Customer Reviews The North Face Recon

Overall like the backpack however it isn't as big as expected so I cant fit everything I want.

I use it for school every day, and it's just what i need.

The quality on the backpack was great. The material itself is light but you can tell it is strong. The zippers, straps and stitching are very high quality. The only improvement would be to add more full sized pockets, outside of the main opening.

My son wanted this backpack for high school. It has a lot of straps that (thankfully) can be adjusted or removed.

It's a great product I wish more of the pockets had the super soft fabric like the top one does.

I haven't even used yet, but it looks spectacular.

This is a well made and big backpack. Only complaint is that it is a bit heavy.

I use the backpack everyday. I mainly use it for travel and to carry my everyday items. The backpack has plenty of space. It has a laptop compartment and a soft lined Swing compartment in the front for sunglasses / reading glasses. I much rather have the mesh lining for the water bottles on either side. Overall, the backpack is perfect for what I need it for

Bag is used as a college book bag. This bad has multiple compartments with and abundance of space.

Great looking solid, roomy backpack for all your school or hiking needs.

I use this as my daily school bag as my last one was really cheap and broke within a year. Its really nice and a nice bag.

Very spacious. I wish it came in the XS duffel since I'm only using this bag for my gym class.

Good Quality, an excellent product I use it to travel worldwide carrying my personal belongings!

Use it daily for work and going to the gym. Use it for travel as well. Love the storage for sunglasses, and loads of pockets to keep things dry. Only downside was it felt like it is smaller then 30 liters capacity. You might have to really shove stuff in to get to 30 liters. Overall id but again... Better than some competitors bags!!

My son loves the color, hopefully it will work out for school for him. He is in the fourth grade and hopefully won't have to carry a ton of stuff as this backpack doesn't seem like it'll hold too much. It looks very strong and sturdy

I purchased this for my 7th grader to use as his school backpack. It doesn't hold as much as I thought it would. The backpack is deeper than it is wide which makes it somewhat awkward for trying to lug around a lot of school stuff. We'll see how it'll work as a school backpack, but the quality is definitely there!

I love the durability of these backpacks. The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because the compartments aren't the easiest to fit lots of books in and get them in and out easily compared to the older model of recon.

Love this backpack and the attention the detail. My only gripe is the height of it. Wish it was just slightly shorter for my proportions so that it didnt sit below my hips.

this is being used as a high school backpack, but also to hike with on trips to the Rockies. It's the perfect size because it holds so much while fitting a girl's body well!

THE GOOD: This backpack has ruined all other bags for me. I cannot live without it, but cannot live with how it tips over constantly. The outer stash pocket is a game changer. The large stretchy side pockets are awesome too. I particularly love how there is an additional opening on the right bottle pocket that allows you to quickly stash and grab spare change without taking off the bag. The upper 'admin' compartment is just right. The frame provides ventilation, support and enough protection that you don't need a case for your laptop. What more could you want? THE BAD: The biggest, most glaring design oversight with this bag is how this bag tips over no matter what you do. This is a big risk when you have a an expensive laptop with you. That means you can never put the bag down, unless you are fine with it tipping over and collecting dirt on the ground. Even when leaning against the leg of a table, if the floor is smooth, this bag will slide flat onto the floor, where a careless step will crack your laptop in half. MAYBE if you are outside, you can lean this bag against a tree, but it still always seems precariously about to fall over. It drives me mad. I used to try adapting by hanging my bag on a hook whenever possible.. but the issue with that, is the top backpack handle is IN FRONT of the laptop compartment... meaning that if you have your Recon hanging on a hook, you can't access your laptop without first removing the bag. I adapted by tying a string around the top of the backpack straps, but this is suboptimal and not at all aesthetic. Speaking of asthetics, the bag looks like a bit of a turtle shell when worn. I can excuse this because of the incredible features, but at times I do wish for a more fashionable bag (that stood up). I adapted to the constantly falling over issue by finding a large (7"x 10" 14x) Tupperware box and shoving it down into the bottom of my Recon. It actually keeps the bag standing upright, but wastes space, weight, and makes it harder to slide my laptop into its compartment. This hack allows me to keep on using my Recon for daily use but does highlight just how painful it is to have a bag that can't stand upright. All in all, the outer stash pocket and phenomenal stretch bottle pockets have ruined all other backpacks for me. Now I just wish it would stand up on its own, and we'd have the perfect bag.

I use this pack as a daily slinger and as a day pack for work outdoors. It has a lot of great features, including a buckle whistle that brings my dog running back every time. My only qualm is that the weight distribution is a little top-heavy. That being said, the straps are very comfortable and I am still making adjustments as to compartment use. It's back compartment securely holds my hydration unit or my 17" laptop.

Used it for travel on the plain as a carry on and worked great.

Work travel and family life

My daughter used this backpack during her 11th grade year. It's a pretty heavy pack. The biggest issue she had was that the mesh water bottle holders both ripped. She is not hard on her backpacks but she cannot use it for her water bottle anymore. She had a Jansport backpack a couple of years ago and I think we will go back to that brand. It held up just fine and was lighter.

I love the Recon pack. I had the previous version and it has treated me well for at least 10 years or more. I saw the new version with the separate laptop pocket and was sold. It is great to have the separate pocket, so you don't have to disturb the contents in the main pocket when inserting or removing your laptop. I do feel though that the main compartment size has shrunk though because of this. If the main compartment was just a little larger it would be perfect. Maybe TNF has a similar bag with slightly larger size that I just haven't looked at yet. I do still love this bag and I can seem to fit what I need in it, just with the pocket was slightly larger. You should by this bag!