It is my pleasure to give you another contribution by my dear friend Alzwolf. Together we were quite excited at this years IWA exhibition to look at the new packs and bags of KarrimorSF. We were lucky enough to get some of those new packs, which is why we are able to give you a closer look as well. Enjoy!

– David

The best way to transport a laptop, plus its accessories, is in a bag specifically optimised for it. For this purpose KarrimorSF has designed a multifunctional bag for this kind of equipment: the UPLOAD laptop bag.

The KarrimorSF Upload laptop bag carried messenger style

Overview

The KarrimorSF Upload bag is a heavily padded laptop bag, which can be carried in various ways: as a backpack, a messenger bag, sling pack or just with your hands as a briefcase. It is a top loader with a dedicated laptop sleeve in the main compartment and offers several smaller pockets for organisation. Before going into more detail, let’s look at the specs:

 Specs

• Material: 500den KS500 Nylon, YKK Zipper, Woo Jin Buckles
  The fabric is finished with a durable water repellent (DWR)
• HxWxD: 50 x 33 x 19cm
• Weight: 1,6 kg

According to KarrimorSF’s website, the Upload laptop bag was originally designed for the British MOD to carry the Getac S4XX series of ruggedized military specification computers. It will also fit other laptops up to the size of 30 x 35cm in its dedicated internal compartment.

Main compartment

The UPLOAD was designed as a top loader and can be opened with a solid YKK zipper. On the inside you will find a padded compartment for a laptop, which can be opened with a Velcro flap.

The main compartment and the (inside) pockets on the toplid

This compartment accepts laptops up to the size of 17 inches. The main compartment offers enough place to transport additional documents in folders and binders (the big ones).

The heavily padded laptop sleeve

Lid compartments

The top lid features compartments on the in- and outside. On the inside two zippered pockets can be used to stow away objects like a power supply, USB sticks, cables and other accessories. One of these compartments is made of mesh, making it possible for the user to see the contents, while the other one is a classic zippered pocket.

The inner toplid pockets

On the outside of the top lid is a bigger pocket with a key hook. In it you can stow away further equipment for your electronics, your laptop, but of course other essentials you might be carrying with you.

The outer toplid compartment with a lanyard

Front pockets

On the front side of the Upload bag is a zippered A4 sized pocket with two internal zippered mesh pockets. In these compartments magazines, notebooks, maps, additional cables or other equipment can be accommodated easily.

The outer front pocket with their dedicated meshpockets

In Use

The Upload bag can be carried in several different configurations. As a rucksack with its S-shaped padded shoulder harness and a sternum strap (removable & adjustable with buckle). This configuration fits your torso comfortably and maintains a natural balance.

Carried as a backpack – nice the D-rings for the removable shoulderstrap

The heavy padded shoulder straps, plus the sternum strap

As a brief case with the shoulder straps tucked away, and as a shoulder bag (it has a removable shoulder strap). The removable shoulder strap is adjustable in the length and is equipped with a removable shoulder pad.

carried as a briefcase

The shoulder straps of the harness are well padded and wide for a bag of this size. Together with a waist belt (which can be easily stowed away) this results in a noticeable carrying comfort.

A closer look at the padded back and the shoulder straps. Notice the option to tuck the waisbelt away

Shoulder straps can be stored inside the back of the bag.

The backside of the bag is heavily padded as well, giving you more than enough comfort when using the bag as a backpack. Since there are plenty of buckles and all the straps are able to be hidden or detached, you can also play around and wear the bag in a slingbag fashion.

With some fooling around you can even carry it as a slingbag

Manufacture

The quality of workmanship is very convincing with the UPLOAD: The seams are done well and straight, the YYK-Zippers run smooth, and the plastic buckles are not only high-quality but also make a robust impression. Stress points are reinforced with bartack stitches and the threads used are rot proof, according to KarrimorSF.

Top notch manufacture and high quality materials

MOLLE-loops and additional Velcro areas for patches are missing. This does not disturb me personally and also would not make sense with a bag like this.

Conclusion

Overall and from my point of view, the UPLOAD has everything what is needed for the safe transport of a laptop with the necessary, additional equipment. Less is often more, and this bag of KarrimorSF delivers this mindset. If you are looking for a bombproof bag to carry your sensitive electronics, you should consider taking a look at this particular bag, especially having the various carrying options in mind. Given the heavy padding the bag can be considered bulky. This may be a downside for some, but it is necessary, considering its purpose to protect electronics.

The bag is available in solid colours like black, coyote, olive, but also in Multicam Camouflage, as you can see here from a pic from this years IWA exhibition.

The Upload bag in Multicam at this years IWA

With that being said, thank you for reading, and also thank you for KarrimorSF for providing us with this bag. I hope this review gave you a good insight into the bag!

Take care!