I’ve never owned a 14L bag before this, and let me tell you, it’s actually more than enough. It’s either “14L is actually more than enough” or this bag is actually more than 14L.
I purchased the Bellroy Tokyo Compact 14L (black) and I am very happy with this purchase, with the purpose I’m using it for. Let give you some more details and if you’re looking for a bag for a similar purpose, give this bag a shot.
What I was looking for + what I was going to use it for
I was looking for a daily backpack, mostly for work. I’m looking for something stylish as well. It doesn’t have to be expensive and leather or suede to catch attention, but something presentable and low-key stylish. Think modern/minimalistic or Scandinavian. That’s what I’m looking for. I’m not describing the bag.
I also was decided in getting a backpack for work. The peer pressure of “backpack = you look like you go to school” has no effect on me. I like backpacks. I think it helps with posture. It also helps with load balancing (as geeky as that sounds), and I think it’s actually very fashionable and it fits my style.
I had many work bags, most of them were messenger bags. But to nail both points I once had a suede messenger bag. The material was impractical since it snows a lot here. Yes it’s like dust and it just slides off but if it settles on your bag and jacket (and it will), it melts the moment you go indoors, which is bad for suede.
At the same time having a messenger bag gave me a pinched nerve since I was carrying heavy laptops around that time and then you’re standing while commuting for 2 hours each day. It was really just digging down my neck and after a while I wasn’t able to lift my arm up after a certain point.
Style of the Tokyo bag
I’ve shortlisted the backpack brand that I like (Bellroy) and the Tokyo bag was definitely catching my eye. I initially wanted the burgundy one but black was the only one available in our store. Turns out, I ended up liking the colour!
For me the style is 9/10. It’s what I said I was looking for: minimalist/modern. There are little to no side pockets to make it look bulky. I wanted a small bag that’s not spanning from your neck down to your table. At the same time I wanted something that can carry the everyday (professional) necessities.
Texture
The texture/material is great. It doesn’t get easily snagged by tree branches, table edges, or any almost-sharp object. The design is minimalistic so there are big flaps, handles, or zippers that can get easily snagged as well when you’re walking through tight spaces (think commuting).
It doesn’t look like it’s a material that easily looks dirty (though again, mine’s black to begin with).
The handle
I was at first afraid of the big handle. I like the style and the idea of the big main tote handle but before I bought it all the YouTube reviews said it was too big that it looks off. It’s not. When you’re holding it in tote mode, it makes sense and it’s the perfect size. When it’s backpack mode, it’s not exaggeratedly big. It instead adds to the style.
Compartments
The side pockets are hidden and actually easy to access whenever you sling your bag on one side. I do it a lot.
Some YouTube reviews said that one drawback of the look of it is that when it’s full, the backpack sags or grows big at the bottom of the pack since everything just sinks and clusters at the bottom. It wasn’t like that in my case. To be fair though, I’m packing long, rigid, regular-sized objects like laptops, folders, documents. Sure I guess if you packed irregular objects like a bag of sand, bag of walnuts, and bag grapes, sure, maybe.
The big main zipper
There’s only one big zipper and you can’t miss it. I think it’s made in the best quality and you can tell someone actually product tested it and thought about it. First it looks stylish and it feels like one too. The tab of the zipper is big and comfortable. It’s rigid enough so you can easily zip it up or down, but soft enough to signal that they’re trying to do a premium feel to it.
You can un/zip the main zipper with one hand. You don’t have to use your other hand to hold the bag steady or pull it from the other side. Sometimes the inner seam pokes out a little bit that hinders you from zipping the bag completely, but you’ve zippped up the bag up to 95% percent already by then.
Even if you leave it like that, it won’t unzip as you walk. Even if you accidentally left it unzipped, it’s not like it’s wide-open and/or the front flap dangling and spilling out your stuff. No one would actually notice it’s open maybe not until you bend over hard and your bag slide up/forward and your things start to fall off.
Functionality
Volume
Again, I never knew 14L was a good size for my purpose. It actually holds a lot. On a day-to-day, I have a 13in laptop, charging cables, 2-3 magazines, a notebook, wireless earbuds case, and I can pack lunch in there and easily slide it in.
Btw, in the YouTube videos they said 15in laptops do not fit in it. They do fit. I tried. It works. It fits comfortably in the laptop sleeve. Why they’re marketing it to max 13in laptops I don’t know. Maybe different laptops with weird aspect ratio might not fit, but I’ve fit a 13in and 15in Macbook Pro in it (separately) and it fit. You’re not tearing or stretching the laptop pocket in any way.
Going back to the volume, for everyday use it’s perfect. Maybe if I’m snowboarding I’m definitely not using this since that is a separate use case. I’ve had this for almost a year now and I haven’t gotten into a situation where I had to worry that something did not fit.
Pockets
As mentioned, outside it has the two concealed ‘side pockets’ on both sides. It’s cool that one of them has a high-quality looking(and feel) key hook.
Inside the main compartment, there’s a pocket for a water bottle and your Hydro Flask 21oz (or taller) water bottle fits snug and secure in there.
The laptop sleeve is excellent and no nonsense. It works. It’s snug for my 13in laptop and it has enough space so it’s easy for you to get your laptop in and out of that pocket even without looking but not big enough that it becomes flimsy and that the laptop pocket sags and dangles on the main space of the compartment.
There’s another pocket just in front of that. It’s a stretchable mesh that’s good for id’s, notes, card, etc for easier access.
Shoulder Straps
The straps are comfortable and I haven’t felt any fatigue off of it. Again, YouTubers say that compared to the other Bellroy bags, this is shittier. Maybe they’re right but I haven’t tried the others and objectively, it’s comfortable and ok for me, it’s light, and it’s easy to put my arms in and out. I think objectively you’ll only feel the straps starting to become uncomfortable if you have really dense stuff in your pack and it’s really just dragging you down. If which case, it’s not a strap problem anymore. It’s a why-are-you-carrying-something-that-heavy problem.
The straps are meant to be tucked in the outside/back of the bag if you wanted to use and style it as a tote. Because of that, the engineers made the joints of the strap to be really flexible which I really like. Not because I want to tuck it in for tote mode, but it makes it way easier for me to get my arms in and out, and when I rest the bag on any surface, I don’t have to worry about creases or the strap developing this weird fold in the worst places.
I also like how the the should strap’s end just loop inside the bag. This way you never have this weird, long extra straps that’s dangling beside your waist.
This bag is not for you if…
- if you’re purpose is more than a daily-driver for work, errands, or light to light-medium packing
- if you carry a lot of bits and bobs or fragile items (since it’ll sink and slosh at the bottom)
- if you carry wide/deep items (excellent for laptops, magazines, etc; worst for carrying bowling balls, head busts, science lap apparatus)
