Today we’re taking a look at the Able Carry Daily Plus backpack. If differs from the original Daily backpack with a few additional features and a bit of extra room. This one is 21L and has a number of pockets and organisational storage sprinkled throughout the bag. It is made from x-pac material with water resistant zippers and weighs about 1.3kg / 2.8lbs. It fits up to 16” laptops and the laptop sleeve is suspended from the bottom to keep them safe. There’s also an up to 11” tablet sleeve.
Taking a look at the front of the bag you can see it has a nice clean design and the a-frame design keeps the bag from looking saggy even when it’s not fully packed. There are several useful loop points around the bag which make it useful for clipping a carabiner or hero clip to carry additional items when needed. The front pocket is also well featured with a key clip and 2 additional pockets. One zippered and one a pouch. These are vertical pockets designed for quick use while accessing the bag over one shoulder.
Next to the stash pocket is a very large capacity water bottle pocket that fits up to 1L bottles. It actually fits a wine bottle too! Due to the positioning of the zipper pulls, I did find myself accidentally grabbing the water bottle pocket zipper instead of the stash pocket sometimes. But I overcame this with a bit of double sided velcro loop on the water bottle pocket zipper pull so I could quickly visually distinguish them.
Around the back is a very comfortable set of straps with removable sternum strap built in. You can also kind of tuck away the unbuckled straps in to the fabric pockets. The back panels have very comfortable padding and a large hidden pocket at the top big enough for a couple of passports. There’s also some additional lashing points on the top and bottom of the back panel that I have seen some people attach a strap to in order to make a makeshift luggage passthrough strap to for rolling luggage.
Into the main compartment you’ll see the suspended laptop sleeve and in front of that a tablet sleeve with a small pocket on the front. There’s also space for pens or apple pencils either side. On the inner front panel is another spacious zippered pocket and then the main compartment where you can see the material of the water bottle pocket. That does eat into the main pocket a bit.
I was able to fit quite a bit into this bag and even enough for a weekend trip or a minimally packed longer trip with more frequent washing and drying. This bag is very comfortable to wear when fully packed which is something Able Carry does very well. Their harness systems are some of the most comfortable Ive used. This bag is a bit heavy for its size but given its features and build quality I think that is not too bad.
If you turn the top part of the bag inside out you will find hidden zipper access to the back panel frame sheet that you can remove to make the bag slightly lighter (1.2kg/2.6lbs). There’s also a super secret velcro pocket for storing extra cash or cards.
Overall, as a daily carry bag it is very well made and fully featured. I do feel its a bit too heavy for its size and capacity but given that it is designed to be worn mainly for short periods going to work and in urban environments I think it works well for its intended purposes. I do wish it also came available in the nice red colour that the 13 bag did but overall a great bag worth checking out.
