As a frequent traveler, having a reliable backpack is absolutely essential, especially if you constantly find yourself on the move, exploring different places, meeting new people, and fully-immersing yourself in unfamiliar surroundings.
But not all backpacks are made equal. Some serve specific purposes (and do so very well), while others are more general-purpose. The Alpha X TUMI Brief Pack is a combination of different, robust materials that come together to make an incredibly innovative and durable backpack that can withstand the rough and tumble of your travels — without sacrificing on style.
Here are my honest thoughts after three weeks of use:
Comfortable enough for all-day use, depending on what you’re carrying.
IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
The Alpha X TUMI Brief Pack may look bulky, but it’s certainly light enough for all-day use, weighing just 1.65kg when empty. Of course, I wouldn’t recommend this for people of smaller builds, due to the dimensions of the backpack, but it’s certainly more than usable for people of average heights and builds.
The dimensions of the Alpha X TUMI Brief Pack are as follows: 17 inches (H) x 12 inches (W) x 8 inches (D).
Its two shoulder straps are heavily padded, but depending on what you’re carrying, they can dig into your shoulders a little bit.
IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
When it comes to overall comfort, however, the Brief Pack hits the mark just fine, especially when carrying your essentials on a day out. In my case, I carried around my 13-inch MacBook Air, iPad Mini, as well as a 32oz water bottle, a camera, and some light snacks.
The dedicated (padded) laptop pocket can accommodate devices as large as a 16-inch MacBook Pro, so it can comfortably fit most laptops. Thicker gaming laptops might find it to be a bit of a squeeze, though.
High quality materials make it actually ~feel~ like the luxury item it is.
IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
Part of the newly-launched Alpha X collection, the Alpha X TUMI Brief Pack follows the ‘Hypercraft’ design philosophy, which focuses on quality and high performance through “elevated craftsmanship and innovation”.
Highlighted in this new collection is TUMI’s most high-performance fabric to date — dubbed PX6 — which adorns most of the Brief Pack. It has a rigid feel to it, allowing the Brief Pack to keep its shape, even when empty. PX6 reminds me of waterproof jackets, mixed with the soft woven material used to make seat belts in cars. It’s a tasteful blend of the two in terms of feel.
IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
According to TUMI, PX6 is meant to be the perfect amalgamation of high strength, high modulus (material stiffness), toughness, and thermal stability. In the ‘Meteor Grey’ colorway that I have, it shines even more. But it’s something most people would understand better by seeing and touching it in person.
Thoughtfully-practical.
The key leash comes in very handy. IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
The key to a practical backpack is seamless adjustability and accessibility on-the-go. The smooth feel of the shoulder straps makes it very easy to adjust the height of the Brief Pack while still wearing it. While this might not seem like a necessary thing for a backpack, you’d be surprised by its convenience, especially as your load changes throughout the day and you’re in a rush.
Its three front-facing pockets are always within easy reach, and thanks to high-quality zippers, are easily opened with a single hand. No fussing about with two hands here. The bag also features a zip pocket on both the left and right sides, with one of them having a water-resistant liner for water bottles.
One of the side pockets has water-resistant lining. IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
But we can’t talk about practicality without going through the absolute plethora of organization options the bag offers. Featuring a padded tablet pocket, pen loops, a key leash, three open pockets (one for files), three media pockets, three card pockets, and a zip pocket, your internal organization options are incredibly vast — much like the carrying capacity of the bag itself.
On the outside, the zippered main compartment opens up almost like an accordion, giving you a ton of space to load and unload your Brief Pack. Just behind it is the aforementioned padded laptop compartment, which features tiny, square-shaped cushions all throughout the inner lining. I can’t tell you just how much I loved putting my hand in there — but I digress.
The padded laptop compartment. IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
As is the usual with most TUMI products, you also have a luggage tag (in which you can write your personal contact details), as well as a leather-wrapped carrying handle on top. It’s a luxe quality-of-life furnishing that a lot of people tend to overlook, but it’s definitely appreciated here.
Classy leather on top. IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
Comforting reassurance comes in the form of the TUMI Tracer tag.
The TUMI Tracer tag is hidden in a pocket. IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
Most TUMI luggage products come with a physical TUMI Tracer tag, which is essentially a unique barcode inscribed on a metal plate. Depending on the type of TUMI product you’ve got, the tag can be located in different parts of the luggage or backpack. In the Alpha X TUMI Brief Pack, the TUMI Tracer tag can be found in the lower front-facing U-shaped zip pocket.
If you ever lose the backpack — or worse, it gets stolen — TUMI should be able to locate and recover your lost item using their worldwide TUMI Tracer system. If it’s found by someone else, they can also contact TUMI customer care (also found on the tag) and the same arrangements can still be made. All you need to do on your end is register your 20-digit Tracer code, and you’re good to go.
IMAGE: Danial Martinus / Mashable Southeast Asia
The Alpha X TUMI Brief Pack retails for RM4,400 in Malaysia and S$1,420 in Singapore with free Classic Monogram customization.
If you’re interested in checking out the Alpha X TUMI Brief Pack, or the Alpha X lineup at large, head on over to the official TUMI website.
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