Reviews > Packs > Frameless Backpacks and Day Packs > L.L. Bean Deluxe Book Pack > Owner Review by Hollis Easter

L.L. Bean Deluxe Book Pack — Daypack
Owner Review
January 7, 2007

Reviewer Information:

Name: Hollis Easter
Age: 25
Gender: Male
Height: 6' 0" (1.8 m)
Weight: 205 lb (93 kg)
Email address: backpackgeartestATholliseasterDOTcom
City, State, Country: Potsdam, New York, USA
Date: January 7, 2007
Backpacking Background: I started hiking as a child in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. As a teenager, I hiked my way to an Eagle Scout award. These days, I'm mostly doing day hikes in the mountains. I hope to get back into doing longer trips soon. I'm also learning rock climbing.

I am a midweight backpacker: I don't carry unnecessary gear, but neither do I cut the edges from my maps. I hike in all seasons, at altitudes from sea level to 5,300 ft (1,600 m), and in temperatures from -30 F (-34 C) to 100 F (38 C).

Product Information:

Manufacturer: L.L. Bean (made in Korea)
Year of manufacture: circa 1996 (still in production)
URL: www.llbean.com
Listed dimensions: 17"H x 13"W x 7.5"D (43 cm x 33 cm x 19 cm)
Actual dimensions: 17"H x 13.5"W x 10"D (43 cm x 34 cm x 25 cm) see below
Listed weight: 1 lb 8 oz (680 g)
Actual weight: 1 lb 10 oz (737 g)
Listed volume: 2,250 in^3 (36.8 l)
MSRP: $39 US

Listed dimensions are for a new (2006) pack; the differences in measurement may be due to stretching in use. Changed specifications could also account for it, although L.L. Bean's website gives no indication of major changes to the design.

Product features:

• Strong and abrasion-resistant nylon material
• Padded shoulder straps
• Water-resistant coating and taped seams
• Strong haul loop
• Four compartments: two large, one medium, one small
• Padded back panel
• Organizer panel with pen holders, zippered mesh pocket, key ring
• Scotchlite reflective panel on outside for visibility
• Pre-installed zipper pulls on all zippers
• Lifetime warranty

Distribution of pockets

The L.L. Bean Deluxe Book Pack (hereafter "the pack") features four pockets. The biggest are a pair of main pockets accessed from the top of the pack. Although one is larger than the other, both can carry oversized books, camping cookware, or winter coats. A panel-loading pocket with an organizer panel inside will hold a raincoat, camera and accessories, or similar amounts of gear. There is also a front slash pocket for small things, guide books, etc.

The shoulder straps are padded and 2.25" (5.7 cm) wide; the waist strap is 1" (2.5 cm) wide nylon webbing. Zippers are nylon with metal sliders and knotted webbing pulls. Buckles and tensioners are black plastic or nylon.

My pack is a dark blue color, although many other choices of solid colors and prints are available.

Compartment measurements:
Biggest: 16"H x 13"W x 6"D (40 cm x 33 cm x 15 cm)
Next-biggest: 16"H x 13"W x 3.5"D (40 cm x 33 cm x 9 cm)
Organizer: 10.5"H x 9"W x 2.5"D (27 cm x 23 cm x 6 cm)
Slash: 10.5"H x 9"W (27 cm x 23 cm) no depth

Field information:

Hiking locations used: I have taken this pack on many hikes in the ten years I've owned it, and have also used it on bicycle day tours around my home in northern New York state. It was my only backpack during the year I lived in Scotland after graduating from university, so it went on all my hill-walking jaunts there. A few representative examples of its use:

Climbing Dumgoyne in the Campsie Fells, near Glasgow, Scotland. A 7.5 mile (12 km) hike over mixed terrain to climb a 1,050 ft (320 m) volcanic plug. The difficulty ranged from walking along a paved country road to scrambling up rotting rock that felt very steep indeed as it crumbled away beneath my feet! There were also some traverses, and a few sheep who made it clear that I was trespassing on their turf. Clear herd paths existed near the summit, although the trail was less clear at the bottom.

Hiking through Stone Valley near Colton, New York. Several trails surround the gorge cut into the local rock by the Raquette river. Some sections are nearly flat, while others are quite steep. It is also possible to walk along on the river rocks when the water level is low. I have visited Stone Valley many times, whether to swim in the deeper sections of the river or to walk or mountain bike along the beautiful trails. Once, as a Boy Scout, I camped in winter along the banks of the river, using this pack while cross-country skiing into the site.

Climbing St. Regis Mountain in the northern Adirondack mountains, New York. A 6.8 mile (11 km) hike to climb a 2,874 ft (876 m) mountain. The trail on St. Regis is sometimes quite steep, but generally well-maintained. I have climbed it many times with this pack, including on my first map-and-compass bushwhack: we went up the trail-less backside of the peak.

Non-hiking locations used: I have also put this pack to very substantial use outside the hiking world. In high school and university, I carried it to and from classes without regard for the weather, and used it for grocery shopping since I had no car. I have also used it as a gig bag for music performance, where the atmospheric conditions are less important than the handling ones: this bag has ridden in vans and buses and trains and aircraft holds, often stuffed with instruments, music, and performance attire. University was probably the hardest test in terms of weight, when I regularly carried more than 25 lbs (11 kg) of books in it.

Description of locations: trails and forest bushwhacks, mountains up to 5,100 ft (1500 m), suburban sidewalks, aircraft holds, etc. Highly varied.

Weather conditions: Again, highly varied. This pack has experienced everything from winter snow at temperatures below 0 F (-17 C) to driving spring and autumn rain at 40 F (4 C) to burning summer sun above 100 F (38 C).

Comments:

On the whole, this pack has been nothing short of wonderful. It's marketed as a school backpack for teenagers—I got mine at the age of 15. Although its feature set leans toward the academic (pen holders, key ring, organizer panel), it works admirably for day hikes. This backpack saw me through hikes in the USA, Canada, and Scotland, but it also carried my books to every class of high school and university, served as my kit bag for years of bagpipe music competitions, and was my luggage for performance tours of Spain and the Pacific Northwest, USA. It has seen a lot of hard and varied use.

The pack is very easy to work with. The compartments seem sensibly designed and placed, and they seem to "just work" for different kinds of objects, and the packing usually ends up comfortable even if I don't do it carefully. It's hard to quantify, but what I mean is this: it usually works fine if I just put items in the pack wherever they seem to fit. With other packs I've used, I've always ended up repacking things to make the load comfortable, or to allow more gear to fit. With this pack, I never seem to need all that packing and unpacking.

Most of the pockets are very useful sizes. My water bottles usually go in the biggest compartment, along with my camera in its hard plastic case. The padded back keeps them from poking me, even with a heavy load. I find the second-largest compartment holds my lunch and trail snacks well, and it's easy to access while walking: just slip one shoulder strap off, swing the pack around, and the zipper's in just the right place—a nice touch.

Organizer panel with map inside

The pocket with the organizer panel usually carries my guide book, map and compass, sunscreen, sunglasses, and other essentials. The document pocket in the organizer is just big enough to hold a USGS (United States Geological Survey) topographical map. One caveat: I thought the map wouldn't fit, because it is hard to get it in there when the pack is fully loaded. It will go, though, with a bit of attention to keeping the pocket straight. This pocket also works well for carrying rolls of 35 mm film, as the double-headed zipper means I can open the pocket from the top—this keeps them from falling out of the bag.

The one pocket that disappoints me is the front slash pocket, which is really only useful for larger things if the organizer pocket is underfilled. Otherwise it's good for holding papers and small items like lip balm.

Almost all of the seams on the pack body are taped and sealed, which does a nice job of keeping the rain and snowmelt out of the pack and also keeps fabric from catching in the zippers. The seam attaching the organizer pocket to the main pack body is not taped, and consequently leaks occasionally. However, this is nothing too serious, and I could probably treat it with seam sealant if I really cared. One complaint is that the zippers will leak if they're out in a heavy rainstorm for a long time. I see that in later versions of the pack, L.L. Bean has added sewn zipper covers to protect against this.

My few complaints mostly stem from the fact that this is a daypack, not a more advanced technical pack. I include them for reference and completeness, not to deter others from buying this pack.

I feel ambivalent about the hip belt on this pack. It's made of plain nylon webbing, which makes it less comfortable than a padded hip belt would be. However, I don't really notice the issue unless I'm carrying a lot of weight. A benefit of the simple strap is that it allows people who don't like hip belts to cinch it out of the way. When I was younger, I hated hip belts, and I did precisely that. One small complaint is that the plastic hip belt buckle fractured years ago. It still functions, which is why I haven't replaced it, but it would be nice if it hadn't broken.

A few other things might affect the choice of this pack. The pack's back panel, although padded, is not rigid. This makes it difficult to transfer much weight from my shoulders to my hips, which can be uncomfortable with heavier weights. The back's design is quite simple, without any of the air channels or mesh contraptions often found on newer packs. This can sometimes lead to a sweaty back after a long hike. The lack of compression straps also means that loads can sometimes shift if the pack isn't full.

I think the brightness of the Scotchlite strip is overstated in the pack's advertising. While it is certainly reflective, it hardly sets the night ablaze. It's a nice safety feature for the bookbag use, though.

Side view showing pack depth

The pack expands away from the wearer like a bellows, which makes the pack a bit awkward when carrying loads that are both bulky and heavy. The difficulty is this: the only pocket large enough for bulky items like an extra jacket is also the one that's closest to my body. If I bring a jacket, I then have to place more dense items like my water bottles farther from my back, and this can affect my balance in exposed scrambling. When the pack is fully loaded, my turning radius is quite a bit larger than normal, which can be an exciting discovery in tight quarters like those in a rock chimney! With careful packing, the balance issues of a heavy and bulky load can be mitigated somewhat, leaving only the turning issue.

As I wrote earlier, I include these issues for completeness. In most cases when I've run into them, it's been my own fault: I really should have been using a larger or more technical pack. That the Deluxe Book Pack came through so well in circumstances beyond its original design is a testament to its versatility.

The pack is comfortable to carry, easy to load, and extremely durable. After ten years of almost daily use, the pack shows very few signs of wear: the bottom has a little bit of fuzz from abrasion; there's one spot where the fabric has begun to fray from rubbing at a seam, though it will be a long time before it wears through; and the webbing on one shoulder strap has a bit of fuzz. The haul loop and shoulder straps are still firmly attached and in great condition, which surprises me. I've had other daypacks whose straps have torn off in the first couple of years, and with lighter loads than the ones I carry with the Deluxe Book Pack. The pack looks used but not worn, and it looks startlingly clean for ten years without a wash.

Summary:

My pack is still going strong after ten years, and it has served hard as well as long. L.L. Bean built a heck of a daypack with this. It does a very good job of switch-hitting: I find it comfortable whether I'm carrying gear up a mountain or textbooks down the street. Its durability continues to impress me. I would definitely buy this pack again.

pluses:

• unusually durable construction throughout the pack
• organizer panel
• good water resistance
• easy to pack effectively, with good pocket sizes
• comfortably padded back
• keeps a clean appearance even after use

minuses:

• slash pocket isn't very useful with a full load
• zippers can leak in heavy rain (fixed in current retail model)
• hip belt is unpadded and pack has no frame
• arrangement of pockets can make the pack quite bulky

Reviews > Packs > Frameless Backpacks and Day Packs > L.L. Bean Deluxe Book Pack > Owner Review by Hollis Easter