Sympl Commuter 20L vs EVERGOODS CPL16: First Impressions
Just got the Sympl Commuter 20L and wanted to share some initial impressions before I start putting it through heavier use this week.
Overall, the quality is really nice. I chose the ballistic fabric, and while it feels premium, I don’t think it feels quite as high quality as the material on my EVERGOODS CPL16. That’s not to say it feels cheap by any means. It still feels like a very well-made bag.
The small front pocket is accessible from the side, and there’s a magnetic key attachment inside, which is a really nice touch.
The accordion-style internal organization is probably one of the most interesting parts of the bag. It’s pretty unique, and I can already see myself using it extensively. Very happy about that.
It also has a clamshell opening, which for me is pretty much a must-have on a backpack.
There’s an external water bottle compartment that can be unzipped to accommodate larger bottles. I know this exists on other bags, but it’s the first time I’ve personally had one like this. It looks like it will eat into some of the interior space depending on what you put in there, but I’m fine with that tradeoff.
The exterior handles are very substantial and feel high quality. The backpack straps also seem extremely comfortable so far.
I’d seen some people mention that the back padding was quite hard, but it doesn’t feel nearly as stiff as I expected. I’m personally not concerned about it at this point, but I’ll report back after actually carrying it for longer periods.
All of the zippers feel incredibly high quality. Not much else to say here… No complaints here.
I love the materials used for the interior and find the color to be very pleasing to the eye.
One thing I’ve noticed is that the exterior fabric has some wrinkles when the bag isn’t fully packed out. We’ll see whether that gets better or worse as the bag breaks in.
For context, I absolutely loved my EVERGOODS CPL16 and probably would have kept using it indefinitely, but my dumb ass allowed a banana to rot inside it. I could never completely get the smell out, so I took that as an opportunity to try something different.
My very early impression is that this bag actually has the potential to beat out the CPL16 as my end-game everyday bag, but I’m definitely not ready to say that yet.
I’ll start putting it through heavy use this week and report back.