definitely curious as to your thoughts.

was looking for the CPL24 review, not sure which one to pick

Please give full review of CPL 24!

How do you like it so far? :)

Hi @manueldelgado5336 - great question. For me personally, between those two it's the Bellroy Transit 28L all the way. For one bag travel I tend to prefer bags that look a little bit more like "normal backpacks" as opposed to dedicated travel bags - the Bellroy Transit 28L is both much cleaner looking visually due to the lack of external compression straps and overall design and can also carry a bit more than the Aer Travel Pack small in my experience due to some clever gusseting/construction. It also works very well as an "EDC" daypack at the destination - you can technically do that with the Aer travel pack small as well but the latter looks a lot chunkier and like a travel pack whereas the Bellroy tends to look like a normal backpack at the destination. Overall, I rank the Bellroy Transit 28L travel bag as one of my all-time favorite one-bag travel travel bags (right behind the Evergoods Civic Travel Bag 26L which is God Tier in my opinion) That said, the one advantage the Aer has over the Bellroy in my opinion is that the shoulder straps are much better for heavy load outs. I with the Bellroy had slightly beefier (or at least not quite so slender) shoulder straps but for me the other advantages outweigh this disadvantage and under most normal loads I didn't have any issues with the shoulder straps other than just disliking how they look visually. That said, both are solid bags - the Aer won't let you down either. I hope this helps!

@@TheMountainborn thanks for the answer! Definitely helps a lot! Yeah, Bellroy just has that looks down imo. Still trying to decide, and now it’s down to the Bellroy Transit 28L and the Evergoods CPL 28 L. You mentioned the CTB 26L, but I think I prefer the CPL a bit more tbh, as the water bottle pocket isn’t that important to me. CTB would be in consideration for the extra pocket on the front, but those extra 2 L give the edge to the CPL. Do you prefer the CPL over Bellroy, or only the CTB over Bellroy?

Ah I love this question because it's all about the subtleties between three awesome bags and their utility in terms of my favorite crossover genre of the Travel & EDC use case. So here, in no particular order, are some thoughts regarding the CTB26 and the CPL28: tl;dr - in my experience the CTB26 is the superior choice for a travel scenario because in practice for travel load outs I find it can hold more than the CPL28 despite the nominally smaller rated literage due to the much deeper main compartment on the CTB26. Conversely, I find the CPL28 is the superior choice for EDC use due to how the volume is distributed across the various compartments which makes it do better in EDC style scenarios or when not fully filled up. I don't think you'll go wrong with either of them, it just depends on how heavily you weigh EDC versus Travel use. * As mentioned, even though the CPL28 is rated as nominally 2 liters larger than the CTB26, in practice I find the CTB26 can hold more in a travel use scenario due to how the main compartment on the CTB26 is deeper than the main compartment on the CPL28 - in my experience this makes a huge difference in what you can reliably pack in there in travel cases, where depth is quite important, especially for packing cubes and stuff like that (if you watch the video on the Evergoods Packing Cubes TPC8 there's a shot where they show how you need to unfold them "in half" to fit below the zipper line in the CPL24 (that's the 24 not 28 but same principle) - you don't need to do this to fit it in the CTB26 due to the greater depth of the main compartment. * Both bags work great for EDC use in my experience but I find that the CPL line tends to have a slight edge over the CTB26 when it comes to EDC use cases again mainly because the main compartment is less "deep" on the CPL28 which means that the extra literage is distributed more evenly across the three compartments and it just tends to wear better when not fully maxed out in my opinion (usually I find I don't max bags capacity out when used in EDC situations). * I find the CTB26 tends to stand up much better on its own than the CPL28 though in both cases its load dependent. * As an EDC bag, I find the CPL28 I find wears better on larger framed people (i.e. if you're like 183cm or higher for example). I find the CTB26 works well across a wide variety of frame sizes as does the CPL24 of course. With regard to the Bellroy, I actually would rate it somewhere in the middle between these two. So if the spectrum ran from dedicated EDC to dedicated Travel usage, I'd say it looks like this: [EDC] (CPL28) (Transit 28) (CTB26) [Travel] Again, due to a deeper main compartment I find the the Transit 28 can often hold more than the CPL28 in a travel use scenario (note that this is highly load out subjective but I assume you're carrying at least 1-2 packing cubes which often benefit from a deeper compartment in my experience). I also find that the Transit 28, despite being nominally rated at 2 liters more than the CTB26 actually visually wears and feels much "smaller" on the back when worn. (note that this is very much subjective and just based on my experience since in theory the spec sheets seem to show the that Transit 28 is taller and wider than the other two but in practice I find due to the shaping and design of the bags it tends to look smaller when worn compared to the more boxy / defined Evergoods styles. Your mileage may vary) Remarkably, it is worth pointing out that the Transit 28 is a full 400 grams lighter than the CTB26 and about 470 grams lighter than the CPL28 which is quite a difference especially if you are in a situation (like a budget airline etc.) where you need to watch your weight. Also, I will point out that I personally found the overall structure and materials (and especially load carriage/straps) of the CPL28 (and CTB26) to be superior to the Transit 28. So.... yeah. I'm not sure if I've actually made anything easier or clearer but speaking * just for myself * I'd rank the bags in this order of personal preference for a combination EDC / Travel use bag: #1 CTB26 → #2 Bellroy Transit 28 → #3 CPL28 But you can't go wrong with any of them - I hope this helps? 😂

@@TheMountainborn loved your answer! Really appreciate it. Really interesting that the CPL 28 seems to be capable of “carrying” less than the CTB 26. Would’ve thought the CPL was able to carry more, but guess I’m wrong. If it does carry less, why would you rate it less on travel than the CTB? From what you are saying, it does seem the CTB is a perfect hybrid for EDC/Small travel. I’m planning on using any of those bags for EDC mainly, like gym and work, so do need quite a bit of space, and sometimes for Small travels like weekends and some week long. In your experience, has the CTB26 managed to do that? I am looking to use Packing Cubes, but haven’t really decided on which ones better fit me. Currently looking into Peak Designs, Eagle Creeks, and Evergoods Transit Packing Cube. Have you tried any of those on the CTB, CPL or Bellroys? Sorry for the specific questions, but you do seem to know quite a lot and are helping out a ton

For myself personally, definitely the CPL24. (I am a pretty big Evergoods fanboy but overall I do feel that it I just a better suited pack for my personal preferences in terms of carry style, materials and execution.)

sorry of the late reply. Generally I'm a fan of the 20L work pack and it does hold more than its rated liter-age (I did a full review of it on my channel a while back if you want to check it out). Reading through your comment, the main concern I had was the hoodie- those tend to take up quite a bit of space and might push the work pack to its limits. I would suggest maybe looking at the Bellroy Transit 28L - it is bigger than the Workpack (same series) but it still wears visually quite small so I think you can rock it as an EDC pack. It also has tons of the same useful EDC organization as the work pack but also a few additional travel specific features. Between the Aer City Pack Pro and the Workpack I would personally go with the Workpack as I think it has slightly better organization for the way that I prefer to roll, and I think it would do slightly better with some of the use cases you mentioned. So yeah, in summary, without knowing the specifics of your exact loadout but just based on your comment my thoughts would be Bellroy Transit 28 > Bellroy Transit 20L Workpack > Aer City Pack Pro I hope this helps!

@@TheMountainbornI actually ended up getting the 20L workpack a while back and I’ve had a chance to use it daily for work and for a 4 day stay house sitting. It was definitely a little smaller than I thought it would be and the side pockets are a little clunky, but overall I’m happy with it. I think you’re right, sometimes I wish I saved up a little more for the 28L but I came back to this video to see if I made the right decision and I suppose I did. Thank you for your feedback!

Great question. tl;dr * Aer Travel Pack 3 Small is a purpose built small one bag travel bag that can also serve as a (relatively large) daily use EDC pack at the destination. * Aer City Pack Pro is a purpose built EDC use bag that in a pinch could be used for a short overnight travel bag. I find the side straps on the Travel Pack fussy and annoying and the size overall to be bigger than I prefer when I'm using it as an EDC pack. I find the organization on the City Pack Pro and the loading experience of the main compartment to be sub optimal compared to the Aer Travel Pack when using as a travel pack. I would say that the Aer Travel Pack 3 is slightly better at being an EDC use pack than the City Pack Pro is at being a one bag travel bag. Neither would be my primary choice as a "goldilocks bag" (that is to say a bag that can both do point to point one bag travel but also serve as a very capable destination use EDC bag) - for that I would reach for something like the Evergoods Civic Travel Bag 26 (just did a review) but that also involves some amount of personal preference. Anyway, I hope this helps!

Mmm, that is a tough one. I think it depends a lot on what you mean by "official use". If by "official use" you mean a more white collar office-type of environment then I think I'd give a slight edge to the regular (non-xpac) variant. But keep in mind that if you're working in like a law firm /bank or something I'm not sure any of these bags might be upscale enough for that kind of environment - you'd need to judge yourself based on how conservative it is etc. If by "official" you mean a more casual office or an official role where you often need to go outdoors (surveyor or something) then I'd suggest perhaps the xpac variant since it has slightly increased robustness and water resistance which might be important in those kind of environments. I hope this helps!

Hi Jasmine - yes, both in terms of overall liter capacity (which is always a bit of an estimate since measurement methodology varies by manufacturer) but also in absolute dimensions (which are more concrete and comparable from manufacturer to manufacturer). The Aer City Pack Pro is roughly 24L versus the approx 18L of the Kanken 15” and it is slightly larger in each dimension. That said, the Kanken does have a single large main compartment and virtually no sidewall padding (thus slightly increasing usable internal capacity for the main compartment versus bags that devote a bit more thickness to sidewall padding) which means that for certain loadouts you might be able to fit slightly more in the Kanken’s main compartment than you might otherwise expect for its rated literate. But the Aer City Pack Pro (unlike its non-Pro version) also has a single very large main compartment so I doubt there is anything you can fit in the Kanken you can’t fit in the City Pack Pro - but conversely the larger capacity of the City Pack Pro means it can probably carry a bit more than than the Kanken overall. Anyway, I hope this helps!

@@TheMountainborn ok thank you so much! My back hurt on my last 2 week trip using the Kanken but if the Aer is bigger it may be worse? Hmm lots of thinking i need to do.

​@@lovealwaysjasmine - hmm. To be honest, there could be many different reasons why your back is hurting after carrying a backpack for two weeks. In no particular order: 1. You are carrying too much weight (relative to your body/frame size, etc.) 2. Your body may not be used to this type of exertion (i.e. if you are not used to traveling/walking constantly whilst carrying weight on your back and then all of a sudden go on an intense two week trip with a loaded pack it is natural your body will hurt) 3. The pack may be the wrong size/shape for your body type (or more importantly - your back length) 4. The pack may not be made for wha you are trying to do - the Kanken famously has very thin, unsupportive straps, no hip belt and very little padding. As cute as it looks, IMO this is not the best pack to carry a lot of weight for extended periods of time. I'm not saying any of those are the specific reasons, just speculating in general. However, usually speaking the actual size/weight of the pack is generally less important (provided it fits your back length - more on this in a second) than the weight and distribution of the contents inside (because usually the pack is only a small percentage of the overall weight that you are carrying; and if, for example, that weight is packed in the bag in a way that pulls your body backwards or unbalances you). Given that, I would start by checking the following 1. How much weight are you carrying? While there is no hard and fast rule, for daypacks it is often said that the upper boundary of the loaded pack should be no more than 10% of your body weight (and even that seems a bit high to me). My guess would be that a too-heavy pack is the number one reason why your back might be hurting (as opposed to the pack itself) 2. Does the pack fit your body properly? You can look up how to measure your back length online, but this is a very important thing to know - make sure the back and shoulder straps are properly fitted to your body shape and back length (you can look this up on RU-vid, there are tutorials to show how to achieve a proper fit) - a poorly fitting pack will make even the lightest loads much more uncomfortable to wear. 3. Is the pack made for what you are trying to do? See my note about the Kanken above - it is not a pack with a lot of bells, whistles or creature comforts and this can make a difference in everyday comfort and wear - it certainly is not the pack I would choose for an extended 2 week trip simply because it isn't that comfortable or supportive (in my opinion) . Okay I hope this helps - if you let me know the total wight you are carrying (and a few sample items in there) I can possibly share some more detailed advice.

@@TheMountainborn wow this was so helpful thank you so much! I just purchased the Osprey 26+6 backpack so I’ll try that on my next trip and I’ll use your 10% of my body weight tip. New Lifelong subscriber here, thank you so much for your help!

I understand your pain. In my opinion, it often depends on one's intended use case. For urban-use EDC clamshell style packs like this (It is called the "city" pack), I think the idea is that they're generally not intended to be fully filleted open on dirty/wet surfaces but rather on things like desks/tables/bed or internal floors. So in these cases the front opening clamshell style often provide superior load access and packability for a relatively low trade off. Many bags of this style can also be accessed in a "half-zip" style where the bag is stood up and then the front can be half-zipped down from the top which allows access to most of the internal contents without needing to fully open up the bag. When looking at bags intended for more outdoor or adventure-style use I think that's when you see the back-loader/reverse-clamshell style shine a lot more (along with top loaders, side and Y-front openings, etc.) for precisely the reasons you highlighted - it keeps the dirt and mud off of your back panel and straps. For me one of the best exemplars of this type of use case are adventure camera backpacks - things like the Shimoda Explorer or any myriad of Loewpros, etc. You also see this reverse clamshell/backloader style in certain types of travel bags especially those designed with security in mind. If you're looking for a good EDC pack with a back-loader style, I previously reviewed the Heimplanet Transit 28 travel pack which is both small enough to double as an EDC pack and features a reverse clamshell style. Or you might also consider top-loading EDC packs like the Evergoods Civic Half-zip series, or the Mystery Ranch Urban Assault series (which fillet open in a standing form factor with the Y-zips). In general I think front-loading clamshells are much more popular for urban-use EDC daypacks due to the advantages mentioned above but if you look at top loaders, outdoor-oriented packs and such I think you can find some good bags that will open in the style you prefer. Anyway, I hope this helps!!

@@TheMountainborn Thanks for you extended reply! You are right, this might be more of an EDC bag and most folks won’t bother. But Aer also does this on the travel backpack. And you see this kind of opening concept on many photography bags as well. Apart from laying the straps in the dirt, there’s also the security side of things: If the zipper to the main compartment is near to my back chances are lower someone tries to take a look… And yes: Shimoda it iz! As a landscape photographer and hiker who also tried a bunch of other pack before I think they nail it like no other bag company out there. Got the X50 and the X30 and they are excellent. Have a nice one!

I have the bag in X-Pac and I can’t lie not having the side handle is not as bad it seems, it’s doable and the only times I’m wanting to use it is when I’m setting it on the ground in my car in between the front seat and the dashboard like very specific scenario. However, the front panel…I come from using the AER Travel Pack 3 X-Pac that the front panel and a side handle. Let me say that you don’t need a front panel, I’m able to fit everything ID put in the front panel in a small bag that fits in the top pocket of the AER City Pack Pro

For me the simpler front panel is a pro, not a con

Hi LotsOfPaypa! First of all, thank you for taking the time to watch the video and leave a comment - I really appreciate it! That said, I don't think it's quite fair to characterize my initial "Strengths and Opportunities for improvement" section as "nitpicking." Obviously no bag in the world is perfect for every person simply because each person's valuation paradigm and use cases differ (and also brands and bags have different design problems they're trying to prioritize and solve and different design philosophies they are trying to espouse). The purpose of my reviews is to give an overall balanced view of things I think are good about a bag and things I think are potential areas to improve about a bag hopefully without falling into either fanboy-ism (or worse yet, being a blatant marketing shill) or else unilaterally slamming/excoriating a bag for clicks and drama (my videos are not currently monetized and I certainly don't need excess drama in my life :) ), while framing these opinions from the perspective of someone who owns and has used hundreds (maybe almost even a thousand if you count slings and pouches?) of bags over the years across a wide variety of use cases. In my opinion I gave this bag a very fair and balanced review and I don't think I excessively overhyped, focused on or slammed the bag for any particular area in a way that can be described as "nitpicking." It's great that the bag worked well for you and your particular use cases but I feel I would be irresponsible not to at least point out the loss of the side carry handle, the decreased internal organization and the redistribution of load due to design changes in a way that puts increased torque on the spine versus its non-pro variant. As you can see from my channel and reviews, I am an experienced one bag traveler and completely understand where you're coming from with regard to the value of compact simple bags with high capacity to size ratio - and am no stranger to EDC bags that can do capable duty in the OBT use case. That said, it should be pointed out that the Pro Pack is explicitly marketed as an EDC bag for urban professional and as such while the loss of organization may be seen as a plus for you, for most people in the professional urban EDC use case this probably would be seen as a negative or at the very least as something they would want to know and judge if it works out well for them or not. Additionally, for people carrying significant amounts of weight (via heavy laptops, hardcover books, or other devices/items often carried by urban commuters or students) the redistribution of weight further out from the back is definitely something to note especially if they were expecting the same high and tight carry style of the non-pro variant of this bag (a common upgrade pattern I believe is someone using a non-pro variant but wanting more space, and then upgrading to the pro variant thinking they're getting more space but all the same features, then being surprised to find there are other variations between the two). Again, I don't feel I over focused or was overly critical of these items (overall my review of this bag was quite positive) in any nitpick-like manner, but was trying to give a clear and balanced review of these factors seen through the lens of the EDC use case and consumer segment the marketing for this bag purports to target. I hope this helps clarify why I choose to talk about both strengths and potential areas of improvement for any bag that I review, even if your particular valuation paradigm my differ!

@@TheMountainborn We can go back and forth for quite a few paragraphs about what we like and don’t like about the bag and I always appreciate a different perspective. I will leave it like this, we are all unique individuals with unique taste and my EDC is not the same as your EDC and that is why you kept referencing the City Pack and seem to prefer it, but in the end the City Pack Pro is my preferred flavor 😉

Agree 110%, i like the waterproofness of Xpac but i don't understand why they got to choose such a loud color for the interior, a light grey that is almost white would be so much classier, like the interiors of Aer Pro Packs.

@@hudson8074 it’s what’s kept me from buying any of the collabs (such as the Phoenix). That bright orange is an eyesore. Visibility and aesthetics have to go hand in hand. Then again they seem to like these harsh colors (see burnt orange and signal blue exteriors). Not my jam.

By "go back and forth" do you mean talking about both the pros/cons of the bag? (If so, then that's intentional, most bags have both pros and cons and I think it's important to cover those in a relatively impartial way so viewers can make up their own mind, since each person's valuation paradigm is different)