Whether for travel, work, or for play, nothing to me is as useful as a backpack. A backpack allows you to carry so much with you while keeping your hands free to do other things. I carry a backpack for work to carry all my work gear and when I travel, I use one for all my essentials. Even when I’m just out and about in town, I’ll carry one just to hold a jacket and whatever items I might buy while I’m out. It’s just so much easier than carrying things in my pocket and holding bags in my hand. With that said, the latest backpack I’m checking out is the Davis Daypack by North St. Bags.
This isn’t the first backpack from North St. Bags I’ve used. The first bag I checked out from them was the Belmont, and you can check that review out here. I had pretty much nothing but nice things to say about it and the new Davis Daypack is more of the same.
For those not familiar with North St. Bags, North St Bags is a small business that manufactures their own bags in house at the facility in Portland, OR. Their bags are all made in the USA with materials and hardware sourced from local vendors in the Pacific Northwest. Many of their bags can be customized, this includes both color and features which is why sometimes it takes a few days for your bag to get shipped because it’s being custom made. That means that the bag you get is unique in subtle ways that only a handmade bag can be.
DESIGN
For the Davis Daypack, I went with a completely different color scheme than I did with the Belmont. The color I chose is called Blackout and it’s basically just straight up black. Of course like all the bags from North St., you can get the Davis Daypack in a ton of different colors and combinations. That means you can find one in the color that you like and not just the one I chose. I chose black just to keep it simple.
Like their other bags, the Davis Daypack is made from 1000 denier CORDURA® nylon with a waterproof drop liner made from lightweight and durable VX-21 X-Pac™ sailcloth. What that means is that the contents inside the Davis Daypack will be safe from the outside elements, like rain or snow.
The Davis Daypack features a rolltop that allows you to adjust the amount of space you need for carrying your items and is secured with an adjustable buckle. The main compartment is fairly large and looks like it could swallow up some pretty large objects. There are also strips of Velcro lining the interior that will allow you to mount optional sleeves and organizers into it. I didn’t opt for any of these so my main compartment is just one large space.
On the outside of the bag is a taped zipper pocket that is also lined with VX-21 X-Pac™ sailcloth, keeping it weather proof as well. The pocket is deep enough to hold essentials like your wallet, keys, and your phone. You are limited to how thick of an object you can fit in there though because it’s pretty thin. There are also two open side pockets that are perfect for something like a water bottle.
The Davis Daypack also has Contoured shoulder straps that are no padded, but they are very lightweight. They also include an adjustable chest strap.
USAGE
Like the Belmont backpack I looked at before, the Davis Daypack is perfect for day trips and a trip into town. I mainly used this back on short trips to the beach where I needed something that could hold my keys, wallet, and phone as well as some extra clothes in case I needed to change. The bag kept all of my belongings safe from the weather and from sand and was the perfect companion for a day out.
I do like how the main compartment is adjustable because of the rolltop and that if can still be secured with the buckle no matter its size.
It’s a pretty simple bag though so if you’re looking for one that has a ton of pockets and organizers, this isn’t it. It’s just a simple, functional bag for for day outings and essentials.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Like the previous Belmont bag, I really like this North St. Davis Daypack as well. It’s got a large main compartment that can fit quite a lot of stuff and while the second compartment isn’t that large, it’s enough to hold essentials like your phone, wallet, and keys. This is a perfect bag for when you need to carry stuf around town or to the beach. It’s not that great for work use or if you need to carry around a laptop, unless you opt for all the internal organizational pouches and sleeves.
With that said, North St. again has a quality bag with the Davis Daypack that will please most people who need a bag like this. The craftsmanship is top notch and this is a bag that will last.
