Customer Reviews The North Face Recon

I love this backpack but unfortunaelty it is already starting to break down and I have only been using it for 4 weeks. I purchased the backpack in July and started using it at the end of July when I started school. It fits everything and the pockets are great. However, today I noticed that the stitching on the straps was completly undone on one side. I carry the packback to and from the car to school but besides that, it sits in one place all day. There is absolutely no reason the stitching should be completely undone after 4 weeks of use. I looked at the other strap and the stitching on that side is starting to come apart but not nearly as bad as the other side. I am very disappointed because I have used North Face backpacks for years and never had this problem. Not sure if mine is a dud or not but the quality is not where it used to be. I want to send it for repair or warranty but the process is so inconvenient. It would involve mailing the backpack back for them to repair which the website says could take 4-6 weeks. So I would not have a backpack to use to for school for that time.

Used it to bring my computer, notebooks, and some personal items too and from work. Noticed a small tear in the shoulder and was advised for warranty they needed it back before they would ship a new one. Thought at the time it wouldn't affect the usage or durability. Didn't use it for a while and then when I started using it again for about two weeks the shoulder strap is ripped halfway where it connects up top. Now I only use one strap to prevent it from tearing further. It is just over a year old and I am out of warranty now. I would not recommend it. I probably only used it for about 4 months in total.

Nice pack but the mid-pocket only goes down halfway making the pack super-bulky up top and lean backwards because of it. Had the pocket gone fully to the floor this would have been perfect. But it's a huge turn off and renders the pack basically unusable.

Potentially a good bag if you aren't bothered by shallow pockets. Pockets are about half of what I expected the capacity to be. The inseam inside of pockets are cut too short leaving a lot of unused/unusable space within the pocket.

The overall quality of this bag is good. However, very poorly designed bag. The front zippered pocket only goes half way down the bag and designed to put quick retrieval items like phone, wallet, etc so pocket is always full but if you don't have enough items packed in the larger pocket, the bag bulges out so it looks like a giant letter B on your bag. Definitely not how it's pictured! Materials wise it's pretty nice, my front netting pocket is slightly off centered though so it will never look like what was shown on pictures. Quality is good. 1/10 for style.

I use this on my work commute. Wish the pockets were deeper. Lots of space used up by shallow pockets. Not practical for the price.

I have used this pack lightly for almost 1 year. The shoulder straps are already frayed where they are sewn to the pack and it will not be usable much longer without repair.

I used recon backpacks for school, commuting by bike, day trips, pretty much everything. I've owned recon models since perhaps 2008. I was forced to buy the new 2022 model when my old recon backpack (2016ish) was stolen. The materials seem high quality and there seems to be more water proofing but that's where the benefits end. There have been some strange design choices that make it hard to recommend. The newer model is definitely narrower. When you load up two water bottles the main pocket volume is reduced immensely due to the design of the water bottle sleeves. They seem cut into the internal space of the bag rather than protrude. Also the water bottle sleeves are no longer elastic, they're solid rubber, so if your water bottle is even a little too big, then too bad, they won't fit. This combined with the main pocket being so small, I barely fit my usual daily things in it. The side straps for cinching down the thickness of the back are permanently fixed rather than buckles now. This could be a problem if you really want to expand the bag and load it to the max. But ultimately the bag doesn't expand as much as the older models so perhaps this isn't an issue. The secondary pocket with smaller pouches and pen/pencil slots is now only half the depth of the bag, it doesn't go all the way down, it stops half way. So you really only get one full main pocket and half a pocket for storage. There is now a dedicated zipper pocket for laptops which is sort of nice but it's so big you sacrifice a huge amount of volume for it. It could easily accommodate a 17in laptop, my 13in laptop is basically lost in a giant cavern and I can't really use that space for anything else. It's kind of wasted space. It's robust and protective, but way too much volume is wasted. The straps seem narrower on the new model, and denser/firmer. The straps attach to the body with a short piece of nylon strap which is different, I'm not certain how that would impact longevity. It seems to increase mobility and flexibility of the strap though. If you've never owned the previous Recon backpacks you may not notice anything amiss. It's a high quality backpack overall. Coming from owning several previous models, this new one feels like a downgrade: smaller, narrow main pocket. 1/2 size secondary pocket. Laptop pocket is ridiculously large. Water bottle holders are not elastic and eat up internal volume. Cinch straps are permanently fixed rather than buckles. Bag doesn't expand at all, much smaller volume.

This product is horrible the straps began separating and ripping within the first week of use. Normally a great product, but quality went out the door. Don't waste your money.

I purchased this from MEC Canada (2019), previous Recon version. The features are good, but there are 2 critical design flaws: A) straps are lousy, mostly worn and torn after couple years because of this thin breathable fabric, which doesnt help much. B) the seam where the fabric meets the cushion back panel, all the pack weight is focused on that strip of fabric providing rigidity. But because all the load stress is concentrated there, every time place the pack down on rough surfaces or have any weight, it continuous wears this tighten fabric. My previous pack (also North Face, 2006) lasted way longer and aged better than this. I echo other comments: quality of NF packs have declined. Considering the cost, this recon pack should 1/3 of the price.

Had the old recon for a decade. That understandably wore its course. Thought I would give the new one a shot because I liked the old one so much. This pack is a meaningful step down. Product team took the most important feature that gets the most use and absolutely destroyed it. The straps used to be much more comfortable with this awesome I think honeycomb style insulation that was durable, breathable and extremely comfortable on your shoulders. New straps are this thin rubbery padding that are clearly not nearly as durable and much less comfy, and they are attached to the pack via a thin strip of fabric, whereas old straps were sewn directly into the bag. Water bottle holsters are deeper but now so tight against the bag it limits space within if you have a lot of stuff. Outside mesh pocket is imperfect elastic in that it doesn't snap back to retain old shape when stretched a bit. Oh and the zippers have this flimsy string attached to them as opposed to a sturdy metal fly, like why lol. The whole thing reeks of cost cutting measures and they came at the expense of quality.

I bought this as a freshman entering high school hoping it would fit all my books and folders. It cannot fit anything. All I have in it at the moment are a couple small notebooks, 4 empty folders, and a small 1" binder. There's barely any room for a pencil case or lunch box. Do not waste your money hoping it fits your supplies. There's a "laptop compartment" that if it wasn't there, it would be so much more spacious.

It's a very good looking bag, but the top compartment, once filled, gets in the way of the main compartment. It also does not stand up well at all. There's no structure to this bag at all and it falls over. Wish I could return it...

quality is not great width is not as expected

At the image the colour looks amazing, but the black part is in reslity blue and it doesn't look as good

Backpack is well built except for the extremely weak and fragile water bottle holders. After only 6 months of use, my water bottle holders on both sides are wearing through. Needs a design.

It's a good looking backpack. I have 3 main issues that make it less than ideal. 1. The pocket they show an iPad is is very misleading. It does not fit the smaller iPad Pro or iPad Air making it pretty much useless for anything bigger than a small book. 2. The pocket above the stretch pocket is weirdly opened from the middle making it impossible to put something in it that is anything bigger than 2/3 the volume of the pocket. 3. Lastly, the layout of the bag makes it so that if you aren't bringing many big item, the central pocket gets crowded by front pockets and make anything at the bottom very inaccessible.

This backpack is much smaller than expected. It's billing as a 30L pack is misleading compared to my previous 33L pack. It looks child-sized.

Pretty disappointed with the wimpy zippers when comparing to my old NF Enterprise back pack that I bought in 1998 (and still have). Wanted to treat myself with a new one but think I'll just give the recon to my nephew and keep using my old Enterprise with the meaty metal zippers that will never wear out. Sad how everything is built so cheaply nowadays. I'm done with NF.

I think this is the nicest designed bag TNF has brought out. However it doesn't feel like a northface bag. Very stiff and cheap feeling . Not a comfortable bag

I happily used the old recon for probably 10 years amd then decided to get this to replace it. What a mistake. The design of this pack is completely dysfunctional. If you have even a pencil inside the second compartment it almost completely blocks you from putting anything into or getting anything out of the main compartment. If you have something bulky and rigid inside the main compartment you cant put water bottles into the sides, or if you have a water bottle on the side you cant fill the main compartment. Trying to fit a lunch, laptop, and laptop charger into this pack is somehow an infuriating process of squeezing, pushing and pulling. Forget putting a jacket inside. Every time I try and use it for anything more than a laptop bag it drives me insane.

I got the recon backpack in hopes to use it for my trip but the straps are hard and the padding is very thin. The movement around my arm is limited and the straps are rigid.

Bottom and water bottle pockets do not match the tan/yellow of the nylon and is an ugly brown color. Material very thin and zippers for smaller pockets are get caught in material.

I purchased this product because the last Recon Backpack I purchased was such a great bag, however once I received this item I soon realized the new Recon wasn't built has good as the one from 2011. The newer design seems smaller and the fabric they're now using felt less durable and more prone to tearing; it seems to have lost its stretchiness. The front pocket isn't as deep as the older generation and the main pouch is much smaller than before. It seems the new design has removed valuable space for organizing and easily getting to your items. It also appears they're using cheaper fabric that doesn't feel as soft or as durable. Unfortunately, until this bag is re-designed with deeper pockets and extra room inside, I won't be purchasing another Northface Recon Bookbag.

Details and reviews state this backpack is "water repellent" and it is just the opposite. This backpack draws in moisture and I do not recommend. Contents inside were ruined after walking in the rain under an umbrella.