Fjallraven High Coast Backpack 24 Review

The Fjallraven High Coast Backpack 24 is designed to be your daily driver, with a laptop sleeve, bottle pockets, and a bit of organization. This daypack is lightweight for its capacity, but how does it perform in real life? We’ve been commuting and taking it on walks for a few weeks to find out.

External Components

The Fjallraven High Coast Backpack 24 is made with two different types of recycled polyamide. The majority of the bag is a 210D material that’s lightweight and flexible. It’s almost too flexible, without much structure beyond what you put inside. Portions of the interior use the same material as the lining, so you get a bit more heft there, but not much.

On the bottom, however, is 400D recycled polyamide. Fjallraven calls the fabric Bergshell®, and we like it. It’s thicker and softer than the rest of the bag and, frankly, some of the testers here wouldn’t have minded if it had been used throughout the bag instead of just on the bottom. Sure, it would have made the High Coast Backpack heavier (and it picks up pet hair) but we think the added weight might have been worth it to have more structure.

There’s a small Fjallraven patch in the bottom right corner of the front, and YKK zippers with cords woven through their pulls throughout. The backpack also has compression straps over the side bottle pockets to cinch things down when you carry less or hold a bottle in place if you prefer. They block the main compartment zippers, though, so we tend to leave them undone. They, the shoulder straps, and the sternum strap all have elastic strap keepers to contain all the extra, which is nice.

There is also a simple webbing carry handle that works well for moving the bag short distances or hanging it on a hook, and a loop on the front where you can attach a bike light if you’re wearing it while riding.

The harness system is pretty simple. There’s thin padding lined with breathable mesh on the shoulder straps and back panel. Although it’s not much, the broad straps spread the weight so the bag is pretty comfortable. If you need more support, a sternum strap clips onto daisy chains on the strap to help you find the right fit.

Fit Notes

The Fjallraven High Coast Backpack 24 reminds us of a typical school backpack, though it’s lighter than many of the polyester bags we had growing up. The polyamide is rather shiny, and we just don’t love the look, but there’s a bag for everyone; you might like it better than our primary tester. It’s holding up well and doesn’t show a lot of dirt, so there’s not too much to complain about, other than the fact that it sort of looks like thin, cheap nylon. It’s a noticeable difference if you’re used to Fjallraven’s G-1000 or Vinylon F materials on its other bags, or even bags like the Fjallraven Vardag Backpack 17, which are made of a thicker polyamide.

Its broad straps and light padding are comfortable to carry, however. We’ve been hauling it back and forth to work for weeks, and we also took it on a few multi-mile walks carrying books to the library. We have no complaints about the comfort and fit.

Inside The Backpack

We can’t complain about the organization, either. It’s simple but gets the job done.

Two pockets split the capacity on the front. The top one is where we put our small yet most-often-used gear, as it includes two mesh slip pockets and a key leash. AirPods, keys, and a comb do well here, but we tend not to use this pocket for heavier items like a phone and wallet, since they drag the bag down. That’s a bit of a bummer because we usually prefer keeping them near the top. Thankfully, we also carry a sling with us daily, so it’s not an issue, but it’s something to keep in mind if you don’t.

You could definitely put your phone and wallet in the bottom front pocket, instead. It’s open space with no organization, but there’s plenty of it. We’ve been using it for our glasses case and a small toiletry bag with daily essentials, but there’s still room for other items, and you don’t have to deal with the sagging issue we have above.

You’ll find pockets for bottles or an umbrella on either side of the bag. They have no stretch, but they hold standard-width water bottles fine. The only time we have issues is when we have something bulky in the main compartment (like a lunch cooler). The side pockets and the main compartment share capacity, so stuffing one impacts the other. We couldn’t always wedge a bottle in the pocket without tipping the bag in an attempt to shift the contents in the main compartment.

Finally, we come to the main compartment. Its zipper spans between the bottle pockets, so you can easily see inside the wide opening, as long as you undo the compression straps first.

The only organization here is a slip pocket for a 15-inch laptop. It’s rather anemic, with just the 210D polyamide liner making up its front. There is padding on the bottom and back panel, but your computer isn’t protected from anything inside the bag in this sleeve. It’s also easy to catch gear on the sleeve while packing the bag because it’s so loose.

However, there’s plenty of space in the main compartment, and we routinely carried books, lunch, a large notebook, a tech pouch, and more inside on our daily commute. Filling it just takes thought and sometimes a bit of planning, but if you like the look and plan to cinch it up to minimize sagging, it’s definitely comfortable enough to carry wherever you want.