Andie A Is it good enough to carry lots of books, a laptop, a water bottle, and a lunch box around? I need one for school and may carry it all day around the campus. I'd like a light backpack that can hold heavy stuff.
TONY N Hi Andie,
In my opinion the Solaris 40 is really good for the task. I've used mine for some time now, and it is really comfortable, even with a heavy load.
Kind regards
Claus
www.wilderness-skills.com
GARY M This is one of the toughest, and well designed back packs around. It is great for carrying heavy loads because of the padded shoulder straps. Lots of room. Well laid out pockets. That said, if you are a middle schooler carrying 5 textbooks every day, it may wear out. Nothing will survive middle school wear and tear.
Canoe trippers love this backpack. Perfect size and shape for tumping canoes, wannigans, and your personal stuff.
NOLAN E Andie, I recently took this pack with me for a week trip to Chicago. It was very comfortable for miles and miles of walking all through the city and I didn't even use the hip straps which are very thick and solid (They make the pack even more comfortable for those long hauls with a full pack). It held a smaller soft cooler full of drinks/snacks, multiple water bottles, change of clothes for two people, and a few other random things. Even with the weight the pack stayed very comfortable after hours of walking. It is very large and holds a large amount of things. As long as the size of all of your books/laptop/lunchbox are not extremely large I would think this pack would be adequate. It is one of the larger packs I have ever owned. In my honest opinion, anything bigger is getting into large hiking/camping pack territory.
DIAN H No
Top tappers in so it's difficult to pack things.
EFRAIN C If you going to use the backup for school its not a good idea but traveling other parts in the world is perfect for it.
JACKIE C It carries a lot of stuff and is very comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. It's a great backpack. Depending on what "lots of books" is, it should be able to hold all that stuff.
LISA G My son has it, and he got it for camping but says it would hold a laptop, plenty of water, lunch box in bottom section, and probably 4-5 text books, 3 medium sized books also . Hope this helps. He said to remember there is a waist strap that distributes the weight and is well padded and sometimes gets in the way when putting it on and off frequently.
Andie A Many thanks! This is really helpful!
LISA G you are welcome. I think he it would be tight with all the books he said but definitely 3-4 tet books without careful packing with a laptop.
DAVID. Y Its not. Its not practical. I returned it because its just too bulky and uncomfortable for every day use let alone traveling by air and in general (which is what I was doing.) Get a smaller one without the waist strap and it will be better for school.
Andie A Thank you, David! Your answer is really useful. I appreciate it.
SAMUEL R I'm not sure what you mean by a lot of books, but you could conceivably carry all the items you mentioned including books for 2-3 classes. I mainly use mine for hiking and camping, but it it agood sized bag for the use you describe.
Andie A Thank you, Samuel!