Customer Reviews Patagonia Refugio Pack 28L

If only Patagonia made these packs like they used to! We have this exact pack - 4 years old used by my son every day for school. It's a little tattered but otherwise in great shape - I saw that Patagonia finally re-issued these after years of weird dysfunctional packs. It's okay but not Patagonia quality -- no soft pocket, the pen and gear pocket is made of flimsy material etc. They just used to be so much better but I'm afraid that Patagonia ship has sailed...never to return.

I wrote this review on my blog about this class of backpack. The good stuff: I still own this pack. I got it before I went on this crazy quest to find the perfect crossover daypack (CDP) and didn't know what I really needed. It is a great pack in so many ways. The one thing that the Refugio has that I wish all other packs had is that it has a dedicated fleece pocket for my sunglasses/glasses right on top of the pack near the handle. This is unbelievably convenient and I looked for it (largely without success) in all other packs. The things that the Refugio has going for it, outnumber the negatives. It has a great divided organizer pocket in a compartment outside of the main compartment. It also has comfortable shoulder straps and deep side mesh pockets that hold a 1L Nalgene bottle or a compact tripod (I am a hobby photographer). It is also spacious for a 28L pack. This is somewhat the result of it being so flexible (no frame-sheet) but it is also an efficient quasi-top load design that gives you access to the entire volume of the bag. The bad stuff: The problems it has are multifold. As I mentioned above, it is floppy and hot, but it also lacks a waist belt making it squirrelly while cycling or if I am moving at a mild trot to make it across campus to my class (I am a teacher by profession). Also, it is difficult to remove and insert my 15" MacBook. The laptop pocket is against the back wall of the pack and there is a deep "roof" that one needs to clear to get the laptop in and out of that pocket. The other issue is the one mentioned above: the compression straps stretch across the zipper to the main compartment. What this means is that the compression straps actually stop you from being able to open up the zipper fully; further impeding your ability to access big stuff in the pack. Summary: It's a good pack but with serious flaws that have forced me to find its replacement. It helps to serve as a point of comparison for all the other packs discussed. Patagonia is also a company I have no trouble supporting as they have business practices that are not always about making the highest possible margin. That said, the Refugio is a pretty expensive pack for what you get. There are North Face packs with similar features that are 2/3rds the cost of the Refugio. Grade: D (sort of unfair as it is not directly comparable to the true CDPs that follow)

Love the look and function of the backpack, but the straps are too close together at the top and then bite into my neck making the pack unwearable. I am 5'3", so other shorter people may have the same issue. So sad as I love Patagonia products.

Loved the look of this bag for work and other things. Disappointed that it fell apart right out of the packaging. The handle on top came loose. Not good when I pick up my backpack by the handle on a daily basis.

This indeed is a great backpack as the reviews have indicated, but I hope you see this very important caveat: whatever fabric was used as the inside of the straps and back of the backpack has roughed up and pilled every single piece of clothing I have worn while using this backpack. I initially bought it for a 2-week vacation and it pilled the nice (and kind of expensive) :( athletic dresses I had bought for the trip, and I continued to use it as a commuter backpack after that vacation and it's pilled up all my tee shirts. Thankfully a sweater brick will shave the pills off, but while it's a great backpack, I consider this to be a wasted money. I would seek my money back if if were not too late now.

I bought two Patagonia backpacks with the intention of returning the one that did not work for me. This is the backpack that I will be returning. The straps are much too close together at the top of the pack and cut into my neck, and the body side of the straps is rough and uncomfortable. The two issues lead me to believe the back of my neck would be rubbed raw if I ever used this pack. The sunglass pocket also just hangs in the main pocket, it is not tacked down, I would think this would squish anything inside the pocket and that the pocket itself would catch on anything behind it in the main compartment. There is also a pouch in the main compartment with velcro on it. This is also bad for me as I put a lot of workout clothes in my pack, and the velcro is pretty much the enemy of that type of fabric.