Presenting an everyday carry pack with style, the new Aer City Pack is an excellent affordable, flexible and comfortable backpack, perfectly designed for the urban lifestyle. With 14L of carry capacity, it’s a straightforward, no-fuss modern update for Aer’s flagship, offering exceptional value for anyone in search of a smaller lightweight backpack that’ll keep their gear safe and secure during the daily commute.
Buy from Rushfaster
Buy from Aer
Sporting either a shell made from 1680D Cordura ballistic nylon or a limited edition X-Pac material, the plain black finish of this bag is as soft as it is sleek. With Duraflex plastic hardware and smooth YKK zippers, there’s no mistaking Aer’s premium touch, turning in a simple, smaller bag that’s punching well above its weight.
Subtle details and features position the bag as a high-performance daily companion, from the gusseted water bottle pocket on the left side, which sits flush with the bag to maintain a slim silhouette when not in use, to the supremely comfortable haul handles both on the side, for briefcase carry, and on the top of the shell for quick pick-up.
Clearly, Aer had shown an admirable restraint and sense of balance when including a host of smart features without overstuffing the bag, to keep in line with the minimal and uncluttered aesthetic. Smaller details include keyrings on the left side of the bag and another one on the contoured shoulder straps so you can customise the bag with add-ons like a carabiner for extra carry.
Around the back, Aer have designed the shoulder strap to better complement the contours of the body. These wide-cut, sweat-wicking shoulder straps are complemented by an adjustable magnetic sternum strap which is easy to use, and can be adjusted along nylon webbing so you can position it exactly along your sternum. A similar sense of flexibility can be found with the updated curve along the top of the back, ergonomically shaped to better fit against your back and enhance comfort during those longer carry days. For travellers, this is also where you’ll find the luggage pass-through.
The updated Aer City Pack has four zippered compartments in total. The frontmost has a smooth opening with counterpulls on either side, helping maintain better control over the zipline which virtually runs along the middle of the bag and offers both the upper and lower dimension so you get two separate storage spaces. Inside is a number of smaller pockets, as well as a convenient key leash for quick and easy access to your set.
The other three compartments are all accessible from the very top of the bag. Towards the front is a medium sized compartment that zips open to reveal numerous pockets. For the limited edition X-Pac version, this pocket has a bright orange ripstock material to help add a bit of punch and visibility, while the standard version has a mid-grey lining. With several slip pockets of varying sizes, this is the perfect space for those smaller items like sunglasses and charging cables. There’s even a deeper slip pocket that’s lightly padded and suspended from the base, so you can store something like a smaller tablet or similar device.
Behind this zipline is a shallower, smaller compartment that is best thought of as the bag’s ultimate quick-access offering, making it the ideal space for items you’d regularly be pulling out on the go, like a smartphone and a pair of earphones.
The final compartment is the main one, offering a large, empty dimension along with two large stretch pockets towards the back and a smaller mesh pocket. One side of the bag has a generous spread of these pockets as well as a smaller mesh pocket that’s sized for a smart tracker like AirTags or a Tile. On the other side you will find two pockets - one smaller, sixed for something like a notebook or a small novel, and another that is fleece-lined and big enough to fit in a 16-inch laptop, keeping it protected from any scratches as well as drops, seeing as it is suspended above the base.
Aer has clearly been busy modernising some of their most popular carry solutions with more considered design, and a greater focus on ergonomics. This is most obvious with the new Aer City Pack across both versions, presenting the daily commuter with an incredibly lightweight, straightforward backpack that builds value with high quality materials, subtle details, and a great diversity in internal storage that’ll keep gear safe on those arduous office days.
Buy from Rushfaster