Evergoods Civic Book Bag (CBB22) - delightful modern update to the classic book bags of yesteryear

The Evergoods Civic Book Bag 22 is a modern take on the classic book bag style of yesteryear, updated to include better item organization, better materials and load carriage and other small quality of life improvements. It is available both in a standard nylon version and a limited-edition waxed canvas collaboration version - both of which are discussed in this review.

00:00 - Start
03:25 - Basic Overview
04:33 - Nylon vs Griffen Version
08:16 - Front External Compartment
15:29 - Top Yoke Pocket
16:55 - Main Compartment Access
20:12 - Internal Panel Pocket
22:45 - Main Compartment Laptop
25:54 - Load Carriage System
31:34 - Materials & Design
35:11 - For/Not For
37:24 - Also Consider...

The Civic Book Bag 22’s main claim to fame include that it is a nostalgic throwback to the simple kinds of Jansport-esque school “book bags” that used to be popular in the US and other parts of the world in latter third of the 20th century, but rendered in modern materials, execution and augmented with small modern organizational touches. Apart from its nostalgia factor, it is also a solid exemplar of a small, very lightweight (sub 1kg!), straightforward and simply styled bag executed with fairly high levels of refinement. It is simple to use due to the straightforward compartments (choose one of two places to dump everything) but still features just enough small organization to be useful and compatible with modern carry expectations similar to the soon-to-be discontinued Evergoods Panel Load Classic 20.

That said, there are some areas that would benefit from improvement. Firstly, the vaunted Evergoods yoke quick access pocket, whilst present on this bag, is much shrunken down and consequently much less useful that in virtually any other EG bag. You will struggle to get much into this pocket including many modern smart phones. Secondly, the design of the bag means that it ends up with a prominent duck-bill fold profile across the exterior when not fully loaded - an unfortunate aesthetic blemish that we first saw in the original Civic Half Zip 22 v1 ack in the day. Thirdly, laptop carry is relegated to a simple and not particularly large stretch sleeve in the main compartment with no padding or false bottom (though the bottom of the bag is lightly padded) making for inconvenient to outright impossible carry for larger laptops or users with multiple devices (laptop + tablet). Finally, whilst an intentional result of the decision to make a smaller and simpler bag, the bag has some definite limits on what it can physically carry which may make it a tough bag to work for those with larger EDC load outs.

Evergoods Civic Book Bag 22
https://evergoods.us/products/civic-b...

Also mentioned in this video

Evergoods Panel Loader Classic 20
   • Evergoods Panel Loader Classic 20 (PLC20) ...  

Evergoods Civic Half Zip 22
   • Evergoods Civic Half Zip 22  (CHZ22) – Sim...  

Note: The Evergoods Civic Book Bag 22 (both versions shown) were purchased with our own money and all opinions expressed are our own.