King Kong EDT Backpack [Review]

Introducing the Everyday Tactical (EDT) Backpack, King Kong's first-ever daily laptop backpack.

King Kong is best known for their rugged gym bags but they have really surprised us when they announced a smaller laptop backpack for everyday carry. This pack is a fusion of a high-end laptop backpack and a rugged tactical bag. From full grain leather accents to MOLLE webbing for attachments, it’s a nice blend of style and function.

In this King Kong EDT backpack review, we will dive into all of the details and explore if it’s worth the hype.

Video Review

The Rundown

What we like

• Side pockets are great for multi-use: water bottles, pens, phone, etc

• Light colored ripstop lining makes it easy to quickly find items inside the bag

• Real leather accents really elevate the look and feel

• Comfortable padded shoulder straps and breathable back panel

What we don’t like

• Laptop sleeve doesn’t have a false bottom to protect against drops

• Plastic buckles on the front. We wish King Kong had used metal for durability.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Dimensions: 19.7” (H) x 11.8” (W) x 5.1” (D)

• Capacity: 18L

• Materials: Full Grain American Leather, Nylon, Ripstop Nylon

• Laptop Sleeve: Up to 16”

Where to buy

Similar Backpacks

Size and Fit

The King Kong EDT Backpack offers a 18 liters of packing room, making it great for lugging around daily essentials. Despite its modest 18-liter capacity, this backpack falls on the larger side with a pretty big footprint on the back when worn.

The shoulder straps a nicely padded with breathable mesh, which are approximately 3.5 inches apart and wider than most at 3 inches. This design provides great comfort and support for large men and women with broad shoulders, however those with narrow shoulders and a smaller frame may find the straps a bit too wide.

We really love the back panel on the EDT. It’s cushioned and very breathable, featuring cutouts for airflow. The back panel is stiff to give the bag some structure but it isn’t too stiff and will still conform to your back for a personalized fit. For extra support, the backpack also features an adjustable sternum strap.

Materials and Construction

The King Kong EDT Backpack features a combination of high-quality materials and thoughtful construction. The bag uses full grain American leather trim on the front top panel, front bottom panel, top handle, and various touch points. The leather really adds sophistication to the bag that we only really see in luxury laptop backpacks.

Inside the backpack, King Kong uses light-colored ripstop nylon, providing excellent visibility to easily locate your items. Additionally, the backpack incorporates MOLLE webbing on the side pockets and front, offering versatile attachment options for extra gear.

While the bag includes convenient straps on the front for attaching items like a jacket, we found that the quality of the buckles on the straps is a bit disappointing, as they are made with plastic. Time will tell how these plastic buckles hold up, and we wished that King Kong had opted for sturdier metal buckles instead.

One appealing aspect of the EDT Backpack is the minimal branding. The only visible branding is a removable leather patch on the front, allowing you to personalize the bag with your own morale patch. This touch of customization adds to the backpack's overall appeal and versatility.

What fits inside the King Kong EDT Backpack?

The King Kong EDT Backpack offers 18 liters of packing space, providing enough room for your daily essentials. Inside the main compartment, you'll find a smart organization system with five different pockets, ensuring your belongings stay neat and easily accessible.

Inside the main compartment you’ll be greeted with a padded sleeve, perfect for securely stashing documents or an iPad. There are also slip pockets that can easily fit a laptop charger or sunglasses case. For further organization, two zippered pockets are available for smaller items, making it easy to keep stuff like pens and cables within reach.  Our favorite pocket has to be the hidden pocket underneath the King Kong label that can perfectly fit an Apple Airtag or Tile tracker.

In our tests, we found that the main compartment comfortably accommodated a few binders, notebooks, and folders, making it a practical choice for students and professionals alike.

Furthermore, the EDT Backpack can easily fit a change of clothing and shoes, making it suitable for quick gym visits or overnight trips. For work carry, the main compartment can also fit a lunch box and jacket inside the main compartment.

One thing to note is that the opening of the main compartment isn’t very wide. This is great for stacking your items on top of each other but can be trouble for large bulky items. Stuff like a camera cube and large lunch box had trouble fitting through the opening.

16” Laptop Compartment

The laptop compartment of the King Kong EDT Backpack is designed to accommodate up to a 16" laptop. And when King Kong says 16” laptop, they mean a 16” laptop and not just a Macbook Pro. We found that we could comfortably fit a big clunky 15.6” PC Laptop inside this compartment with some room to spare.

This laptop compartment is generously padded on all sides, offering reliable protection for your laptop. However, our main concern with the laptop compartment is missing a false bottom. Without a false bottom, the laptop compartment extends all the way to the bottom of the bag, potentially leaving the laptop vulnerable to drops and bumps. We would love if King Kong incorporated a false bottom into the design in future versions of this bag, as this small feature adds an extra layer of protection for valuable devices.

Outside Pockets

The King Kong EDT Backpack comes equipped with three quick-access exterior pockets.

The first is a small front pocket secured with a water-resistant zipper. This nifty pocket is perfect for safeguarding your phone, wallet, or sunglasses, ensuring they stay protected even during rain.

The standout feature of this backpack is the multi-use side pockets found on either side. These pockets cleverly zip shut when not in use, keeping them neatly out of the way and maintaining the bag's sleek appearance.

They serve as fantastic water bottle pockets, accommodating bottles of all sizes. We successfully fit a massive 40oz Hydroflask inside these side pockets with ease. Additionally, these pockets prove ideal for storing quick-access items like your phone, pen, or any other essentials you need on the go.

Final Thoughts

The EDT’s high-quality construction and thoughtful design choices truly impressed us, demonstrating King Kong's dedication to delivering top-notch products.

We have noticed that the quality of each King Kong bag keeps getting better and better with each new release. The Everyday Tactical is without a doubt their best release so far. The leather trim, the MOLLE webbing and cool urban backpack design has us excited about what King Kong will come up with next. It really is a mix of a high end backpack and rugged tactical bag. Best of both worlds.

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King Kong Heritage Leather [Review]

Let's start by saying that a 'Buy It For Life' gym bag seems like a contradiction. Unraveling seams, fraying fabrics, and brittle plastic clasps that snap are the sorry fate of a well-loved yet heavily-abused gym bag. You tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it was a bag made out of polyester and plastic.

King Kong strives to offer something better with their Heritage Leather Backpack. In fact, we believe this falls squarely in the BFIL gym bag category. In this King Kong Heritage Leather Backpack review we give you the details so you can decide if this is the gym backpack for you.

Video Review

The Rundown

What we like

• Gorgeous full grain leather construction that looks amazing in person

• External shoe compartment

• 26L main compartment that’s roomy enough for most gym sessions

• Comfortable padded shoulder straps

What we don’t like

• Every piece of hardware is made out of metal except for the shoe compartment buckle which is unfortunately made of plastic.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Dimensions: 20” x 12” x 7” inches

• Capacity: 26L

• Weight: 5.9 lbs

• Materials: Full Grain American Leather, 100% Cotton Twill lining, metal zippers

• Laptop Sleeve: Up to 16”

• Tablet Sleeve: None

Where to buy

Similar Backpacks

Materials and Construction

Let’s start with the construction. The Heritage Leather Backpack is made with full-grain leather, a material that only improves in appearance as it ages. Over time, full-grain leather develops a rich patina, giving the Heritage Leather Backpack a unique look.

The interior of the backpack is lined with 100% cotton twill and features leather trim throughout. The zippers and hardware are made of metal, so there is no worry of cheap plastic snapping or cracking. The one exception is the buckle found in the exterior shoe compartment, which unfortunately is made out of plastic.

There is an elephant in the room when we talk about construction - and that's the bag's weight. The King Kong Heritage Leather Backpack is heavy, weighing in at a whopping 5.9lbs empty because of all the leather used in its construction. We're not putting a judgement on this weight, as it's the price to pay for an all-leather bag. Only you can decide if this is in the range of acceptability for how you plan on using it.

Pockets and Compartments

The compartments on the King Kong Heritage Leather Backpack are pretty straightforward, keeping in tune with King Kong's mission of designing a gym bag that rivals those made before the time of mass-produced, cheap bags that we see in most gyms today.

The King Kong Heritage Leather Backpack offers 26 liters of packing space, plus an external shoe compartment. We tested the shoe compartment and can confirm that it can fit a size 12 men's running shoes with room to spare for larger sizes.

Overall, the Heritage Leather Backpack offers a pretty 'back to basics' design. You won't find pockets for specific items like a phone, sunglasses, or pens. But it does offer a zippered pocket on the inside of the main compartment and a front pocket on the outside that can fit multiple items like a phone and wallet or smaller workout items like lifting gloves and a jump rope.

The 'back to basics' design also applies to the 16-inch laptop sleeve inside the main compartment, a lightly padded sleeve with no false bottom. If you are expecting a fancy laptop sleeve like you would find in many urban laptop backpacks - don't. Will this laptop sleeve get the job done? Yes. Is it the best we've ever seen? No.

Finally, we have the two side water bottle pockets. These pockets are deep and we can confirm that a 32oz Nalgene bottle fits comfortably inside. The water bottle pockets also zip shut for a cleaner look when not in use.

What Fits Inside?

We managed to fit a change of clothing (pants, t-shirt and sweatshirt), 12 oz boxing gloves and a toiletries bag inside the 26 litter main compartment. The exterior gives us some more storage thanks to the exterior shoe compartment and dual water bottle pockets. The front pocket is surprisingly roomy and we could easily fit a phone, wallet and a pair of weight lifting gloves.

Need more packing room? Check out the King Kong Heritage Leather Duffel that gives you 46 liters with an additional 5 pockets for organization.

Final Thoughts

This backpack rocks. There is no other way to say it. The supple leather and straightforward design makes it feel like an heirloom item. Can a gym backpack be an heirloom item? Well, we think so, thanks to King Kong. We can’t express enough how nice this backpack feels.

However, the $499 price tag isn’t for everyone. This is why we believe if you like the look of the Heritage Leather Backpack but can't justify the commitment, you should go with King Kong PLUS26, which shares a lot of the same design but at a more affordable price. But for anyone ready to make the leap into a premium gym bag design constructed to last decades, then the King Kong Heritage Backpack is the bag to get.

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King Kong EDGE35 [Review]

The King Kong EDGE35 is a versatile backpack that can be used for workouts, travel and daily carry thanks to its 35 liter capacity and clamshell style main compartment that makes loading the backpack a breeze. This main compartment is large enough to fit multiple changes of clothes and bulkier items like boxing gloves and other workout gear. The EDGE35 even includes a large bottom shoe compartment for sneakers or dirty laundry.

For daily carry, the King Kong EDGE35 features a large 17” padded laptop compartment and a front admin compartment with plenty of pockets for organizing smaller essentials. The side Fidlock magnetic buckle straps allow you to compress the backpack down for a slimmer profile on days you want to keep it light.

Construction-wise, the King Kong EDGE35 is an absolute beast with beefy zippers and a heavy-weight fabric construction. This definitely feels like a backpack that you can toss around without worrying about the integrity of the construction. Of course, this rugged construction comes at the cost of weight - the King Kong EDGE35 weights a total of 4lbs when empty.

When it comes to the overall design we are impressed the King Kong EDGE35. The 35 liter capacity makes it a great option for gym goers who carry bulky workout kits like shoes, boxing gloves, pads and weight lifting belts. The fact that this backpack opens like a suitcase for easy packing is easily one of the highlights of the EDGE35’s design and its wide variety of pockets and compartments makes it a great choice for anyone looking for a one-bag solution for workouts, travel and daily laptop carry.

What we like

• Sleek design that looks great as a gym or travel backpack.

• Plenty of pockets for organizing gym items and clothing inside the main compartment

• Side water bottle pockets hide away when not in use for a cleaner look.

• Clamshell main compartment for easy packing/unpacking.

What we don’t like

• Compression straps work great for managing the backpack size but unfortunately you have to undo these buckles to get into the main compartment.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Dimensions: 19.7” H x 12.6” W x 8.7” D

• Capacity: 35L

• Materials: 1000D Nylon, YKK Zippers

• Weight: 4 lbs

• Laptop Compartment: Up to 17”

• Shoe compartment

Where to buy

Similar Backpacks

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