Getting around a college campus in the most efficient and comfortable way is definitely important to many people. Some students can leave most of their books in their car or a centralized locker and just go back and forth to switch out classroom materials before their next class.  Others have to drive or take public transportation to school. Where they park or get dropped off may not be in key locations, requiring them to walk some distance. Another big hurdle to deal with most classes, you can’t just show up with your laptop, pen/pencil and a notebook to scribble down information.  Others are not so lucky, in that they live close to campus, but not close enough. This brings in question “How do I get all of this around campus with as much comfort and efficiency as possible without looking like a yard sale. Granite Gear’s Brule College pack has what I believe to be an excellent solution to the problem.
This pack has many features that make lugging things quite a bit easier. The way it has been designed will provide you with a very organized means to navigating your classes and any other campus or full day activity that you may partake in. It has two main compartments for books, tablet and laptop.
The laptop compartment is very well padded at the bottom, front and back. This particular compartment is closest to your back.
                
The next pocket is the largest of them all and also has a tablet pouch at the top of the compartment.
This compartment is ideal for books, clothes, rain gear, camping supplies and whatever else you may use it for. The drawstring top for this compartment helps to decrease the chance for foul weather getting into your pack.
The reason I say “decrease”, the top flap does not have sides that come down which would increase the ability to keep the inside safe from foul weather.
The top flap is made of water proof material and zipper to allow for water tight compartment.
The inside of the top-flap compartment has a barrier zipper with a tricot liner which I believe is equivalent to the Gortex  material that many of today’s hiking boots use for waterproof liners.
The next and smaller compartment is designed to hold writing stuff, calculator, cell phone, etc. A college size note pad would fit in nicely in there as well.
The final front pocket is neither weather tight or protected from the elements. This could be used for pretty much anything that fits in it.
A couple of things that I did notice are as follows.
- The shoulder straps have a clear material that have been advertised as enhance breathability. This material is one of the weak points of this college pack that I might replace with the repelaweave fabric for increased durability.
- There is mention of a “load bearing hide-away hip belt that can help to take the pressure off your shoulders”, which is verbatim from there website. Unfortunately, I am not finding this beautiful feature to the Brule. This would most definitely be an excellent feature to have though. My finger is pointing to the shoulder pad synching strap.
Through the years and my experiences in the great outdoors, I have grown increasingly picky and biased to what I like and don’t like about gear and equipment. I am very quick to immediately look for the shortfalls and weaknesses, but always try to provide an idea or solution to what may help to improve said piece of gear/equipment. I consider it a privilege when a company like Granite Gear asks the Loadout Room to review one or more of their products.
Stay tuned for a more detailed review after some real world use and abuse.
