ALPAKA Vertex Pouch Review

The ALPAKA Vertex Pouch is hoping to be your next tech pouch, desk caddy, and crossbody sling, all at the same time. Here at Pack Hacker, we love gear that does more than one thing, as it leaves more space in our pack for the essentials, like packing cubes, tech, and cheese. Will the Vertex Pouch give us room to stock up on Muenster, or will we feel Blue after leaving our Cottage in Gouda without any Edam? Let’s dive in and find out.

External Components

The primary material is ALPAKA’s Axoflux, a recycled 600D polyester. It’s durable, water-resistant, and looks sleek. There is an X-Pac version, too, which will be lighter weight and more water resistant but less durable than the Axoflux material.

At the time of writing, the sling comes in three colorways. There’s Black X-Pac RX36, Axoflux Black 600D, and Axoflux Army Green 600D. We dig these options, but there isn’t an option for those after more vibrant colorways. Still, there’s something here for most travelers. You like black, right?

The zippers are from YKK, which is a good sign. As we’ve mentioned before, YKK is one of the best brands in the business, and we’re always amped to see them on a sling, daypack, or travel backpack. The pulls are made of a Hypalon-like material, and the tracks have an AquaGuard finish, which helps keep water at bay.

There’s a handle on the top of the sling’s backside. There’s a fair amount of padding, but it’s hard, not plush. There’s no mesh or anything, and there isn’t a ton of hand clearance, so this isn’t the most comfortable handle we’ve dealt with. However, it works, and the low-profile design doesn’t get in the way when you aren’t using it, which we dig.

There are two attachment loops on the back, too, because you can turn this pouch into a crossbody bag. They stay out of the way when you aren’t using it in such a way, which is a perk. On the bottom of the back panel is a D ring for attaching a stabilizer strap, though it’s not included.

The pouch stands on its own, which is handy no matter how you use it. Its flat bottom slides easily into your pack, is effortless to stack with other gear inside your rolling luggage, and sits nicely on your desk.

Overall, we’re liking the look of this pouch. How does it carry as a sling, though?

Fit Notes

The back panel is very sturdy. There’s no mesh or dedicated padding, but it’s comfortable enough, thanks to the structure of the materials and internal padding.

The pouch comes with a strap to transition it into a sling. It has gatekeeper straps on either end and a swivel, which makes the strap easy to untangle and ensures you stay comfortable.

The strap has a MagLockz buckle, which we’re used to seeing on ALPAKA gear. It’s easy to slide on and off but takes some getting used to if you don’t have experience with it. Overall, we don’t have any complaints here.

The padding on the strap is pretty thin, so it doesn’t make for the most comfortable carry; however, it’s better than if there wasn’t any at all. The padding is covered with fine mesh, which helps with breathability.

The padding doesn’t slide around, so you’re stuck with it in one place, which can affect where it hits your shoulder. You can wear this pouch on your front or back, which is comfortable, but we don’t love that we sometimes hit the awkward area between padding and strap because it isn’t the best feeling. Still, we found the comfort experience to be a positive one overall.

If you want a better or different strap, it’s fairly easy to find one that will fit through the loops on the backside of the pouch. That way, you can get something with more padding. Make sure that you get one with a clip that will work with the attachment loops!

Inside The Pouch

If you get the Axoflux version, the interior is 300D ripstop nylon in Cool Grey. You’ll get the same material with the X-Pac model but in Blood Orange. The fabric is just as durable; one’s just a bit brighter.

As far as functionality goes, this pouch is supposed to be used for a few different things, sometimes simultaneously. First and foremost, it’s a tech pouch. Because it can stand up on its own and has a few of the internal features we’ll shortly go over, it’s also usable as a desk caddy. Last, you can attach a strap and turn it into a crossbody bag or sling. We’ve already gone over how it carries, but we’ll get into how it holds gear in this section.

First, there’s a front pocket. Inside, there’s a mesh liner, and the pocket is a solid option for gear you want to be able to access quickly. There’s a zipper on the bottom, so you can access this space from the main compartment, which is a neat feature, although we don’t use it all that often. Still, this idea is neat, mainly because it saves space. There’s no extra material here, as there would be if there were a secondary compartment; it’s just zippers and mesh. You don’t get extra capacity as you would with the addition of the secondary compartment, but we like the additional functionality.

The main compartment is where you’ll stow most of your gear. Before we review the internal organization, let’s chat about what makes this work as a desk caddy. There are magnets on the front flap, so you can secure it down and out of the way. Because of this, you get quick and easy access to your gear when the pouch’s magnets are engaged, as there’s nothing in your way. It’s a small thing, but it’s helpful when trying to knock out some work while on vacation or traveling as a digital nomad.

Starting on the front side, we’ve got the secondary compartment that we already went over. After that, there’s a large open area where you can stow larger gear, like over-ear headphones, a Nintendo Switch, a big battery bank, or similarly sized gear.

Beyond the vast open prairie for large-sized gear, there’s a divider. On the front side, there are two mesh pockets. These are handy for a wallet, AirPods, or other small- to medium-sized stuff you want to lock down in a pocket. On the top of the divider, there’s a magnetic pocket that works well for headphones, pens, pencils, or a stylus. On the back side, a zippered pocket with three small pockets inside works nicely for SD or SIM cards. The divider attaches with gussets to the sides, so you can slide it in or out depending on what you want to fit on either side of the divider. Typically, we found it more beneficial to keep the divider closer to the back panel, but your mileage may vary.

On the back wall, there’s a device pocket capable of stowing up to an iPad Mini. It’s soft on both sides, which is handy, but we’d recommend using a case here. In our experience, the Vertex Pouch will keep your gear safe; however, a cracked screen is likely not worth the risk.

Overall, we’ve found room for improvement in all three functions the Vertex Pouch tries to do. There aren’t many pockets for little doohickeys that you’ll need to stow inside a tech pouch. It may feel large for some users as a desk caddy. Plus, we’ve worn more comfortable straps. Still, we think that the Vertex Pouch is a baller travel companion. Why? Well, it can do all those things and does them all pretty well. Your travel gear doesn’t have to be perfect, but it has to work for you, and we think that the Vertex Pouch will do that for many people!