The first thing I feel it's necessary to say is that the Kitchen Sink is a large bag that will carry many things. It will not, however, carry the kitchen sink...at least not mine. I got this after reading specs, reviews, looking at pictures and comparing with other bags. I went to this from using the Targus Drifter II and thought that it would be a better more durable replacement. I was wrong (again, for my needs). That said this review will be written as somewhat of a comparison between the two for my own ease. The Drifter actually has more usable space and out-carries this bag by a fair margin wise when used as I do. Drifter’s durability is...less impressive. I've owned my Drifter for just over a year and there is wear (popped stitching) on the straps and some noticeable wear in other areas. I've had very good luck with my Oakley bags, I have owned a smaller Oakley back for 10 years and it is still in pristine condition after traveling the world (going through deployment with me and then surviving transit to school exposed to hot sun, driving rain, snow and everything between on my ninja). I only mention my old Oakley because comparing it with the kitchen sink it appears and feels to be made of much the same materials and seems to be of similar, even superior, construction. I've never had any issue with my other Oakley, all zippers/snaps/clips and even velcro (which is the most surprising to me) are 100%. So, as I will, sadly, not be keeping this bag it's the best I can do for construction/durability review. So, now I'll go over some of what I like about the Kitchen Sink. #1 It looks great. It looks good by itself, on my back, in a chair, hung on a doorknob...it's a nice looking bag. #2 It has lots of little pockets and hook points to stick things in and attach things to. This is not as much of a pro as it could [should?] be, but I’ll discuss this later. #3 It's big. I’ll cover this in more detail later but for now just know it’s a large bag that can carry lots of things. #4 It's comfy to wear. It's weighted well, the straps falls on the right part of the shoulder and they don't pull out with heavy loads. The waist strap is comfy and easily adjusted. It snugs up and loosens down easily. #5 Did I mention that this bag looks sweet? I did? Okay, on to the cons then. What I didn't like so much about the Kitchen Sink #1 The molded top flap seemed like a good idea to me at first, like a little extra protection to the elements or something, but after goofing with it a bit I can already say it would become an annoyance rather quickly. Just another layer to have to get through every time I wanted in my bag. Also I don't think I would, personally, use the molded pocket for much more than pens/pencils/keys/cables/etc so it's not really a bonus for me, personally, but that may not be the case for you. The main reason this is on my con list is that it doesn’t fold back easily for main compartment access. It wants to be where it’s at and you either have to wrestle it up and back or hold it up while you look for your stuff. Also the two prominent hooks that hold it down securely are a novelty (imo) and nothing more than what turns into an annoyance to get through every time you want in your bag. I imagine, if I kept this bag, I would end up just never using them. #2 The space isn't as usable as it should be. This is my main concern and what ultimately broke the deal for me on using this as my daily work bag. This is also where I'll bring in some comparisons of my Targus Drifter II. The Drifter dimensions are listed as “20.08 inch H x 14.57 inch L x 7.87 inch W” while the Kitchen Sink is listed as “20 inch H x 14 inch W x 8 inch D.” (Those are copy/pasted from amazon description, I know the L/W are different but they are actually measuring the same sides, I checked, with my handy dandy measuring device. So read them as 20.08/20 inch top to bottom x 14.57/14 inch side to side x 7.87/8 inch front to back respectively). So, technically those are the correct dimensions on both, however, the shape of the Drifter and of the Kitchen Sink make for a large discrepancy of actual useable space. The Drifter wins...in case you were wondering. The Kitchen Sink has several features that, for me, actually reduce its usefulness. The bottom pocket that fills the inside of the main compartment. This, for me, is worthless and actually gets in the way. When I was still considering this bag I figured I'd just cut the pocket material out and have a neat little zip-out bottom feature that would be incredibly useful for....I don't know...stuff. The side pockets are nice but they seem to push in more than expand out and, if used, reduce the size of the main compartment a bit. To cut this a little shorter, all of the smaller pockets seem to actually reduce the usability of the main compartment. For my own uses I needed a large main compartment. The Kitchen Sink had very similar stated dimensions as the Drifter II. The problem is, the bottom of the Kitchen Sink is large but it tapers up to a narrower opening at the top of the compartment. Adding to that, that the computer’s "front organizer panel" is inside the main compartment. That cuts down on the storage capacity of the Kitchen Sink even more. #3 Laptop storage side access says "up to 15 inch laptop" but my 15 inch laptop will not fit through the side access panel, making it fairly worthless for me. (Note: my laptop is built for gaming and is fairly thick. Yours may be thinner and therefore this may not be an issue for your 15 inch laptop.) Even accessing my laptop from the main compartment is kind of a pain due to the material going over the top. I have to fold it back to slide out my laptop and normally this wouldn’t be an issue but if there’s anything in the main compartment, or if it’s full, you have to take stuff out just to get to your laptop or risk breaking it by using more force. #4 Again a usable space issue. The front pocket with the molded pockets seemed really cool at first but in reality (imo) it reduces the usable space of that pocket. The molded pockets make it just about impossible to put a larger item in the space because of its rigidity. The pocket actually extends below for several inches but it would be a pain to get anything out so it ends up being a great place to lose stuff (like a couch cushion). The space above the molded pockets is not really utilized as well as it could be with a mesh liner or something so there’s no way to pack little items there either. So basically, the front pocket with the molded compartments is usable for exactly the size of those molded compartments. The whole pocket seems wasted to me. All that said I still think this is a very nice backpack, just not for my needs or uses. I think this bag is much better suited for transporting clothes and clothing accessories as well as hygiene items and possibly some snacks. The laptop compartment doesn’t feel like it was part of the original design and the side access seems like they said, “Well…it sucks trying to pull this thing out the top…let’s put a zipper on the side!” Overall this bag feels like they were trying to build a hybrid between a gym bag and a laptop bag. Well…I don’t take my laptop to the gym and where I do take my laptop I generally need my office supplies and some food. Oh, and for those of you wondering why I carry so much water to work it’s because the water quality at my work sucks. So I bring my own. So factor that into this review too. You might have better water at your work than I do. Whatever. There, that’s all I got. Here, I took some pictures too. The one with both bags is of all the stuff I regularly put into my Drifter II for work.
