Atlas Packs Athlete vs Chrome Industries Hondo Backpack

Important: Choose the Adventure or Athlete hip belt – otherwise you will have literally no padding on your hips. I don’t recommend using the bag without a hipbelt either. The Adventure belt is more comfortable as it provides two layers of foam padding and a wider webbing and buckle – it’s also bigger and bulkier.

To finish up this section, we also want to point out the water bottle pockets you’ll find on both sides of the bag. We’ve been able to fit a Hydro Flask Standard-Mouth Water Bottle with Flex Cap 21 oz inside, but it’s a tight fit. Like we touched on earlier, we have to fight against this fabric to get anything larger inside, as it’s not elasticated or very flexible.

The bag’s back panel has some even denser padding in a honeycomb-like design that keeps you comfortable while also allowing air to circulate, so you’re not getting too sweaty. As we noted above, the bag’s material keeps it well-structured, which has helped make for a comfortable, supported carry.