Some people consider jewelry, designer shoes and perfume as indulgence items, something to purchase as a ‘pick me up’ or as a ‘feel good’ item when you aren’t in the best of moods. For me, I stick with the more practical things like backpacks, sport clothing and [if you haven’t already guesses] office supplies. When I originally picked up the Adidas Alumnus I wanted something that I could fit a relatively large amount of things in and not have to hunt them down when I needed to retrieve them. Another reason I picked this up was the ultra convenient elastic bungee cord system on the front. When we were going to Mexico on a regular basis, this was a true godsend since I could carry a lightweight sweatshirt in this area and save space inside the pack. At the time this was a great investment and it served me well but I did outgrow it and needed something with more compartments and pockets. It didn’t go to waste though, my oldest son laid claim to it when I picked up a new backpack and he’s still using it to this day.

Adidas Alumnus Pack

Boasting a lifetime warranty against defects, this pack is great for someone who doesn’t need a lot of dedicated sections or compartments. The size alone is enough to impress most people and what you can fit inside the main compartment is mind-boggling. On one trip to Mexico I was able to fit several folded t-shirts, a bottle of Tequila, souvenirs, tons of candies and cookies and still had a little room left over for odds and ends. The actual measurements are eighteen inches high, twelve inches wide and seven inches deep. Since the pack is made of a rugged and durable polyester blend it is flexible yet extremely sturdy. The straps are slightly padded so when you really jam it full of books and essentials, it doesn’t cut into your shoulders however if you want to carry it, there is a strong plastic handle with ridged finger grips located at the top of the pack. This is a triple stitched handle and there is no way you are going to rip this off the pack – no matter how much stuff you load into it. On the bottom you will find a rectangular section that is thicker than the rest of the pack and serves to cushion the contents as well as providing a little extra comfort to your back when carrying it for extended periods of time.

Inside the main compartment you’ll have plenty of room for your goods but if you plan on carrying smaller items, chances are they will get lost easily or slide to the bottom when you start moving around with it. The small front section that zips open has a few elastic sections that can hold money, change, a small cassette player [not big enough for a CD player] and small flat items. This is a nice feature but is way too small for my taste. When I purchased this, I thought this would be prefect for our identification cards when we crossed the border back into the United States – which it was – but there really isn’t room for much and if you do try to shove something in there – you get a huge bulge in the front of it. You run the risk of blowing out the zipper or worse – getting something stuck in it. The border agents must have hated seeing us coming up the walk – four kids in tow [usually all carrying something] and me trying to unzip the front section of the bag. This pack did serve its purpose on many occasions but as I stated, I’ve grown out of it.

The zippers on the front and top move along nicely and thankfully I’ve never had one of them jump off track but I have gotten pieces of paper and clothing stuck in them. The zippers help up nicely but chewed up whatever was in its way. The pull tags that come with it are nice, but they do tend to get caught on a lot of things so I snipped off the two on the main section and left the ones on the auxiliary compartment since these rested on the front of the pack, not the sides. I really can’t say enough about the elastic cording on the front, this is great for storing larger items that would otherwise eat up valuable space inside the pack or something that you need to keep on hand and get to quickly – like a first aid kit or rain jacket. On the sides of the pack are mesh compartments that are perfect for water bottles [quart sized fit best], plastic containers or soda bottles. When not in use they cling tightly to the side of the pack but do tend to catch on things.

Price

I picked this up on sale for $22.00 but it has a suggested retail price of $29.99. With the ‘back to school’ sales going on, you might be able to save a few dollars on this pack and several online vendors have this in stock year round. Stores like Target and Wal-Mart carry backpacks and knapsacks but trying to find them out of season is really asking a lot from them. For $22.00 this was a real bargain and provided me with a dependable way to cart my stuff around. Now that my son has it, I’m curious to see how long it stands up to his rather rough demeanor toward packs and sacks. For the price it is a good investment but you should weight out the pros and cons of the pack before you make your purchase.

Care & Cleaning

I never really had to worry about cleaning this since the material retarded most stains. Surface dirt could be wiped away with a wet cloth [no paper towels unless you want to be picking off lint balls until the next millennia] and the inside can be wiped down with any soft cloth. I don’t suggest trying to wash this since you will more than likely ruin the padded straps – instead of having evenly placed padding you’ll end up with clumps [unless you are handy and opt to stitch it into place]. The pack still looks great after all the use it’s been through but again, my sons usage of it will be the true test.

Options

If the red, gray and black color combination isn’t for you, there are other color schemes to choose form. The dual purple and black pack is nice and would be great for those that are rough on their backpacks since the darker colors will hide most stains and dirt marks. If green is your thing – they have a tri color green and black version that looks nice, but certainly isn’t something that I’d be into. The standard gray, black and charcoal is a little hard to find but worth the effort to track down. Since this lacks color its great for those that make a morning commute but don’t want to look like someone trying to be trendy or cool.

The Bottom Line

For textbooks, laptop computers and carrying large items, this is a great pick but if you need to carry a lot of small things, plan on spending a good bit of time rooting through it to find exactly what you are looking for. The outer shell isn’t listed as being waterproof but it did keep the contents of the pack dry during light rain showers – another perk of the pack. I am sure that if this would have had a few more pockets or internal compartments, I’d still be using this – so don’t left that small fact scare you away from this style pack. It does come with a lifetime warranty against manufacturer defects so if you run into trouble a year after purchasing it, all you need to do is contact the manufacturer and they’ll replace it with the same pack [or a better one if the one you purchased is no longer made or available].


As always, thanks for the visit …

^V^ Freak ^V^

© 2003 Freak369



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