Customer Reviews The North Face Borealis Backpack

Need more pockets and space but external look is very stylish.

I was excited to get a backpack that was advertised as perfect for school and for converting to a hiking backpack on the weekends. When I received it, I realized that the backpack itself was heavier and longer than I expected; the back is very stiff and the backpack is a few inches longer than my torso (I'm 5'6"). I enjoy the versatility of the backpack, and could fit what I needed for a short day hiking trip in the backpack, but I was wearing a tank top all day and the straps were not very comfortable against my skin and started rubbing immediately. The material of the backpack is high quality, but doesn't stretch out at all, so there isn't much room width-wise, meaning I can really only fit a laptop, binder, and maybe a couple of small books in it for school. Overall, the bag looks very nice, and I think it is a better backpack for school than for hiking or other strenuous outdoor activity.

I got this backpack in a cool grey and hot pink a couple years ago for college. Can hold a good notebook and essentials, but the added weight of the laptop in the sleeve can get pretty unbearable. Traveling and backpacking throughout Italy and Germany wasn't the greatest experience with this backpack either. Loading and unloading for TSA is a pain with the flimsy second compartment (plus it takes up the room from the main compartment, so adding anything in either one just takes up more room from the other). Not weather resistant (it will soak your laptop if you have it in your backpack during a rainstorm), unbalanced at the bottom (meaning you need to prop it up against something when putting it down otherwise it will fall over), and it can get pretty bulky with just the school essentials. Mine served its purpose and served it somewhat well, but after traveling abroad and having it rip on me, it's time to move on to another brand.

I really like the look of this product but the design is uncomfortable. The materials at the top of the stamps digs into my shoulders.

After my first semester of college, the padding that sits at the bottom of the computer slot came out of my backpack. A little disappointed about this considering I have yet to have it for even a year. Other than that I love how sturdy and light it is.

I use this bag as my backpack for school. It's comfortable and functional and has many pockets. The only drawback is it doesn't stretch to hold all my text books.

Nice pack, but the plastic back plate is not malleable. Very rigid and I'm not a fan.

Wish the inside allowed for more big thick textbooks.

I like this backpack way more then my old one. It's comfortable, lightweight and it looks really cute! It fits about one text book, a few notebooks, a laptop and a few other school supplies in it. However, it is pretty small so if you ever wanted to put another textbook or a sweatshirt in it or anything that isn't a basic rectangle shape it won't fit. The only thing that I don't like about this backpack is that it doesn't stand up. When I get to class and set it down it always falls over onto the front of the backpack. I go to MSU so in the winter everyones dirty snowy shoes get all over the front of it making it all wet. Overall, it's a good backpack for a light load of school supplies but it doesn't have the best design to stay standing when set down.

I really enjoy it! The only thing that truly bothers me about it is that its a bit small.

I'm in college and use this backpack day to day. The straps like to twist which is annoying and the buckles on the side overlap the zipper so you must release those to get full access to the backpack. This backpack is on the heavy side even when empty, but there's plenty of cushion and support. Its roomy enough for my laptop, textbooks, two notebooks, a tablet, ereader, and headphones. It's very stiff, which I like because of the support.

The backpack was good at first, but then when I started to use it for school I ran out of room. I could hardly fit all of my books into it. The good part was it gave a safe place for my computer to go. But I don't think it was the right one for me. Not enough room also I felt like I had a turtle shell.

peepee

I am in my Junior year of college and decided to buy a backpack for my last 2 years of school. I was so excited to get this one and it has been great until today. I have had it for about three weeks and it holds all of my stuff comfortably but this morning when I was leaving for class one of the straps started to break. I didn't have anything all that heavy in it; I had 2 notebooks and 3 folders but when i picked it up it sounded like it was about to rip off. Other than that it has been a great backpack and I would recommend it to everyone. Planning on calling and seeing if it can be fixed.

I bought this book bag in black because the other colors seemed a bit too flashy for my taste. I like the design, BUT when I first received the bag, the first thing that I disliked was how stiff the overall back part of the bag was. When you look in the main pocket, there is a pocket where you can put your laptop or tablet which is great (it's big enough to fit my MacBook Air-bigger version). Unfortunately, there's also a hidden panel that helps support the structure, but if feels really uncomfortable when you load it with books and such. The straps are also pretty painful. They look cushiony, but it hits my front shoulder and collar bone bad. I'm 5ft, so it is light enough to walk even if loaded with textbooks (I'm also a grad student). On those hot days however, believe me you will sweat. For me the back fabric wasn't that breathable. The pockets on the side are pretty flimsy if you tilt the bag the wrong way. Water bottles and cups have fallen out. Overall, I do enjoy this book bag. I would rate it an overall 3.5 for me. It could be because of my height and body shape that seems to not fit as well as I had hoped. Maybe I just need to wear and tear it out a bit in order to get it comfy enough. Sort of like a brand new pair of shoes. It does the job though in providing a convenient way of carrying everything I need.

It's definitely a very good high-quality bag, but the bag itself is just so packed together! You can barely fit in 2 regular sized textbooks in the bag. Also, I recently purchased the Lagoon Iridescent bag, and the colors were completely off. Instead of it being a purpley, white-ish color, it turned out to be an almost dark green color. However I am going to exchange this bag for another color, but I am keeping the same style of bag. Overall, I would buy it, but just be aware of the capacity it holds.

When I got this backpack, I expected that it would be perfect for school. It was stylish, and comfortable. But when I started using it for school, it couldn't fit my 2 binders, textbooks, notebook and chrome book, so I had to carry the things that wouldn't fit in my hands. This backpack is great for traveling and hiking trips, but the main pocket is too small.

This is a very nice backpack, but not as nice as it looks online. It kind of looks awkward on your back and the straps are really small. It can fit a lot of stuff but not as much as it looked like it would. Also I would not recommend getting the white because it looks really bright online but in real life it is a very off-white, kind of like it had already been used. It's almost grey really, which was a bit disappointing. The old one was a lot better in my opinion. It is pretty comfortable but not extremely comfortable, which it is advertised to be. I was kind of upset with what I ended up with, because of how it looks online, but it's still a pretty nice backpack. I would buy it in person, so you can actually see what you're getting.

This is one of my favorite backpacks. I've owned quite a few in my life, and I'm sure this one with last awhile. It's a beautiful design and beautiful color. My favorite is the lined phone pocket and the water bottle side pocket. The only thing I did not like about this bag is that is is heavy and not very comfortable on the shoulder straps. I hope the longer I wear it the more comfort I will receive in the shoulder area. I'm wearing it write now and it is pretty uncomfortable. But it's cute!

This is our third North Face back pack. The new design has very uncomfortable straps with thick hard padding and the covering on the straps scratches. We were told by the North Face sales person that the padding does break in over time. A big change from previous packs. We returned it for an older North Face pack with straps from the old design.

I use it for school, it's not very attractive because of the look the design on the inside and pattern in the bag is good though. The front pocket is okay not great but okay.

The backpack is very stiff and heavier than my other backpacks. I wish there was more room to fit my books. I also don't like how the first compartment doesn't zipper down all the way. I wish there was a way to take off the straps cuz there is about 5 of them

It is a good backpack but it was not big enough for me. Was not able to fit all of my books in it. I am a sophomore in college and it did not carry all of my books. It was also extremely heavy even without anything in it. Walking to all of my classes was a struggle because with the few books I could fit in it it was very heavy.

Lots of compartments but unfortunately the laptop doesn't fit

I ordered the borealis vaporous grey heather/ Kokomo green. Online the back looks like it's white, grey and Kokomo green But when I got the backpack in the mail, the color look completely different. The whole backpack is grey. Very disappointed.