Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought several nylon backpacks on Amazon prior to my trip last month, to determine which size or brand that I would like. A few will be returned. The 22L Outlander backpack in purple felt the best and I now use it most days as my purse. I am 5'4" and a bit short-waisted, so standard backpacks are all too long on me. This one is quite comfortable and a good length. The side pockets easily hold my either or both a 12oz or 16oz stainless steel water bottle, or my sunglasses. This pack nicely survived a two-week trip to Europe last month as my purse and daypack, as we traveled by bus and train. It seems quite well-made with perfectly functioning zippers and no fraying on seams. It carried all of my usual "purse" items as well as an extra shirt, socks, snacks, pill organizer, with room to add a few souvenirs. Even though I weighed it down pretty well the straps were still comfortable on my shoulders. The other brand of similar backpacks were not as comfortable on me, and one had annoyingly loud material (I think that was the MCIRCO 20L). The Outlander (22L purple) and Hexin (33L purple) seemed to both be made by the same company since they fit similarly and had the same style and print on the fabric. So, I am keeping them both! When I had more things to carry, I would put the smaller pack inside the larger one. I used the larger one as my carry-on for my flights, and the smaller one as my purse. Both sizes fold back neatly into a little pouch, but frankly, I can't see me ever putting them away. They are so lightweight that they take up practically no space. I did fold the big one a few times and carried it inside the smaller one (so that I would have an extra shopping bag with me), but after a few times I just rolled the extra pack and placed it at the bottom of the pack in use. I also bought an Outlander (33L) in Black for my husband to carry, but he didn't mind the dark purple color. He may have objected if I had wanted him to carry a pink or red one, but the purple is pretty subtle. Both of the larger packs came in handy for sorting our clothes during the trip. One day we even loaded both 33L backpacks with stuff we should not have brought with us (can you say "overpacked"?) and walked to the Amsterdam Post Office to mail home a box of our "stuff" (yeah, we'll just call it stuff, to be nice here). These packs are SO SO handy. I got the impression, at the PO, that mailing home dirty clothes was not uncommon. Doh. Yes this nylon pack is a bit flimsy, but it's so strong and holds so much! For the price, I totally recommend the Outlander (or the Hexin). Buy one in each size. Keep both, or give one away to a friend! Can't go wrong with this product. Disclaimer: I was not given anything free to try. I paid for this product. I like this product and recommend it. (No one ever sends me anything for free. Boo hoo)