Really, Patagonia?

CEFR Level B2-C1

I was browsing Dick’s Sporting Goods and came across the daypacks/school bags. Curious to see what was new and trendy, I took a look. Bungee cords to hold a jacket seemed popular. As always, colors were gendered, which is annoying for a variety of reasons. 

Eventually, I came across the Patagonia Refugio. I’ve had good success with Patagonia fleeces and, as far as I know, the company has a decent reputation. I was eager to see what helpful features this 26 liter backpack offered. 

I didn’t make it past the first zipper.

Really, Patagonia? 

In what context is this type of back pocket secure? Even a horizontal zipper would be better. If this pocket gets overstuffed, the zipper will open on its own and everything that isn’t in the deepest corners will fall out. 

The design tempts me to overstuff that pocket with menstrual supplies and leave a trail of pads and tampons scattered behind me to help those without. Plausible deniability. How was I to know that zipper opened on its own? 

Ignoring possible travel uses of the Refugio, even for a schoolbag, this design is confusing. Ma-a-ybe if only books are in this pocket it would be useful, but that doesn’t make any sense from a packing perspective. The heaviest things should be closest to your back. Not many schoolbooks are small enough to fit in there, anyway.

If the plan was to only pack things below the zipper opening, then that’s an obscene amount of wasted space.

What was this pocket designed for? Why is it designed like this? I can see how it increases ease of access to the contents, but that’s my point. Why are you basically waving a flag to ask someone to try to unzip your backpack without you seeing? 

Maybe this bag would be useful in a reasonably safe school or work situation and when you are confident that you won’t overfill it. Even so, a single-context bag (school/work) isn’t worth the cost to me when I could get a multi-context bag (school/work, hiking, travel). 

Seriously, Patagonia. For an adventure/travel company, you should make more thoughtful designs.