Peak Design City Backpack 22L Review

Peak Design isn’t just for photography buffs anymore. While the brand continues to include features that protect camera gear on its latest iterations, the City Line focuses on everyday carry. We’ve often used Peak Design bags for daily use and travel, so we’re happy to see one of our favorite brands in the EDC space. And, don’t worry, you can still fit an XS Peak Design Camera Cube at the bottom of the Peak Design City Backpack 22L if you want.

So, how does this daypack perform as a daily driver? We’ve been carrying it around town and on our daily commute to work to find out.

External Components

Peak Design uses Mono Shell™ 660D, a recycled, bluesign®-approved, crinkle nylon, on the exterior of the City Backpack. We’ve got the Cypress colorway, a rich forest green, and we love it, but you can get it and the rest of the City Line in a variety of other colors, including Black, Moon (taupe-beige), and Lapis (blue).

You don’t have to be concerned about staining your favorite color, as we discovered while testing the City Sling. The material is easy to wash if necessary, and it includes a PFAS-free DWR coating for water resistance, helping to keep the interior dry if you have to wash it or get caught in the rain. The only thing to note about the material is only applicable if you have pets: as the primary tester, I discovered that it holds onto hair and fur when my dog decided that the backpack made a nice pillow and used it for a nap.

The YKK zippers aren’t PU-coated, so moisture may seep inside if you’re out in the elements for a while, but everything stays dry in brief showers. The zippers work well and have webbing strips on the pulls for easy opening and closing. The only one we’ve had a problem with is the front compartment zipper. It’s concealed behind fabric on both sides for weather resistance, and it’s easy to catch the zipper on the material when opening and closing the pocket.

The backpack has recycled aluminum hardware, from the shoulder strap adjusters to perhaps the most unique feature, the BagLev™ hook. It hides in its own pocket atop the back panel, but it’s so useful that you’ll want to pull it out every time you bring the bag with you. It allows you to hang the bag on a hook, of course, just like you could with the carry handle, but it also has a silicone base that you can rest on a flat surface, letting you hang the bag off your table or desk to keep it off the floor. That’s great when you don’t know what dirt you’re setting the bag on, but also because it doesn’t really sit upright on the ground; it falls forward instead.

There is also a carry handle, as we mentioned, made with Clarino® material that’s soft and grippy. Additionally, there’s a large luggage pass-through if you’re pairing the Peak Design City Backpack 22L with rolling luggage for a trip.

The harness system is quite simple, yet effective. The shoulder straps and back panel each have a good amount of comfortable padding. There’s a very simple sternum strap if you need it, but we don’t really find it necessary, even when the bag is fully loaded. It’s removable if you don’t want to use it. There’s no breathable mesh or air channels, so it could get a little warm and sweaty if you carry it for a long time in hot weather, but my daily commute is more in and out of cars and offices, so it wasn’t very noticeable.

Fit Notes

The bag is very comfortable to carry. The padding is just right—not too soft or firm, not too thick or thin—and it’s soft, even on bare skin. The back panel feels a little stiff when you’re carrying a laptop, but it’s not uncomfortable, just a little noticeable. A 5-foot-5-inch-tall tester with a 17-inch torso found it a hair long, but it doesn’t rub uncomfortably. This way, it should fit larger users nicely. Everyone who tried on the City Backpack at the Pack Hacker office found it comfortable, regardless of their body type.

We really like the look of this bag, too. The diagonal zippers and clean lines are definite nods to other Peak Design backpacks, but it doesn’t scream “camera backpack,” which is good, since it’s not. If you’re a dedicated Peak Design fan, you might find it a bit of a departure from what you’re used to, but you should find some familiar elements when you look closely.

Inside The Backpack

Looks aren’t everything, though, so let’s check out all the storage features of the Peak Design City Backpack 22L. The interior is lined with a bright crinkle Taslan material for visibility. It’s recycled and bluesign®-approved, and it really does make it easier to see inside the bag when it’s dark.

At the top is a short zipper that opens to the quick-access pocket. It’s a useful pouch with two stretchy mesh pockets, a key leash, and a bit of extra space. You can fit earbuds and a wallet in the pockets, though they’re too short for a phone. You can also use one of the pockets to hold your keys on the leash to keep them from scratching your phone if you put it in front of the pockets, where it fits nicely. You might not need to put it there anyway if you carry a separate sling, and you might not want to overload this pocket: it hangs on top of the laptop sleeve in the main compartment, and you have to pull it out of the way to slide in your laptop. It’s not a huge issue with our 13-inch MacBook Air, but it might be more annoying with a bigger computer.

If that does bother you, there are plenty of other places to quickly access small gear. There’s a horizontal dump pocket on the front you can use instead, which is nearly as convenient while you’re on the go, though a bit less so when the bag is hanging from its hook. The pocket is decently sized, but you’ll have to feel around to grab what you need since it doesn’t extend out far from the front of the bag and can be a little hard to see inside.

Next up are the bottle pockets. There are two, one on each side of the front, and they open with diagonal zippers. They can hold large bottles, though they will stick out the top, and the one on the right is pretty much what you’d expect. Open it up, shove your bottle inside, and you’re in business. You may have to sort of push items in the main compartment out of the way to fit it in, but it’s not hard to do. The one on the left is different, though. It includes two small stretchy mesh pockets inside. We couldn’t really find a good use for them, though. Instead, we find that your bottle tends to stick on them as you try to push it inside. Maybe if you don’t want to use the top pocket, you could forgo using this as a bottle pocket and put earbuds and keys inside instead? We prefer the top pocket, but your mileage will vary, of course.

Finally, we’ve come to the main compartment. It opens wide with dual zipper pulls, so you can access it anywhere along the track. It has a lot of space for your gear, whether you want to carry your lunch, an extra layer, or a packing cube with a few outfits for personal-item travel or to hedge against the airline losing your luggage, whatever you like.

There is also extra organization. A stretchy mesh zippered pocket on the front is the perfect size for our glasses case. Then, against the back panel, you’ll see the outline of the top pocket and, below that, the laptop sleeve. It’s really nicely padded and protective for your computer, with a decent false bottom to protect it if the bag falls or you set it down heavily. It fits up to a 16-inch computer, though you’ll have to lift the top pocket out of the way to get it in there. You’ll need to lift that pocket to find the AirTag pocket, too, if you want to keep tabs on your bag.

In front of that is a stretchy sleeve for a 14-inch tablet, a folder, or a notebook. Then, there are two large stretchy pockets on its face, along with a pen slot. You’ll want to use a pen with a tight holder at its top, or you can pull it out accidentally as you pull out other gear. Of course, you won’t have that issue if you use it with a pencil or stylus and nothing hooks over the edge. The stretchy pockets can hold a passport, a small pad of paper, or your wallet. They all lie flat against the tablet sleeve if you don’t fill them, so they’re there if you need them and out of the way if you don’t.

Truly, as the primary tester, my only beef with the Peak Design City Backpack 22L is that it falls flat when you set it down. On the other hand, I like the lines and angles of its design, which is probably why it falls forward. Since Peak Design included that handy hook for hanging it, I’m willing to overlook the instability, since there’s really no reason to put it on the ground most of the time anyway. The rest of it handles daily gear well, and it’s so comfortable and aesthetically pleasing that I’m happy to bring it everywhere I go.