5 Front Exterior Organizational Pockets
The Synik 26 has an abundant amount of organization for your everyday essentials, big and small: the exterior of the bag has five pockets with independent volume. The pockets are designed and patterned in such a way that they don't steal space from each other and they look good (not too caved in, not too bulgy) whether full or empty.
The water bottle pocket is intentionally centered in the bag, allowing one of the heavier objects in your bag to be balanced in the middle, resulting in a more comfortable carrying experience while maintaining a clean, straight-forward exterior aesthetic. We've found that most standard 32 oz / 1 liter water bottles can comfortably fit in the water bottle pocket.
Below the opening for the water bottle pocket is another small zippered pocket that is just deep enough for keys, a wallet, glove liners, or a small camera.
The side pockets are generously sized for sunglasses (in a case or alone) or a first aid kit. The right side pocket has a small organizational pocket; the left pocket has one pen slot and two wider slots for tools or more pens.
The bottom pocket is a great spot for extra light clothing or snacks.
Each of the top four pockets has its own O-ring, and the bottom pocket has two O-rings. You can use them to attach our mini or small Ghost Whale Organizer Pouches or Mystery Organizer Pouches.
Full Clamshell Zipper Opening
The Synik can open fully clamshell — the zipper starts at the bottom edge of the bag, rather than the middle, so you can pack your bag like a suitcase. We added padding to the exterior bottom of the main compartment to protect the zipper slider and anything in the main and laptop compartments.
On the back interior side of the main compartment, we have included two sets of removable tie-down straps. You can strap down clothes or even a Packing Cube without worrying about the contents falling out while opening the clamshell all the way.
Interior Banded Open-Top Pocket
On the front interior side of the main compartment, there is a banded open-top pocket. It's spacious enough to fit a wide range of items, such as books, tablet, pair of sandals, or our Clear 3D Organizer Cube. Above this open-top pocket are two O-rings, where you can tether additional pouches, such as the Ghost Whale Organizer Pouches.
Edgeless EV50 1/2" Shoulder Strap
Conformity is overrated — except, perhaps, when it comes to shoulder straps. The edgelessness of this strap allows it to more softly conform to your shoulder; we find that this increases comfort. Yet the straps aren't too soft: the 1/2" thick foam means the strap is robust enough to carry a heavy load.
There's enough length on the shoulder straps to accommodate a wide range of body types. If you need to tighten the straps to the maximum amount, don't worry about having dangling ends — we've included sewn-in strap keepers to help keep those at bay.
Two-Point Access Suspended Laptop Compartment
On the back interior side of the main compartment is also a built-in zippered laptop compartment. It is made with the same padded foam fabric as our back panels on the side facing the main compartment, and backed by the main lining fabric of the bag. The laptop compartment is suspended off the padded bottom of the bag, ensuring that your laptop is protected each time you place your backpack on the ground, whether gently or not.
There are two access points to the laptop compartment. You can access it from the inside of the main compartment. Or you can access it from the external zipper, located on the back left side (when facing the front of the backpack). We find the external zipper especially helpful when you want to directly pull out your laptop without having to rummage through the contents of the main compartment (say maybe in the security line at the airport).
Above the interior zipper are two additional O-rings. More places to attach pouches.
The laptop compartment (size: 14.00" x 9.5" x 0.75" / 330mm x 240mm x 19mm) can fit devices as large as the 16" Macbook Pro (just barely).
Integrated Yet Removable Internal Frame
The Synik is designed to accommodate an optional internal frame. It is made of die-cut .055" thick High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), with a nylon webbing sleeve sewn down the center that encases a 8-1/4" / 210mm tall and 1/2" / 13mm wide 6061 aluminum half-stay.
We include it for you, but if you're not a fan of the extra rigidity, you can remove the internal frame (here's a video tutorial) by sliding it in and out of the back panel through an opening at the top of the panel. You won't see the frame itself unless you're adding it or removing it, and we've tested the bag enough to know that the frame also won't slip out.
The internal frame assists in ensuring a laptop stowed in the laptop compartment is suspended off the bottom of the bag, as well as adds a firm barrier between the laptop and (if you're using one) a rolling luggage handle that's inserted through the luggage pass-through slot.
On the internal frame is also an aluminum half-stay. It allows us to pre-bend the frame at a curve that will be comfortable to the vast majority of people.
Rolling Luggage Handle Pass-Through
We know many of you like to use our bags as personal items alongside roller luggage when traveling, so we added a pass-through pocket to the Synik, tucked between the back panel and the internal frame.
We recommend making sure that the internal frame is closest to the bag itself and the handle of your rolling luggage is on the outside of the frame. This ensures that there's a barrier between the laptop compartment and the luggage handle.
There are, of course, different sizes of rolling luggage with different handle lengths and widths. If you'd like to place your Synik 26 over the handle of your rolling luggage, that handle will need to be at least 450mm / 17.75" in length and at most 178 mm / 7.00" wide.
Padded Grab Handle
The depth on the shell of the Synik gave us the real estate needed to add a substantial, padded grab handle. The padding offers extra support, and the bowtie shape is ergonomic.
