Customer Reviews Timbuk2 Command Pack

I used to use Timbuktu bags all the time. Then they started missing things in construction, such as a key strap, which they insisted was an oversize and sent me a replacement that they said I could sew in. So I moved to other companies for a few years. And then I decided to do Timbukt2 again, and they sent me this one...with the clever but not useful bottle opener but without the key strap. Anyone who travels a lot knows how useful this, and I am sorry to see Timbik2's production process missing this again.

Nice looking bag with a good amount of space. However the one glaring issue is the placement and access of the laptop sleeve. It is at the rear of the backpack, partially obscured by the straps which have to be manipulated in order to access the laptop. Not a huge deal but when you are trying to move thru airport security quickly, it will be an annoyance.

I wanted a PC bag not too heavy-duty looking or too business in black or gray. Soft green color made me casual enough to travel with my laptop PC and tablet.

I was hopeful that this would be a perfect bag for my extensive business travel. And it is certainly a very good bag. Good protection, useful pockets and seems durable. But I'm disappointed with 2 aspects. One, it has 2 handles for use when not using it as a backpack. Both of these handles are simple straps with no padding. I use the handles regularly and I can already feel them digging into my hands. Even a little bit of padding would have helped tremendously. Other bags in this price range have better handles. And two, the bottle holder is relatively shallow. I'm on my first trip with this bag and my water bottle has fallen out spontaneously several times already. the bottle is lightweight plastic so I would not have expected this. I'll definitely need to swap out for a shorter bottle if I expect to carry a bottle in the external holder. Again, just a inch or two more of additional webbing would have made the bottle holder much more usable.

Let's start off by saying that this is a great looking backpack. I've only had it for two weeks and had 3 people ask about it. Unfortunately I've told them all that the first time that I hung a camelbak water bottle on it while enroute to a job site, the stitching tore and the water bottle went flying. Keep in mind, I was just walking, not flinging it around. Also, the stitching seems to be fraying around the zipper. I have a bunch of other Timbuk2 products and this has been the only one that has been subpar, so don't let this discourage you from buying any of their other products.

I bought this for use in law school. I like that it fits my macbook, kindle, and some notebooks. All my casebooks are digital this semester, so the only other things I toss in are smaller rule books and the like. Sometimes a jacket. I have a lot of pens, pencils, highlighters. And things that you put in tiny pockets. This has a lot of options for me. HOWEVER. The small section that has most of the pockets for the pens flops around when it's loaded. Very frustrating. Makes it hard for me to get them out, they constantly dump out on me, especially if I forgot to zip the pocket back up. Almost a deal-breaker for me. I think I'll need to get a pencil case, didn't really want to. It is very comfortable on my body as long as I don't put too much weight in it. I've been in a good amount of car accidents, so anything too much creates a lot of pain. I can load this one that full, but I try not to. Someone else might not have the same issues.

The backpack itself seems to be good with all of its compartments but the straps totally eat into my neck and makes the backpack unbearable to wear even for a few seconds. I found no way of moving the padding down so it doesn't saw my neck off. I can't even return it bc it was final sale. So upsetting.

I have a 15" Lenovo laptop. It won't fit in the laptop area of this backpack. The rounded laptop area corners probably work nice for some machines (macs) but not for others. I bought this to replace a 10 year old Timbuk2 "Track" backpack which I absolutely love and which holds my 15" laptop with room to spare. That old bag has been around the world multiple times and is still going strong. I'm returning this new "Command" bag and sticking with my old one (FYI I just discovered you have to pay for return shipping in cases like this). Does Timbuk2 make backpacks with larger laptop sleeves than this? They don't have ratings for sizes bigger than 15" laptops.

These straps are very uncomfortable or both me and my husband. They cut into my shoulders, and his even worse. It's really too bad, because I really like the design of the rest of the bag!!

The Bag looks nice, straps and the padding on the back are good. The rest is not so good. - The material the bag is made with is very floppy. Start putting stuff in the pockets and the bag becomes harder to manage. - The bottom straps seem to be there to cinch the back tight when you have less stuff. Two problems here... 1) you can't cinch it tight enough for stuff not to slide to the bottom which slowly opens the straps. 2)Even cinching the bottom and then filling the bag is a problem become the floppy/slippery material allows things to slide around in the now top heavy bag (so don't run for a taxi or train in this mode). - Biggest feature I bought it for was the fold out laptop case. Doesn't work. Most airports make you take it out when you try this. Especially since a full pack doesn't allow the laptop to lie flat (which is a big no no). Flipping the bag so that the open flap is interior down lets the laptop be flat but dirties the interior and still confuses security enough to make you pull it out. (I've done this in multiple domestic and international airports). Finally resigned myself to inserting the laptop in the document sleeve and pulling it out each time (which is actually easier than trying to leave it in the flap). - The pockets in the interior are those typical "not really meant to be filled" pockets. You know, where two sheets of fabric are just sewn together. The result is that using some pockets makes others unusable. They also deform the nice contours of the bag. The bag gets 1 star for looks (when mostly empty) and 1 free star because I've been a long time Timbuk2 fan, but I'd steer clear of this one until they work out the kinks. One final note, if you are a fan of the "made in SF" thing that is a strong part of Timbuk2's messaging, this bag isn't. It's got a "made 'somewhere else'" tag inside.

I've used this pack for about one month on one domestic and one international trip. I'm excited to have an actual back pack, but it does not really have the pockets and organization I'd become used to in the command messenger bag. The water bottle mesh is too short. A bottle falls out every time I've used it, so it's pretty much useless in my opinion. I really thought there would be more internal pockets that are zipped. My bag frequency finds itself upside down and contents spill out in the bag or out of bag if not in zipped up pockets. I also find the back pack straps to be in the way when trying to access the PC or iPad. Now I know why they flip them out of the way in the video demo. Also, the pen slots and other open pockets don't work too well when the zoppied pockets are full since there was not any excess fabric available. Maybe I cram too much in the zipped pockets, but then see above when pack gets up-ended. I'd looked at this bag online for sometime before buying. Glad I got the sale price, otherwise I'd probably return it. I've got 5 or 6 other TB2 bags, and this is the first one to disappoint.

DO google to check photo from other consummer for accurate colour representation of the bag. It is hard for oversea customer to do return as who will want to pay half of the bag price to ship the return item back to US...

Straightforward bag, doesn't have a very protective MacBook sleeve. My computer has more dents than it did after years in other bags. TSA also always makes me take my laptops out of the bag and into a plastic tub.

This has a great look to it and I got a lot of compliments on that, but I found myself continually saying the straps dug into my shoulders bc of very very little padding.

I had high hopes given the other reviews and the TSA laptop sleeve. It fits a Macbook 15" nicely but main front panel was crooked clocked counter clockwise a few degrees. To make it appear straight I adjusted the straps but then it was loaded on one shoulder. If it were made right it would be a decent backpack.

This is the most inconvenient backpack I have ever used. To grab your laptop, you need to fold the straps, unzip the laptop pocket all the way to the bottom, open the velcro strap, and grab the laptop out from the side. When you are packing up, you need to reverse these steps. Even though these steps only take less than a minute, it is unbearably unnecessary. Finally, I got a new backpack that I can simply grab my laptop after unzipping the top part. No more strap folding! No more turning the backpack around! The front pockets are no better, because the front part is so soft that you always have to hold it while accessing the inner pockets. Water bottle elastic band is ripped off the net after a few times of use.

Cheap construction for the price. Not a 15" laptop sleeve. Returned but can't get my money back. Just a credit. Will never buy from Timbuk2 again.

This is absolutely the worst backpack. I don't think Timbuk2 USUALLY makes terrible bags, but this is the worst and they want me to send it back and be without a backpack for 3-6 weeks AND shipping is on me because of a timbuk2 stitching defect. Doesn't seem right. Also, the biggest gripe is that when you walk through as many airport terminals as I do, the material on the back of the backpack rubs shirts the wrong way and has them ride up your back. If that's not enough, it also creates FABRIC FUZZ all over your clothes. I have tshirts and anything cotton ruined. They don't care. On top of all that, they never pick up their phone line and emails take 13+ days to get a templated response. They might be growing too fast for their own good. Sad.

This is one of the worst designed bags i've ever used. It looks beautiful, but performs terribly. The way the second, front compartment is placed makes it fall forward. The front compartment is not seated on the bottom of the bag so anything put in it will not rest on the bottom and cause the bag to fall forward. In addition it has one very shallow side bottle holder. The side bottle holder is also stitched flush to the bottom with no room to expand on the bottom, which means that any bottle put in it will stick out sideways and also push into the bag.