The Best Backpack Is Also a Tote
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Like everyone else, I’ve amassed quite the collection oftotesover the years. But aside from using one to carry things from my house to the beach several years ago, I never really saw the appeal of totes, since I mostly used bags to carry my work gear from home to a coffee shop or the library, often by bike. Since moving back to Arizona a few years ago, however, I’ve come to appreciate how totes don’t make my back sweat like my favorite backpacks do. Once I discovered totepacks, I realized I could have the best of both worlds.
As the name suggests, totepacks are a combination of a tote and a backpack. Some lean more backpack, with shorter top handles that are better for holding at your side than over your shoulder — and easier to hold than backpacks with single top straps — while others are full-blown totes with back straps added on. The former is often more practical, as longer shoulder straps can be cumbersome when you’re using the bag as a backpack, and these bags often have more organizational features.
I’ve tried out seven so far, all by carrying myiPad Pro, a pair ofnoise-canceling headphones, a couplenotebooksand pens, my trustye-reader, and aportable chargeraround town to get some work done. I’ve also used a couple as a personal item on a few recent trips. Here are my favorites, plus two from a fellow Strategist writer.
A totepack for most people
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I’ve become a devoutmanybaggersince I started testing backpacks for the Strategist. Over the past year, Alpaka’s Bravo Totepack has earned a spot in my pile of frequently used bags. It has the flexibility of a totepack, the practicality of a well-organized backpack, and the sleek look of awork bag. The exterior of the bag is made of a recycled polyester that is lightweight and weather resistant and has a slightly textured feel that gives it some personality without detracting from the bag’s refined look. And as a backpack, it’s quite comfortable, since its shoulder straps are sturdy and cushiony enough to avoid digging into your shoulders as you move.
Putting the bag into tote mode is as simple as unclipping the shoulder straps from the bottom of the bag and slipping them into their designated pocket. There’s even a magnetic clasp that gives a satisfying click whenever you shut it. The handles are thick and easy to grip, but the straps aren’t long enough to carry on your shoulder. Because the bag is taller than it is wide, it doesn’t sway much when walking, which I’ve had trouble with when carrying a loaded wider tote. Even when this bag is stuffed to the brim, it never feels heavy or unbalanced. It’s also the only totepack on this list, aside from the WFA Backpack, that has a slot to slide a suitcase handle through for more convenient traveling.
Unlike more minimalist bags such as the Native Union, the Bravo is packed with pockets and dividers that give you plenty of room to store and organize all your stuff. The main compartment has a dedicated laptop sleeve that can store up to a 16-inch computer, plus a tablet sleeve you can drop an iPad into. It’s a thin pocket, though, so it may be a tight squeeze if you have a thick case. There’s a slot inside where you can store a water bottle, plus a zippered pouch to hold smaller trinkets like a wallet, someearbuds, and apen or two.
Atop the bag is a tiny pocket that could hold a small item like a passport or smartphone, but it isn’t completely sealed, so I’d avoid putting anything that could be damaged by water in there. The large front pocket, which takes up nearly the whole front of the bag, has a couple dividers on one side and a zippered pouch on the other. That’s been enough for me to store all of my work gear — iPad Pro, noise-canceling headphones, a couple notebooks, etc. — without the bag getting overstuffed or messy.
A more affordable totepack
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Strategist senior writer Michael Zhao likes this bag for its aesthetic, which leans more outdoorsy than the bags I’ve tried, and unique functionality. It’s shaped more like a conventional tote than the other bags on this list, and while it has two shoulder straps, it uses the one on the back side to convert into a backpack. You simply slide the strap up or down when you’re ready to switch modes, which is a lot more convenient than having to stash the straps inside a pocket. That said, Zhao notes that the straps are too short to wear as a backpack for long periods of time; the lack of padding on these straps likely adds to that, as it has in bags I’ve tested with similar straps. He also says that when the bag is full, the straps actually aren’t long enough to work as a backpack, so travel light.
Organization isn’t quite as robust on the Borealis as with the Alpaka or the Timbuk2, but it has some neat features like bungees on the left and right of the bag. “They’re super-handy for holding on to a layer that’s been shed if need be, like a puffer,” Zhao says. He also uses them to latch the bag onto his suitcase handle when traveling. The front of the bag has a single zippered pouch for holding onto small items, as well as a slot for a water bottle. Inside, there’s another pocket and a padded laptop sleeve for devices up to 16 inches.
This bag’s limited functionality and less comfortable straps may be a deal-breaker for some, but for the price, this bag does a surprisingly good job of turning a backpack into a tote while still fitting in the core organizational features of a good backpack.
A more totelike totepack
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Where the Alpaka sacrifices a bit of the tote aspect to work better as a backpack, Timbuk2’s Flight Totepack is more akin to a classic tote with backpack straps stitched on. That’s not a knock, though; it’s quite a good tote and a solid backpack for shorter treks. Its top straps are as long as those on regular totes, so you can actually throw it over your shoulder. Those straps are pretty thin, however, and can dig into your shoulders a bit if there’s a lot in the bag or you wear it for long stretches.
When you want to turn it into a backpack, you tuck the long shoulder straps into the designated pockets on the front and back of the bag. The front pocket is held together with a magnetic clasp, similar to the Alpaka but with less of a click, while the back pocket closes with a metal clasp. I wish they both used the same mechanism — preferably the magnets — but each works well. It’s just harder to close the back pocket without looking. You can then pull the shoulder straps out of the same back pocket as the rear strap and hook them to the bottom of the bag. They don’t have as much padding as the ones on the Alpaka or Bellroy, but they’re more cushiony than the Native Union’s.
I’ve enjoyed using the Flight as a tote when I’m walking downtown running errands, but it’s not as good as the Alpaka or Bellroy for carrying a lot for long distances. Its laptop sleeve can hold devices up to 15 inches, but its padding is a bit thinner than that of any other bag on this list. It’s protective enough to let you confidently carry a bag from your car to a coffee shop, but I wouldn’t toss it around when traveling. Aside from the laptop sleeve, a front pouch, and a zippered pocket for your phone or wallet, the rest of the bag is a total free-for-all. There’s no bottle holder or tablet sleeve, which aren’t deal-breakers, but because totepacks require you to grab everything from the top down, every bit of organization helps.
A minimalist totepack
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Rather than trying to replicate the subtle look of a work backpack, the Native Union WFA Pack brings the charm of a farmers’ market tote to a classy backpack. It has a long, rectangular shape similar to the Flight, but has short handles like the Bravo and Bellroy. However, it’s the only one with eye-catching handles.
Most of these backpacks with upper handles use black fabric that’s usually sturdy but doesn’t add any character to the bag. The WFA Pack has white handles made of organic cotton with afaux-leather grip that’s by far the most comfortable of all the tote handles I’ve tried. The shoulder straps are made of cotton, too, but are significantly thicker than the top straps. They aren’t padded like the Alpaka’s or even the Timbuk2’s, but even so they’re surprisingly painless to wear for long walks. I do like that instead of having single-color shoulder straps, this bag’s straps are made of the same recycled polyester as the rest of the bag; it feels more like a fancy version of a canvas tote than it does a traditional backpack.
As for organization features, this bag is somewhere between the Timbuk2 and the Alpaka. Its laptop sleeve is significantly more padded than every other bag on this list and feels thick enough to keep your computer (or tablet) safe and sound. The front of that sleeve has a couple elastic pouches, but they’re quite thin and stretchy, so I worry they may loosen over time. The other side has a zippered pocket that’s deep enough to hold a small notebook plus all your smaller trinkets. There’s no front pouch, just a single pocket you can slide a small gadget or your wallet into.
A fancy totepack
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Bellroy’s Tokyo Totepack looks a lot like a more stylized version of the Alpaka. It has a similar rounded rectangle shape with short handles on top, plus padded shoulder straps you can tuck away into a pocket when it’s in tote mode. But I get way more compliments when I wear the Bellroy than the Alpaka. Its color options have more pop than any of the Bravo’s options, and its added leather accents give it a touch of class that other bags like the Timbuk2 don’t have.
Most of the advantages of the Bellroy are in small details like that. Its laptop sleeve is a bit thinner than the Native Union’s, but it’s still thick enough to truly protect your computer, and the top zipper even has a strip of nylon fabric to prevent your laptop from getting scratched as you take it in and out of your bag. Like the Alpaka, it also has two water-bottle pockets on the inside, but the Bellroy’s pockets have small leather tabs you can pull on to fully open those pockets, while the Alpaka’s has to be grabbed by the lip of the pocket. Speaking of pockets, the zippered pocket on the inside of the Bellroy is made of a pleasantly soft mesh material that’s stretchy yet durable. While not all of those features make this a more functional backpack than the others, it does make the Bellroy a tad more pleasant to use.
That is, aside from the noise the outside material makes. It’s made of a proprietary recycled nylon blend that’s slightly textured and feels nice to touch, though it’s a bit stiff. The main issue, though, is that it makes a noticeable crunching sound whenever you interact with the bag. It’s not atrocious, but if you’re in a library or quiet coffee shop, people will definitely hear it. Additionally, I wish the front pockets on this bag were more like the single large pouches on the Timbuk2 and Alpaka bags. Instead, it has two zippered pockets you open from the side, and they’re each large enough to hold an iPhone 17 Pro Max or a pocket-size notebook, but not much else. That’s far more limiting than a singular pocket that can hold larger items.
An outdoorsy totepack
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When Zhao introduced me to this bag, I immediately added it to my wish list. It doesn’t have a laptop sleeve like the other bags on this list, but even so, it’s still good enough for Zhao to use it as his daily driver and stash his laptop in it. It has an understated design that would fit in just as well for a day at the park as it would going into the office.
The bag comes in versions made of either recycled polyester or cotton canvas for the external material. Zhao likes that its straps are adjustable enough that he can use it as a briefcase, too. When the bag is in backpack mode, its handles provide enough space between them and the top of the bag to let you slide a yoga mat or rolled-up blanket through it; that’s not true of the bags I’ve tested. It also has side pockets that you can drop a water bottle or small umbrella into, plus a large front pocket.
Zhao has one major complaint about this bag: Its handles are permanently attached to each other so storing large items can be cumbersome. “Every time I put a laptop in or take it out, I have to navigate it under or through the straps to get it into the bag,” he says.
Other totes and backpacks we like
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