Customer Reviews Patagonia Chacabuco Pack 32L

I love this bag! Colors are great and it is huge. I carry a lot of stuff and it always fits everything. However, my shoulder strap started tearing after 8 months. I called Zappos and they said I can exchange it. I opted for the Big Shot North Face bag. I got it and it sucked! I do feel the construction is better, but it doesn't fit nearly the stuff I need and it is terribly inconvenient. The Patagonia is far superior in that respect. The extra pockets are really convenient and it fits everything with room to spare. Also the lap top sleeve being elevated is a huge plus! I returned the North Face and they resent me a Patagonia. I am hoping that my tear was a rare defect.

The cushioning in the straps and back is stiff and not soft at all. The mesh is not soft either, and the straps ride up really high on my neck and are very uncomfortable and rub my neck. I put some heavy books in the backpack and loosened the straps and it fit a little better, but it's still not very comfortable or soft. I bike to campus every day and carry a lot of books, a computer, and gym clothes, and I need a comfortable backpack. This is going back.

This is a great pack. I am only 5'4", and even though this bag can hold a ton of stuff, the weight disperses well so it is still easy to carry. I love the padded straps. I fits a female frame. It is very durable. The little compartments on top make it easy to access small things while traveling. I would definitely recommend it.

Good basic backpack. I use it mostly for bringing stuff to work, on my bike, or in my car. I have used it as a carry-on for travel. I like the small outside pockets: one lined with soft cloth, so I can drop my glasses in there without a case, and the other for keys and miscellany. Side pockets work for my bike cable lock and a small coffee thermos.

Awesome pack. Fits a lot more stuff in it than you would expect! Great for college/school use. The only thing is that the blue color choice doesn't have those orange zippers or straps; it is straight blue and gray. Still quite sharp looking nonetheless.

I needed a backpack that could comfortably carry a large laptop along with my lunch, rain gear, and water bottles for my walk to work. This fit the bill quite nicely. I've traveled with it a few times and this last time I carried a couple hard drives, clothes, food, two laptops, a bunch of cables, and a water bottle and it held up great. The shoulder straps are a bit closer together than what I am used to but it seems to help the pack feel more comfortable when it is very heavy. Fully loaded it can still fit under the seat on an airplane. The many different pockets and the fact that it is water resistant are a big plus.

My 14 year old high school freshman daughter has been using the pack for about 2 months now. While overall it is fine, we have noticed that the clasp to adjust the length of the carrying strap constantly slips on one side. This makes it difficult to keep adjusted and therefore difficult to keep the strap at the proper length. Other than that the pack is okay. Not sure I would buy another.

I love this backpack and all the compartments are great! I wanted to make a note on the size because before I bought it I had trouble telling how big they were. The 32L is pretty tall. I like it because above my books there is 5-6 inches that I can put a jacket or my lunch. If you want one w/ less space above the books I would recommend the 28L.

This bag is awesome for numerous good reasons. It is incredibly spacious - I usually carry two paperback textbooks and a zipper binder that contains notes for all of my four courses. Even with a heavy load like that, the bag never sags and its structure provides excellent support for my shoulders and back. The straps are adjustable so it'll fit for people of various heights. I have been using it for a month now and haven't been getting any aches. The two small compartments for essentials is great for organization. I put my phone in the fleece-lined compartment, and my keys and card goes in the other compartment. The medium compartment is perfect for placing my calculator, snacks, cash, bandaids, other miscellaneous things. As an athlete I need to carry my water bottle everywhere. There are two slots on the sides of the bag, which is just perfect because I put my bottle in one and an umbrella in the other. Win! This pack is versatile and can be used for purposes other than school. It functions as a laptop bag, a sports bag, camping bag etc. Anything you want it to be. My Patagonia Chacabuco bag is spacious, smartly designed, functional, and stylish. Oh, and did I mention that it looks great? I bought it in my favorite color, fuchsia, which came out the perfect shade. What more can I ask for as a college student and athlete? I am so satisfied.

Bought this for my 14 year old high school senior - she loves this bag - fits all of her high school stuff and is fashionable. I highly recommend it.

I'm using this pack for grad school primarily, but it gets reused as a hiking pack as well...equally functional and comfortable in both settings. I love the little pockets at the top, and the side pockets are deep enough to keep my Camelbak secure.

Great backpack! Rugged and stylish and will serve my daughter's needs for several years!

I love this bag! It's light and has many pockets. I use mostly for traveling; it's convenient when you have to pack your stuff and things for the kids.

This is an amazing back pack. Very spacious, very stylish, made of great material. Feels very comfortable! I love it!

So far this bag is awesome. It carry's all my junk with room to spare. You can easily carry your laptop and 3 different classes books for the day. I ride a bike to school so I always bring a change of clothes also. They fit in the bag just fine.

This backpack is amazing. Stylish yet well organized. Very spacious, I use it for school and the gym. It holds all my books and the different compartments allow for putting school utensils, sunglasses, keys, wallets, water bottle, and computer, all separate and protected (even from water). Very comfortable (even when loaded heavily). I bike everywhere so the reflectors on the back are helpful so drivers can see me at night. I used to own an Oakley backpack which is more expensive and this one does a better job at keeping things separate and protected.

I got this pack for law school. I tried totes and other bags and they all sucked because I carry my laptop with my enormous law books. That action began to throw my back out of whack so I decided to invest in a real pack. This is awesome. I love it! It fits a lot of my books and notebooks and laptop. I really love that it is waterproof (it rains a lot where i live) and it has a lot of places to put things big and small. I also love that it has a laptop sleeve that doesn't sit directly on the bottom of the pack.

Great pack, basic with just one main compartment. Using it for law school and its lifted laptop compartment is great. And of course, Zappos does a great job.

Brilliant bag! Use it everyday. Very well built. Highly recommended!

I just got this bag, very quickly shipped I might add, and it is perfect for school and would be great for a day hike too. There is plenty of space for pens, gadgets, sunglasses, etc and the side pockets for water bottles are very deep so no worry of losing them like with other bags I looked at. This bag is larger so it's a great choice if you are tall.

Functional clean look to it. I bought it for my husband, a university professor. It's a little too casual for work. I think I'll give it to my 18 year old son. It's more of a campus student pack than an office pack.

Upshot: This bag looks nifty, but after a few consecutive days of light use, it's hard-as-a-board, closely-spaced shoulder straps make it feel like some Medieval torture device out of a Monty Python sketch. ("No one expects the Chacabuco 32L!") Please believe the other reviewers when they say that the Chacabuco 32L has weird design/construction flaws that cause lasting aches and pains! If Zappos will allow me to return the Chacabuco 32L after a week of use, I will happily return it to try again with another brand. Background/Usage: A university professor, I carry a huge, desktop-replacement-sized laptop (read "wicked-heavy laptop") with me to work each day, along with a few books and notebooks. So that I can look a little professional, I use a large, black Timbuk2 messenger bag for days when I am teaching or have meetings, reserving a backpack for days when I am working in my office, traveling, or hitting Starbucks to write or do grading. Up until recently, the "backpack" in question was another retailer's in-house brand of laptop backpack that has served me well for many years. Large enough to fit my 15-inch Dell monster and several pounds of books comfortably -- and with a solid black color that looks reasonably professional when I'm traveling for work -- the old backpack has been with me since Kurt Cobain was still alive, seeing me through several years of international travel, four graduate degree programs, countless weekend trips, etc. A few weeks ago, I realized that the bag had become too beat-up looking for me to carry to campus without shaming myself. (It still works just fine, but the black color has become very faded.) Finding Patagonia's Chacabuco 32L here at Zappos after weeks of researching bags online and at my local outdoor gear shop, I decided to give the Chacabuco 32L a try. My Experience: (1) Small quibble: The Chacabuco 32L'S extra capacity makes it taller, not wider. I was a bit bummed that the bag's extra capacity had gone toward making the bag taller instead of making it a bit wider. (Your mileage may vary, but I'm more likely to want to squeeze in an extra book or two into the bag than to wish that I had several extra inches of space on top of the bag. The bag's height also makes me doubt that I'll be able to fit the bag under the seat in front of me -- as I used to do routinely with the backpack I bought the Chacabuco 32L to replace -- when riding tiny, "puddle jumper" planes out of my college town to conferences in other parts of the country.) (2) Huge, deal-breaker-level quibble: the Chacabuco 32L's extremely hard & close-spaced shoulder straps, scratchy area between the shoulder straps, and stiff carrying handle make the bag painful to carry on one's back. I really regret ignoring other reviewers' comments about the stiffness of the Chacabuco 32L's shoulder straps, the cheese-grater-on-the-neck scratchiness of the material set into the small area between the shoulder straps, and the stiffness of the carry-handle at the top of the bag. (The latter juts into the base of one's skull when one is carrying the bag. Nice!) The shoulder-straps are especially problematic. Because the Chacabuco 32L's shoulder straps are not only extremely hard, but are also set bizarrely close together -- yes, the other reviewers were right about this, too! -- carrying this bag is a recipe for serious shoulder aches. Worse still, the bag's construction is such that the pain not only sets in quickly -- i.e. my 1.2-mile walk to work takes me 20 minutes, and my shoulders are throbbing by the time I reach my office -- but also lasts even after the bag is off one's back, especially if one has used the bag for several consecutive days. (e.g. I carried the bag to and from work last Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and then worked in my home office on Saturday and Sunday. Even after two "days off," as it were, from carrying the bag, my shoulders did not stop throbbing until Sunday night -- and then only after I caved in and took a hit of Aleve. I carried the bag to the campus library this morning -- Monday -- and my shoulders are now throbbing once again.) Did Patagonia test this bag at all before making it available for purchase?

Excellent backpack! I'm a biology student and this baby didn't let me down on my field trip, it makes the weight so manageable that let's you focus on the field work and the trail! I also take it to the university and works great, the water resistance is pretty good it held up in a down pour and kept all my valuables dry! I'll absolutely recommend this backpack for hiking and school/college work.

Uncomfortable! I really wanted to love this bag. It's roomy and had great organizational capability. However, I absolutely agree with some of the other reviews about the shoulder straps. They are too closely spaced on the top which makes them rub against your neck. And they are really stiff. Very uncomfortable. Additionally, I feel that the nylon material is pretty thin for a bag that is supposed to carry a lot of gear. Thank goodness for the awesome return policy from Zappos. I am returning this and getting The North Face Surge II. The straps are much more ergonomic and the outer material is higher quality.

On my third one of these since December, 2011. Strap at top broke on one, zipper broke on another, seam starting to split on bag three. It does have plenty of compartments and I love the fleece lined compartment on top for my phone but lately everything I have purchased from Patagonia has been less than stellar quality. When bag 3 finally splits it's going back for good. The High Sierra backpack I carried prior to this one was not nearly as stylish but it wore like iron...I will be pulling it back out!