Customer Reviews The North Face Recon

I bought this backpack for hiking. After using it several times I am a little disappointed that the upper straps rub terribly on my neck when I clasp the top buckle. It rubbed a raw spot and is very uncomfortable. The backpack is made very well and is quite sturdy. I would recommend this backpack for travel, commuting or school but for my purpose of hiking I wouldn't recommend it.

I recently became a NYC bus & subway commuter. I reached down for my backpack one morning on the bus and nearly ripped the handle off my bag due to the weight. I needed a new bag. I loved loved loved the Asphalt Grey/Zinnia Orange color of this bag. The zippers are great quality. The backpack is long in length so I know I could fit a lot of stuff in it. I just felt the bottom of it was not reinforced enough. It is one layer of material. I felt that all the scraping of the bus floor, the subway floor, the office floor, the gym locker would eventually tear a hole in the bottom of my bag. Not at the seams but the material itself. Now this bag is made of nylon & ballistics nylon so I could be paranoid but it just did not have that feel of strength in the floor of the backpack like my soon-to-be-replaced backpack does. I did not give this bag a chance as Zappos sells other backpacks with stronger bottoms so my review is only of my initial impressions. I own other North Face items and am highly satisfied with them.

This backpack is very comfortable, but it looks bigger than it is. It's so slim laterally that I have trouble getting a 1 1/2 inch binder to fit. The front organizer panel only goes down a few inches. Because of this, it "cuts off" the bottom half of the back main compartment, making it very difficult to reach in and take things in and out, and near impossible to do so one-handed or quickly. I love the look of it and it is very durable, I just wish it was more functional. It is almost like The North Face designed a backpack based on looks without testing the actual function of the layout, pockets, length-to-width ratio, etc. Overall, it seems like it will last forever, but I'll be looking to replace it sooner rather than later due to the poor layout.

Bought this bag for long college days that require many different textbooks, waterbottle, laptop, and various notebooks and it was too small which was unfortunate given the quality of the backpack. Would be good for someone who doesnt require too carry as many things with them for the day.

I like the backpack, but I wish the small pockets were bigger. I don't like how the small compartment interferes with the main one (not the laptop one). Anything bulky will poke out and block room to put stuff in the main compartment. The two front pockets are also smaller than the original recon. I can't fit as much stuff there either. The design is nice and all but what use is it if you can't fit all the things you need. I can't even fit half the stuff in the front I used to put in my old recon.

I was really disappointed after I read all the reviews & ordered this bag. The reviews were great! Maybe I'm one of the few that wanted to use it for work/commuting as opposed to school. I am a female in my 40's & wanted a sturdy backpack for commuting. I have very specific needs when it comes to a laptop bag. One is for it to stand up on it's own. This backpack does not do that because the pockets are not evenly proportioned. The front pocket is only half the size of the bag. The back of the backpack is curved; I don't know if this is a defect in the one I received or if this is normal? Super uncomfortable on my back though. I am also petite with a short torso & I felt the backpack was too long for me. Really disappointed. I was hoping the search would be over. If having a laptop bag stand up is important to you - do not buy this bag.

The panels on the front are depicted as being a light grey but, in reality, they are dark grey, only a shade lighter than the black. Also two of the straps were just tacked and never completely sewn.

The bag is ok very comfortable the biggest issue I found is there is no pocket for the bottom straps that go around your waist so there left dangling behind you. My other backpack from NorthFace had them did not realize how valuable they are.

I am a grad student and used my old TNF "ILLINOIS" bag - 32 Liters - to go to the university: I usually put in there 2/3 notebooks, textbooks, a 13" Thinkpad laptop with sleeves + charger, and when I go play soccer twice a week I add my shoes and short/t-shirt as well. I also use it to go on weekends and take it as carry-on on long flights. So I wanted a more modern looking bag and be able to do the same. I can...but it is incredibly uneasy. On the bright side, in addition of previous comments, the front outside pocket is very convenient, I put my gloves in there and this is much better than trying to shove them in my jacket pockets. Also I just walked 15 minutes under a snow shower and everything inside the bag was completely dry. Water drops slide or stay on the cover, you can just shake your bag a little and they fall off. The problem of the Recon (I am talking as of Nov. 2018) is packing and accessing things. Once I put my laptop (without sleeve of course) in the back pocket, and very few things like pens/small painkiller/ID in the front, the main pocket seems very small. Basically the front pocket is half the height of bag and goes inside the main pocket. The laptop pocket does the same on the whole length from the back. There is room, I was able to fit all my stuff in this reduced main pocket, but how painful that was! I needed to squeeze my shoes and sports clothes past this bottleneck (zipper only goes half way which doesn't help), then put my notebooks on top. Once in the gym, I had to empty all my school stuff to reach the sport clothes in the bottom, then repeat the process when I left the gym. Bottom line is : there is enough room...but it is hard to make use of it, the bag is too stiff which is very frustrating. Not sure if it's a problem specific to the 2018 new design but I'd love to be able to pack/unpack in less than 2 minutes and not play Tetris everytime I have to.

i bought this bag and it seemed great and first but is now starting to shift to the left a lot making it look and feel uneven tried to do something with the backpakc strings to make it even just made it worse

If you like style overcomfort this might be a great backpack for you. I got it because I was hoping for both but the straps are very hard and uncomfortable and so is the backing. The place where you put your laptop is going to keep it safe, but it also makes the back hard and uncomfortable as well. I had a Patagonia backpack that is much more comfortable with more room. Maybe I just need to use the backpack a few times to break it in.

I had the yavapai backpack for a long time and have been thinking about getting the recon backpack for a long time! I was really excited to get my hands on one of these, and its indeed a pretty good quality backpack, however, the compartment is so much smaller than it was before, like so so so much smaller!!!! The first and second compartment wasn't as deep as it used to be, and the additional laptop compartment take up too much space that makes the main compartment smaller & couldn't fit a lot!! I love the backpack but I wish I would've bought the older version online or at outlet for less of a price and a overall larger compartment!

If it could stand on its own while places on the floor this bag would be absolutely perfect! However, it doesn't so that's why I'm rating it this amount of stars

Too small

Had to return this product because it was too big and bulky for office use. Would be a good backpack for travel, outdoor hiking, etc.

I ordered this product online for my upcoming freshman year at college in the color Rumbred/ Grsllgy and expected it to come as the same color as on the website, but when the backpack arrived the colors were slightly different from the picture. Instead of the linings for the mesh on the outside pocket being white, they are dark grey, along with the bottom part of the backpack, which appears to be light purple in the photo on the website. There are a few other color changes to on the backpack, but they aren't as noticeable as the ones highlighted above. I do love the backpack itself and have heard good things about it, but I am a bit confused as to what happened with the coloring...

Even though the backpack is beautiful in design, it is very heavy and uncomfortable. The backpack itself weighs at least 5 pounds. When I first placed it on my shoulders with my notebooks, it felt like my upper body blood circulation was being cut off and I got tired faster. Also when you place the backpack on the floor it will not stand straight. You will have to place it on its front or back. I don't don't want to return it but at the same time I'm not happy with it.

The straps on the zinc grey and kimono green recon backpack aren't green like they are in the picture they are actually grey with green flex vent which I have a problem with. The straps are so small, I don't like having to wear the backpack all the way right on my back I like it loose, free flowing and when I try to do that the straps don't allow it, I was much more happier with the guy backpacks I would like it if the strap wrapped all the way around my shoulder and arm instead of getting rubbed by the extension strap.

I had this backpack for school last year and absolutely loved it! I decided to order the backpack again for this school year and was incredibly disappointed. The newly-designed backpack no longer holds the same volume as its predecessor. There is now a separate, zippered laptop pocket that takes away space from the main compartment. The main compartment has lost its roominess/ stretch factor and won't hold the same binders that fit in my old Recon. The second compartment is much shallower and would not be able to fit any type of notebook/ binder/ folder. Will be returning....

I bought the bag because everybody was saying that theres so much space, but I'm a university student and can barely fit anything in the bag... My one textbook and binder has pretty much taken up the whole bag ... There's also not enough pockets

Have not bought a backpack for a long time. Bought what was classified as medium size. I was not sure what 30 l. looks like. Turns out it was too small. It had quality construction and whould have worked grat if it held more stuff.

It doesn't stand up on it's own because the lip at the bottom of the back panel sticks out. This lip could be a little smaller. The front compartment is essentially a pouch within the main compartment that is half of the height of the actual backpack. If the bottom half of the backpack is not filled it will cave in because the top front half has weight. Not the best design because you then essentially only have one compartment for anything sizable. Granted, the main compartment is fairly roomy. Unfortunately that is also kind of spoiled by, once again, the front compartment; which when filled protrude inwards essentially reducing the capacity of the upper portion of the main compartment. This is a problem if you don't have many large items in the main compartment to counteract the weight in the front compartment. Don't get me wrong, this is a well made backpack. The design however is questionable. The front compartment should at least be separated from the main. Ideally, it is at least 3/4 the length of the backpack. That said, the mesh pockets are huge and are great for large bottles. There's a secret access to ONE of the mesh pockets hidden along the side of the back panel. Cool. The laptop compartment is elevated, large and padded on all sides. The mesh requires some breaking in but I think it is comfortable.

I had the last version and this one is a small upgrade minus a couple things. First with the a good, the new water bottle tabs are big enough to house the water bottles so they don't fall out. Second, the front storage has less fleece making it easier to take pens for pens/pencils and other items out. The older version had too much fleece and made it hard to take items in and out. Now the bad, my biggest dissapointment, I bought the older version because the laptop was well protected in its sleeve. The sleeve did not go to the bottom of the bag which protected it well when you dropped your bag after a long day. Not in the new version, that's unfortunate, because this bag had potential. Also, the new front compartment is part of the main compartment. It makes is hard when pulling out a book or anything in all honestly. As you pull out the item it gets caught on the front compartment making a hassle. Lastly, the back panel, really not much to say except I don't like it. It is stiff and uncomfortable. In my opinion, aside from all the negatives, this is the only bag I have found that you can take from school to the trail, it is why I continue to purchase.

I bought this last year. The straps are very stiff and don't mold very well to my shoulders. It does fit a lot and has great pockets. The bag unfilled also weighs more than I would like. I thought using it more would soften it but it has not. I would not buy this backpack again.

I bought the rocket red/everglade melange color which appears completely purple in the online photo. The color in real life is an orangey coral. Very misleading :( great pack though