The Brooklyn is a backpack from the wonderful guys and girls over at fūl. They specialize in bags, backpacks and travel gear and are inspired by musicians and their demanding tour schedules. They are a passionate bunch; their ‘about us’ states that they sometimes get a little emotional about what they do, and their care and attention to detail really shows in their products. Read on to find out our thoughts on the Brooklyn.
The fūl Brooklyn backpack is a 2-in-1 iPad case and MacBook Backpack which can be used together or the iPad case can be unzipped and used separately. It has a large amount of well thought out and well placed features which are not only useful, are also functional.
The Brooklyn’s Packaging
The Brooklyn’s packaging is simple, it was shipped in a fairly generously sized corrugated cardboard box and further contained within a transparent bag. The bag itself has three tags attached and one is an information leaflet with everything you’ll ever need to know about your newly purchased bag.
The Features And Details Of The Brooklyn
The MacBook Backpack
On the front of the Brooklyn iPad case as well as the MacBook backpack there is a lovely metal badge which is very ornamental and reminds me of the brand badges on cars, particularly high end ones.
The majority of the Brooklyn is made from 1680 Denier Nylon, which is known for its strength and durability; in fact it was first developed to be used in flak jackets for World War II pilots but was replaced by kevlar. The backpack is extremely well stitched, too. The stitching is all extremely tight and there are no visible loose threads inside or out.
The zips are all beautiful, there are 6 of them all together including the ones on the iPad case. They feature the fūl logo behind a durable coating which adds durability and effect to the logo. They are also smooth to operate.
The bottom of the backpack has a waterproof layer of material covering it.
Awesomely, the Brooklyn has a generous five external pockets. On the backpack’s side there are two of the Brooklyn’s five pockets, both made from neoprene, the top one is where I stored my backup compact camera and the bottom is where I stored my backup iPhone which both fitted in perfectly. The third pocket is the one that I stored my primary iPhone in, it is located on the right shoulder strap, I found that it was a snug fit and I’d like to see it to be made a few millimeters bigger. This pocket also has a handy headphone wire port which I found was the perfect size and shape for my headphones. I also did some testing to see if bluetooth headphones still work when my iPhone is contained within this pocket and I had no issues with this. The fourth pocket is on the reverse side of the third pocket, it is transparent and I used this for putting my bus ticket in so I just had to turn my strap around to show the driver, and the fifth pocket is a fold away bottle holder on the right side.
The straps are well made and solidly sewn in. On both the straps there are reflective strips sewn in, there is also a loop on the left strap that I hung my compass from. For added comfort the Brooklyn’s straps feature a fully adjustable over chest buckle which slides up and down on a ‘rail’ on each side, you can also adjust the how tight or loose it is. On the right strap there is an iPhone pocket which I’ve mentioned previously in the review,On the reverse side of the right strap there is a transparent pocket that came in useful to put my return train ticketin so I could just flip around my strap instead of wasting time trying to get the ticket out of my jeans pocket. The transparent pocket is also big enough to fit my iPhone and I could still operate the capacitive touch screen through it.
On the inside of the MacBook backpack there is an extremely well padded pocket which fits most laptop computers up to 15″, but fitted my 13″ MacBook well. To secure your MacBook in place there is a strap which is also padded that goes over the entrance to the pocket and stays in place with a patch of hook and loop. On the opposite side of the MacBook pocket there are five other smaller pockets. I managed to use all of the pockets, but I felt that they Brooklyn doesn’t have enough pockets on the inside.
The Detachable iPad Case
The detachable iPad case is just as great as the MacBook backpack.
The front of the iPad case has the fūl logo in metal, as I mentioned earlier.
On the back of the iPad case there are two hoops which are for the included over-shoulder carrying strap to be attached to. There is also a strap which aids in carrying the case, you simply slip your hand through it and hold onto the bottom of the case and it prevents you accidentally dropping it. Also on the back of the case is a pocket which I found particularly useful for putting a pen in when using the iPad case separately from the MacBook backpack. On the top of the case there is also a comfortable carrying handle.
Inside the iPad case there is a built in neoprene sleeve for your iPad, the iPad fits into this sleeve snugly, but not too tightly like on some inferior cases which may leave scratches on the glass of the iPad due to low quality material and sizing. On the opposite side of the pocket there are three pockets which are all different sizes.
The Brooklyn’s Comfort
The Brooklyn is perhaps the most comfortable backpack I’ve ever worn. It has a fully supported back panel with airflow channels which make it extremely comfortable to wear and move in, because unlike other backpacks it doesn’t make you sweat. The shoulder straps are also well padded and very comfortable, and don’t slip off of your shoulders because of the over chest clip that I talked about earlier in the review.
With the Brooklyn fully loaded with 13KG of gear including my MacBook and DSLR I went for a 15 mile hike over the tough terrain of Dartmoor and was not disappointed. It barely felt like I had even 5KG on my back and my back didn’t get sweaty like it would with almost every other backpack I’ve used.
Conclusion
The fūl Brooklyn is a wonderful backpack, and one of the best that I have ever used. It is everything I look for in a bag; comfort, space, protection and style. You can purchase the Brooklyn here.
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