What do your dinged laptop, shvitzy gym clothes, and extra summer shirt all have in common? They all belong in one of these, the very best backpacks for men. See, the right backpack should be more than just another place to store your stuff. It can be an outfit-making accessory, a mobile office, an ad hoc weekender, a TSA-ready carry-on, or all four—at the same time.
Unlike the slick crossbody bags and totes you toss on before running a quick errand—y’know, the ones that can carry the essentials but not much else—a backpack is built for the long haul. It’ll stash your non-negotiables (wallet, keys, phone) with ample room to spare for an impromptu trip to both the local farmer and flea markets. It also doubles as an excellent carry-on when you’re ready to get out of town.
These days, plenty of backpacks outperform across multiple categories, but the ones we’re inclined to recommend most zealously boast a special set of skills specifically designed for your needs, whether you’re gearing up for your daily commute or booking tickets to the far-flung locale of your choice. We went deep on our favorite options on the market, deciphering the juicy specs that make each well-equipped to handle a dust-up in the airport terminal or some gentle jostling on the train, finding you the best backpacks for men.
The Best Backpacks, According to GQ
In This Guide
Best Backpack Overall: Jansport Right Pack
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Jansport
Right Pack Backpack
Your one-way ticket to middle school stardom is still a winner. Jansport might not have invented the backpack, but if you told us that it did, we’d believe you. Its Right Pack is exactly that: The right backpack for any and all occasions. It’s a perennial winner for its affordability and its uncanny ability to haul your stuff from point A to point Z—and everywhere in between. Its suede bottom is for more than just looks, adding durability for all the times you just throw this bag on the floor. There’s a laptop sleeve (always a nice-to-have), a side water bottle pocket (gotta stay hydrated), and a flew zipper compartments, but that’s all there is to this no-frills backpack—one which we’ll be sure to cop and pass on to our future middle schooler so they can rise to the top of their class, whether or not they’ve got the grades.
Best Backpack for School: The North Face Borealis
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Bowen Fernie
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The North Face
Borealis Backpack
Textbooks? Laptop? Cheat sheet? Better pack up all your A-plus earning goodies in The North Face’s Borealis. We’re big fans of this backpack for school purposes because it was designed for hitting the trails, which makes it excellent for toting learning materials. Its bungee straps let you add even more to your EDC, even if it’s just an extra jacket for those air-conditioned class rooms. The bag itself is lightweight, making it just a tad easier to carry those 50-pound reading materials, and a bevy of storage compartments keep everything neat and tidy for easy access.
Best Travel Backpack: Evergoods Civic Travel
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Evergoods
Civic Travel Backpack 35L
Traveling is inherently a stressful time, and we don’t want you to have to jump through any extra hoops to get where you want, or need, to be. For traveling purposes, we highly recommend you bring the Evergoods Civic travel backpack with you. Aside from its pass-through strap for sliding it through the handle of your luggage, the bag is decked out with features to make it easier to dodge get through the TSA screening unscathed. Storage galore (over 13 organizational zones!) and quick-access pockets offer you an ease of access that’s, honestly, somewhat unprecedented in the backpack game—and something that we’re awarding extra points for. Plus, it’s big enough to accommodate 16-inch laptops and the main compartment fully unzips so there’s no need to dig through what otherwise would be a black hole of your travel necessities.
Best Outdoor Backpack: Filson Journeyman
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Filson
Journeyman Backpack
If “heavy-duty” calls to mind the type of extra-bulky luggage that looks like it could double as an impromptu shield, relax: Filson’s Journeyman backpack is compact enough to help you rethink your associations with the term. The American brand is famous (and beloved) for its durable, oil-finished tin cloth canvas, which it puts to use here in tandem with an industrial-strength twill to keep all your precious belongings impeccably dry. Its unassuming good looks feel consistent with the label’s ever-popular briefcases, but the the padded, moleskin-lined shoulder straps and reinforced panelling make a strong argument for its superiority. Basically, it’s like Superman in his Clark Kent disguise—and would probably look just as good in skintight spandex.
Best Upgrade Backpack: Porter-Yoshida & Co Daypack
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Porter-Yoshida & Co.’s is more than just a daypack, as its name would imply. It’s great for pretty much every situation, from your daily commute to being your personal item on a flight. It boasts a spacious interior sleeve to make accessing your portable computer (up to 14 inches) a breeze (though iPad users might opt to use the front pouch for an even quicker grab), and a sleek nylon exterior and top-zip fastening that signal you’ve got an eye for efficiency and aesthetics. We’re not saying it’ll nab you a complimentary upgrade purely thanks to how easy it made customs for everyone else, but we’re not not saying that either.
More Backpacks We Love
What to Look for in a Backpack
- Storage: Obviously the purpose of a backpack is to hold all of your stuff. If you don’t have much need for organization, a large, cavernous opening might be all you want. However, if you’re carrying a lot of stuff, or if you want a bag for travel, a bag with multiple storage options—whether it’s multiple pockets or individual compartments—might be what you’re looking for.
- Comfort: Find a backpack that’ll sit on your back comfortably so that you don’t have to end the day with an achey body. We also prefer bags to be lightweight because then it’ll mean you can cram more stuff in there without it taking a toll on your spine. Adjustability is huge with a backpack, and the more opportunities to adjust the pack, like through the straps, will be huge in the comfort factor.
- Style: Rugged? Streetwear? Classic? These are all styles of backpacks you can find, and we’ve found a good mix of bags that can suit various styles. You wouldn’t wear a rugged outdoor backpack with your suit, would you?
How We Tested
Let’s just say we broke our backs for the sake of good journalism. Kidding, obviously, but only because we found backpacks that are super comfortable no matter how packed to the brim they are. We rated bags based on how well they wore on the back, including how they did in terms of organizing a large amount of typical everyday carry items.
