G. Dillon

I bought the Stratos 24 to provide a more supportive way of carrying heavier objects while I zip around the city on my bicycle. I also plan it use it day hiking a lot. There's a few great things about the pack, and a few things that are a bit frustrating. The pack is beautifully fitting and the straps work excellently. It's got a funky waist strap that is just such nice design, it makes you happy every time you use it. The internal frame on the bottom of the bag digs a little bit into your hips if you're twisting and turning a lot, especially if you're on a bicycle where the bag rides a bit higher than usual. The compression straps work great for tying down my lock and extra cable. The biggest problem, though -- if I'm carrying laptop inside, I just can barely fit anything else. The inside of the bag is curved, so anything big and square just takes up an exorbitant amount of space and it's very difficult to fit anything else in the bag. It'd be fine for day hiking, where you need soft clothing, water and maybe a camera, but for actually loading up extra shoes and such, it's a bummer. Weird shape. Also, it's not waterproof. Overall: great fit, great features, not perfect for my purposes. ~g