Review: Peak Design Everyday Messenger

I’ve been a fan of Peak Design for a long time, and have previously reviewed both their Everyday Backpack, as well as their Travel Line, both of which I picked up through Kickstarter. I have been so impressed with the quality of the products that I also picked up their Everyday Messenger bag back in the late summer of 2019. The one I got was the updated version, and I used it on and off until I hit a few problems with it and contacted customer support.

Peak is a company dedicated to standing by their products, and sent me a new bag to replace my old one. As the original offering had been replace by a new one, that is what I got. While I enjoyed the original offering a lot, I have found the new one to be a much improved version.

Gone are the two zippers at the top of the bag, and the laptop compartment which was formerly accessible from the outside has been moved into the main compartment. I think this was an excellent choice for two reasons. Esthetically, it means that the outside looks much cleaner, while it functionally means that the carry handle is more comfortable, regardless of what position the maglatch is set to.

Taking a design cue from their sling bag, the updated messenger now features stretchy pockets on the left and right sides of the main compartment, while the exterior pockets that previously had an opening closed with magnets and elastic are now closed with zippers – another excellent choice. While zippers might be more fiddly than simply overcoming a magnet, it feels like a more secure solution.

The front compartment, which on the previous model had zippers on three of four sides – and never felt entirely secure unless I zipped the zippers closed – is shallower, with a zipper on the top only. Gone are the large interior pockets in the compartment – effectively replaced by the stretchy pockets in the main compartment – while the four smaller pockets remain.

There are a total of ten cord hook lashing points – six on the inside of the lid, and another four on the bottom – which combine with the cord hook carry straps adds a lot of versatility to the bag; you can lash what you need to the outside or inside of the bag, securing it in place and expanding the available carry volume.

The maglatch closure hardware has been redesigned, and is sleeker and softer-feeling than it used to be – another small, nigh unnoticeable, improvement. The carrying strap feels even better thought out, and makes for more comfortable carry than on the predecessor, while the larger luggage pass-through means the bag sits more securely and stably on top of other luggage than prior iterations.

All in all, it feels to me like Peak Design have taken their classic messenger bag and critically reviewed every single feature on it. Some – like the maglatch hardware – have been gently updated, while others – like the laptop compartment – have been massively revamped. The end product feels like an improvement in every way.