Peak Design Everyday Backpack 30L

What I used it for: my backpack before the one I carry now. Mine was the 30-liter in Midnight, a deep navy.

I am always hunting for the perfect backpack. This one came closer than most.

Access is the whole point

The top flap closes with a magnetic latch, so you can flip it open, grab something, and drop it shut without fighting a buckle. That alone is good.

The side access is better. Two zippers, one on each side, open up the entire cross-section of the pack. I could keep one strap on my shoulder, swing the bag around in front of me, unzip the side, and reach anything in it. No setting it down, no digging from the top. Access is the number one reason to buy this pack.

The organization is built for someone else

Inside are Peak Design’s FlexFold dividers: padded shelves you can fold, move, or pull out to build compartments around what you carry. It is a clever system, and it was designed with photographers in mind. If I were a photographer, this would be a five-eye pack and I would never carry anything else.

I am not. What I carry is mostly small things. Small items would not stay in their compartments. They worked their way to the side and dropped to the bottom. Eventually I took the dividers out entirely, and the pack became one big compartment. A well-built, good-looking black hole.

There are some interior pockets, but not enough for how I carry. That, in the end, is what sent me to the TUMI backpack I use now.

It looks the part

The pack looks sharp. The Midnight blue matched the Monos carry-on roller I was using at the time, and the pair looked like they were meant to travel together.

Who it is for

• Photographers: buy it. The access and the dividers are exactly what camera gear wants.
• Anyone who values access above all: it is still excellent. The side zips alone are worth a look.
• Anyone carrying lots of small things: look for a pack with more dedicated pockets. Shelves do not hold small things.