GOT BAG ROLLTOP Review

Here at Pack Hacker, we’re big fans of recycling and sustainability, and GOT BAG is a big proponent of that as well. We thought we were doing our part by leading an in-office recycling campaign, but GOT BAG outdid us by setting up a clean-up site on the ocean and dedicating their brand to sustainable sourcing from that site. If you can’t tell—we like these folks already. However, can they make a high-functioning backpack? Let’s find out.

External Components

The GOT BAG ROLLTOP is, yup, you guessed it, a rolltop backpack. Without compression, it boasts 31 liters, making for a large daypack or a small travel backpack, depending on how you frame it. The exterior is crafted from Ocean Impact Plastic, or recycled polyethylene terephthalate, transformed into a 600D yarn. It feels like a boat cover, which isn’t the softest to the touch but is durable and looks rugged. The interior has a TPU coating which adds an extra layer of protection from the elements. The material offers a neat look but gets marked up fairly easily.

Let’s dive even further into how GOT BAG manufactured this rolltop. They have a clean-up site in Indonesia where they harvest plastic from the ocean. Then, they turn that material into the yarn we just mentioned. That yarn is eventually woven into a fabric, which is manufactured into the bag you see here. It appears that their products change depending on what they’re able to harvest, but at the time of writing, the bag is produced from 59% Ocean Impact Plastic fabric, 17% other recycled material, and 24% non-recycled materials. The quarter of the bag that isn’t recycled materials is mostly hardware.

The pack uses YKK zippers, but there aren’t many of them due to the rolltop. The pull is colorful, so you can find it quickly against the dark fabric, and it shares the same design as little tabs placed throughout the bag.

The rolltop secures using a Duraflex buckle. The closure works as we’d expect it to, but the strap loosens easily. If you grab the bag by the strap to move it, it becomes limp and unravels. Additionally, it can be hard to tighten if you don’t stow a ton of gear inside. Once you pack it out, this isn’t an issue.

The sternum strap and shoulder strap adjustors are Duraflex too, and we haven’t had any issues with either of them.

Both sides of the pack have two compression straps to make it easy to cinch the bag down when you don’t have as much gear inside. There aren’t any water bottle pockets, but we can use the compression straps as a makeshift water holder for bottles with a removable cap connected to the bottle.

With a Nalgene, we take the cap off, slid it through the top compression strap, replaced it on the top, and slid the bottom of the bottle through the lower strap. After cinching both down, it hardly moves, even when filled with 32 ounces of water.

The back side has a luggage pass-through, and the top has a small handle. Neither are fancy, but they both get the job done.

Fit Notes

The back panel has a fair amount of padding and is very structured. There’s mesh for aeration and channels that divide up the padding, which helps with airflow. For such a large backpack, it keeps things fairly cool.

The shoulder straps have a similar makeup—they have structured padding and mesh, which helps them stay pretty comfortable. They’re fairly easy to manipulate, so they will form to your body reasonably well.

The sternum strap is on a rail, so you can make micro-adjustments and find the perfect spot for your setup. The rail is broken up into three sections, so you can attach things to the two sections you aren’t using for the strap. Attaching a carabiner is easy and is a handy addition.

While wearing it, the pack feels large. Even on a bigger frame, it feels like you’re wearing a sizeable, yet lightweight, brick on your back. The rolltop is pretty tall, so when you look over your shoulder, you can see it peaking out. It feels like you’re a Blastoise that just popped out of its Pokeball with a cannon on both shoulders—but without the hydro pumps.

These issues are worse for those with a smaller frame because the pack is even larger by comparison. It’s comfortable enough—but it can look a little silly. We all love a little kid with a backpack that’s too big for them, though it isn’t as cute on a grown adult. Throw a sling into the mix, and you’ll really be weighed down.

Inside The Pack

There’s just one quick access pocket, and it’s on the front side of the pack. It opens vertically and isn’t the largest spot for gear; however, you can easily fit your phone and wallet inside. The material doesn’t have any give, so you can’t stretch it to fit more gear. It’s hard to access when you’re wearing the pack, and it’s hard to get things inside when fully packed out.

The main compartment has some organization, but most of your gear will be on its own.

There’s a small zippered pocket on the front side that hangs like a pesky t-shirt tag. It’s pretty little—but it’s nice to have a place to lock things down that you don’t want swimming in the pool that is the rest of the main compartment. When you open the pack when it’s sitting on the back panel, it hangs down in the way—which is worse when there’s gear inside it.

The back side has a removable laptop sleeve that secures itself using two hook and loop fasteners. Getting it back inside when it’s empty or stuffed is difficult, but it’s easier without a laptop inside. The case can fit up to a 15-inch computer and has a zippered pocket on the exterior that acts as another pocket for the pack when it’s in place.

When removed from the GOT BAG, we aren’t the biggest fan of the sleeve. It doesn’t have a closure, so your laptop could fall out if you have a smaller model and the hook and loop fasteners on the bag are prone to snagging specific clothing or furniture fabric. It’s nice to have the option to remove it while traveling for quick trips, but we won’t be using this one separately unless we absolutely have to.

The rest of the pack is open space—you can fit a ton in here. We’ve only gone over two small pockets and a laptop sleeve, and this thing is 31 liters, so there’s quite a lot left over. When the rolltop is open, it’s quite tall—you could fit your entire arm inside. You’ll be all set if you’re good at organizing your gear with packing cubes, pouches, and organizers. If you typically rely on the internal organization to save the day, this might not be the pack for you.

Closing the main compartment can be awkward depending on what kind of gear and how much space it takes up. The nature of the material doesn’t breathe at all, so folding the roll top can be a bit like when you roll your tent up the wrong way, and the air can’t escape. It can make the pack look awkward, and sometimes it will crease weirdly. We’re able to combat this by pushing down on the main compartment as we started rolling it, though this can lead to even more awkward creases.

On the positive side, the airtightness of this pack demonstrates it’s extreme water resistant qualities. We don’t have any issues with the gear inside the ROLLTOP getting wet, even in heavy precipitation. There may be a few not-so-flattering creases, but the bag will keep your items safe and dry.

Overall, we’re happy with how much gear we can fit inside the GOT BAG ROLLTOP and love the sustainability aspect. A few things are a little odd, adding to a somewhat awkward carry. For most intents and purposes, it’s not a huge deal, but we wouldn’t recommend relying on this pack to be your daily driver or travel companion.