Review: Peli ProGear U100 Elite Laptop Backpack

Laptops. They are amazing at all sorts of things, but being robust is not necessarily one of them. And if you are the sort of person who finds yourself doing things a little more extreme than your laptop might otherwise enjoy, then you probably want to ensure that you have a way to keep your equipment safe. Enter the Peli ProGear U100 Elite Laptop Backpack – designed to keep your laptop safe and sound in all but the most extreme of environments. Let’s see how it stacks up.

What is it?

The Peli ProGear U100 Elite is a day pack sized backpack with a carrying capacity of 16 litres. More than enough room for use as a weekend bag to include some clothes or tech accessories, or for your commute to work including maybe some gym kit. On the other hand, if your job entails it, you could jump out of a plane and into some of the more hostile environments on earth with just some survival essentials packed away.

This bag is designed to handle a lot. The feature that separates this bag from other, more run of the mill daypacks, is the integrated compartment constructed from ABS thermoplastic, which is both watertight and crushproof. This has interior dimensions of 39.3 x 26.7 x 3.8cm – meaning it will fit everything up to a 15” laptop, and some 17” Apple models, such as the Mac Book Pro. Said part of the case is wholly separate from the other three compartments, and carries the promise that you can immerse it in water up to a metre in depth for 30 minutes without problems, plus it is designed to withstand crushing, heat and dust, with an IP rating of 67. Not sure what that means? An IP67 rating means the compartment is totally protected against dust, and is protected against the effect of immersion between 15cm and 1m (presumably also less than 15 cm!) for up to half an hour, guaranteed.

Unfortunately I couldn’t find out quite how much crushing or heat it is designed to stand up to. ABS thermoplastic generally has an operating temperature range of –20 to +80 C, so this should be able to take quite a bit, and it certainly seems incredibly solid and able to withstand a fair amount of rough and tumble. This is one solid feeling bit of kit.

Other features

The laptop compartment is very easy to get into and out of, with a TSA approved top loading latch to access it. The compartment also comes with a number of foam inserts so you can ensure your laptop has a snug fit. This backpack offers more than just that solidly built compartment. As well as a main compartment for your bits and pieces, there is also a front pocket which features an impact resistant design – a solid polypropylene cover providing the protection in this case. This is labelled as being designed for tablets, but in testing I found that it was large enough to take anything up to a 12.5 inch ultrabook. This part of the pack also features numerous zippable pockets and areas where cords, cables, or other accessories could be stored for easy access. It’s well thought out and a real bonus section.

On the side of the pack there is a “hidden compartment”, which when unzipped reveals a mesh water bottle container. This is another nice feature to have – you can carry water if you want to, but if you don’t, you don’t have mesh sticking out of the side of your bag to snag on the environment. Between the front impact resistant tablet section and the larger “clothing” compartment, there is another top accessible compartment which is more shallow than the other areas and ideal for storing things you want to get at more quickly – maybe a water bottle or emergency poncho. You never know!

So that’s a total of four separate compartments, and a side pocket for the water. What else does this pack offer?
Well, the main body of the pack is constructed from 1000 Denier Kodra Nylon, which is tough and water resistant. It has a rubber handle at the top of the pack for when you don’t want to sling it on your back, and the bottom features expandable sling storage for say a roll mat.

The last couple of features focus on comfort – the back is curved to fit your back and naturally has foam padding and air channels to keep you cool, plus there is a strap for the sternum to help with managing the load.

Putting it to the test

The main feature of the pack is of course the waterproof compartment. To see how this stood up to testing, I decided to sacrifice my venerable Samsung NC10 netbook, popped it in the compartment, and chucked the bag in the bath, which in my case is around half a metre deep. I left out the bubbles. After half an hour, the bag was retrieved, with everything soaked through apart from that compartment, and my netbook ready to face another day. Bath 0, PeliPro U100, 1. I’m confident that in normal usage, such as a rainstorm, or a river crossing (river crossings are part of your normal day, right?), this compartment would stay dry.

As a backpack, the Peli ProGear U100 Elite is certainly comfortable, with that curved back really creating a snug fit. The only problem is weight – by itself the pack weighs nearly 4kg, or 8lbs. Once I added in some gear, it was certainly quite a load on my back. Manageable, but I’m not sure I’d want to be hiking for prolonged periods with that much weight strapped to me, although it would be fine on a bicycle or motorbike.

Things to consider

As mentioned above, this pack is no lightweight. The main feature – that laptop compartment – adds a fair bit of weight to the pack. So unless you are fairly strong, it might not be ideal for prolonged use. The other thing to remember is that whilst the water and crush proof compartment is, well, water and crush proof, the rest of the pack isn’t. So if you immerse it in water, or drive a truck over it, only the compartment itself will remain safe. The rest of the pack is water resistant, so a rain shower will be fine, but it likely won’t fare so well in other scenarios This may seem obvious, but it’s one to bear in mind.

Our recommendation

If you have a laptop that you absolutely must cart around with you, and don’t want to invest in one of those insanely expensive ruggedized laptops that are often underpowered, then this pack is the answer. It would be ideal for use on a motorbike, or on a cycle commute to work – although you’d want to get a proper rain cover for it so the rest of your stuff doesn’t get soaked through. Also, if you are going into the backcountry, and are planning on taking expensive equipment with you, then this bag could be a saviour when you find yourself facing a river crossing, bear attack or unexpected downpour.

For longer term travel, the weight would be a definite consideration. If you need superior protection for your kit though, I’m happy to recommend the Peli ProGear U100 Elite Backpack – it may not be a cheap piece of kit, with a retail price of over £200 or $300, but considering the value of what you are likely to be putting in it, it could easily pay back the investment should anything untoward happen.

For more information about the Peli range of waterproof backpacks and cases for your next adventure visit the Peli ProGear website. Peli ProGear kindly gave us a sample for this review.

Our guest reviewer, Laurence Norah is a traveller, writer and photographer, who spends much of his time musing on his travel and photography blog: Finding the Universe. He’s happiest behind his camera viewfinder on top of a mountain, or enjoying a chilled beer somewhere. If you bump into him, say hi, and steer him away from the edge!

Photo Credit: All photos by Laurence Norah of FindingtheUniverse.com

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com

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