Spire Fuse Review

Overall 4.00 of 5 (by 1 user)

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vytas
Chicago, IL

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Comfortable, capacious and well armored

creative professional, practical, simple is good

Pros

extremely well built, capacious

Cons

expensive

AUG

2007

If you're a commuter who moves on public transit and uses foot power to move in urban or natural environments, you'll appreciate the thoughfully designed Spire Fuse backpack. Especially if carrying a laptop around is part of your daily commute.

The Spire Fuse is a comfortable backpack that includes a removable “boot” (a special padded snug sleeve for your laptop). I have to say that I have yet to worry about the safety of my laptop (currently an Apple Macbook Pro) - I also used it with a Dell Lattitude 610) since I started using the Spire Fuse. The one thing to note here is that you make sure you get the correctly sized boot whan you order the Spire Fuse.

The shoulder straps are padded and include a sternum strap. I find the sternum strap keeps the backpack snug on your back and relieves any back pull on the shoulder straps thereby distributing the weight evenly on your upper body. The rear of the Spire Fuse is also padded ensuring that nothing abrades your back.

The Spire Fuse has three compartments with three very strong and chunky zippers. A thick and durable nylon cloth is used in the construction of the backpack. After using the pack everyday for over a year, it looks practically new. There are plenty of backpacks that look worn and tired after a short while, but the Spire Fuse somehow manages to brush off the ravages of time.

It also has four compression straps on the left and right near the top and bottom of the pack to ensure your load is always controlled and for those times you want to carry less and not end up with a sagging bag or you have a large load that you don't want shifting around. In my experience, compression straps make a huge difference in the comfort of wearing a backpack (both for short and extended periods of time).

The only thing that could be improved is the price. Spire backpacks are expensive - but you get what you pay for - an extremely high quality pack that will take years of abuse on your back, but still keep on performing. One other note, Spire customer service is responsive and quick to address any issues that may arise.

Overall, I would buy the Spire Fuse again and I recommend it to anyone looking for a comfortable, durable pack to use on their daily commute. The only reason it didn't get five stars is because of the price.

http://www.spireusa.com

Additional photos from: http://www.digitalreviews.net/reviews/200409/spirefuse-backpack.html

Last edited on Feb 13, 2008