Anyone have experience with the Everki Versa, Swiss Gear or Travel Pro 9 Backpacks?
They all look very much alike by the Everki is twice as expensive as the Swissgear and Travel Pro (the latter of which looks good to me).

I have the Everki Concept Premium bag (aka expensive as hell bag).

It's a great bag - it's durable, looks great, and has awesome features that work well. You can get a smaller or different bag for under $150 or $100 from Everki, which isn't too much more than the others.

I had a swiss bag before it and the right shoulder strap literally fell apart. It was an okay bag, but just not durable at all and didn't look too professional. I can see the Everki lasting for years and years.

I was intrigued by the title, 'professional backpack'.

As a long time backpacker (wilderness) I wondered just what a 'professional backpack' was. Once I had a look at the packs you listed I realized that your definition of backpacker differed from my own. LOL

Can't help you with a laptop bag but if you ever want an actual backpack suggestion, let me know. ;-)

Yet another option: McKlein leather laptop bag. Great bag!

http://www.amazon.com/McKleinUSA-416.../dp/B00062L5XI

The Everiki does not seem that expensive to me, based on the specs and the lifetime warranty. Compared to a $445 Tumi backpack, it seems downright reasonable at about $300.

If you don't see yourself using it for a 'lifetime', these lower-priced packs have lots of good reviews. The one good thing about eBags.com is you get hundreds of reviews posted on popular gear.

This Samsonite is handsome, looks pretty tough, and rings in at $55.

http://www.ebags.com/product/samsoni...uctid=10146703

508 reviewers, 93% would recommend this bag to a friend.


This eBags brand bag, at $90, has 643 reviews and 96% would recommend it!

http://www.ebags.com/product/ebags/t...uctid=10262100

Is it bombproof? No, but I did have an eBags Firewal Laptop Brief which I used for about 7 years. I think that's very reasonable. Stuff that has a lifetime warranty may last a lifetime, but probably won't look too pretty after 7-10 years, meaning although it still 'works' you'll be itching to replace it. My eBags Firewall was still going, but I replaced it with a Tumi laptop bag finally.

So there's the range, $50-60 for something that will likely serve you well for several years to $450 for something that will probably serve you well for a few more years before you get so sick of it you voluntarily retire it. That Everiki looks pretty nicely positioned in the middle.

I have the Eagle Creek Conor:

http://www.zappos.com/eagle-creek-conor-black

I think it looks professional and it zips open for the TSA. At 2 pounds, it is half the weight of the Everki. Straps are great and even includes a padded hip belt, which I usually have tucked away. It also has a pass through for your rollaboard handle.

Looking at the pics on this thread, I am still wondering what exactly is a professional backpack?

I'm partial to this Kenneth Cole Reaction bag. It holds alot of stuff...but unfortunately, it holds alot of stuff.

LOL, it has nothing to do with a backpack pittpanther. Some people call any bag you can carry on your back a backpack. OK, I get that, even if it is a misuse of the word backpack to me, but the 'professional' part is still something to wonder about.

That requires a definition of what 'professional' means and more importantly, what the definition of a 'non-professional' would then mean. Hilarious really.

Professional simply means it would be appropriate for use as an everyday business bag, obviously not for sport backpacking. The level of 'professional' applies to the look -- are you an IT professional or a Goldman Sachs investment banker? A passenger next to me on a flight yesterday had this Tumi, good for either.



She said she got it because her previous Tumi lasted 14 years. $445


Perhaps not quite that durable, but looking very tough, another passenger deplaning in front of me had this. I asked him how he liked it and he absolutely loves it. $55. Not as buttoned-down a look as the Tumi, (I would doubt this would work at Goldman ) but at $55 it looks like a great value proposition. (Let's face it, Tumi is GREAT stuff, but much of the price is for the name).



Link with organization photos here:

http://www.amazon.com/Targus-Drifter...YGZX1RXQZJRN8G

Somewhere in the middle, at $279, also probably brute tough, but more reasonably priced than the Tumi is this Briggs & Riley. Probably good for either the IT tech or the boardroom.



http://www.ebags.com/product/briggs-...uctid=10264359

If you wear a suit, I am not convinced that any backpack can look professional enough (IMHO, YMMV), and it will ruin your jacket. I know I couldn't use a backpack for professional purposes. That said though, has anyone used the Waterfield Designs Staad backpack? http://www.sfbags.com/products/backp...d-backpack.php

It's obviously only suitable for a very light load, not the full "office on my back" scenario, but in the black-on-black version it looks interesting.

Thoughts?

So your definition of 'professional backpack' is one that looks professional JPinPA.

I suppose that is one definition but it implies that a backpack somehow conveys your 'position' and can make you look 'professional'. I can see a tech nerd carrying one I suppose but I can't see a CEO with one though. So I am in agreement with baghoarder on that score. The picture of someone in a suit with a pack on their back is not impressive at all.

My point being that really no backpack would strike me as looking like anything but a worker bee. I think anyone carrying one who thinks it does look 'professional' is kidding themself as to their position in the hierarchy of business. Goldman Sachs investment bankers and the like for example are a dime a dozen. Most of course aren't actually investment bankers even though they use that title.

I laughed at a tv show last night on which a guy said he was an 'IT Marketing Manager.................. for a car dealership. I kid you not. An IT Marketing Manager, sounds 'professional' though doesn't it.

I agree with you, for the record. Some here asked what a professional backpack was (which I would think is fairly obvious) so I tried to define it. The OP is looking for one, I don't like them.

For the record I don't like the "Yasser Arafat look" either, it looks sloppy to me. Either grow a beard or shave, but hey, styles change.

But the fellows who sport the "Yasser Arafat look" would probably feel fine with either the B&R or the Tumi version of this in the boardroom. You wouldn't, nor will I. This is of no concern to the OP.

I've tried the ebags tls slim and wasn't a fan. Just too heavy at over three pounds empty. Not a great use of space either. Still looking for my grail on this front.

A unique, and nice-looking bag. However, IMHO it looks a little too much like a saddle bag that carries the mail on a horse. The layout also doesn't look like an efficient use of space. Not sure how well the waxed canvas would hold up.

Whether you can get away with a "professional backpack" depends on the type of business meetings you will be attending. I would love to wear a backpack when traveling; it would make it much easier. But I could not do it because I am usually wearing a suit and I am going into meetings with clients that are dressed in formal attire or going to court. A backpack on a suit just doesn't work, even if it's a Tumi. When you travel your small bag is going to double as your briefcase. If you are attending internal meetings or going to a tech company then it probably is fine.