Daily University Backpack Recommendations

So I'm looking to purchase a new backpack to use daily to commute to and from university. Ideally it would hold everything that I need and be waterproof (or at least water resistant) as I live in the rainy land of Scotland.

The most I can ever see myself carrying in it would be the following:

• Laptop & charger
• Textbooks / Notepads / Work
• Lunch
• Gym Gear
• Note - I may have missed something but this appears to be the essentials

Having done some research online I've seen one or two that appear to suit my needs, the two standouts being the SwissGear Ibex and the SwissGear Pegasus.

Having spoken to a friend though, he suggested that I get a military style backpack claiming it will be much more endurable and last a lot longer and while it won't offer protection for the laptop explicitly it would be easy to buy a protective sleeve. He also claims that any bag worthy of military use would be more that capable of meeting my needs. He suggested the Mil-Tec Assault Pack or a 5.11 Tactical Rush 12 or 24.

So there you have it - a long rambling post on backpacks - and I'm left asking your advice and recommendations. SwissGear laptop bag or Military style? Or maybe you have opinions of your own and would like to way in so feel free to do so.

For quick reference the 4 bags are:

• SwissGear Ibex
• SwissGear Pegasus
• Mil-Tec Assault Pack
• 5.11 Tactical Rush 12 or 24

@freezyfrog I don't know if it was intentional or not, or if it was the forum's fault, but you seem to have made five of these threads. I have deleted the rest, but allowed this one to remain, because it seems like a decent topic.

On topic, my only really college backpack advice is to not carry any more at a time than you have to. I went to a rather large campus, and walking around with too much weight strapped to your back isn't great.

You'll probably get more utility out of two smaller backpacks in thus case than you would with one large one that holds all of this stuff.

Camping supply store will be best value, less price markup for name brand, etc.

I walked 2km to university every day for 5 years in rainy/snowy St. John's, Newfoundland because it's faster and cheaper than using our shitty public transit. Umbrellas are useless here because the wind is too strong so my bag got wet a lot. I used a Targus bag that had a separate compartment for a 15 inch laptop. It had a pouch on the side that I can fit the charger into. There is a water bottle pouch on the other side. The front accessory pouch was massive. I could fit a walkman, cell phone, psp, ds and their respective charging cables in it comfortably along with pens, white out, tape, graphing calculator, rulers, keys, etc. The zipper for the laptop section has rings so you can padlock it shut for extra safety.

If I had to stuff a pair of gym shoes and shorts into it with everything else I probably could, but I just used the GTA IV collectors edition duffel bag when I went to the gym.

Looking at the tag now and if you want to look it up the model number is TSB04301-10.

@mooseymcman: I'm sorry, it wasn't intentional but when I hit publish it kept on claiming that an error occur or that I included a dodgy link - I assumed it was the images that I had included so I re-tired without and did so multiple times eventually rewriting the post and trying again several times as I kept on facing the same error but eventually gave up.

Now having returned to the site I see that all of my attempts have been posted unknowingly so I have highlighted those I wish for the moderators to delete.

@freezyfrog: Don't worry about it! The site is prone to weird issues like this, it happens.

I have used a Targus bag as well for about a year now, I like it a lot. Nice cushioning on the back and padded pocket for my laptop. Nothing seems to be damaged despite my rough use of it. It's rain resistant normally but it also has a rain-proof cover that fits into a pocket on the bottom of the backpack. I've had it out during torrential down-pours here in Halifax, with the cover on everything stays completely dry.

I have a few backpacks. I have a SwissGear one like you mentioned. I quite like it other than that it is black so it gets really hot to wear when I walk home so I just use it in winter. It's quite sturdy. I also have a The North Face one (yeah yeah I know, preppy brand). I've used it in spring, summer and fall for 3 years now and it has held up well. It's nice and light and can handle most rain, just make sure the zippers are positioned so that they are not at the top.

You probably won't end up actually needing a huge backpack. I thought I would need to bring textbooks and stuff like you but after a while I discovered that you don't actually need to all that often, or if you do it is one book at the most. Huge backpacks are handy but also quite cumbersome, which is why I usually use my smaller North Face one.

Some people will probably recommend messenger bags or commuter bags rather than backpacks but I don't really endorse that idea. I found my commuter bag to be more of a pain than anything and it couldn't fit as much as a reasonably sized backpack.

Grab a Timbuk2 Phoenix from amazon $50.00 or $65.00 depending on the model.

amazon uk link

I have been using the same backpack for 9 years, it's a camping one and is indestructible. I would suggest just going to a store and looking what is available.