Cotopaxi Chiquillo 30L Backpack (Cada Dia) Review

Do you remember your favorite school backpack? You know, the one you carried to your locker and practices throughout high school or across campus during your time at university? Or are you still looking for that unicorn of a perfect everyday carry daypack? If the latter sounds more like you, you may be interested to give the Cotopaxi Chiquillo 30L Backpack a look. After all, shouldn’t a bag designed for students’ textbooks, notebooks, and computers be able to handle the heavy use of the daily commute and travel?

Admittedly, we’re just a teensy-tiny bit older than Cotopaxi’s stated demographic for the Chiquillo, but we’re always on the hunt for durable travel daypacks that can carry a lot. A bag that can take the abuse of jostling in the hallway and getting stuffed in a locker should hold up to the indignities of sliding under the airplane seat or jostling for space with rolling carry on luggage in the overhead bin. So we put the Cotopaxi Chiquillo 30L Backpack to the test daily to find out how it stands up to the pressure.

External Components

If you’ve ever shopped for a school backpack, you’re probably not surprised to hear that the Cotopaxi Chiquillo 30L Backpack is made with polyester. However, both the exterior polyester oxford material and the polyester lining are recycled, so there’s a check in the pro column for sustainable travelers. It doesn’t look much different than the heritage backpacks of yore, though that doesn’t bother us; we dig simple designs that work well.

Cotopaxi keeps the branding to a minimum, too, which further adds to the minimalist vibe of the bag, although the different colored YKK zippers and corded pulls put a little pep in the step of all colorways except Black. We’re testing Abyss, a nice pond-like blue that’s not neutral, per se, but doesn’t scream out loud, either. It has a brighter blue front pocket zipper with an orange cord woven through the zipper pull and an olive-brown zipper with a matching cord through its pull for the main and laptop compartments. There are also four webbing strap attachment points toward the top of the bag for connecting a hat, hand sanitizer, or anything else you want to carry with a carabiner; they’re brown on this colorway. Of course, Cotopaxi changes colorways and what makes up those designs pretty consistently, so if you don’t find one you like today, check back later. Or opt for Black, which is monochromatic with no accent colors.

A carry handle atop the back panel is simply folded-over webbing for a bit of heft without extra bulk. It’s comfortable enough to use if you can’t carry the bag on your back, and it also works well to hang it up on a hook.

The other hardware on the bag is a mix of Woojin and Duraflex products. The strap adjusters are from Duraflex, and the buckles on the sternum strap are Woojin. They all work well, and the adjusters slide easily while staying where you put them. Our only complaint here is a lack of strap keepers. Look on the bright side; you’ll make your cat happy when he has a toy to play with as you walk down the hall or even with the bag sitting on the floor (or maybe that’s just our crazy feline friend).

That sternum strap slides along a strip of webbing on the shoulder straps, and it stays in place without slipping while you wear it. You can remove it, too, and while it takes a little effort to get it back on if you change your mind, we appreciate that you can take it off if you don’t feel the need for it.

The shoulder straps are fairly broad, with thin padding. We haven’t been overloading the bag for daily use, so it feels like there is enough cushion for a semi-light load, but you may miss thicker padding if you stuff the bag full of gear. The back panel padding is slightly thicker and somewhat rigid, providing good protection for the laptop that will rest against your back. Although it’s a rather long bag, the shoulder straps attach a couple of inches below the top of the bag, lifting some of the weight higher on your back and making it so that the bag doesn’t necessarily ride super low, depending on the length of your torso.

Fit Notes

The Cotopaxi Chiquillo 30L Backpack is, frankly, about as comfortable as most school backpacks. So, if you’re a child of the ‘80s and ‘90s and would be caught dead before putting the straps on both of your shoulders, you won’t notice much of a difference and will probably find it pretty comfortable for short trips. If you have matured since then and treasure your spine, you’ll put it over both shoulders and even engage the sternum strap. It’s still pretty comfortable when you do, although, as we mentioned, it doesn’t have the most padded harness system we’ve experienced, so you may feel some pulling when it’s fully packed.

As for looks, well, let’s just say this bag puts function over form. We’ll get into more details shortly, but it has exterior pockets with independent capacity, a spacious main compartment, and generous bottle pockets. However, when you combine all of that with flexible polyester material, you shouldn’t be surprised to find that you have a slightly saggy bag. If you’re looking for a casual pack to carry around campus or through the airport, this isn’t a big deal; if you’re looking for a professional-looking bag that will fit in at the office, you might want to look elsewhere.

Inside The Backpack

Now, as promised, we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of the bag’s organization. It’s not your Hello Kitty or Trolls knapsack, so it has a lot to offer. And, hey, that Cotopaxi llama logo is still pretty fun.

Centered below that logo patch is a large zippered pocket for any items that you want to quickly access. It’s just a big dump pocket, but we’ve been using it for our phone, travel wallet, headphones, hand sanitizer, tissues, etc. You can fit quite a bit in this space, but you will be scrounging around to grab exactly what you need and everything sinks to the bottom, so keep that in mind before tossing a random memory card or paper clip inside. We recommend using small pouches to contain tiny gear; you can fit a few in this pocket without a problem.

On either side of the bag are large bottle pockets with elastic tops. They include gussets at the back to expand for wide-mouth travel water bottles, but the snug tops also hold narrower insulated water bottles in place. There’s nothing fancy going on here, just traditional side pockets, but we enjoy having them and find they’re also great for carrying a travel umbrella or even a small tripod if you want.

You’ll find a U-shaped zipper for the laptop compartment in front of the carry handle. Cotopaxi says you can fit up to a 16-inch device in here, and it swallows our 13-inch MacBook Air, so we don’t think you’ll have a problem fitting a larger Apple or a PC inside. It’s padded against the front of the compartment and the back panel, as well as on the bottom, though it’s not raised off the floor. Remember, this is a backpack for older students, not 5-year-olds, so resist the temptation to toss your bag across the room when you get home, and everything should be fine.

In front of that zipper is a horseshoe-shaped entryway to the main compartment. It has a dual-headed zipper so you can open it anywhere along the track for access from either side, and it extends from the top of one bottle pocket to the other for wider access.

It includes an admin-style organization that nearly everyone will find useful, too. At the top is a horizontal zipper that opens to a shallow pocket. It has a key clip on a short leash that’s easy to access when the bag is only partially open, as well as more space inside for other gear. We’ve been using it for sunglasses, as it’s out of the crush zone of the remaining gear in the bag. Don’t worry; we put our sunglasses in a protective case to prevent scratches.

Below that is a large, lightly padded sleeve for documents, folders, or a tablet. It extends to the bottom of the bag, so you’ve got plenty of room for a second device or a slim tech pouch. In front of that are two narrower slip pockets with elastic toppers. The one on the right is slightly wider than the one on the left, but neither is very deep. Depending on your needs, you’ll find them a good spot for your passport, portable chargers and cords, a travel mouse, or a minimalist wallet. Then, there are four pen slots in front of the narrower pocket on the left side so you can be ready to take notes on paper or with a stylus on your tablet.

The remaining space is open, and there’s quite a bit of it. This is a 30L bag, and, as we have already mentioned, much of that capacity is built into the main compartment. We’ve had no issue stuffing extra layers, a small cooler for lunch, books, and more into this space, and there’s plenty of room for packing cubes and a toiletry bag if you want to use it as an overnight or personal item bag.

Because of this, you may want to consider the Cotopaxi Chiquillo 30L Backpack if you’re looking for a backpack that can do it all. It’ll get you through the day and to your next trip, provided you don’t mind a slight sag when you unpack it at your destination to carry it throughout the day.