Review on 🎒 Polare Leather Vintage College Backpack: Classic Style for the Modern Student by Patricia Dworin

PRODUCT: Polare Backpack Full Grain Leather Vintage College Laptop Backpack with YKK Metal Zipper after the review was published. I have emailed their support address with my listed order number and requested more information. According to Polare, only 5% of their customers receive this card. After reassuring myself that there was no time limit for submitting my review and refining my options for choosing the wallet I would receive, I decided to wait until I had put my backpack to use, before I continued. I wanted to be able to describe my observations based on direct experience. While I probably wouldn't have posted this review without offering a free wallet as a temptation, this review is honest and comprehensive. MY GOALS: I had a canvas backpack with suede flaps. which made me very happy. Extremely light, pleasantly casual, perfect size for my purposes and with just the right number of outside pockets. There were several pockets inside, but because they were oddly large and unlined, I didn't use them as much as possible. And indeed, my girlfriend thought this was the perfect "adventure backpack" for her. So I "gifted" it to her for her birthday, which made her very happy. Since I needed a backpack replacement for myself, I decided to look for an upgrade as well. Interestingly, this new backpack has almost the same design as my old canvas. There are a few key differences, but the overall size, shape, top drawstring closure, flaps, external pockets, and internal capacity are identical. The slight differences are in the buckles, buttons, inner pockets and adjustment of the shoulder straps (more on that later). And it's leather. Update mission completed. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: This backpack is a very attractive, rich chocolate brown color. It feels amazingly smooth and the "smell of leather" is enough to evoke a wave of long-forgotten memories. It's not very heavy, but strong enough to feel sturdy. CONSTRUCTION: All seams, seams, fasteners and leather finishes are well finished. Nothing seems misaligned or sloppily assembled. The skin is durable and functional. It's not silky smooth, nor is it as thick and stiff as a builder's tool belt. It sits somewhere in the middle and, like all leathers of this type, will soften over time. BUCKLES: An unexpected discovery was that none of the buckle straps are adjustable. Each of them has only one hole for fixing the valve. If you fill the main compartment or the front pocket, you must leave this flap open or unbuttoned. Drilling additional holes in the buckle straps is not difficult as there is enough room at the bottom of both buckle straps for an additional hole or two. But it would be better if they were included. I wasn't sure if the front bag buckle had a button like the top buckle before I bought it. The promotional photo reads "Push Button Snaps" (plural), but none of the photos showed the front pocket snap closure. As it turns out, there's only one button latch, and it's on the top flap. The top flap can be opened with a push button or by manually opening the flap. The front pocket can only be opened by opening the flap as it has no button closure. The top flap latch works well, but opening it can be a little awkward when the pack is empty as there's nothing behind the latch to resist when the button is pressed. SHOULDER STRAPS: The shoulder straps are not padded but are 2 inches wide. wide, which is suitable for light and medium loads. You can be uncomfortable for long periods of time if you load your backpack with too many heavy objects (books, water bottles, rocks, use your imagination). I was a little confused about the mechanism used to adjust the shoulder straps. Due to the fact that each strap passes through a metal "double loop", the extra strap folds up and is routed up between the back of the pack and the shoulder strap itself. On fig. 1 shows what I am trying to describe. There are several problems with this approach. (1) The double loop and full length strap creates a lump/bump that rubs against my back and makes me uncomfortable. (2) After trimming the length of the shoulder straps to my liking, the extra strap became so long that the upward feed direction didn't work very well. The extra webbing had to be pulled down, which compounded the effect of the first problem by adding another layer to the offending bulge. Fortunately, I was able to come up with a four-step workaround. (1) I changed the direction the straps went through the double loop. This solved the problem with the bulge/bulge rubbing against my back by moving the "bump" to the outside of the straps. Unfortunately, this also meant the extra strap hung up and out on the sides before hanging down like a pair of boneless bat wings; very unattractive and impractical result. (2) I borrowed (stole?) four hair ties from my boyfriend. I thought she owed me for the canvas backpack she stole from me (received as a gift?). Straps back through the double loop in the new direction I used and then adjusted the length of the straps to my liking. to keep them safe. Figure 2 shows the result of my efforts. The problem is solved. If you don't want something like that, you'll have to decide if the shoulder straps fit you as intended. If you leave the straps tight almost to the end, then everything is fine. My problems arose when I trimmed them down so much that I was left with a significant amount of excess strap that didn't seem to have a suitable place. "diameter) that fit perfectly into each of the side pockets. I had to leave the lid flaps fully open, but the cups sat low and securely. See pic 3. The front pocket is large and wide enough to hold two or three layers of snack bars vertical or horizontal Large phones, wallets and the like fit easily inside There is a zippered side pocket inside It's "just" wide enough for me to slip my Apple Pencil in and lay it horizontally across the bottom A very tight fit, but it gives you an idea of the interior width of the bag.The main compartment is a continuous storage space.I haven't tried to stuff it as much as possible, mostly because I probably won't ever need it.I need light travel and easy commutes.My iPad d Pro 12.9" (2020 model) fits exactly on a page in landscape format and comfortably in portrait format research institutes. I can't fit it all the way to the bottom of my backpack which would probably be really bad even if it were possible. SUPPORT: Email replies were timely (within 1 business day), courteous and complete. WARNINGS: This backpack is not very large, so don't expect it to fit everything you plan to take with you on your hike. While this backpack is strong enough to carry quite a heavy load, it's important to remember that the shoulder straps are neither padded nor too wide. Finally, if it's very hot outside and you're only wearing a light shirt, expect your back to sweat. Finally, this backpack is made of leather. CONCLUSION: Overall, this is a great light to medium-duty backpack with room for improvement. Being able to work around my shoulder strap issues makes me very happy with my purchase. I believe that you will be satisfied with this backpack if you use it for its intended purpose. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MANUFACTURER: Change the product characteristics photo. where it says "keylocks" to correctly indicate that there is only ONE keylock. Punch an additional hole or two in each buckle strap to allow for additional adjustment when storing more or larger items in the main compartment or front pocket. Otherwise please update the product description to state that the top and front flip buckles are not adjustable as there is only one hole punched in each buckle strap. Change the product specification photo that says "Side Zip Pocket" because both side pockets have magnetic closures. Zippers and none of them have zippers. Reconsider the shoulder strap adjustment mechanism, or add two "handle loops" to each strap (similar to what I built - see fig 2) to keep the extra length of strap from hanging down at awkward angles. Small inner pocket to separate a paper notepad, iPad/tablet or small laptop from other items in the backpack.