Most daypacks are good at one thing: the trail, the office or the plane. The North Face Recon is a 30 L backpack that tries to do all three, with a padded laptop sleeve, a front organiser and a harness built for heavier loads. We paid $240 for ours, to replace our old North Face Fall Line, and it’s a great backpack: 2 L bigger, with far more pockets.
What’s in the box
A 30 L backpack in 210D recycled nylon ripstop with a water-repellent finish; ours is all black, and it also comes in navy, grey or blue with black. It has a large main compartment, a separate padded laptop compartment, a front compartment with organiser pockets, a fleece-lined pocket at the top, a stretch-mesh pocket on the front and a mesh water bottle pocket on each side. The back is The North Face’s FlexVent harness, with a sternum strap and a removable waist belt.
What we like
- Comfortable FlexVent harness
- Padded 16 inch laptop sleeve
- Fleece-lined sunglasses pocket
- Two water bottle pockets
- Stands up on its own
- Side pockets fit a 750 ml bottle
What we don’t
- Heavy for a daypack
- Not waterproof in heavy rain
- $240 at full price
Quick Specs
| Spec | Details |
|---|---|
| Brand | The North Face |
| Capacity | 30 L |
| Material | 210D recycled nylon ripstopWater-repellent |
| Colour options | BlackNavyGreyBlue |
| Weight | 1,165 g |
| Size | 49 × 29.5 × 19.1 cm |
| Fits | Laptops up to 16 inches |
| Straps | Sternum strap with whistleRemovable waist belt |
| Features | LaptopMainFront organiserFleece-linedStretch-mesh2 bottle pockets |
The FlexVent Harness
The back panel is padded and shaped, with a breathable lower section, and the shoulder straps are curved to follow your shoulders. The North Face calls it FlexVent, and the American Chiropractic Association has certified it. A sternum strap and a removable waist belt take some of the weight off your shoulders when the pack is full, and the sternum buckle has a whistle built in.
Pockets for Everything
Three zips run across the top of the front. The small fleece-lined pocket at the top keeps sunglasses, keys or a phone from getting scratched, and the front compartment opens up to an organiser with zip pockets, pen slots and a padded tablet sleeve. Below that, the stretch-mesh pocket on the front takes a jacket, and The North Face says it holds a bike helmet. The two mesh side pockets are much taller than on our old Fall Line and comfortably hold a 750 ml water bottle each.
Laptop and Main Compartment
The laptop compartment at the back has its own zip and a padded sleeve for a laptop up to 16 inches, and our 13 inch MacBook fits easily. The hook-and-loop tab at the top is for hanging a hydration bladder, so on the trail the same compartment carries water instead. Because it opens on its own, you can grab the laptop even when the pack is fully packed for a trip, without digging through everything else. The main compartment in front of it is big and open, with a light grey lining that makes it easy to find things, and the pack stands up on its own, so it stays open while you pack it. Side and bottom compression straps pull it in when it isn’t full.
Conclusion: The North Face Recon BackpackConclusion
The North Face Recon is a well-organised 30 L backpack with a comfortable FlexVent harness, a padded laptop sleeve, a front organiser, a fleece-lined top pocket and two bottle pockets, and it stands up on its own. It’s heavy for a daypack at about 1.2 kg, and the water-repellent fabric won’t keep out a downpour. We paid $240, and it’s a great backpack: next to our old Fall Line it has 2 L more room, far more pockets, a laptop you can always get to and side pockets that hold a 750 ml bottle.
A great backpack with a pocket for everything.
Compared with our old Fall Line it has 2 L more room and far more pockets, the separate laptop compartment is easy to reach when the pack is full for a trip, and the tall side pockets hold a 750 ml bottle. It’s heavy for a daypack and only water-repellent.
- Hikers
- Travellers
- 4WD tourers
Yes. I paid $240 for a 30 L pack with a separate laptop compartment, far more pockets than our old Fall Line and side pockets tall enough for a 750 ml bottle.
