North Face Hot Shot Backpack

by Randy
(New York City, NY)

When I bought this bag, I needed a comfortable day pack for an active lifestyle that would also carry a laptop in a dedicated pouch. I live in New York City and walk a lot. For security reasons, I also wanted the bag to look like a backpack and not a computer bag. If I could use it as my only bag for a weekend trip, I thought that would be even better. This bag did not disappoint. I carry it everywhere.

My proudest moment…..I packed for 1 week in Israel with this as my only bag. It carried 2 pairs of kakis, 2 t-shirts, 2 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of underwear, a couple of books, a Nikon D300 camera with extra lens and batteries, incidentals (toothpaste/brush, passport, keys, sunscreen, ect…), and I clipped a tripod on the side with a carabineer. There are plenty of places to attach stuff to this bag to extend its range for, say, a week.

It was a tight squeeze. You might even say it was pressurized, but that is the great thing about this bag. You can pressurize it and it will take it. At one point in the trip, I replaced the clothes with 3 – 1.5L water bottles for a 6 hour hike up a mountain in the desert. The camera (I’m a photographer) went too. The waist strap works well on little excursions like this even though the bag looks more like a backpack than a daypack.

The Hot Shot is tough as nails. I am rough on bags. I have had this one for over 2.5 years and still use it every day with little sign of wear. The zippers are strong.

My only complaint is North Face’s insistence on writing the name of their bags across the bottom. It probably would not have bothered me too much if it didn’t say hot shot in bright white letters. I keep waiting for my friends to nickname me “hot shot.” Correction WAS waiting….then I removed the stitch lettering with a knife preemptively. It comes off, so I can’t even claim that as a downside anymore.

Features that I Like:
-Dedicated laptop pouch on the inside
-Ample room in a rather compact bag
-Straps to tighten the slack
-Plenty of loops and places to strap stuff to the exterior
-Straps on the bottom are useful for strapping large items to (e.g.-sleeping bag)
-A net pocket on each side that can carry water bottles/ umbrellas/flashlight / ect…
-Durability
-Ergonomics…I tote 15-25 lbs comfortably on a regular basis.
-A waist strap, adjustable shoulder straps that connect(if desired) to distribute load
-When you want it to, it just looks like a school back pack
-Lots of little pockets to stick stuff in the front compartment (they are all open at the top, but still handy)

Note: I bought this bag in 2008 and I believe a newer version has come out. It looks like some of the features may be different on the new one. I can’t comment on that. I just know I love the 2008 model.