Shopping at the Narita Airport before leaving Japan, I had decided to check out a store which sold Porter bags, in hopes of picking up a backpack on my way out. After debating a couple of models, I bought Porter’s Force Daypack (855-05902) and it quickly won me over with its premium materials, simple design, and smart features.
This bag looks basic, and it is, but those basics are executed so well — it’s among the best backpacks I’ve used and own.
So there’s that.
Materials & Specs
Porter lists this bag as 19L, but I feel it’s closer to 21L in practice. It measures officially at 17.7” x 13.77” x 4.72”, but keep in mind that there’s not a lot of structure so that shape in width and depth will change based on what/how you are carrying things. This comes in at about 2.11lbs.
The materials on this are quite interesting, it’s a “nylon ox” for the front which has an acrylic coating, and the lining is a nylon ripstop with acrylic coating and quilting. These materials feel amazing in hand, even if you don’t really know what they are.
The Force line is one of the military adjacent lines from Porter, and I am going to copy and paste the entire blurb here because it’s a better read than what I can write:
PORTER FORCE is a military-style series with a motif of accidental differences in fabric colors found in military goods.
The biggest feature is that there is a subtle color difference between the fabric of the front pocket and the fabric of the bag itself, making it look like they are using different lots of fabric. Among military wear and bags, there are rare products that have different colors in some fabrics, and this series was created with an interest in the irregular color scheme that was born by chance.
The outer material is made of industrial material woven with 210 denier 6 nylon strong thread. This fabric was originally used as a base fabric for rubber boats, etc., which was not supposed to be dyed.
Inspired by the lining of a military jacket, the emergency color orange is used for the interior, and ripstop nylon is quilted. Up to 4 different types (4 colors) of nylon tape are used in key points to create a realistic military feel. Except for some items, the interior pocket is removable and can be used as a single pouch.
About sums that up. As with everything from Porter, the fit and finish is industry best.
In Use
I want to start by mentioning what drew me to this backpack over some of the others when I was shopping:
- The oversized front pocket
- The dual compression straps
- The lack of structure
Now, those same attributes are going to be a make or break for people. There is no real laptop compartment on this. Inside the bag is a removable hanging pocket which is more or less shaped like it would fit a water bladder. On the back panel of the bag, on the outside, is a top loading pocket secured with a strip of Velcro, it’s too short for anything but my 11” iPad Pro to slip in (and is where you hide away the waist strap). And while the main compartment is quilted, it’s not a lot of padding, so you’d want to put your laptop in a sleeve for sure.
Now, if you are still with me, if all of that is not a deal breaker, I’ll tell you why this backpack really kicks some ass.
The bag material is sublime feeling, it has the right amount of sheen, smoothness and color depth to make the material interesting to look at and touch. While at the same time it’s not cheap feeling at all. I can appreciate the gimmick with the slightly mismatched color, and it does add a touch of visual interest to the bag without detracting from it at all.
That front pocket is massive. It can swallow up my iPad Pro 11” and then some. It has dual zippers which is a nice touch without any downsides. This pocket has two smaller open top pockets in it which can hold small notebooks or your phone easily. These pockets are suspended a ways from the bottom as well, making them easy to access, and protecting gear in there.
This bag has two sets of compression straps — I love compression straps when they are well done. To be well done, they must actually be able to compress the bag — otherwise they are just extra crap for no reason. Porter has not let me down here. The top strap attaches right at the seam with the front pocket, and can pull the bag all the way tight to the side release buckles. The bottom compression interestingly attaches to the front pocket itself, giving you a bit more length to compress, as well as the ability to pull the bottom of the front pocket taught. I’ve yet to have the bag full enough to worry about that, but it’s an interesting attachment point.
Behind the lower compression strap on both sides is three rows (two column) of MOLLE webbing, which is a different color and webbing than the strap. They are functional, but thankfully very hidden as well. The bag’s zippers are insanely smooth brass zippers which glide easily. There’s no weather flap on the main compartment so it’s a breeze to open.
As mentioned this is quilted, so there’s just enough padding, but not so much that the bag cannot be nearly smashed flat. The hanging pocket is an odd size, there’s not way around that. It snaps out, and can then snap closed so you can take it with you, or leave it in place. The interior here is orange, and there’s a front pocket which is deep with a single Velcro closure.
Alright, that’s the walk through, here’s what I found using the bag:
- The main compartment is a blank canvas of a space and absolutely swallows up gear.
- This bag fits at your feet on a plane very easily and because of the material it slides very nicely.
- The straps are surprisingly very comfortable. They are curved and well placed with enough width to distribute your average load well. There’s no frame sheet on this, so comfort will somewhat depend on what you carry and how you carry it.
- There are load lifters on the straps, they technically do work, but are practically useless.
- There’s a sternum strap you cannot remove unless you cut the strap, this is a bummer for me as I would love to ditch these.
- The top grab handle is perfection. It’s oversized (I can fit both my hands on it) nicely formed to stand off the bag and be comfortable in your hand.
- The adjustments on the shoulder straps are all brass hardware with heavy duty webbing. The shoulder straps also have a plastic keeper for the strap which is a nice touch for keeping the lines clean.
- The material is fantastic when you wear the bag. While there’s no mesh, so your back does heat up, the material is slick enough and there are effectively no spots to catch on your clothing — making this one of the few backpacks I would not think twice about wearing with a cashmere sweater or nice sport coat.
This bag replaced my Filson Journeyman, it carries weight better, is more comfortable, and has easier access to the bag. It compresses well and can be laid in the bottom of my duffle if I want to take it with but not use it while in transit. I’m a huge fan of this backpack.
Overall
As I mentioned I love this, and very strongly recommend it. I rarely find a bag with good space, versatile layouts, light padding, yet can still be flattened down nicely. Add to that excellent compression straps and it’s hard not to see this backpack as among the more versatile out there. It’s the type of backpack I would pack to take on a flight, and around a city, but wouldn’t bat an eye at taking on an impromptu day hike either.
If you need dedicated pockets, or a laptop compartment, this won’t be for you. But if what you need is a really well made, nicely detailed, and excellent backpack to carry whatever the day throws at you — this is the backpack for you.