The Knomo Dale tote backpack is no ordinary backpack. It’s stylish, premium and there’s an inbuilt RFID signal blocker lining for safety.
I often struggle to find a backpack that offers everything I need; I want something that will keep my gadgets safe, but at the same time needs to look fashionable. The Dale is one of the best looking tote backpacks out there.
Everything about the Dale has been well thought through; in fact, let’s break it all down so you can get a picture of what I’m talking about here.
Knomo Dale Design, Features and Functionality:
The Dale is a leather backpack mixed with fabric; while most of the back is leather, the straps and part of the grab-handle is fabric with leather to make it comfortable and offer a better grip when carrying it.
To the eyes, the Dale is a normal backpack until you open it up, but before we get to the inside, there’s a bit more on the outside. You can strap it to your back, or you can carry it using the handle, and this is very handy when commuting on a busy train and you need to carry it to save space.
On the back, there’s a space to slide it on your suitcase or hand luggage trolley bar to keep things in one place, especially when travelling for business and you don’t need all the faffing around with multiple things in hand – it frees up your hand to reply to emails.
What I also like about the prime full grain leather finishing is that it ages nicely over time and unlike most leather bags when it gets scratched from the everyday use, it blends in well. To keep things tough, there’s also a PET canvas base and back.
The shoulder straps are subtly padded for comfort and can be adjusted to suit you. Instead of making the straps permanent, Knomo has included a special mechanism to make it easier to attach/detach in seconds, you can then tuck the straps in if you like or leave it out.
Moving on to theKnomo Dale tote backpack’s interior, you can fit up to a 15″ laptop in there, you can even get two in there if you tried, that’s how spacious it is inside. The brown Knomo Dale tote backpack that we reviewed here has a blue lining inside, and on the front compartment, you can place your tablet, smartphones and there’s a RFID signal blocking compartment to keep your card or passport – keep the thieves away.
In the main compartment, there’s the padded laptop area, then a big middle section where I keep my camera equipment or if I’m cycling, my work shoes to change into when I get to my destination. The front compartment can be used to hold meeting documents.
In conclusion, the Knomo Dale tote backpack is not oversize, it measures just H40 x W31 x D15 cm and weighs 1.3kg without anything inside. Once you load it up with all your gadgets, it weighs more, whilst still being comfortable to use on a daily basis.
What to keep in mind is not to overload the back with items as what I notice is when I tried doing that, where the straps attach to the back area, the stitching were struggling but didn’t break, however, if that continues over time, it could be trouble.
The straps also got themselves into a twist very easily when loading and offloading in a rush and the clip sometimes come off, again, when overloaded. Besides those negative points, I feel that the Dale is generally a really good bag.
The documents compartment can be another space for a Knomo accessory like the Knomad Air premium leather portable organiser; it allows you to safely organise your tablet, smartphone, battery pack and business cards. You can quickly bring it out when you need to dish out your business card or when going through airport security.
Is it worth the price tag?
Yes, definitely, for £299, you are getting a whole lot of leather that is stylish and premium with the Knomo Dale tote backpack. I often get envied by onlookers who appreciates its style. It offers a lot of practicality that a lot of backpacks can’t offer and the RFID blocking is a great extra to have. Did I forget to mention there’s also a code assigned so it can be tracked if lost? and you also get a 2-year guarantee.
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