Patagonia Transport 26L Review (Features Score: 24.5; Access. Score: 9.7/10)

Patagonia Transport 26L 

Overall:  With pros = 32.0 points, cons = -7.5;  The Patagonia Transport 26L earns a Features Score of 24.5 and Accessibility Score of 9.7 (see details below)

Video:

Pros:

Well built, soft polyester fabric is flexible and gentle on clothing. +2

Simple, understated design looks more professional than most. +1

External access to laptop compartment. +3

The bottom of the bag is flat and perpendicular to the sides so that it stands perfectly upright. +2

No cover flap makes it easier to access every compartment. (This also means no obnoxious Velcro to hold down the cover.) It is also nice that one does not have to hold the flap open when accessing items with the bag still on your shoulder.  +2

The external access to organizer panel makes it easy to get to without opening a cover flap first. +1

Separate padded pocket for iPad.  +3

More pocket options in the organizer section than most. +2

Excellent organizer pockets in the laptop/iPad section are extraordinarily useful. +2

One open pocket (inside main compartment) for carrying file folders/papers. +2

One open pocket on back of bag for carrying small documents. +1

Back designed to slip over handle of rolling luggage. +1

Interior is lined in a bright orange (in Glass Blue color) ripstop nylon making it easy to locate your items in the deep, darker corners of the bag. Best of those reviewed so far.  +2

The center section opens fully (like a book) - making it easy to pack and access your stuff.  +1

The laptop section opens fully (like a book) allowing you to keep your laptop in the bag when going through the airport TSA check. +1

Fastex clip at the top edge on the padded laptop pocket to prevent the laptop form accidentally spilling out. +0.5

Decently three-dimensional handle for comfortable holding (better than some, worse than some).  +0.5

The handle is centered fore/aft making it balance well when held by the handle. +1

Foam padding between all main sections give the bag structure and makes it more stable when loading and when sitting on surface (i.e., it does not tip over).  +2

The lack of the flap and the aforementioned structure allows the whole bag to keep a slimmer-looking more finished profile when stuffed full.  See the side by side photos comparing the Patagonia Transport and the STM Trust when packed full with the same stuff.  You will see that the Patagonia has a cleaner, more fitted look. To my eye, it's kind of like the difference between a blue blazer versus a loose fitting hoodie. +2

Patagonia from front

STM from front 

Patagonia from side

STM from side

Patagonia angle

STM angle

Patagonia from above

STM from above

Cons:

The small gauge zippers for the main compartment and the laptop compartment do feel like they will fail sooner rather than later. -1

Zippers on the main compartment and the laptop compartment wrap all the way to underneath the bag.  This could result in easy water ingress if you put the bag down on a wet surface. (Of course, see the benefit of this in the "Pros" section above.)  -0.5

The lack of flap is great for accessing your stuff quickly, but it does mean that the bag is a lot less weatherproof.  -1

There is no small, easily accessible outer pocket for my sunglasses. There are slots inside the organizer panel that would accommodate sunglasses, but they are not fleece-lined.  -1

No external pouch for holding a water bottle - no matter what size. -1

The soft polyester fabric, while softer, quieter, and more flexible than ripstop nylon and Cordura, clearly will not be as durable.  I also would guess that it will hold stains and dirt making it look shabbier faster.  -1

No clip at the top of the tablet pocket means that there is a risk that the tablet could fall out - particular if going through the x-ray machines at a TSA check. -0.5

The pass through slot is designed in such a way that it cannot accommodate a letter sized file folder.  There are better designs out there that allow for this slot to be used for holding full sized files when the bag is not attached to rolling luggage. -0.5

No lash points on the outside of the bag to hang my retractable key chain.  I can hang them on the D ring that holds the shoulder strap, but this is a kludgy solution. -0.5

The central location of the handle makes it more difficult to hang the bag on a hook.  -0.5

Nice but not necessary:

Shoulder strap is easily removable and mounted on swivels.

Velcro holds two of the pockets closed.  In some cases, this might be useful in keeping an item from falling out, but in other cases it is unnecessary and impedes sliding items in (such as the file folder pocket in the main section).

Accessibility:

A bag's accessibility is rated on a 1 - 10 scale (10 = most).  Three major compartments are judged.  The accessibility score for this bag:

Organizer pocket(s) = 9. The only issue here is that the cell phone pocket is right up next to the zipper.  You need to slow down to insert the phone back in its place because of this lousy location.  However, there are no zipper covers to get in the way of zipping.  That's huge.
Main compartment = 10. Could not be better.  That fact that it opens up completely like a suitcase is a giant bonus.  It's also cavernous.  No zipper covers!
Laptop compartment = 10. Externally accessible and it is TSA friendly.  This thing is the epitome of accessible.  No zipper covers!

Overall accessibility: 9.7 out of 10.  Did I say no zipper covers?  No zipper covers!

Photos: 

Main compartment

Open file folder pocket within the main compartment

The iPad pocket (left) and three organizer pockets (two on top, one on bottom) in the laptop compartment

Laptop pocket in the laptop compartment

Small open pocket in rear

Bottom unzipped in the pocket above to allow bag to slip over handle of rolling luggage