Customer Reviews The North Face Surge Backpack

Looks aesthetically good, but is heavy without yet adding anything to the bag. The shoulder straps use an odd hybrid system with a flimsy nylon strap next to 1/2 of the regular harness strap, which doesn't seem durable. I've returned the bag because I can find a lighter bag with stronger shoulder straps to carry my laptop and other stuff on the days I can't work from home and must go into the office.

My college sophomore has used her Surge since Freshman year of HS & it's still perfect! But due to the pandemic my sophomore daughter in HS is not permitted to use lockers at school. She has carried her Surge for 3 semesters and it is now unusable. The shoulder straps have completely separated from the pack. We need to find something more durable to carry the extreme weight of all books/binders. No fault of The North Face just a casualty of change.

The website says that the bag has a lie-flat design. IT DOES NOT. At least not the one I have. The laptop compartment doesn't open all the way so if that's what you are buying this for, then think twice. The laptop keeps falling on its face when I lean it against the wall. Terrible design. Right now, I have to hold it between the wall and a desk. Not ideal, they should do something to fix it so it can lean easily against the wall. Fleece pockets are amazing! They have good storage space but my only issues are stability and incorrect website description

Great for carrying many books, binders, all personal belongings

I use this product for school but it came in smaller than I had expected wish I knew it was gonna be this small.

The shoulder strap is not durable enough to be used more than a year. I use my Surge backpack for commuting. It is an excellent backpack with a lot of space for a laptop, a screen monitor, and a lunch box but shoulder strap sawed to the backpack is too weak. It was already torn out within half a year after I purchased it on May 2019. I hope that the North Face would improve it when they redesigned it next time. Overall this is an excellent backpack but it needs to be improved. I would buy it again if the North Face improved the aforementioned weakness.

I love this backpack, it can carry everything I need for a day at the hospital and the gym - at the same time! The comfort is 10/10, never had a comfier backpack. Unfortunately the right shoulder strap ripped soon after I bought it so I had to take it back to the store. The North Face has a good return policy and asked me if I wanted the backpack fixed or my money back. I went for fixing my backpack, and I think that says everything :)

I hope this one lasts longer than the last backpack that I purchased. My daughter's water bottle pockets started to tear within 6 months of using it. After a full year of usage, the tear was so big that the water bottle fell out and was lost. Water bottles are quite expensive these days. I feel that North Face should feel responsible for the lost water bottle.

Good except for it doesn't stand up straight

I bought this for my son (10th grade) to use for this school year. He absolutely loved it until the strap started tearing. He only carried it 5 weeks before it started ripping away from the bag. He hasn't carried any real books in it either. It's only used for two binders, some notebook paper, and his gym clothes. It wouldn't have lasted a week if he had been bringing his books home. Customer service is replacing it and we should have the new one on Monday. The bad part of that is we had to go out and buy a bag for him to use until the new one comes in. Beyond frustrated at this point. You'd think it's great quality at the price I paid for it.

I use this backpack almost everyday, and it's great. Love all the features, BUT the water bottle holders get so big and loose so quickly!!!!! My water bottle is constantly falling out and it spills my water EVERY WHERE! It's really annoying. I'm not sure they've fixed this issue since my backpack is a few years old. Everything else remains perfect, but this is just a really annoying feature.

I really like the look functionality of the backpack, but the color is very different from what's advertised on the website. The grey is much darker and not what I expected. I unfortunately will be returning.

I have purchased North Face products for years with good results. This is the 2d Surge that I purchased, after using the first one for a number of years. Unfortunate design defect in the shoulder straps -- they are not very robust. If you are like me, you often sling your pack over one shoulder, not two. Unfortunately, this places the stress on primarily the sewn portion of the shoulder "strap," NOT on the stronger element, which is the webbing. When I bought my 2d Surge pack, a shoulder strap ripped from the sewn portion at the top of the pack on my first use. Shoulder straps need to be redesigned for more robust straps, based entirely on strong webbing, not just a sewn seem. Disappointing, because the pack is otherwise very good. North Face: Please fix.

Bought this bag to replace the recon I've owned for 15yrs that finally wore out has a nice modern design to it and thought it rather stylish and thought it had plenty of room . Comfortable when cycling if carrying some light gear for the day but anything more and it gets bulky real fast good day bag or weekend getaway. Cons,shocked at the quality ,top handle has basically ripped off and shoulder straps are destined to fail (starting to tear at the seams) with less than 6 months of light use. Interior wise bag has a good amount of space and is well constructed only issue is that if you have to much in the front divider compartment the bag gets off balance quickly and looks funny but that's a personal opinion . I've been using north face products for over 25 yrs and swear by them nor has this stopped me from purchasing other products since , just received the router transit pack and I'm excited to see how it works,similar with more volume hoping this experience is just a fluke

After a bunch of research for a new bag, I stumbled upon the redesigned Surge first in Navy/Heather Blue in a local department store (looks excellent, I'm just not partial to navy), and eventually settled on this attractive Black/Heather Gray color off TNF website (slightly darker than it appears online). At the time of writing this review, I am upgrading from a simple Patagonia Refugio 28L bag that is about 8 years old. I was looking for something sturdy and versatile, and really was drawn to all the small storage areas on this bag. Unfortunately, most of the usable space is overshadowed by a very bulky/heavy laptop compartment that causes even small loads to feel awkward while being carried. Most new bags by TNF come with one of these pockets, but this bag seems to have been designed around it. My experience with the bag has been as follows: - The laptop compartment contains a non-removable divider with about 1.5 cm of heavy foam padding wrapped in fleece. This compartment cannot be used for anything other than laptops. Even tightly folded t-shirts cause a bulge into the main internal pocket that makes loads uncomfortable and take up too much space. I've also tried slipping thin canvas shoes in here with the same outcome. - Everyday things for a trip stow perfectly into the 4 small compartments (keys, wallet, ID badge, small flashlight, a pillbox with Advil/Tylenol, deodorant, Chapstick, eyedrops, toothbrush, knife, etc..) - the photos on TNF website do not do these pockets justice, they are well-placed and well-thought out. - Water bottles fit well in the oversized, deep external pouches - Hoodies/jeans/t-shirts/shoes can fit into the main compartment without any problems, there's enough room here for 2-3 days of clothing (including a light jacket). If loaded to capacity, you can expect this bag to ride somewhat awkwardly. - The grab handle on the front looks sharp, and comes in handy when grabbing the pack from my backseat, or pulling it from a pile of luggage.

I use this product for daily carry and short weekends of travel. The bag has some great fetures: it looks nice, it's comfortable, has solid outside organization pockets, and feels durable. The laptop compartment is safe and pleasant to use and it has a good amount of organization with water bottle holder, a quick access pockets, extra zippered pockets, etc. The bag is however, a bit heavy for its size and weight more than other bags with more features. Perhaps the greatest flaw is that, because the bottom of the bag is rounded and slopes upward, the bag does not stand on its own. This flaw is made even worse by the fact that the main compartment zippers open only to about halfway down the bag--making it a toploading bag. You therefore cannot stand the back up on its own to pack or unpack the bag. This flaw is actually present in some other similar North Face Bags, such as the Router Transit. If the bag stood on it's own I would have kept it, I returned it because I really need my bag to stand on its own. Another nice feature to have added to this backpack would have been elastic cord on the outside. That area is sort of empty and begging for an addition. Elastic cord would give the owner the option of packing more onto the bag without adding any bulk to basic bag structure. It feels like this bag could have been great--one of the best on the market, but that TNF left just enough features out to prevent that.

I am a college student using this bag and so far it is serving me well. The main compartment is roomy and can fit about two textbooks with additional space for notebooks. However, when you carry heavy things they will sometimes be bulging out from the bottom making a weird shape. Also, if you place things in the upper compartment it will cause the middle to have an indent inwards the bag.

Had the previous version of Surge for many years, and never had a problem with it. Got the latest version, and the strap I use most ripped where it connects to the bag at the top. Thought it was a fluke and had it replaced on warranty, without any issue. Unfortunately, not a fluke. Happened again within a year. If it weren't for the strap failure point, this would be the ideal bag for me. Won't be getting another one until they take these reviews into consideration and redesign it.

I purchased this backpack for my 15yo son. After less than 6 months of use, the shoulder strap is ripping at the seam. His last backpack was Under Armour. It lasted 2 years. The only reason he replaced it was it was no longer big enough for his school "stuff". Disappointed

Having it less than 3 months, the top small shoulder strap detached from the seam. I have not been able to find out if it is warranty for a refund or exchange.

Purchased for my middle school son. Used a month and a half before 1 strap broke. Front 2 vertical pockets are useless, as zipper constantly slides down- opening and spilling contents. If straps were reinforced and front pockets' zipper zipping down (instead of up), even my son said he would rate this backpack 10 out of a 10. We are both frustrated right now tho.

My 15 year old bought this with her own money because she really wanted it. Well, not too far into the school year, one strap ripped out at the top. I fixed it as well as I could, and that was no easy task!! Since then, I have fixed it twice more. I ended up cutting back some of the foam to get it seen on. What a royal pain. She is so disappointed.

Honestly there just isn't any padding on the shoulder straps, i don't understand why they redesigned the pack with just a thin piece of foam, on-top of that it started to tear on the small straps attached to the shoulder straps. This bag needs more padding if you plan on carrying 20+ pounds which isn't really a lot for a college student or even a child in grade school

My son got this for high school this year and needed it replaced in November Because if broken straps. It was replaced by North Face and it was broken again by March.

It was a great backpack until the stitching on one of the straps came undone after about 3-4 months. It’s garbage now.