I’ve written about the Seal Line Urban Backpack previously and Seal Line graciously sent me one to test out on the streets of New York City while riding my bike around town.
The first thing you notice as you unpack the bag from the shipping material is that the bag is really spacious. I had a large-sized Urban Backpack and it was much bigger than my Chrome Citizen messenger. In fact, I was able to fit my entire Chrome Citizen bag into the Urban Backpack and still have space to fit a good amount of miscellaneous goods in there.
The Urban Backpack is named precisely that because it is intended to be used just like Seal Line’s other dry bags which can withstand being thrown down a mountain side or off the side of a boat while still keeping the contents of the bag/pack completely dry. The Urban Backpack features an excellent water-tight roll-top closure that really does a great job of keeping things completely dry. I had the bag stand a good 10 minutes in pouring rain and it didn’t leak a single droplet of water into the inside of the bag. The roll-top is kept closed by a QuickClip Closure (see image below) that latches onto 3 predefined hooks. Latching and unlatching is a matter of pulling on the hanging tab — it really couldn’t be easier and it stays closed despite the many bumps I go over while riding my bike in the city.
The bottom of the bag is rubber-like (not exactly sure what material it is, but it’s sturdy and durable) and was able to withstand being dragged across the sidewalk and being thrown small distances over and over again. When you have something in the bag, the bag sits upright and stays in that position with no help whatsoever. But perhaps the best feature of the Urban Backpack is the actual backside and shoulder strap area. The Urban Backpack is worn like a traditional backpack. It has a breathable vent to prevent massive sweating which definitely helped a bit to reduce sweat stains on the backs of my T-shirts, but honestly, I couldn’t avoid sweating while wearing this around the city (of course, that really wasn’t the bag’s fault but more the fault of the weight that I had put into the bag). Anyway, the back straps include shoulder straps, waist straps, and chest straps to ensure stability when carrying heavy loads that might have the potential to shift during transport.
The only thing that could make this bag better would be its design and/or shape. To say it bluntly, this bag isn’t exactly attractive. I would probably wear this more often (while riding my bike or while walking around town) if it looked a bit less ugly. I got the sense as I was wearing it around the city that people were turning their heads to look at me but not because I was setting any sort of fashion trend. That’s really the only downer about this bag. For all it’s great ruggedness and capacity, the looks really put a damper on me wanting to tell everyone about it.
But for what it’s worth, this bag does its job incredibly well. It can take a good amount of abuse which is important if you’re looking for a bag that will last a long time while continually serving its purpose of keeping your goods dry and protected. And for $110 and $120 (small and large, respectively), this is a well-priced all-weather pack that you should definitely have an eye on if you’re going into the woods, out on the water, or just out in the city.
See more photos below.
