Customer Reviews The North Face Surge

I purchased a Surge for myself (female) last year so I bought the male surge as a gift. We use for daily commute and travel. Straps can cut into you. Otherwise it's perfect.

I bought the surge transit back in 2014 and had it until now. Went through college and work and was an overall great backpack. I bought this surge thinking I'd get the same thing. It still has a ton of pockets which is great, but the straps don't stay the same length. When I put it on, the plastic strap adjuster gets open and changes the length of the straps which is annoying. Other than that, it's a good pack with plenty of storage options.

Plenty of room for all my stuff when used as a school backpack. Comfortable even though it's heavy, lots of organization. A tad bit expensive for what you get.

This pack is very nice as it can fit at least two laptops and all the accessories for my desk in it. It has way more pockets then anyone could ever want. This is really good as you can put lots of little small things inside and know they will be protected and not disappear into f the pack. Not good for storing multiple large items but I can fit 4 to 5 sweatshirts inside of the main pouch. Only down side to having many pockets is that when you put something very big into one pocket it can take up space in another one. This is to be expected for backpacks of this kind. Very good backpack for everyday use when I need to carry a lot of things. I can imagine it would also be good for day hikes. The only downside and the reason this gets 4 stars is because the straps are too close together at the top. This leads to unnecessary pressure against my neck when wearing the backpack. This may go away over time but this backpack is not the best for people with wide necks or a bigger build.

Great backpack for a day trip. Took it to Disney parks and carried things for a family of four. I bought it to change my Thule Subterra. Superb organization, solid built and I loved the redesign of the front pockets that give so many options and flexibility. It stands on it own (finally), and it handled some rain like a champ. Big and spacious middle section, accommodated three flasks bottles without problem. Only area of improvement for me were the zippers: I expected better build quality and ease of opening. But overall an incredible backpack! Happy with the purchase.

Great backpack for my high school aged son. It's lightweight but very durable.

Not as big as I thought it would be but still really durable

Great backpack, I love the new design that the NF created, I was hoping for it to have a little more space but other than that, this backpack is great.

I use this backpack for school and it works great for my daily use. The one thing I'm confused about is the j zipper that is supposed to be fleeced lined is not fleece lined. I'm not sure if it's a faulty design, false information on the website, or that they changed it last minute for it not to be fleeced line.

I bought the Surge since North Face describes its "ability to stand unsupported". It does not. The backpack keeps falling. This is a deal breaker for me. I was looking for a backpack that can stand and wouldn't have bought the Surge if I had known that I will have to find a chair or a wall for it every time.

Good quality

I dearly loved the previous version of this backpack. I'm disappointed that this one has less actual volume and less usable volume than the previous model.

A buckle already broke on the first day.

Sure, here's a revised version of your review: I've had this backpack since January 2022, and I recently had to return it for warranty repair. As a high school student, I found that the backpack performs adequately for my needs. It features a spacious, lined laptop sleeve that accommodates large laptops (15-17 inches) and notebooks. The plastic backing adds rigidity to the laptop compartment, and the two quick-access compartments have additional lined areas to protect delicate items from scratches. The overall organization is effective, allowing me to neatly separate various chargers, jackets, pencil cases, and other school materials. However, the design and storage distribution have some issues. The main compartment is too narrow to comfortably fit thick books or additional clothes for colder seasons, making it challenging to organize and fit everything. Once packed, the backpack becomes quite tight, and I noticed the seams starting to tear, which is why I had to seek a warranty repair. The water bottle holder is generally adequate for a Hydro Flask, but the mesh material started tearing after just four months of normal use, indicating poor design. Given the price, I feel that The North Face could have engineered the main storage compartment better. On a positive note, the backpack is comfortable and sleek, and stains and dirt come off surprisingly easily. For the average student, this is a fine backpack. If you plan to frequent trips and destinations, reconsider this backpack, although it has help up to my travels worldwide.

Too small for highschool student

I like the pockets, but a big issue with this backpack is that you can't really fill all of the pockets. Once you put a laptop and notebook in the first compartment and then fill the front pockets the ability to use the main large pocket is drastically reduced. I can barely get a water bottle to squeeze in. I wish they would have kept the old Surge backpack design from a couple years ago, that worked much better

I purchased this for travel, however I found more suitable bag. It is a very well constructed backpack. Perfect for school use.

Primarily a commuter, backpack and for graduate school. Although it has a phenomenal compartment for things like a laptop and a tablet, the main compartment seems a bit limited. also, the shoulder straps keep bunching up, and I know it's only a matter of time before they start degrading. I just get the sense the material and design is gonna start wearing down faster than previous models.

I was looking for a large capacity backpack to use when traveling and bought this. My luggage didn't fit as much as I expected.

I needed a backback large enough to carry a full size laptop (Razer) and my clothes and supplies for overnight. I cannot even get the laptop into the backpack, let alone clothes for overnight trip.

Honestly, I'm a bit disappointed in this backpack. I don't always utilize the outer pockets but they are ok. Maybe too many. The placement of the the pockets is very weird. There is no quick access to a phone from the side pockets and neither of the J-zip pockets are not even fleece lined. The main pocket is wider toward the base and makes it a struggle to fit things comfortably. The fleece pocket is too big for what it's made for and has a awkward space above the zipper that is really hard to use. It takes up more space than the front compartment. They should have just combined the two. Also, the thing hardly stands up on its own, and in multiple configurations. I use it as daypack, travel bag with laptop, snacks, etc., and for clothes and toiletries. Overall, not bad and it is still useable, but it did not meet expectations.

I ordered this because it has great organization and several useful pockets. I like the look of it better than any pack I've seen so far. I bought the asphalt gray standard model, not the Women's Surge, because I could not get the neutral gray color I sought. It is stylish and it's easy to access all the pockets. I love the easy-to-grab zipper pulls. When it arrived, I found that the back panel is quite stiff, the pack is heavy even when empty. I'm 5'4", and the bottom of the pack, when the straps are properly tightened, sits a full 3" below my waist. The Women's Surge pack is only 1/2" shorter, not different enough to adjust to an average 5'3"-5'8" woman's frame vs a 5'10-6'3" man's size. I weighed it with an accurate luggage scale: 3 lbs. 1.5 oz, not the 2 lbs. 12oz listed on the website description. My goal was to find a replacement for an old 18.5" tall, organized (non-Northface) backpack that weighs 1.5 lbs. Northface, I would love to see this same pack in a 15-20% smaller, 40% lighter version with the same amount of organization. I need my travel pack weight to be primarily my laptop, books and other items, not the pack itself. Disclaimer: I am a retired luggage/pack designer who travels several months a year, so am uber-sensitive to the style, organization and ergonomic details of all my travel products.

Bag design was average nothing very special or unique about it. Seemed overly bulky and cumbersome for the size and likely use.

Works great for computers. But not much room for bigger stuff

I'm an IT professional and i carry a lot of things in my bag. I got this as a replacement for my 2022 Surge, Unfortunately this is worse than the previous model cause it doesnt carry nearly as much as the old bag. Look at a different model cause the volume is not as advertised.