Expedition / Units Project 8020 Waterproof Backpack

Hardware for your back – There are many reasons to buy this backpack. I have a two-seater one tonne farm ute and live in the rain-prone Northern Rivers of New South Wales. The waterproof backpack is a lifesaver because you can throw your gear into it – laptop and all – and then occy strap it the the barrier behind the cab. It's so reliably waterproof that I've often… Read more

hosed it off with gear still in it after a dirt-road trip.

It's capacious, nicely aircraft hand-luggage size. The laptop pocket is perfect and there's a second pocket for notebooks and such. An exterior zip pocket – waterproof of course – saves you rummaging through the bag for small items.

Herein lies the one and only problem. It's black, inside and out. So when you're searching for things in the bag you're a bit handicapped. Its a bit like looking into the well of doom. I sail and it's my crew bag, so black you lose it in the under-bunk stowage. This is the SAS stealth backpack.

The bag is made out of recycled plastic water bottles (at last a use for the pollution) and is incredibly robust. I'm not easy on my baggage, a trendy brand would last ten minutes. In the couple of months I've owned it, it has lived several lives over.

The shoulder straps are as robust as the rest of the backpack, infinitely adjustable.

There's no pocket for a re-usable water bottle, in my view a serious design oversight in something that's made out of recycled plastic water bottles. I understand the construction of a pocket might compromise the watertight integrity of the backpack, but it would be an asset.