Collectively the three of us have tried out a lot of laptop bags and Kara’s getting to another one next week. I’ve been giving this Kelty Station one an unusually tough workout though. I’ve been using it since the spring and so far this thing has been on six flight legs, eight long-distance bus rides, at least twenty taxi rides, and a dozen walks around town in various locations.

My conclusion? This is one tough, multi-functional bag that does everything I want it to. It’s a real workhorse that I expect to keep using for years on end. Coming from Kelty, a company known more for its value proposition than its long-term durability, this Station bag continually surprised me with its ruggedness and it’s thoughtful design.

Be advised that this is a laptop backpack on the large side: it will easily hold a 15-inch laptop with room to spare and it has a total capacity of 29 liters (1,800 cubic inches). That practically puts it in the overnight bag or ultra-light backpacker category, so it’s got support straps for your waist and another one that goes across the chest. There are four padded mesh sections on the back and the shoulder straps are both contoured and padded. This is not some cute little pack that makes a fashion statement. It’s for people who need to cart a lot of things along.

In my case, this held virtually everything I needed for a day of work or a nine-hour plane ride: camera, papers, notebooks, magazines, Kindle, my gadget/cords case, pens, music player, keys, cell phone, press kits people keep handing me, and on it goes. I have yet to actually fill the thing up, even when bringing along a change of clothes and a toiletry kit. (Hey, you never know when you’ll get stranded at an airport.) I’ll get into specific features, but in general I like the way this bag is organized. There’s a padded laptop pocket you can open from either the top or the side—handy. Then there are three separate compartments of different sizes, with the front two having sub-pockets inside those. So it’s very easy to keep things organized.

There are a whole lot of nice touches that make this laptop backpack a pleasure to use. There are handles on the top, the side, and the front, which is great when you want to get the bag off your shoulders or pull it out of an overhead compartment. There are water bottle pockets on both sides, with zippers for expansion and Velcro flaps for when you want to use them for something else. (I use one to hold my Steripen Opti.) There’s a rubberized bottom that is easy to wipe off. Reflective tape helps you be seen on dark sidewalks. Lots of little pockets inside are sized for business cards, pens, cell phones, and gadgets. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything—there’s even a hook where I can fasten my keys so they don’t get buried.

All that considered, I also like this Station bag because it meets my main criteria when walking around foreign cities: it doesn’t scream, “Hey everybody, I’ve got an expensive laptop in here!” It just looks like a backpack.

The Kelty Station laptop backpack comes in six color accents and lists for $90 at the Kelty site, but is less than that if you follow the eBags link below.

Get the Kelty Station Laptop Backpacks at eBags.