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An Ekster GRID backpack

Traveling around from place to place easily means having a backpack that is carry on in all circumstances. For some years I have used a Mountain Warehouse 35 Litre pack and it still serves me well. Due to my spinal injury decades ago, anything on my back with has to be light and preferably less than 10 lbs fully packed. I decided to splurge and bought something new.
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The 21 Litre Ekster GRID is designed for a 16 inch laptop, mine is 13.3 inches so there's extra room in it's slot, which has built in padding at the bottom. It's two and half pound weight is over a pound heavier than my Mountain Warehouse one, but I can live with that. I first learned of this backpack from Greg Rodgers, see his review of it.

While the Black Friday deal was good 111 Euros (about $121) the shipping from the States was not, try $65 (60 Euros), that's over 50% of the price! The company is in The Netherlands and shipped from a global warehouse in California, USA but they don't tell you on their site that is the case. It was due between the 8th and 12th of December, but did not arrive until the 18th. A shipping company named Passport was the problem, so I made a lot of noise. Ekster gave me a refund saying I could keep the GRID and were a lot of help during the period. I hope they start using more trustworthy shipping agents.

So what is it like then? Most of what Greg says is true, so I won't repeat it. I immediately noticed the extra empty weight and the zips.

The good

  • This thing is very solid and may well be waterproof.
  • It sits on the floor easily without falling over.
  • There are pockets on the inside that I can use for whatever I want, so some things can be separated from the rest.
  • The main straps are fine, but I have always had a chest strap on my packs to stop thieves. Suggest you make one.
  • The zippers, a security problem. Get a lock for the main on that opens the whole thing. For the laptop zip tuck the zip handle under the side strap, that'll make it too hard to open and a thief won't waste his time on it.
  • When it arrived, it was inside a sort of stuff bag, which is waterproof. I tested that and the water ran off it fine. So you could put all your other stuff inside it, just in case.
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  • There are other straps on it, which I would never use, but you might find them handy.

The bad

  • On the front are two clips to hold anything you want, but they are a serious pain to reconnect.
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  • On the side is a small zipped pocket which I would rarely use. Be warned, there is about a 2-3 inch drop under the zip and if you have large hands it will be a real problem getting some little thing at the bottom out.
  • Until Ekster gets their new warehouses up and running, this is gonna cost you a lot of money in shipping and customs duty if outside the USA. Other than that you're okay.


The ugly

The whole thing.

This is not meant to be a beautiful backpack to impress iPhone Lemmings, it is designed for Digital Nomads and serves that purpose very well.

Personally

This is not about the pack as a whole, it is good and worth it. For myself however, is a different matter. I am a travel blogger, wildlife photographer and also a digital nomad. I'm a retired graphic designer, will do branding and website development if I need any extra cash.

The GRID is wider and heavier than my normal backpack and that throws me off balance a little, not something I need with my bad spine. On my current packpack is a pocket on top where I can keep a few minor things that I can access quickly without opening the whole pack. I have a fair amount of extra room in my pack and do not in the GRID. Since my laptop is a Lenovo military spec one, it is tough, very light (total with all it's bits is under 4 lbs) so I don't have to worry about the thing.

I will keep my old backpack which has served me well for several years and still looks like it is new. The GRID? I gave it to a beggar who needed it a lot more than me, kept the waterproof bag though.


The GRID is worth the price

Dec 20, 2023

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