When I finished my Master’s degree and got my first job back in <ahem> 1995, my mother bought me a a black leather Samsonite briefcase.  I remember I brought it with me to work every day – it looked great!  I also remember that beyond the couple of pens and business cards that were in it, I almost never carried anything inside of it.  Once laptops started regularly being issued, my beloved briefcase gave way to a laptop bag that I used for about a decade or so – then the pandemic hit.  I like to tell people I was trapped in my basement for two years – which is how long I teleworked.  When I finally was able to go back to the office, I noticed that laptop bags had given way to backpacks.  So I picked up a basic black Samsonite backpack – the Pro Slim.  I used that backpack for five years, and to its credit, I’d still be using it if I hadn’t gotten…bored.  Fans of ThruMyLens know that I use several different camera backpacks, and my the main one I use (the Ulanzi BP09) is quite stylish.  My Samsonite Pro Slim being basic black just grew stale after a while.  That’s one of the main reasons I decided to pick up the Samsonite Tectonic.

Functionally I would say it doesn’t offer much if any advantages over my previous Samsonite Pro Slim.  It offers a place to hold a laptop up to 17″, another spot that can hold a tablet (and I tend to bring both a laptop and 12.9″ iPad Pro around with me on the daily) as well as the usual functional pockets for pens, business cards, charging cables and the like, and the usual side pocket:

Looking at the back of the backpack you can see that it’s designed to help airflow to your back for comfort and to keep you getting to work with a wet shirt.  Like most backpacks, you can also slip it on the carry handle of your roller suit case if you’d rather carry it that way when going through an airport.  You’ll also note that the backpack straps have the same canvas running down the center which many camera backpacks I use have.  This feature MIGHT be reinforcement of some sort, but they are also handy places to mount a shoulder strap quick release mount for a camera.  So now if I want to throw a camera in my carry on during a work trip, I’ve got a convenient place to mount my camera if I want to do some sight seeing.

Perhaps the only other unique feature that I’ve found on this backpack is a zipper pouch with a rather large cloth or perhaps microfiber bag if you want to throw items like perhaps glasses in this pouch and not worry about scratches:

For me, the aesthetic was the driving factor – this is very good looking backpack.  The red elements look fantastic against the black with being too flashing or attention drawing.

Quality wise, it’s very impressive – perhaps not quite as high quality as the Pro Slim which still looks brand new after five years.  But quite durable with strong, comfortable carry handles and excellent large zippers.  Given that I’m planning on working only seven more years, it’s quite possible this will be my last work backpack.  I think it will do the job nicely.  Do check out the Samsonite Tectonic if you’re looking for a great EDC work backpack.