Customer Reviews The North Face Women's Surge Backpack

I initially was scared the the uncomfortable straps were going to ruin the whole backpack for me, but that's not been the case. Through more time and more use, they've gotten better and I've come to love the backpack how it is. The amount of storage space this backpack holds is amazing. I commute to my college campus which means I have plenty of extras to have to carry and this backpack holds them all. My favorite feature by far is the technology storage pocket. I actually keep my textbooks and computer there. It's great. All in all, the only complaint I have is that the straps are uncomfortable, while I've gotten used to them, they were awful at first. Hope a change isn't made for comfort's sake.

I'm a professor (and mom) and almost always carry my laptop, cords, notebooks, books, wallet, first aid stuff, lunches, and various other stuff. This has room for everything. Lots of pockets to sort things, but also big compartments (to hold my own little organizing bags). This tips over because of the extra protection at the bottom of the laptop compartment--a little annoying, but definitely not a deal-breaker. Also feels MUCH lighter when wearing as a backpack than when I pick it up fully packed, which is great. Also, the black looks professional enough for my purposes. Oh, and I can carry a large (32oz insulated) water bottle AND a travel mug in the side pockets--a mandatory feature for me!

I loved this bag! It is amazing so many pockets to choose from while also being cute! I have a lot of markers that I take to school with me so usually in my other backpacks they always end up getting unorganized and I can't seem to find the right one I'm looking for, but this backpack is great for me because it lets me keep my markers, sticky notes and everything's else I need organized. The only complaint I have is the straps they are a little on the thinner side than I would like, and also they are really hard which is not always comfortable but maybe it's better for my shoulders than my recent backpacks, I really enjoy this backpack! The coral is SO CUTE!! I'd definitely recommend for students , perfect for all of my books and laptop and everything else.

When I first looked at these backpacks, I just could not choose which color I wanted at all. This was a gift, and I was a little skeptical of the color that I was going to get (rabbit grey light heather/burnished lilac), but I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT. I am a college student that was looking for a backpack that will last me YEARS, and I have never had a doubt when it came to my previous Borealis backpack. I also wanted a color that wouldn't show as much dirtiness or stains after a long period of use, and that was what I was skeptical of when I saw this color on the website. Don't let the pictures fool you! It is definitely darker than it looks in the picture, but I find that in a GOOD way. I would describe this color as a darker purple with a grey tint to it. The main reason why I also wanted to upgrade to this Surge backpack, was because I needed more space in my backpack to lug around the many things I carry on campus, and let me tell you, IT IS SO ROOMY. If you have't seen this backpack in person, one thing that I love about this backpack is that the two front pockets that open vertically, have a felted side for things such as your phone or sunglasses and prevents from any scratches, and the other side is a regular material of a backpack. Makes many great purposes! The other thing is that they have designed the laptop sleeve to open in a "triangle" angle, I guess you could say. I love this design because it seems like it will prevent the sleeve from stretching and getting worn out faster overtime like the older designed backpacks would. My only flaw I saw was that it definitely has a slope on the bottom of the backpack. So if you try to set the backpack sitting straight up, it will fall frontwards. It honestly isn't a big deal to me at all considering every other aspect of this backpack is amazing! If you do plan on getting this backpack, all you have to do is just have it leaning more towards the back.

The overall is great! I love the pockets it has and the space. However, I have tried the men's surge backpack and it has a lot more room for writing utensils in the first big zipper pocket compared to this backpack. In addition, the pocket that holds the tablet only completely fits a tablet without its case on and causes my tablet with its case on to bulge out of the pocket making the backpack feel heavier when I have both the tablet and the laptop in their respective pockets compared to when I don't carry my tablet. Other than that it is a great backpack for commuting to and from school.

I have the last model of this backpack. The straps on the old version are far superior than the ones on this version. The front pocket doesn't go all the way down and that's a good thing because it gives more space to the main compartment. The side water bottle compartments are way better in this version. They're bigger and higher. My 30 oz yeti cup fits perfectly in the holder. I purchased the one with the rose gold accents because I wanted a less sport looking bag for work. Over all I do like the bag and it's improvements.but, The straps are not great and not really comfortable but I don't plan on carrying it for long periods of time.

Pros: I love all the compartment space! 2 side zipper pockets which holds my keys and Sunglasses. Top zippered spot for my phone. Another spot to hold pens chapstick wallet etc. Another zippered area to hold books, or gym clothes. Back zippered spot to hold tablet or laptop. Overall I love it. I can keep all my stuff organized. Con: The bag itself feels heavy. I loaded it with my gym clothes a pair of sneakers and 2 water bottles and it feels even heavier. Even though Weight distribution is good, the shoulder straps is the main reason why I will be returning a super product. When it starts to get heavy, or as you put more stuff into the bag, the inside of the shoulder straps starts to bend out and the outside part of the strap starts to dig into your shoulders which is very uncomfortable especially if you have to walk a bit to your destination.

Great Backpack, awesome features, like the padded Backpack area, super cute....I gave it 4 stars because it was really expensive, just wish the pricing was less.

Tall enough to even stack multiple books on top of one another in the main compartment. Laptop sleeve is great. Seems durable, but could use a little more shoulder padding in my opinion.

Bought it for college in AZ, looks great, can't wait to put it through it's paces!

I use this product for school

Roomier than I thought it would be. Really well thought out. Great design. Super comfy. Recommend buying.

I have been using TNF since I started backpacking and mountaineering in the 90s when this brand was well known for quality and design ingenuity for high adventure outdoorsmen. The past two decades have seen the brand switch focus from outdoor sports performance to urban-chic. I get it, go where the money is, but I miss the superior engineering of their products in years past. This backpack for example, has great features, such as an abundance of pockets and padded areas for electronics, but the pocket placement is wrong. The pocket designed to store an iPad, phone and accessories is located at the top of the bag which may seem like a good spot for quick accessibility BUT it makes the bag so top heavy that it cannot remain upright and topples over every time it is set down. If you make the mistake of setting it down with the zipper open, guess what happens to the stuff you spent considerable time sorting, arranging, and packing with protection in mind? Yep, all over the floor. Nice. I hope in future designs, the developers will take into account GRAVITY. It’s not going anywhere.

I purchased this backpack in the washed black with coral zippers. The backpack is well made, roomy and very stylish. However, my daughter said it was very awkward and the straps keep the backpack up high so it would be on her neck all day. She prefers one that she can carry mid back especially since she has had a shoulder issue. Disappointed because its otherwise awesome!

I wish that this backpack held up like I needed it to. The top handle broke on this bag both times I purchased it. I bought the bag last July/August and the top handle broke off almost immediately, I reached out to customer service and they helped me get everything sorted out, I received my new backpack in the mail and within a week of use, the top handle broke off again. As a backpack the bag is phenomenal. This product has the potential for 5 stars if the top handle hadn't snapped off on both bags. The only reason I didn't reach out to see if they could help me, was because it was too much of a hassle to send the bag back and wait for a new one during the school year. All in all, I love the bag, I just really wish I had the top handle.

I use a backpack everyday to carry items to work.

I thought it was awesome until i tried in my flight. Bag is too heavy and with my stuff in it and the shoulder straps are painful. I wish I could return. Love the pockets but again heavy bag. Not ideal. Going back to my old backpack.

I researched and shopped for a "forever" backpack for over a month. I needed a carry on bag for when I fly and an adventure bag. When it arrived I was so excited, it had everything I wanted & needed. I was a little worried about the shoulder straps but I figured they'd loosen up. I made it to the airport and immediately noticed my shoulders were painfully sore. Again, maybe needed to wear the straps in. By the time I got to my layover and I was going to the next concourse I was so sore. I usually have an hour or so until my next flight so I'll walk around the airport, stretch my legs, get coffee, etc, but this time I just sat down and waited the 1 1/2 hrs until my flight. I spent 2 1/2 weeks using this bag while visiting family and no matter how little or how much I put in this bag the shoulder straps dug and pulled my shoulders back in an unnatural position. I adjusted everything, had other people try it on and they all complained of the same pain. I had to return it, I wanted to love this bag but I just couldn't. Not sure if its because its made for women that it made it so uncomfortable or is it made for petite women? I'm shopping again for a new bag, I'm hoping to stay with North Face, maybe a unisex style?

This bag is great and has a lot of room. My favorite part is the laptop section. I store both my iPad and my MacBook in it. I am extremely disappointed that the side pockets where I put my water bottle are already breaking!!! For the money that this backpack costs, it should NOT be ripping after only three uses. Ridiculous. I don't recommend this bag if you're a person that drinks water. Lol.

This bag is great and has a lot of room. My favorite part is the laptop section. I store both my iPad and my MacBook in it. I am extremely disappointed that the side pockets where I put my water bottle are already breaking!!! For the money that this backpack costs, it should NOT be ripping after only three uses. Ridiculous. I don't recommend this bag if you're a person that... drinks water. Lol.

Very cute and roomy too. However, I felt like the shoulder straps were too much.. they were built to fit women's body but did not fit me very well. Also the straps were so hard they started rubbing against my skin through my clothing and hurting my shoulder in over all. I hope they were a bit more cushioned. I will not be able to carry it too long with any weight, so sadly it will go back...

I like the look, butt other reviewers are right - the straps are horrible. They dig in, even if I'm not carrying much ( laptop, wallet, NO books), and are really abrasive on my shoulders. Seems to have an excess of straps that are fairly useless, particularly when it was clearly designed to never actually be used for hiking. Also, it's very poorly balanced, so it is always falling forward. If I throw it in the back seat of the car, or don't place it flat on it's back on a chair, it's absolutely guaranteed to flip forward and fall to the floor, even if I weight everything to the bottom and don't use the upper pocket. Poor design and looks like no one actually tried to use it. I actually have two colleagues, who, without prompting, both complained about it always falling forward. I won't return it, because the look is reasonable, but I had to cut one of the straps off because it got completely tangled in my bike gears when I tried to have it in my basket. It's hard to ride to work with it on my back because the straps are so awful.

The women's straps are trash so I docked two stars for that but will give the regular ("men's") version 5 stars. I'm 5'8 with chest size 32DD and find the straps on the regular version FAR more comfortable than on the women's version. The women's straps have significantly less padding and are all around thinner. I think this explains why some reviewers found them uncomfortable after a long day. Otherwise the backpack is amazing. I was debating the surge verses the recon and went with the surge because of the dual sleeve in the laptop section. This allows me to put my laptop on one side and my tablet on the other while both being protected by the padding and from each other. The recon just had one big section in the laptop area. I'm using this for daily work commuting in Seattle as well as frequent travel. The only downside is the lack of waterproofing. I'm traveling with it for the first time and can fit all of my items with room to spare: in the laptop section: a laptop, iPad, and kindle. In the main compartment: big bag of snacks, Bose headset case, big toiletries bag, laptop charger and mouse, coffee tumbler. In the front top pocket: small items including hand sanitizer, chapstick, pens, work badge, small headphones, tissues, wallet. In the front side zip area: glasses with case, chargers (iPhone x2, Apple Watch). In the padded sunglasses pocket: sunglasses! And then an umbrella and a water bottle in the two side pockets. For my daily commute I pack lunch in glass containers and often yoga clothes. Everything fits and it's super comfortable and durable.

I'm a college student who has been using this backpack for the last year. I absolutely love the space it offers although the straps are uncomfortable whenever the bag has a lot in it. It's also not waterproof/water resistant. My school books got drenched a few times whenever they were in this bag and it's honestly so frustrating. I wish The North Face specified this bag was not waterproof nor water resistant.

Because I have yet to use it day-to-day, I really don't have much to add but upon first impressions and trying it on with my school stuff in it, I can't say that it's the most comfortable thing in the world. It's nice and big, it stores everything I need it too. The straps just hurt.