Review: Fjallraven Kanken Classic in Fog 🌹

The Fjallraven Kanken is a Swedish brand backpack is known for its durability and versatility and its many varieties of color you can chose from. It was first originally made for children in the 1970's! So I guess you can say the Swedish kids were rocking a future trend. You can use it for traveling, outdoors, work and etc. Not only is it trendy its unique name but in its simplicity. 

I was able to purchase it online Ebay for around $75 around September of 2015. However on Amazon the prices are way much cheaper which is way more reasonable than what I got it for.

With this pricey investment I wanted to make sure it was worth it and I say honestly say I'm completely satisfied with it! So I'll be going over the pros as well as cons of this backpack (not that there are a lot)

Pros

Material 

The material of the backpack is made out of Vinylon F material, which is water resistant and waterproof. It is extremely lightweight and isn't prone to tears or shears. So whenever I do put a crazy amount of things in my backpack it doesn't weigh my shoulders and back down. The water resistant aspect of this has been very useful for rainy days because I can trust that this backpack can withstand dampness and not worry about the material getting wet in the first place.

Design

What flocks attention to a Fjallraven Kanken bag is its simplicity in its design making it a recognizable iconic brand. The bag comes in a variety of colors. There are carrying handles at the top of the bag, and can be used alternatively to the thin, unpadded shoulder straps. The bottom of the bag is not padded or reinforced, and there is no leather on the bag. The canvas construction is durable and the zippers are adequate and on par with the build quality for the rest of the bag. The logo is also reflective. 

With its durability, the backpack can fit quite a lot! Using this as a school bag it can withstand loads of notebooks, books and room for a laptop. In the photo I have my 13 inch Macbook air, 2 100 sheet college ruled notebooks, a small sketchbook and a gym towel.
I have been able to use it to stuff clothing, makeup bags and food with the backpack still staying in tact and durable and with a lot of room to spare! The Kanken in short can hold an impressive amount within comparison to its thin straps and manage to not feel overwhelmingly heavy.

Cons

1. Scuffing - As you can see from the photo, my Kanken is quite dirty, however happening over a period of time. With that being said, I am very active and use the bag daily, so it's expected and inevitable. I use it going to class so I do have to set it down on dirty floors, dusty table so this backpack has withstand some beating. I have not tried running it through a gentle wash cycle, as some sites have recommended, though dabbing plain water with a little bit of gentle detergent was helpful for bad spots the first and only time I tried it. Although I feel like maintaining a darker colored bag would be easier, I do appreciate lighter colors and feel that the brightness does bring more attention to the style.

2. Lack of interior pockets - Though the bag holds a lot, you're kind of out of luck if you're trying to quickly grab your wallet from the bottom of your packed bag without holding up the bus fare line. Besides the laptop slot closest to your back, the large compartment is a free-for-all, and you kind of have no choice but to unzip it all the way, and maybe even remove most of the contents, in order to find things that aren't right on top. This probably wouldn't be much of an issue if you were using this bag as more of a purse full of lots of small things instead of a book bag, but because it has a zipper that extends down both sides (as opposed to an opening on top) you need to lay it down on its back and shift things around instead of casually rifling through to find what you need.

3. Side pockets- The side compartments take a good amount of interior space if you ever want to put a water bottle inside. So whatever you put inside of the bag you have to make sure you have enough room for it to push inside of your bag. Which only really leaves to slip in small stuff (lipgloss, sunglasses, hand lotion) into your side compartment but even then you would have to dig in deep to reach for them which can cause some fumbling (which is a minor issue or not really one at all)

Overall, I really do like this bag. It's so far proved to be very sturdy, waterproof, and perfect for school, work and for casual daytime use. If you are ready to move up in the world from generic (jansport) backpacks or want a way to carry your things without killing your back and shoulders, I would definitely recommend this minimalist backpack perfect for all sorts of people and adventures!