Comments about Eagle Creek Afar Backpack:

seemingly perfect for carry on short trips, well padded straps, great compartment design
but
not possible to avoid using top strap to transfer to resting spot in plane or destination and this broke the first day!! sewn with a few casual stitches, then transport became very difficult when not on back

Comments about Eagle Creek Afar Backpack:

A rather great-looking, well-designed multi-use/flexible pack! The ocher colorway is awesome! It can almost become a technical panel-loading ultralight multi-day pack. The external compartment at the back can be used to hold a DIY frame such as a cardboard or an earth pad.

In the next version, I hope to see these eight sensible and simple features for the Afar pack to be considerably technical:

(1) Rain cover (well, it can be bought separately).
(2) Longer side compression straps (to hold external materials like sleeping mat, or to allow the straps to attach to the opposite side buckles).
(3) Additional compression side straps at the level of the side mesh pockets.
(4) The attachment point (buckle) of the vertical strap of the large front mesh pocket should be higher (up to the pack's handle at the top), not below the zippers of the compartments).
(5) Mesh pockets for the hip/waist belts
(6) The hip belt should attach closer to the vertical axis of the pack, not to the sides of the pack to allow waist and hip movement.
(7) Higher location of the adjustment point of the shoulder belt straps, so one can pull tight or loosen the straps comfortably from the level of the chest.
And finally, (8) use of more mesh/advanced material for the internal et al compartments to further decrease the weight of the pack w/o sacrificing durability/comfort.

Can it go full-on technical? I hope so. I just love its weight and design.

Comments about Eagle Creek Afar Backpack:

I purchased this for a trip to Maui and Moloka'i. I have several other Eagle Creek luggage items, but wanted to really go light this time. After comparing literally dozens of different day packs from various vendors, I went with Eagle Creek (again!) and this new offering. Using it in combination with the Specter sacks, I have packed everything I need for two weeks with room to spare. (Well, my EC fanny pack is going along, too.) Despite racking my brain for something missing or a way to improve the product, I can't think of ANYTHING. Kudos to the design team on this one. You knocked it out of the park! P.S. This is the first bag I've owned with a dedicated laptop compartment and I really appreciate that feature. I can get my ThinkPad out for TSA screening without disturbing the rest of the pack. P.P.S. As the other reviewer stated, the Ochre color rocks!

Comments about Eagle Creek Afar Backpack:

I recently took this bag to Kenya and used it as my daybag to hike Mt. Kenya. I also used it as my carry-on and my daybag when I had a day layover in Cairo. It was awesome. It has a lot of space for packing multiple layers (for varying degrees of cold and rain), a comfortable hip belt and the must-have sternum strap. Also the back is made of comfortable foam - so it fits really nicely. I also like that the hip belt is tuck-away so that when I wasn't using the belt (aka hiking), I was able to put it away in order to keep it neat.

There is a slip pocket in the main body that I used for my magazines when I used the bag as my carry-on, but on the mountain I put my water bladder in there and it was perfect. (The bag doesn't have a hydration port - I just made one.) This bag is also cool because it has the two main compartments. The front one is great for smaller items and I used the zippered pocket and organization in there throughout my trip.

All-in-all a great bag. And the color I have (ochre) is AWESOME!