The bag opens with a lengthy weatherproof ZipGlide zip that gives you great access to your stuff on the inside. It opens wide and these are some of the most agile weatherproof zips I have ever used. There is no snag or pull, like you feel with other rubberized zippers. That’s vegan leather, by the way, so those of you who are conscious about that can rest easy. As for the rest of the materials, Troubadour Goods doesn’t specify beyond saying it’s recycled polyester. Fair enough, since the material has held up relatively well throughout testing, with no loose threads developing around critical areas like the seams or corners. We were worried that the fabric’s soft texture would be a pet hair magnet, but so far, our furry friends have failed to leave much of their fuzz on this bag. Flipping the bag around, Troubadour’s Apex has an external laptop compartment, with both a lined and padded laptop sleeve as well as a tablet/document sleeve. This space is floating, so has some extra protection from hard surfaces which may harm a computer. My 2016 15″ MBP fits in here well. As stated above, I didn’t use this for my tablet, but it equally fits a document folder.

That said, and while I wish the leather was a little more robust, with a better hand-feel, I understand the decision by the design team at Troubadour and it does do well to echo the brand’s overall design sensibility. It’s also ethically sourced. All fabrics are bluesign® approved and their leathers are naturally vegetable-tanned.It’s a solid all-rounder, but could do with more added features to really live up to the ‘Explorer’ tagline. The bag opens with a lengthy weatherproof zip that gives you great access to your stuff on the inside. It opens wide and these are some of the most agile weatherproof zips I have ever used.” My first thought when I opened the box for my Apex was “This thing looks to fancy for me.” It is built with premium materials, and it looks it. Surprisingly, I noticed hints of a leather smell which, as the bag is made with vegan leather, I didn’t think it would have.

Built-in strap keepers use a rectangular loop ring with an opening to slide around the strap. They slide freely to adjust when needed, but I have only had them pop off once or twice. Organization and Access To the hand the bag feels of good calibre; the Apex is made of recycled materials which are smooth to the touch and fairly water resistant. The nylon used in each Apex bag is made out 44 recycled bottles (that’s less trash floating around the world in our oceans!) It felt too nice for the jeans and t-shirt kind of guy that I am; I wore some nicer button-downs when testing the bag to feel like I was doing it justice…