Daily Carry Pro

The first backpack I reach for on any trip now...but there's room for improvement.

I searched far and wide for a backpack that could cover my needs for a weekend away, a personal item for flights, and great tech protection for a laptop and tablet. I ended up between the Daily Carry Pro and the Aer City Pack Pro 2. I chose Tortuga. The design is practical, effective, and it carries what I travel with well. It has a very spacious capacity and enough malleability to expand in depth when needed. The admin pocket going the full length of the backpack is a selling point for me, along with most of the organizational pockets being zippered. The main compartment is an ideal blank slate packing space to take whatever packing cubes, pouches, or protective cases I'm carrying on a particular trip. Now why this is only 4 stars for me...the handles. The Daily Carry Pro has top and side handles, but they're basic webbing handles with no padding. Picking up the bag from the top handle when it's fully packed out isn't comfortable. At this price point, these handles feel like a cost-cutting measure to hit a target MSRP. I love everything else about this bag; the organization, the comfort of the harness, and the balance of structure vs malleability. It's just the handles are a missed opportunity to me.

Tortuga Daily Carry Pro Review It’s surprisingly hard to find a backpack that actually holds two laptops without feeling like a brick, but the Tortuga Daily Carry Pro nails it. The separate tech compartment keeps both devices safe and easy to grab, without eating up all your organization space in the main section. It pushes right up against airline "personal item" limits—giving you the maximum amount of space—but holds its shape and stays remarkably comfortable on your back, even when crammed full of heavy gear. If you travel constantly or carry a massive tech setup, this bag is a lifesaver. That said, after using it for a while, a few annoying quirks definitely stand out: Uncomfortable handles: The top and side grab handles dig into your hands when the bag is heavy. Since this backpack is literally designed to haul heavy tech, flimsy handles are a frustrating oversight. A painfully tight luggage strap: Sliding this thing over your rolling suitcase handle is a nightmare if the backpack is fully packed. The pass-through strap is just too tight, making it a huge pain to deal with when you're rushing through an airport. A weirdly narrow tablet sleeve: The laptop section is great overall, but the document/tablet sleeve inside it is way too narrow. The physical room is there—the bag is wide enough—so it’s honestly surprising Tortuga didn't just widen the sleeve so you could actually fit things in it easily. No external clip points: There’s nowhere to easily attach a carabiner for a neck pillow, hat, or extra gear to the outside of the bag. If Tortuga padded the handles, loosened up the luggage strap, widened that document sleeve, and threw on a couple of lash points, this would easily be a 10/10 backpack. Even with those gripes, I still use it all the time and genuinely like it. Being able to easily carry two laptops in a comfortable, under-seat bag is absolutely worth putting up with a few design flaws. Dear Tortuga team I love this bag and would love to work with you to make the next version perfect.

I am 5’2, 115 lbs. I bought this after using the setout backpack at $199 since 2019 in need of something slightly smaller. The daily carry pro is $51 more, but the quality is drastically declined. The stitching work is wonky in the front pockets. The zippers are extremely cheap, and no lock hooks, compared to the Setout. The top handle is laughable, it’s what you’d find on a normal school backpack and poorly placed for an unbalanced carry. The device sleeves drop very close to the bottom that if you have your laptop in there and you set down on an angle, there’s a chance of it smashing into the ground. I’m not sure that this material will hold up either, it feels like it will eventually flake after a bit of use and time in the closet. The only redeeming quality is they actually did a better job with the water bottle holder. That’s it. I don’t think this company is making lasting, quality products anymore :(