Swiss Army : Ascent Trek

Pros Great looks with nice details. Well thought out pockets and storage. Heavy duty construction.
Cons Pack tended to lean outward for me. No outside mobile phone access. Retail is a bit steep.
Retail Price : $179.00

Swiss Army : Ascent Trek

I was able to carry all my list.

I have always considered Swiss Army to be one of those few companies that make high-end products with a keen eye to detail. As you know from my list that I carry a Swiss Army multi-tool and it’s built to withstand anything short of a nuclear blast. And even then I might put my money on the multi-tool.

The Ascent Trek Pack follows in the footsteps of Swiss Army’s reputation. The bag i red overall with accents of black. The zippers are heavy duty and are embossed with the Swiss Army logo (nice detail).

The main compartment has a padded laptop sleeve that will fit a Powerbook G4 but it is obviously not made for it. The strap the attaches over the top of the laptop is a necessity for stability but almost doesn’t fit the Ti:G4. One good thing is that even after the laptop is in it’s place there is ample room for other items.

In the top of the zippered compartment, accessed from the inside, there is another storage are which I put my cables in. On the outside there is a compartment for a CD/MD/MP3 player and a sound port for headphones.

The front of the bag has a larger zippered are for pens, keys, etc. I could even fit a MacWarehouse in here. I might be able to fit the last 17 MacWarehouses that I have received over the last 2 days.

On the front of this pocket is yet another zippered pouch that I stored my ZIP 250 in. On the sides there are two mesh pockets which I used for a drink bottle.

The shoulder straps are decent and the pack even has a waist strap. An interesting note on the waist strap is that this can be stored out of the way behind a special panel. Prettty cool.

Overall this is a decent bag. Swiss Army makes a GREAT mobile phone pouch which interestingly does not attach to this backpack. I wonder why?

Details like the small Swiss Army emblem on the front, and the embroidered strip on the shoulder strap really enhance this backpack. If you don’t have a G4, this would be a great bag. With a G4 however, the pack’s center of gravity is a little too high so the backpack leans outward. Other than that it a great backpack worth considering.


Swiss Army
http://www.swissarmy.com


Review Rating

AVERAGE SCORE 8.1
Construction 8.0
Comfort 7.5
Organizational Features 8.0
Protection 8.0
Aesthetics 9.0