Fjallraven makes some great backpacks and Massdrop is a compelling group buy community. I decided that at the price Massdrop negotiated I had to have a Rucksack No 21. Here is the unboxing and feature walkthrough.
Fjallraven Rucksack No 21
Unboxing a backpack may not be as exciting as unboxing some fancy electronics but there is still value to be had and first impressions. Massdrop did a great job packaging the bag. Some might even say it was overprotected.
The first thing that popped into my head when I got the box open was wow this bag is smaller than I remember. I saw it in store many weeks ago and I swear the medium was bigger. I thought it was comparable to my Timbuk2 Swig but it’s a bit smaller.
The next thing I noticed was the leather. The straps on this bag are great. I have seen a lot of bags that have inadequate leather straps because of cost savings efforts or bad design. This is not one of those bags. I had to adjust the shoulder straps to 3 holes from the max to make it comfortable but I am a big guy and that is pretty normal.
Concerns
The front pouch has no closure system. It relies on the main flap to keep things inside. That will likely be fine but small things could migrate their way out and usually small things are the front pouch’s bread and butter.
The draw string on the Rucksack No 21 is a little cumbersome. I am sure it will be fine once I get used to it but currently it is a hassle to open and obscures the inside of the bag.
Summary
I am going to use this Fjallraven Rucksack No 21