Pakt MODE Shoulder Bag 12L Review

Whether you’re a student, business traveler, or simply someone who brings your laptop, tablet, and books on vacation, you might like the messenger bag style. If that’s the case, the Pakt MODE Shoulder Bag 12L might be for you. It’s an everyday carry bag that transitions into a personal item bag when you make use of the hidden luggage pass-through, making it easy to switch from work mode to airplane mode without missing a beat.

However, is it good enough to carry every day? That’s what we wanted to find out. After all, if you’re looking for a bag that works well for both situations, you probably want to prioritize what you’ll use it for most. Let’s dive in.

External Components

The Pakt MODE Shoulder Bag 12L is made from recycled nylon with a PFAS-free DWR for water resistance. That’s good whether you’re caught in the rain on your daily commute or land at your destination to find a downpour.

The material has a textured look that we like. It’s more premium and a little more interesting than straight recycled nylon, and it lacks the shine that often accompanies that material. Depending on the colorway, it looks very professional or a little more fun. You can get it in Black, of course, to match any office dress code or choose from three other earthy tones (at the time of this review): Mojave, Cypress, or Sumac. Mojave is a desert-inspired gold, Cypress is a grayish-green, and Sumac, which we’re testing, is a rust color we dig.

The Pakt logo is embroidered in the left corner of the front pocket. It’s a color-on-color patch with the same color embroidery for a subtle, inconspicuous touch.

Since this is a bag you’ll want to use in your everyday commute, we’re happy to see YKK zippers. We know they’ll stand the test of time, and they’ve all been working well over our month of testing. Webbing loops make the pulls easy to find, open, and close, and the main compartment has two zipper pulls so you can open it anywhere along the track. The front compartment zipper is hidden under a fabric welt for more weather resistance, but we never had any issue grabbing it thanks to the long pull.

There are four loops—one in each corner of the front compartment—where you can hook a carabiner or clip an accessory if you choose. You can do the same to webbing loops on either side, but we didn’t make much use of any of these external attachment points since there was space inside for all the small accessories we carry.

The top of each webbing daisy chain has a loop, as well; it’s where you attach the included shoulder strap. This padded strap has gatekeeper clips on either end that are easy to slide on and off the bag, though we left it on at all times as our tester preferred carrying it over one shoulder or crossbody to keep hands-free. One thing to note: the clips don’t swivel, so the strap can twist if you’re not careful in putting it on or taking it off.

The padding is centered on the strap and is comfortable; however, it can slip off shiny materials, such as those found in most jackets. That really only happens when you wear it over one shoulder. Instead, you may want to lengthen the strap by moving the adjusters on either side of the padding and wear it crossbody. We prefer this design to padded straps that only have an adjuster on one side; however, that means you have two portions to adjust if you need to shorten or lengthen the strap. If you’re a set-it-and-forget-it type of traveler, that’s no big deal. However, if you’ll be switching between shoulder and crossbody carry often, it can get a little annoying.

There are also two padded carry handles. They’re the same shiny webbing as the adjustable portions of the shoulder strap, with a light amount of padding inside, which we find plenty for the size of the bag.

The back of the Shoulder Bag is padded thanks to the placement of the laptop compartment. It’s also where you’ll find the luggage pass-through, should you want to use it with rolling carry on or larger luggage. It looks just like the front compartment—it even has the same attachment loops on every corner—but you have different options when you pull open the magnet holding it closed. You can use it as a dump pocket for flat gear, such as a notebook or paper maps, or you can unsnap what appears to be a small pocket in its center to reveal the luggage pass-through. That pocket isn’t actually a pocket—anything you slide inside will slip out the bottom. Instead, it’s perfectly sized to accommodate the telescopic handles on most rolling luggage. Note that we said “most,” not “all,” as we have tested a few different bags that won’t fit any pass-through. Those are few and far between, though. Hopefully, you already know if your suitcase is that oddball or not before buying a personal item bag.

If you prefer to use a travel backpack instead, the MODE Shoulder Bag 12 fits inside the expansion pocket of the Pakt One Travel Backpack, which is available in 35L or 45L sizes, allowing you to invest in a single ecosystem.

Fit Notes

Unlike travel backpacks or daypacks, there’s not much to affect the comfort of carrying a messenger bag. Your options are pretty simple: over one shoulder or crossbody. For short-term convenience, our tester preferred shoulder carry. However, you may need to adjust the bag on your shoulder occasionally, especially if you’re wearing a slippery puffer or rain jacket. You can avoid that by wearing it crossbody, but you’ll need to lengthen the strap to make that more comfortable. Since you can lengthen the front and back of the strap independently, you can always ensure that the padding stays in place on your shoulder, keeping that method comfortable, as well.

With the subtle branding and colorways that don’t scream “look at me,” it’s pretty easy to blend in while using the Pakt MODE Shoulder Bag 12L. The Black will blend into any office setting or boardroom, while all four colorways fit well with more casual settings, from city streets to business-casual workplaces. Should you take it on a hike? Probably not, but you knew that already, right?

Inside The Messenger Bag

Since we pretty much already clued you into what you’ll find in the back pocket (an open space held closed with a single magnet at the top and the luggage pass-through), let’s dive into the front compartment. It’s where you’ll find a majority of the bag’s organization.

Once you unzip it, you’ll see two large slip pockets splitting the space along the back panel. They’re wide enough to hold glasses cases, battery banks, wall chargers, and cords, so you have options. If you feel inside the one on the right, however, you’ll find a zipper against its front face. It’s a spot for your smart tracker, but it’s much larger than most AirTag pockets. That means you can use card- or chip-sized trackers, and they can be round, square, or rectangular. We also think it’s a good spot to conceal any cards you don’t use often, so you have them if you need them, but they don’t bulk up your wallet when you don’t. The zipper pull is quite small and lies flat against the material when the pocket is closed, so it’s fairly well hidden from casual glances.

The front of this side’s large slip pocket contains a few more slip pockets. The widest one is to the far right, where you can slide a standard-size phone, a small notebook, your passport, or a battery bank. Two skinnier ones next to it hold pens or a stylus.

Against the front of the left-side slip pocket is a large zippered mesh pocket. It has a key clip on a leash inside, and along with keys, we’ve been using it to hold our AirPods. You can lock down any small accessories you want to keep from bouncing around, though. Depending on what you put inside the large slip pockets, you may also have space in front of all of them for a small tech pouch or a folded pair of over-ear headphones.

Next up is the main compartment. It opens across the top of the bag with a zipper that runs between the two attachment points for the shoulder strap, so you can open it quite widely.

There’s a large, padded sleeve against the back panel that clicks into place against the back wall with a magnet in the center. You can fit up to a 16-inch laptop inside, and there’s a false bottom to protect it if you set the bag down harder.

There’s another padded pocket on the face of this one for a 13-inch tablet. It also closes with a magnet at the top, which means that everything lies flat against the back panel when not in use, which we appreciate.

Finally, there’s a collapsible sleeve to hold a water bottle against the left side of the bag. You’ll want to ensure you use a bottle you trust here since it’s right next to your devices, but it doesn’t take up any extra space in the bag if you leave it empty.

The rest of the main compartment has a decent amount of depth for books, an extra layer, a larger set of headphones in a case, or whatever else you want to bring along. The bottom of the bag folds inward to collapse when empty and expands outward when needed, making for easier use in tight spaces.

In all, the Pakt MODE Shoulder Bag 12L is what it aims to be: a well-organized briefcase that’s more flexible to pack and carry than something hard-sided and transitions from work to vacation mode with ease. If you don’t need to carry a large personal item bag daily on your trip, you’re a business traveler, or you plan to work remotely throughout your trip, it’s a great option. It’s great for carrying a laptop and your everyday gear to and from the hotel or Airbnb and your coworking space or cafe. If you still need to carry a daypack throughout your trip, you may want to leave it at home and opt for a backpack that stays more easily on your back instead.