Review: 2 years of Gaston Luga’s Praper backpack (in black)

**This is not a sponsored post**

Seeing more people with Gaston Luga backpacks in the last few months reminded me that I’ve been using mine for more than two years now. And it seemed like a great time to review my experience of using it so that people who are new to the brand and are considering the backpack can make more informed choices before investing in the product.

In this post, I’m reviewing the Praper backpack from Gaston Luga in all-black, after using it primarily to carry my bulky work laptop.

TL;DR: Durable backpack with sleek design and large capacity but not recommended for functionalists.

Pros

1. Durable backpack

Considering that I’ve been overworking my Praper backpack by carrying the heavier and larger Macbook model in my commutes to the office, I think the bag looks relatively unworn after 2 years.

None of the buckles or straps have torn or show signs of tear just yet.

I’m also not gentle with my bags and I don’t take care of them at all so overall I’m impressed by how the bag has proven its worth.

Gaston Luga’s (max 15″) Praper backpack in all-black

If I had to nitpick though, the parts that are showing signs of vigorous use are the paint coming off the metal hole of the strap used to adjust the length and the smudges on the front part of the bag that isn’t canvas but made of PU.

Scratches on the metal buckle of the strap

The buckle isn’t easily noticeable but the smudges on the front of the bag could be, so you might want to consider that if you’re not precious with your bags like me.

2. Large capacity and design

I was looking for a backpack that could hold a 15-inch Macbook Pro and stumbled across the Praper.

Not only can it hold a large laptop, there’s plenty of room in front of the laptop sleeve to hold other items.

The capacity is large but the bag doesn’t look bulky – perfect if you don’t particularly like the backpacks that make you look like you’re wearing a turtle shell on your back.

Cons

1. No back support

It’s good to note that the back is not padded. I’ve not particularly felt this causes much discomfort but it is a feature that other backpacks have that the Praper doesn’t.

But it also means that the bag doesn’t stand on its own and will fold forward if there’s nothing hard like a laptop supporting the back of the bag.

2. Limited internal pockets

Perhaps not as important as the external pockets functionally, but there are limited internal pockets inside the Praper as well.

2 small pockets on the laptop sleeve inside the backpack

The two small pockets it does have inside are barely usable because they are so small.

3. No accessible external pockets

There is a small pocket at the back that allows you to snugly fit in your phone, keys, card wallet etc without the items poking your back when you have the bag on you.

The full back view of the backpack

But you can’t fit anything larger than those items and it’s also hard to reach for those items with the bag on your back.

Size of the back pocket relative to an Octopus card

Other than this small, rather unreachable back pocket, the Praper has no other external pockets.

My work around is to carry an extra tote bag on my commutes so it’s easy to grab my Octopus card or phone when I’m on the move.

But it’s not a very functional backpack if you’re looking to have both hands free and be able to easily reach for your items. Other Gaston Luga backpacks or even the brand Bellroy’s might be a better choice for functionality.

Good-to-Know

For the same price, you might consider these 2 other Gaston Luga backpacks if you’re carrying a laptop larger than 13 inches – Heritage 16” backpack and Splash 16”. Note that both are quite a bit larger than the Praper though.
According to the Gaston Luga site, their products are also available at the Causeway Bay branch of Escapade Sports.
The Gaston Luga site for Hong Kong is not available in English but you can select other English locations (eg Singapore) to read the product descriptions. When you’re making a purchase, use the Hong Kong version of the site and auto translate the Traditional Chinese to English from your browser (Chrome allows you to do this by right clicking on the page and selecting “Translate to English”).
Gaston Luga sends their bags in a very sleek black box that gives a premium brand impression and makes it an ideal brand to gift. (I sadly did not keep a photo of the packaging, however.)
Bellroy might be a better brand to consider for more functional backpacks than Gaston Luga. Bellroy backpacks are in a similar price range as Gaston Luga’s and the brand has a range of backpacks that have more pockets and back support.