The Freetime Urban Cabin Pack 35L, available in the UK through Keela, is perfect for either trips away or daily commutes, writes Mike Gormley.
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Those who read my reviews regularly may have seen that Keela now offer a range of rucksacks in cooperation with Freetime of France. This one is a little bit different, as it is designed for those who travel and need a mobile office.
This is a multi-featured 35-litre backpack ideally suited for those trips on aircraft and trains, as well as in vehicles with limited space, where you need to take a fair bit with you and, importantly, stay organised. As I have found by using others from this French-designed (though in this case Chinese-made) range of bags, their design makes them sit well and therefore comfortable to carry. This one only has shoulder straps, and neither waist nor sternum straps, but this said it sits nicely and stays in place in adition to being simple to ‘shoulder carry’ and slip on and off as required.
Thoughtfully there is also a rear-mounted positioning strap that will fit over a wheeled trolley case extending handle. There is also a side carry handle, which is also perfectly positioned and there is a simple grab handle on the top. I have found the Urban Cabin Pack ideal for those, for me infrequent, city trips. It is also sized to fit inside the carry-on luggage gauges for most airlines. A laptop and a tablet, so often taken with us these days, fit snugly and are well protected inside.
There are just so many, but well thought-out, pockets included in this pack. Some of these have more pockets inside and incorporated within. Perhaps there is a danger of putting things away safely and then not seeing them for a while, but in reality everything you have can have a place which is secure and organised.
One great feature is that you can open the main section zips in ways to suit you and so you do not lose things ‘down the bottom somewhere’, because the main compartment can be fully opened out flat to allow full access to the internal zipped compartments. When this is done, the laptop compartment stays secure and separate; the zip to this being a side one and this compartment is well padded, including an inner padded section for a tablet as well as a laptop.
The main compartment zip can be used in a number of ways so may be opened from the top side or even base with the dual-action zipper. Someone has put a lot of thought into this one. I fully understand why Sam, the Sales Director of Keela, was so excited to show me this one at the OTS event this year. I really wish I had had one of these back in the days when I was doing a lot of business travel.
The pack is Burgundy in colour, possibly appropriate as Freetime are based in the Bordeaux region of France, and there are two other colour options.
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Editor’s Footnote: When I spotted some of the practicalities of the Freetime Urban Cabin Pack and realised it looked to be close to ideal for my needs for a new civilian-style airline carry-on daysack to accommodate my laptop and netbook, cameras and lenses, basic peripherals and spare clothes, I invested in one for myself. So far it has fully lived up to expectations, but I will pen a follow-up review after I’ve used it a couple more times. BM
[images © Mike Gormley unless noted]
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