Volume25 L
Dimensions50 × 33 × 16 cm
Laptop15 inches
Compartments2, U-shaped opening
Topo Designs · Commuter Backpack
The 15-inch in the morning, the gym kit in the evening: nothing gets mixed up.
Half past seven on a packed commuter train, and the Commuter Backpack sits flat against your back, the 15-inch in its padded sleeve, lunch in the second compartment. At the office, the two U-shaped zips open wide onto a bright yellow lining: you see everything, you empty nothing. In the evening, your gym kit takes the place of lunch, in 25 litres of water-repellent recycled nylon. A shower, yes; a whole day of rain, no.
Office · Commuting · City
Laptop, lunch and gym kit, each in its place.

To scale
49.5 cm tall: a 15-inch laptop stands upright, and so does an A4 sheet.
33 cm wide and 15.9 cm deep: on your back, it keeps the build of a city pack.
- Commuter49.5 × 33 × 15.9 cm
- 15-inch laptop36 × 24 cm, upright in the bag
- A4 sheet29.7 × 21 cm

What fits inside
25L
25 litres in two compartments: packed without mixing everything up.
Two U-shaped zips open both compartments wide, lined in bright yellow: you spot what you're after straight away. Inside, patch and zipped pockets hold the small things. On the front, a large diagonal zipped pocket keeps your phone; on the sides, two stretch mesh pockets each take a water bottle.
- A 15-inch laptop, in the padded sleeve
- Charger and notebook, in the inside pockets
- A water bottle in each mesh pocket


Colours
Navy blue or grey-green, with a diagonal pocket.
Navy and Sahara
A clean navy blue, a turquoise trim on the pocket; the handle and shoulder straps are sand-coloured.
Beetle and Khaki
A grey-green front over dark sides, a khaki trim: the softer of the two.
Colour on this page
The details
A diagonal pocket, two mesh pockets, a sternum strap that comes off.



For the office
Crossbody bag, briefcase or backpack: which one for the office?

Mountain Cross Bag 14L
14 L · 29 × 38 × 10 cm
The crossbody bag: a separate 14-inch compartment, two bottle holders, a removable shoulder strap.
See the Cross Bag
Global Briefcase 20L
20 L · 29 × 42 × 11 cm
Three ways to carry: handles, shoulder strap or stowaway backpack straps; a separate 15-inch compartment.
See the Global Briefcase
Commuter Backpack
25 L · 50 × 33 × 16 cm
The commuting backpack: two large compartments, a removable sternum strap, PFC-free water-repellent fabric.
This bag
Photos to the same scale, by height: 29, 29 and 50 cm.
In the rain
A shower between the station and the office: water beads up on the fabric.
Not made for rain
Recycled nylon fabric
In steady rain, water eventually gets through: anything that mustn't get wet goes in a pouch.
Water-resistant
Water-resistant fabric
The water-resistant fabric copes with a shower; in steady rain, water eventually gets through.
Water-repellent
PFC-free water-repellent finish
A PFC-free durable water repellent (DWR) finish makes water bead up on the fabric. It doesn't make the bag waterproof: in steady rain, water eventually gets through.
This bag
Water-repellent, not waterproof: in steady rain, water eventually gets through.
Topo Designs
A sewing machine in a Fort Collins basement, in 2008.
Jedd Rose buys a sewing machine and sews the first bags in his basement in Fort Collins, Colorado; Mark Hansen asks around for people who can make them.
The two founders wanted gear like the kit they grew up with: tough, practical, classic, the opposite of throwaway and overcomplicated. The same bag goes from the city to the trail.
Topo Designs guarantees its bags against defects in materials and workmanship for a reasonable lifetime, excluding normal wear, accidents and lack of care, and would rather repair than replace. For a bag bought from Eiken, the claim goes through us.
Eiken's take
- Why we chose it
- Two compartments that open wide, a lining where you can see everything and a sleeve for the 15-inch: the office day packed away, without cramming anything in.
- Worth knowing
- The sleeve takes most 15-inch laptops; for a 16-inch, the Klettersack has a sleeve made for it.
- Who it's for
- Laptop, lunch and gym kit in the morning, all found again in the evening without emptying the bag: the daily commute, not the trail.
Baptiste, Eiken
Specifications
- Volume25 L
- Dimensions49.5 × 33 × 15.9 cm (height × width × depth)
- Laptoppadded outer sleeve, most 15-inch laptops
- Closuretwo U-shaped zipped openings, one per compartment
- Storagetwo large compartments, inside patch and zipped pockets, large diagonal zipped front pocket, two stretch mesh bottle pockets
- Carrypadded contoured shoulder straps, removable sternum strap, moulded back panel, top grab handle
- Zipsreinforced YKK
- Fabricrecycled 400D and 1000D nylon, PFC-free water-repellent (DWR) finish; bright yellow lining
- Made inVietnam, Fair Trade certified factory
- Topo Designs guaranteedefects in materials and workmanship, for a reasonable lifetime
- Topo Designs reference932514 (Navy and Sahara: 932514424)
Specifications and dimensions: Topo Designs data (topodesigns.com and topodesigns.eu, October 2026); dimensions converted from inches.
Questions
What are the dimensions of the Commuter Backpack?
49.5 × 33 × 15.9 cm (height, width, depth), for 25 litres.
Is the Commuter Backpack waterproof?
It's water-repellent, not waterproof: a PFC-free DWR finish makes water bead up on the fabric. In steady rain, water eventually gets through.
What size laptop fits in the Commuter Backpack?
Most 15-inch laptops, in a padded sleeve.
Commuter Backpack or Global Briefcase?
The Commuter, 25 litres, is a proper backpack: two large compartments, a removable sternum strap, PFC-free water-repellent fabric. The Global Briefcase, 20 litres, is carried by hand, on the shoulder or on your back, its backpack straps stow away and it slides over a suitcase handle. Both take a 15-inch.
Does the Commuter Backpack fit in the cabin or under the seat?
As a cabin bag, its 49.5 × 33 × 15.9 cm fit within the 55 × 40 × 20 cm limit. Under the seat, at 49.5 cm tall it's over both easyJet's under-seat bag (45 × 36 × 20 cm) and Ryanair's (40 × 30 × 20 cm). Size limits checked in October 2026: check with your airline.




