Anti-Theft Laptop Backpack 17 Inch, Water-Resistant

Zips that take a padlock, not a promise.

You put the pack down for two minutes. The airport gate, the train seat, under the crib room table, the back of the ute while you sign for something. It is out of your sight, and nothing on an ordinary backpack stops a hand going into the top zip while your back is turned.

Losing a work laptop is never just the price of the laptop. It is the job you were carrying on it, the client files on the drive, the report that was due Friday, and then a fortnight of getting a replacement approved, imaged and shipped to wherever you are.

This pack does one specific thing about that. The two main zip pulls have 5 mm holes punched through them, so you can padlock them together and a hand cannot get into the compartment without the whole bag making a scene. It is a deterrent, not a door lock. Anyone determined and carrying a blade goes through the fabric instead. What it stops is the opportunist reaching into an unattended bag, and that is who takes most of them.

What It Does

• Padlocks the main zips: 5 mm holes through the paired zip pulls on the main compartment and the front pocket, sized for a small padlock shackle.
• Carries a 17 inch laptop: a padded sleeve in its own compartment against the back panel, loaded from the top rather than through the main bag.
• Feeds a charging cable out: an external USB socket wired to a short lead inside. Your own power bank does the charging; the pack just runs the cable.
• Sheds a shower: a water-resistant Oxford shell that beads rain off. It is not sealed and it is not a dry bag.
• Spreads a heavy load: a moulded EVA back panel with airflow channels, and wide padded shoulder straps.
• Comes in two body sizes: a 500 mm tall daily pack, or a 550 mm tall body for a week away.

Key Features

• Lockable zip pulls: 5 mm holes through the pulls on the main compartment and the front pocket — the supplier's stated keyhole diameter.
• Steel cable top handle: a moulded grip threaded over a steel cable and riveted at both ends, rather than a stitched fabric loop.
• Moulded back panel: shaped EVA pads with channels between them so air can move instead of sitting flat against your shirt.
• Separate laptop compartment: padded, against the back panel, so the machine is not sharing space with your boots and your lunch.
• Front organiser panel: a drop-down flap with pen loops, card slots and a clip on a lanyard for keys.
• Two side pockets: elasticated mesh, deep enough for a drink bottle or a folded brolly, one each side.
• Slim zip pocket: a flat pocket on the side sized for a phone, so it is not rattling around in the main bag.
• Reflective tab: one small reflective strip low on the front panel. A tab, not a hi-vis panel.
• Oxford shell, polyester lining: the supplier's stated materials. No fabric weight is published.
• Four colourways: black, navy blue, blue camouflage and red camouflage — the larger body comes in black or blue camouflage only.

Limits

Here is what this pack will not do. None of it is a reason to walk past it, but you should know it before you carry a laptop in it.

• It is a deterrent, not a lock: a padlock through the zip pulls stops a hand in a queue. The shell is Oxford fabric, it is not cut-resistant, and no part of this pack is tested or rated against a blade.
• The padlock is a free gift, not a fitting: the manufacturer's own description lists a free padlock with the bag, and its artwork shows a small three-dial combination type marked "free gift". It carries no TSA marking, and a gift item is the first thing a shipment loses, so we are not going to swear one turns up in your box. Any small padlock with a shackle up to 5 mm will go through the pulls.
• No power bank: the USB socket is a pass-through only — a short lead inside, a socket outside. It stores nothing and it generates nothing. Without your own power bank plugged in, the socket is dead.
• Not waterproof: the shell beads water and it will get you home in a shower. The zips are not sealed, the seams are not taped, and no rain cover is supplied. No IP rating or hydrostatic head is published, so we are not going to call it waterproof.
• "20 inch" is the bag, not a screen: it is the supplier's name for the larger body, the way luggage is sold as a 20 inch case. The supplier's own size comparison photograph uses a 16 inch laptop and the internal sleeve is not dimensioned anywhere, so we will not promise more than a 17 inch laptop.
• No hip belt: wide padded shoulder straps and a moulded back panel, but nothing to shift the weight off your shoulders onto your hips. On a 550 mm body packed full, you will feel that.
• The 60 kg figure is marketing: the supplier prints "load bearing 60 kg" on its own artwork and names no test standard behind it. Treat it as a claim, not a rating.
• Not high visibility: one small reflective tab on the front. No part of this pack is tested or marked to AS/NZS 1906.4, and it is not a substitute for a hi-vis vest on a road or a site.

Q & A

Will it take my 17 inch laptop?

The 17 inch body is 500 mm tall, 320 mm wide and 240 mm deep, with a padded sleeve in its own compartment. The supplier publishes no internal sleeve measurement, so if your machine is an unusually wide 17 inch gaming laptop, measure it against those external figures first. The supplier's own comparison photograph is a 16 inch laptop.

Does the padlock come with it?

The manufacturer says yes. Its own product description lists a free padlock with the bag, and one supplier image shows it, a small three-dial combination type marked as a free gift. We would still not build a plan around it, because a free gift is the first thing a shipment loses. The holes in the pulls are 5 mm, so any small padlock will do the job. There is no TSA marking on the padlock shown.

Will the USB port charge my phone on its own?

No. It is a cable pass-through. There is a short lead inside the bag and a socket on the outside, and you plug your own power bank into the inside end. Nothing is stored in the pack and there is no battery in it.

Is this a Swiss Army or SwissGear bag?

No. The pack carries a shield badge and is marked SWISTSNGR. It is not made by, and is not affiliated with, Victorinox or SwissGear. We would rather you knew that from the listing than worked it out when it turned up.

Can I take it on as cabin baggage?

Check the figures against your airline. The smaller body is 500 x 320 x 240 mm and the larger is 550 x 380 x 300 mm, and the supplier allows itself up to 30 mm of measuring error. Both are soft-sided, so a part-packed bag squashes down further than the numbers suggest, but a full one will not.

Which size should I get?

The 500 mm body is the commute and the site run — laptop, lunch, a jumper and a bottle. The 550 mm body is for a week away where the pack is doing the job of a small suitcase. It is a bigger bag, not a bigger laptop compartment.

Specs