ALPAKA Metro Crossbody Left Shoulder 7 5L - Crossbody Bag Men Sling Backpack - Fits 11 Tablet -

This is a five star bag, but I'm not sure it's a five star bag for me. I usually carry a Bellroy 9l venture sling, it's my favorite bag ever except it's about half an inch too shallow for an ipad air and the front pocket is much too flat making the key fob useless. I wanted to upgrade to be able to carry my ipad (about half the time), my kindle, my keyboard that's in between those sizes, a journal, a small pen case, wallet and keys. Note I'm not carrying the seemingly redundant items because I think I need them for myself, it's so I can share with and entertain the kids as needed. With the listed dimensions, this bag is big enough to meet that need, but it's just not quite the right bag for me. I feel like it's secure on my shoulder, but the straps slip out of adjustment every time I pick it up, and I've given up on them. I guess if you were half a foot taller than I am (like 6ft) you wouldn't even care. The big phone pouch is great, but makes the balance awkward when you remove it to stash by your feet for driving. The tablet slot is protective and secure, but you cannot get an iPad Air out easily without using both hands, it's tucked under the rim, and it's impossible when swung around to the front. The key fob works well, and the pocket is plenty big enough for everything I want to put in there (airpods and keys). The main pouch is technically big enough to hold everything I listed above (all of which fits in my Bellroy at the same time except the iPad Air) but it can't be packed in an accessible way, you're just stacking stuff up and you'll have to remove stuff to get to the bottom stuff. Just temper expectations on what you'll be able to access as "a sling". The zipper is excellent, smooth and well-positioned, and the bag is well and thoughtfully designed. I had zero issues accessing the main pouch and key pouch regardless of the shoulder I was wearing it on. Haven't tested the water bottle feature yet, it definitely borrows space from the main compartment. I have some real concerns about the plastic hinge; it's solid enough, but if it snaps the whole bag is useless. It also uses a magnetic? clipping system that seems fiddly, I tested it once and worry it'll come undone or break under weight, sending my stuff crashing. It just seems like a weird choice for a hinge point where metal would have been more durable, and this wasn't a cheap bag. But I've heard nothing but good things about this brand and this bag, and nobody's reported any issues like that. Overall, I'm just really on the fence about this. It's not substantially better in any way than my comparably priced Bellroy, it's not worse, it's just different. Mostly I feel like it's very rigid, and the strap is very padded along the top, but the plastic hinge is where it's going to fail, not the fabric, and it's just unnecessarily bulky. I feel like I'm going to end up giving this to my teen to replace his Tomtoc Switch sling, all he really carries is the Switch, a water bottle, and an ipad, so this seems like it'll really fit his needs. Read more

This is a very nice sling bag! It is pretty expensive but it seems to be extremely well made and should hold up forever. I like the pocket layouts and it slides easily from the back to your chest to get at the pockets. They are shoulder specific so keep that in mind and make sure you get the one you want. I only saw Left Shoulder but that's what I wanted. Very comfortable to use! It fits my iPad Pro 11 inch perfectly but nothing bigger will fit in there. Separate lined pocket with a velcro strap to hold an item in that pocket too so no worries there. It won't fit an abundance of items in it but its not made to. Perfect size to carry a few essentials like and iPad, chargers, decent enough pocket for a camera too. Just everyday items but not much else. No lashing points on the outside though. The string/rope things some bags have for holding a jacket or sweatshirt would have been a good touch but is not there. Very compact, useful bag that looks like you'll never have to buy another! Read more

Nice bag. Great quality. I would like to more organizational pockets. When carrying every thing piles in the bottom of the bag. So, a little more internal organizing options would be nice. But, I do like the bag. It carries well. Holds a good amount of stuff. I look forward to the next generation of this bag. Read more

I am a paraprofessional at an elementary school. I move into different classrooms throughout the day and don’t have much freedom of movement outside of my assigned duties. Last year I used a Merrill sling bag that was similar to this one. That bag was ok, but I wanted something with a little more separation between the water bottle and the main compartment contents. I bought this Alpaka Metro Crossbody and have been using it since the school year started 6 months ago. This bag carries all of my supplies, safety vest, hat, first aid pouch, pen, paper, sanitizer, and a water bottle. I used to use a Camelbak Eddy 600 ml bottle, which was fine, but a tad bigger than ideal. I recently switched to a H2Go Slant 740 ml bottle, which is a bit more compact and fits better into the bottle slot. I usually wear a lightweight puffer jacket during the winter for short outdoor recess periods. This doesn’t fit into my bag with my other items, but I pull the jacket into the carrying handle and let it hang there when I am in transit between classrooms. This has been a great bag and I highly recommend it. Read more

High quality and well thought out bag and for the most part, very soft spoken in design. The padded shoulder strap extends the entire length of the strap and the padded back makes the bag as comfortable as a regular backpack. It also has a bit of form so it doesn’t collapse completely but it is slim enough to fit along the body. Read more

I switched from a more expensive brand. This sling is extremely well designed and manufactured. My iPhone fits in the shoulder pocket and my iPad Pro with zugu case fits snugly in the pocket. I like the interior pocket where I keep less used things and use the outside pocket for frequently needed items. Haven’t bothered with the water bottle slot yet. I’m a very frequent traveler with a disability (only one functional arm). This bag makes it easy. I ditched the stabilizing strap and bought “strap gummy” stickers on Amazon for the shoulder strap which is too slippery to stay on my shoulder on its own. I was concerned about the quality of material, but it’s fine and early indications are that the material and zippers will age well. It’s comfortable to wear. I’m most jazzed about the iPhone pocket on the shoulder strap, it makes juggling the phone (boarding pass) and wallet (ID) so much easier. I don’t stress that I’m going to drop one or the other navigating security (every airport is different). Read more