Review on 🎒 Black Thule Crossover 25L Laptop Backpack by Sierra Moore

I bought this backpack to take to a conference after reading many reviews here and about this and other backpacks and I was racking my brains about my choice. This decision almost killed me, but I'm glad I chose the Thule 317 and I can recommend it with a few reservations. It's difficult to choose a bag for a conference. Not only do you need something to securely store your devices, chargers, water bottles, snacks and any promotional items you buy at the event, you also need unobtrusive packaging so you don't run over a salesperson. Exhibits every time you turn your head, or knock coffee mugs out of other attendees' hands as you move around small conference rooms. It's also nice to carry a backpack with structure so you don't have to fumble for a pen or business cards in a loose, deep pocket. or they have so many outside pockets and zippers that you forget where your stuff is and end up having to open everything to find what you need. Despite the slightly minimalist design, the Thule 317 performed even better than I had hoped and had plenty of separate spaces to suit my needs. This backpack has a large main compartment with a padded compartment that easily fits my 15" MacBook Pro. There is additional smaller space with minimal padding to carry an iPad or tablet. Neither of these locations have Velcro or other attachments for your devices, but I didn't feel like they could fall out. The rest of the main compartment is about 5" deep front to back and holds loads of stuff. But be careful! Thule 317 has no bottom padding so be careful what you put in there .The laptop compartment has a little padding at the bottom but it is negligible so you should lay it down relaxed.The second, smaller main compartment is rather narrow from front to back and includes a deep zipped pocket., 2 small pockets with a width of about 3- 1/2", each easily holding a stack of business cards, and 2 pen/pencil pockets. The front flap of this compartment has an in Internal zippered mesh pocket that I could slip a 5" x 8" wallet into. There are also 2 exterior pockets, one on each side, roomy enough to hold my 20oz. water bottle. They are made from the same material as the backpack, with small mesh strips on the sides of the bag for expansion. This pack also includes what I've dubbed the "Shove it" bag. It attaches vertically along the full length of the front flap and is handy for easily storing items that need to be removed quickly without opening any of the main compartments. I've used it for brochures and flyers I took to my conference, but it could hold larger items or a light sweater, and it stretches a bit. In addition, there is a durable SafeZone zippered pocket with a removable hardliner to protect your sunglasses or cell phone. It paired well with my bulky sunglasses that don't quite fold, and there was still plenty of room for my phone and a protein bar. The outside of the Thule 317 has carry loops on both the top and bottom. They came in handy when I was packing my backpack on the train. I'm a small woman so I was concerned that this backpack would be too big and stick out too far on my back. While it holds a lot, it's a bit smaller than other backpacks I've had and doesn't stick out as much, which makes me look like a pack mule and doesn't have to worry as much about hitting someone walking or turning on me crowded places around. It was also the right size to climb the extremely narrow steps in an Amtrak sleeper, where I usually feel my other packs banging up the sides of the stairwell. The backpack has a certain structure that makes it compact, as the zippers in the main compartment only open about halfway on the sides, so it stays in good shape. As a result, my stuff didn't move and it was easy to get to. Aside from the lack of padding on the bottom, my only complaints about this backpack are the stiffness and lack of padding on the shoulder straps, and I deducted a star for that because it felt uncomfortable. The straps are a bit stiff and by the end of the day the front parts of the humerus were badly bruised. This may not be an issue if you have slightly more personal padding around your upper chest and shoulders or if you're wearing them for a shorter period of time, but it was painful for me. There is a small strap on the front that pulls the shoulder straps a little closer to the front of the body when attached and this reduced some of the friction on my shoulders and gave me some relief but it wasn't enough. I will solve the problem by making some soft covers for the shoulder straps. I like this pack enough to try this mod. I'll probably wear it for shorter periods as well (I used it for 3 fairly long days and then wore it for shorter periods over the next 4 days) so this might not even be an issue. Either way, I expect a lot of good things from my Thule 317.