Marmot Slate Everyday Travel Bag

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  I've been carrying this bag for about three days and I'm extremely disappointed with it. I was so excited when I requested it, but when it showed up all I could think was "What were they thinking?"This bag is a long, squashed tube shape that opens only at the top and closes with a flap. There's a pocket in the flap. When you lift the flap and flip it to the back of the bag, this folds the sides over the top edge of the bag so that the opening is made significantly smaller. If there's anything in the flap pocket, the weight of the pocket cinches the top closed even tighter. To access your things, you have to hold the flap up in the air with one hand and blindly dig with the other hand. Everything on the bag is a two-handed undertaking.There are many many pockets in the front and back of the bag, but you can't put much of anything in them or they further decrease access and view of items in the main compartment. It's also hard to see the internal pockets because the bag is so narrow and you have to fight the flap.There's a water bottle pouch on one side (which makes the bag asymmetrical and odd). The pouch isn't shaped like a water bottle, so bottles don't fit properly or securely, and the bottom of any normal sized bottle will push into the main cargo area. The theme of the bag is things in pockets impeding storage in the main compartment. Anyway, the water bottle pocket is wedge-shaped, so the very bottom comes to a long, flat point. It is completely impractical. It is ridiculous.When you flip the top flap closed, you have to tuck the little "ears" in at the same time or the top of the bag will be open to rain/elements.The flap closes with large Velcro-style strips, which will hook to any soft knits you accidentally brush against them. The Velcro caught my current favorite hat and scarf the first day I had the bag. Both the hat and scarf are damaged. My old bag had Velcro, too, but the flap worked properly so it wasn't as much of a problem.The vertical-zip front pocket works for things like boarding passes or maybe a passport, but again anything bigger than that will make it even more difficult to access the main compartment.Whenever you force the bag open so you can look at the stuff inside, the flap will flip over and shut automatically. Adding a video. Unbelievable. I had to do it one-handed because I had to hold my phone. With two hands it's actually worse.The foam lining of the laptop/tablet pockets isn't stabilized within the fabric of the bag, so it's already curling over from the weight of a notepad in the tablet pocket.It took me awhile but I eventually got the straps to feel comfortable. They're pretty fine. Having the sternum strap makes the shoulder straps stay in place much better for me. Women's bags for big people usually work best for me, and it's hard to find other bags that fit, so I'm glad this is adaptable to more body types.The seams and materials and whatnot are all obviously very high quality so that's why it is getting over 1 star. That's the only reason. I don't understand how this bag exists given Marmot's long history of excellent gear.

First of all, I’m consistently impressed with the quality of Marmot products. They’re not outrageously expensive, but offer great products that compete well with other premium outdoor brands. The Slate Everyday Travel Bag by Marmot is another product I’m impressed with, but for once, do think it might be priced a bit higher than it should be. It feels well made, though, and the fabrics seem to be a good quality too.The velcro-only flap opens to reveal a small-ish zippered pocket lined with a soft fabric, which might be good for your phone or eyewear. It’s not crush-proof, like some pockets found on Ogio and Thule bags, but I think the theme of the Marmot Slate is keeping things simple and lightweight. The primary compartment has a laptop section that looks like it’d keep your laptop pretty safe. Directly in front of that section, there’s another sleeve/pocket for tablets. On the opposite side of the laptop section, there’s an organization section, which I find to be kind of weak. It has two pen pockets, four card pockets, a long zippered pocket, and an odd lined pocket that’s so thin and deep, I can’t get my fingers all the way to the bottom. I thought it might be for a phone at first, but there’s no modern phone that narrow. Who knows. The storage in the primary compartment isn’t very spacious. This is an 18L bag, which is the same capacity as my Camelbak Cloud Walker 18 hydration pack, so it’s not a ton of room, but enough for chargers, cables, some snacks, an umbrella, and maybe a packable jacket.On the outside, there’s another zippered pocket on the flap, that’d be good enough to keep your commuter pass or similar. There’s also a vertical slash pocket that’d be good for a small sketch pad or bullet journal. On one of the sides of the Slate bag, there’s a water bottle/umbrella pocket that you can expand by unfastening the snap button. The shoulder straps are padded and feel good on my shoulders. The sternum strap can be adjusted up and down to get the right position. There’s also a grab handle on top of the bag. There’s no waist strap, but you shouldn’t need one on a bag this light (2 pounds). A safety light can be attached near the bottom of the bag. I would’ve liked to have seen an integrated whistle in the sternum strap buckle, though. I have them on most of my Camelbak, Osprey, and TNF bags. I think they’re handy even in urban settings.The Marmot Slate Everyday bag is a nice, lightweight bag to carry your laptop and small gadgets in. The bag is “weather-resistant,” so it should be able to protect your stuff from wet weather. Aside from the ho-hum organization section, I have no problems recommending this bag, especially if you can find it for a little less than the MSRP.

There really isn’t that much space in this bag so its definitely for everyday users who don’t carry much. Honestly, its just an ok bag. Instead of a zipper, the top flap is held down with velcro so if safety isn't a concern great for you but I prefer to have some sort of zipper to close my main compartment. The inside was where I got really disappointed, it is extremely small; long backpack but next to nothing for depth. After putting a laptop inside and maybe a book, you don't really have room for anything else. The inside compartment has a slot for a laptop and another slot for a tablet (or thin book). There is also a front zippered pocket with a key ring. You will also have 2 pen loops, a few slots for cards, and a fleece lined pocket (no zipper) for a phone. Right in between the velcro, there is also another zippered pocket, fleece lined as well.There are two zippered pockets on the outside that can be accessed without lifting the top; one on the top flap and another on the side of the front. Neither is very large but can be used to store quick access items. On the side, there is a holder for a water bottle which can be left flat so it doesn’t stick out or expanded to accommodate the bottle (or umbrella). Its held by a small snap from the back. So while there really isn't much space you have tons of pockets...Plus side, the quality is definitely there and its constructed very well, it should hold up for quite some time. But given how 18L really isn't that much and the other features are quite minimal, it is overpriced.