The Bridge Backpack Mini

By Antonio Malara

It’s since long time that without a real reason I look online for a backpack mini. I didn’t need one but I like bags and I was waiting for the right deal. The most important thing must be the quality beside the design so I surfed all the major fashion designers website. At some point I totally forgot about this kind of item and this spring when I was at fashion outlet in Sicily I went inside the “The Bridge” store just to kill the time. This is a famous Brand which produce high quality leather bags and accessories, I own two kind of bags by The Bridge that I used for travel and now for work. In a corner inside the store there was a series of backpacks with different discounts. My eyes went on a backpack mini, there were two colors, black and grey and the price ridiculously cheap for an item which was completely in leather. I asked to the shop assistant if the price was right and she said that there was a double discount for the mini, which was priced at 120€ (the original price was over 300€). I decided to buy it but I wasn’t sure about the color, I went for a walk to clear my mind about it. I back to the store in half hour and I bought the grey one.
As I said I didn’t need a mini but when I back home I tried to fill the backpack with different things to see how was its capacity. I tried to put inside all my different cameras and I’ve been surprised that it could contain both my mirrorless with lenses while the big dslr it could fits without them. 

The backpack measurements are 35x30x12 it has a zipper which opens it from side to side through the top, inside there’s a dedicated pocket for a tablet (my iPad Pro 10.5 fits perfectly) two places for pen one for smartphones and another pocket with zipper. There’s also an external small zipper pocket. The quality is good and the smells of leather is even better, I left the backpack in the box for months and some weeks ago I decided to use it as a bag for work. I don’t put much stuff inside, iPhone charges, some badges a bottle of water and fruits. Sometimes I also put the umbrella and the iPad during the night shift. Previously I used a messenger bag but I noticed that it wasn’t good for my neck and it was Impossible to use all the space inside plus the bag itself was heavy. With the backpack there’s a smarter use of the space inside because items can be placed vertically rather then horizontally and the weight is better balanced. Probably the backpack weights a lots less than the messengers bag because when I put inside the backpack the same items it seem that it is empty compared to my other bag. I’m really satisfied of this new item and I also think that the color matches almost with all clothes, this was one of my doubts at the beginning during the color choice. 

​In conclusion I have to say that using this backpack is a real pleasure, it is comfortable and useful. To be honest I feel a little dumb for not having use it before, I made the switch only after a neck pain caused by the other bag. There’s only one thing in which the messenger is more practical than the backpack; it is when you need to pick up something inside, with the messenger you can do it while you’re still wearing it.

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Photo: Antonio Malara