Atlas Packs Athlete vs Direct Action Gear Dragon Egg

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.

I know it’s not a “premium” brand, but for me the Direct Action Gear Dragon Egg II is my Goldilocks bag. It checks all the boxes you list, and it just works. I’ve carried that bag every day for several years now, and I can’t really find anything better.

I also purchased a Capture Clip from Peak Designs which allows you to fix the camera to the shoulder strap in place while hiking – a great addition to this pack.

The size is perfect for everyday carry but can easily accommodate all the gear I need for a weekend of travel or overnight hiking trip. The laser cut molle is athletically pleasing as well as lower profile than typical molle webbing so the bag doesn't scream tactical unless you start putting extra pouches everywhere. The updated elastic side pockets are perfect and stow away well leaving the pack looking very sleek when not loaded down. Everything seems very quality on this pack and attention to detail is obvious

6. Pockets. All pockets are very spacious with nice zipper and velcro compartments. Great for admin organization

I bought this bag as a carry on/day pack for going over to Europe last november. Normally I'd bring my Condor 3 day pack, but that thing is huge and almost impossible to get into an overhead fully loaded. Using this bag was a breeze. Just the right size to get a few days worth of clothes and essentials in, including a light jacket

My laptop is older and it has a hard time fitting in the laptop pouch. If I load this think out with laptop, books, and some admin stuff, then it is really full. If I was getting on a plane and need to bring toiletries and other carry on items on top of it, I am not sure I could get it all to fit. I'm not sure I could bring all the admin things that lets say a Company Commander would need

Before buying I read some reviews that said they were annoyed that the buckle on the bottom straps were attached near your back. Direct Action must of listened to the complaints because mine was attached with the buckles near the front not the back (see picture). Because I also wanted the ability to lash a light jacket to the pack, I ran shock cord through the side loops and chris crossed it across the front (see picture). Since they took the zipper off the two side pockets from the previous version and just used elastic, I was skeptical