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 Functionality and accessibility of a "station wagon" in the backpack world Nov 16, 2009
BACKGROUND of the reviewer: I use backpacks extensively, as I work at multiple sites, and carry a laptop, some electronics, tea, etc. The weight of my bags are heavy enough to make shoulder bags out of question but not heavy enough to bother with rolling cases. Most of the time, I don't carry that much, as I learned to minimize stuff, but there are certain things I always carry for efficiency, and I also like to have spare rooms for unexpected items I pick up on the way.
The FEEL of the bag: This bag looks a bit big if you look at it, but I don't feel the size when I wear it, or use it and travel in cities by public transportation. About the only thing I experienced is when walking fast on a crowded street. When I pass people significantly shorter than me, this bag apparently annoys them without me even noticing anything. The padding is just right amount and a good trade-off between comfort, protection and non-storage bulk volume. I called this bag "station wagon" of backpack world because, there is ample space and every cubic inch of space is usable and easily accessible. Other backpacks I own may have equivalent amounts of "theoretical" capacity but this backpack is by far the easiest one to make full use of the capacity. Think of a trunk of a sedan for other backpacks.
This bag is extremely functional. The design is well thought out, except for a few details. Many of the problems I had with other backpacks are solved in this one. One particular point is that, this bag is designed to prevent anything from dropping when you open the front flap or any other pocket, despite how wide the front flap opens to gain easy and complete access to the main compartment.
This bag is well made, except I have moderate concern about the strength of the connection between the straps and the bag.
There are a couple of minor problems I found. Some "pockets" inside the main compartment are not pockets, as they are not closed at the bottom. I am not sure about the utility of such things. I also don't think that the design of the side pockets are optimal. Who's going to put many credit cards (or membership cards) in backpack, as in the product description photo? I would rather carry a toothbrush and some everyday medications than an excessive amount of plastics.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 nice bag, disappointing shoulder straps Feb 18, 2009
I bought this after owning a booq shoulder bag, which is very nice. The mamba pack is sizable, bigger than the raw dimensions seem to indicate. It can carry a hefty load, without getting bulky, due to its contoured shaping. For such a nicely build storage compartment, the shoulder straps are a disaster. They are flimsy cloth straps, with a thin filament of stuffing material proving the underlying structure. In one strap, the stuffing material is not stitched properly, and routinely twists inside the cloth casing. The stitching at the top of the straps, connecting them to the pack-proper, also seem weak, ready to tear if I really stuff the pack to its full potential. At one review site, I read this indeed happened to one customer.
I recommend the Arcteryx Blade series packs over this product. They are outstanding.
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