Ogio Avalanche Marware

Pros Lots of storage. Great looks and very comfortable. Very well made.
Cons Sleeve has to be removed from backpack in order to access laptop. Price (maybe)
Retail Price : $165.00 for both

Ogio Avalanche Marware Laptop Sleeve Review

For some time I have the theory that any well made, well designed backpack coupled with a great laptop sleeve would work just as well or better as a backpack designed from the ground up for a laptop. To put this theory to the test I paired the Ogio Avalanche backpack with the Marware laptop sleeve. Well… I was right! This combo is hard to beat.

The Ogio is a great looking backpack that makes smart use out of different materials and textures which in turn, add to the overall “tech” look of this backpack. There was ample room for my whole list and I even felt stuff like my cables had a home designed just for them They liked that. The test sample was red/black/yellow and is called a Pod design by Ogio. Yea, ok. It looks kinda poddy. In a poddy sort of way I guess. All I know is it worked great as a laptop backpack.

OGIO-Backpacks-Review-Renegade-Bandit

The Marware Laptop sleeve was designed to be used separately as a stand alone carrier. It comes with a comfortable shoulder strap that removes when not needed. There isn’t much storage, just a useless pocket on the front and a useful zippered compartment on the back. It’s made of neoprene and some sort of alien feeling rubber material and offers a modicum of protection in and of itself.

But combine the two and it’s like…like…milk chocolate and peanut butter. Like the Mac and ease of use. Like Tommy and Pam, no strike that one. Of course they did get along well in that video.

I put the Incase sleeve in the compartment meant for the hydration bladder. I have never needed a hydration bladder. Now a Cat 5 Ethernet cable, that’s a different story. The hydration compartment fit the sleeve like a glove. It offered great protection due to it’s padding and it was easy to get at when I had to remove the sleeve. This brings me to one of the two drawbacks to my set up.

Since the Sleeve was never designed to be carried in a backpack, it opens on the long edge instead of the end. This meant I had to actually remove it from the backpack before I could get at my laptop. Not too bad of a problem.

The second drawback is based on some speculation but the price of this combo may be high end. The Sleeve is $40 and I believe that the backpack is around $125. That’s $165 for the pair.
Kinda steep but you are getting two to four bags depending on how you look at it.
1) a sleeve;
2) a compact shoulder carrier;
3) a day backpack (with a hydration bladder area. Cool.
4) laptop backpack.

I recommend this combo whole heartedly. It works and it works hard.


Review Rating

AVERAGE SCORE 8.9
Construction 9.0
Comfort 8.5
Organizational Features 9.5
Protection 9.0
Aesthetics 8.5