Burton : Asylum

Pros Damn, this is one cool looking bag. GREAT organizational features. Lots of smart compartments. Comfortable. Useful.
Cons No outside mobile phone access. Construction could be beefed up a little. Laptop area needs to be about 2” deeper or taller.
Retail Price : $ 144.00

Burton : Asylum backpack reviewI never though I would say this but this bag beats the K2 Jiver hands down. I have loved and cherished my K2 since I got it about a year ago. It is still one of the all around best laptop backpacks out there. But this Burton. WOW. Keep in mind though that the K2 retails for around $85.00 and the Burton for $144.00.

I was able to carry my list very comfortably.

Burton made super use out of the the room they had to work with. The purpose of this site is not to recommend a product. All the ones we review are good. The Spire Icon is an awesome laptop backpack, but is is also smaller and simpler in it’s design. The Asylum looks like a bag from a snowboard company. The colors, styling, etc. scream young, hip, techno-savvy geek.

At the top of the bag are two compartments. One is for an MD player, MP3 Player (can we say iPod?), or other such device. Going out of this area is a headphone port for your headphone cable. The second pocket has a key clip and this is where I put my Visor Edge.

The laptop compartment is made of neoprene and stretches slightly when the computer is inserted. This provides a snug fit and a soft non -scratching surface. I wish the neoprene was about 3” higher or the pocket was 3” deeper. There is room. That way the computer would be totally protected.

There are two outside side compartments that zip closed and two small zippered compartments on the waist strap which I never used but I liked having them there. Kinda like having a car that will go 0-60 in 3.2 sec. It nice to know the ability is there even though you may never use it.

There is a zipper on the front of the backpack that unzips to reveal a large area for storage. This area is shared by the laptop pocket you just get at it two different ways. At the bottom of the backpack there is yet another zippered compartment with an internal zippered pocket. The pocket is where I stored my cables and the compartment is where I put the Swiss Army Multi-tool.

Burton has certainly raised the bar here. I liked this backpack so much I found myself resisting my weekly bag switch for the next review. Simply put, if you like the younger snowboard look this bag ROCKS!

Burton Snowboards
www.burton.com


Review Rating

AVERAGE SCORE 9.5
Construction 7.5
Comfort 8.5
Organizational Features 9.5
Protection 9.0
Aesthetics 9.5