Brag Worthy Stuff: The Smart Backpack

So, since I live paycheck to paycheck, and I'm a techy kid, it's hard to find really good stuff. One of the these things I found was a "smart" backpack. In this sense, smart doesn't mean voice activated, but you can charge your phone with this thing, normally they're water/rainproof and have an anti-theft lock. At first, I wanted the Lifepack Solar powered Backpack, but at $160 it was a little out of my price range. Instead, I found the ZYR Travel Backpack for $26.99. It is water resistant, have an anti-theft lock and a usb charging port and a 3.5mm audio port. This checks off everything on my list that the Lifepack one had, except the solar charging. For the $130.00 difference, I've been pretty happy with it.

 I'm not very feminine or girly, so the neutral grey was nice, I could dress it up or down how I liked, and the slanted zipper pocket gave it a unique style that I liked. There are two side pockets for drinks which I appreciated, since I am a mom. To top it off, most backpacks like this are huge. They want to offer a huge pocket for an 15.6" laptop, and that often makes the shape as a whole huge, but this one is nice because it has to expand to fit that big of a laptop. It's not difficult to expand, but since I don't keep my laptop with me at all times on the move with the kids, I appreciate not having a massive turtle shell backpack as I make my way through the crowds. I can easily switch things out and it goes from a handy mom daypack or a tech savvy bag any time I need.

Lastly, the lock was a huge thing for me. It's a 3 number combo lock, which I could set to whichever I wanted. There are directions for setting it the first time. If you're like me, you may forget what the combo is, in which case, visit this link for resetting the code. It really helped me!

I always pretend The Doctor will come or some giant disaster will happen and I need to be prepared for the worst, so having a good backpack that can carry my essentials is important. Charging on the go, a bag that'll protect my stuff from basic splashes or light rain and a lock that'll distract someone until I notice them stealing my stuff is all important to me. The organization isn't bad and construction on my bag seemed fairly reliable.

Overall: 8/10

The Downside: The slanted front zipper seems to fall easily due to gravity, and there's no solar charger, you have to have your own mobile battery to charge on the go.