Bellroy Transit Workpack Pro 22L Review

What happens when you take bags that blend work, travel, and the daily commute up a notch? You get a Pro line. That’s what Bellroy has done with the latest additions to its Transit Workpack line of bags. The Bellroy Transit Workpack Pro 22L and 28L are designed to be a step up from the original line of bags, but is it an upgrade you need to invest in? We’re testing the 22L size for this review, which Bellroy said is for daily work and short travel needs and fits smaller users better, but if you have a larger frame or need to carry more gear for a longer trip, you’ll want to check out our review of the 28L here.

We’ve been carrying the Bellroy Transit Workpack Pro 22L back and forth to work and packed it up for a weekend camping trip, too. How does it perform? Let’s find out.

External Components

The primary material on the Transit Workpack Pro 22L is nylon recycled from industrial offcuts. We’ve been testing the Olive colorway, which is not as green as you would expect (maybe it’s designed after black olives???), yet you can see the contrast from the black coating on the zippers. As of the time of the bag’s release, you can also get it in Black and Stone if you want more neutral options.

Along with the nylon, there is a recycled polyester liner and environmentally tanned leather accents used on the zipper pull tabs. The zippers are made by YKK, one of our favorite brands. They all feature an AquaGuard-style water-resistant coating to keep your gear dry inside, and while they’re not as stiff as other AquaGuard zippers we’ve encountered, they require slight effort to open and close. The zippers on the two side pockets are self-locking, so you don’t have to shut them all the way if you’re carrying something taller than fits inside.

The Bellroy brand name appears to be printed on leather on the front, as well, though it’s slightly recessed to keep the patch corners from catching as you make your way through the day, which is a nice touch.

You can, obviously, carry it like a backpack, but there is also a sturdy webbing carry handle at the top and a vertical luggage pass-through on the back. The top handle is best for hanging up the bag, as it’s quite shallow, yet it is usable to move the bag short distances. The pass-through lies flat against the bag when you’re not using it, but there must be some elastic hidden at the top because you can pull it out slightly to get it over the handle of your rolling luggage.

However, you’ll most likely want to carry the bag over one or both shoulders. The harness system is quite beefy to help support the bag’s weight, which we found useful when packing it for a weekend trip. There is very thick, stiff padding underneath the shoulder straps and in two panels on the back of the bag (on either side of the vertical luggage pass-through). The padding is covered in a breathable mesh that’s rougher than you might imagine. Bellroy did that on purpose, though, to try and keep the bag in place on your body as you walk instead of it slipping.

There’s also a sternum strap on a sliding rail that connects with a magnetic Woojin buckle. It’s easy to open and close if you need it, yet we haven’t had it pop open unexpectedly, which is good. Not every user likes sternum straps, but there’s no way to take this one off if you don’t need it; it will just hang around and dangle down your front if you don’t use it.

Fit Notes

We’re digging the Workpack Pro’s looks. Despite being nylon, the fabric has a premium feel, and the bag looks clean and minimal (even though it’s not, as you’ll see in the next section).

The harness system, however, is almost too much for a bag of this size. The padding feels almost like it’s fighting you instead of forming against your body. On the other hand, you don’t feel your laptop pressing up against your back when wearing it. We’ve noticed that it’s hard to find the right fit for different users, and it’s definitely not the most comfortable bag we’ve worn. The mesh is rougher than we’re used to feeling, which is more noticeable on bare skin, but the biggest issue is just the too-thick, too-stiff padding.

Inside The Pack

You probably won’t be surprised to hear this—since this is a bag designed for work and travel from Bellroy, a brand known for its organization—but there are a lot of pockets and places to stow your gear around this bag. That’s the tl;dr, but you want the details, so buckle up because it’s a bit of a wild ride.

We’re going to shake things up and start at the sides. On the left is a zipper pocket with a slight curve at the top. It’s presumably for a water bottle, but it’s a tight squeeze for a 21-ounce Standard Mouth Hydro Flask, our trusty hydration companion. The bottle is nearly too tall, although it fits width-wise. You’re not fitting anything wide-mouth in here, and certainly not a big Nalgene, but this isn’t a bag you’ll be taking far away from refill sources, so that’s probably OK. You can use the pocket for other things instead, like a travel umbrella or a packable jacket, but whatever you put in here presses inside the main compartment. That’s great for slim bag aesthetics but something to remember if you’ve got it stuffed full of clothing or packing cubes.

The other side features a vertical zipper and opens to reveal a fairly open pocket that you can access while wearing the bag. It includes a key clip on a leash, and we have no issue reaching our key fob to unlock the office door while it’s still attached by swinging the bag around to the side. We didn’t end up using it for much else other than hand sanitizer since there are so many other pockets on this bag, but if you’re not concerned about keys scratching your phone, it’s a good place to stash a small device, AirPods, or the like, as well.

We’re going to flip back to the front of the bag now and open the first zipper. Its opening is reminiscent of the Bellroy Desk Caddy. It has a similar zipper mesh pocket attached at the front and several slip pockets along the back. The mesh pocket is held out of the “crush zone” and perfectly holds a pair of sunglasses, which is what we’ve been stashing inside. The pockets hold a travel wallet or passport, with pens or a stylus in the two skinnier ones.

Looks alone conceal the fact that this pocket is actually quite deep, so you can slide an iPad or similar A4-sized tablet inside or use it for your Bluetooth keyboard or paperwork. However, if you just dump some tiny tech accessories inside as we did at first, realize that you’ll have to reach deep to retrieve them. There’s a better spot for them; this area is best utilized with larger gear or by putting accessories into a tech pouch first. Realize, however, that there’s no padding on this section, so you’ll want to put a cover or protective sleeve on your device if you’re worried about breaking the screen.

We’re going to skip over the second zipper for a second and head all the way to the back, where you’ll find the entrance to the laptop compartment. It can accommodate up to a 16-inch device and swallows our 13-inch MacBook Air, though the hefty back panel padding and rigid foam between this area and the main compartment leave us with no concerns about the safety of our device.

Just in front of where you slide a computer is a large drop pocket where you can stash tech or a toiletry kit, as Bellroy suggests. The thought is that you just have to open one zipper as you make your way through the security checkpoint at the airport to pull out your laptop and liquids; however, while that makes sense in practice (and we trust our toiletry containers not to leak), it just makes us nervous putting liquids in such close proximity to a laptop. We had no issue tucking a toiletry bag in the extra space in the front pocket since we weren’t packing an iPad for our trip and putting tech accessories near the laptop instead. They’re both reasonable options, though, so you do you.

Finally, it’s time for the main compartment. It opens via a dual-headed zipper that runs all the way down both sides of the bag, so you can see the entire space at once. That makes it easy to pack, and since there are two zipper heads, you can just open it part of the way to grab something off the top while traveling.

Against the front panel is a large mesh zipper pocket. You can use it for tech (if you haven’t put it in one of the other three or four places we’ve suggested), toiletries (if you have a pre-screening service and won’t have to pull them out at TSA), or whatever else floats your boat. We’ve been using it for a small first-aid kit, i.e., tissues and bandages.

Looking at the remaining space, you will see where both the bottle pocket and the pouch in the laptop compartment hang. If you need more space in the main compartment, you’ll have to sacrifice using those pockets because filling them up will encroach upon this area. However, it is a good amount of space to fill, and we had no issue fitting two pairs of pants, a pair of shorts, a swimsuit, two shirts, a sweatshirt, pajamas, underwear, and socks inside. You can use packing cubes for your gear if you prefer, but there are also stretchy tie-down straps that crisscross the space and connect with a magnetic Woojin buckle. They do a great job of holding your folded clothing in place without allowing anything to shift around in transit, so we left the cubes behind for our trip.

Most of the time, of course, we used the Bellroy Transit Workpack Pro 22L for the daily commute. In that case, the straps lie flat against the back panel and never get in our way. The size of the bag isn’t so large that you feel like you’re using a travel backpack for your everyday carry, yet it works well as a small carry on or personal item bag when you want it to. We think this bag may be a good buy for you if you like having something that can work for multiple travel needs instead of just waiting for the next trip. You’ll just have to decide if the stiff harness system is worth the helpful organization and if you even want all those pockets and dividers or find the entire thing overkill.