Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me start off by saying I am writing two reviews at once right now for comparison purposes. I purchased both the original Rope Bag and the Paxton pack, in order to see which would work best for me. Scroll down for TL;DR. I am mainly looking for a bag to use when I am out with my 3yo. I fancy myself a “prepared” packer, and truthfully my goal is to carry as much as possible to fit every potential scenario, but in the smallest size/weight possible because stuff is heavy. I realize this goal might make little sense to you. Moving on. I’ve had every bag imaginable from Ju Ju Be and Kipling and a fair number of other brands as well, always in search of the “perfect” bag. Right now that would be a backpack, preferably sling style for easy access. If this were a perfect world the back of the bag would be mesh for better breathability but I settled on the Kavu brand after a fair amount of research, and decided the other features outweighed that, so here we are. At this stage, I typically carry the following: For my daughter: Folding potty seat, wipes, hand sanitizer, sunblock, mosquitNo stickers and/or bands, tissues, a first aid kit, a pouch of snacks, her water bottle, a hat, and/or a light sweater. Some type of toy usually makes its way in. For myself, I *must* carry my wallet, phone and keys. I *like* to carry my personal-planner, a pen, a water bottle for me, sometimes a snack, and frankly whatever else I can cram in without encumbering myself. I am often also tasked with carrying my husband’s wallet and inhaler, and sometimes his keys. I’m generally using this bag when we have the car, so there are additional items there, but I also hate to have to go back to the car when I need something, so I usually carry everything except for a spare change of clothes and an umbrella. Now, onto the bags. Both are canvas/cotton material. I thought the Paxton was more of a vinyl, and it is not. I will miss the rain-repellent feature of the Kipling bags, but I’ll get around that. Both feel about the same when loaded with the same items. The Rope Bag actually seemed to sit a bit more comfortably, in that I had to tighten the Paxton more to get it to lay flat, but it was a barely discernible difference and both stayed close to my body which is what I wanted. I thought the ropes might hurt but they did not. The Paxton is larger. It’s not very significant if you lay them side by side, but when you pack them you will notice. Both are really only suited to right-handed people. Not a deal-breaker for me as I am a rightie, but I would have liked being able to switch the load from shoulder to shoulder. It is worth noting that they both sit well on the left shoulder if you are carrying them like you would a regular backpack and letting it dangle; very close to the body and stays behind your arm pretty easily. 7th grade me and my Jansport knocking around would’ve been jealous. Anyway, I packed them both up using all of the required items above (I will try to add a photo but Amazon isn’t cooperating right now). The Rope bag did hold everything, but that was it. None of my own preferred extras, and my husband is SOL. Also, everything was packed in there pretty well, which is why the Rope Bag had to be returned; my entire reason for wanting a sling bag was for easy and quick access without having to take the bag off, so if I needed to take it off and/or take stuff out to dig for what I wanted, the bag just wasn’t going to work. As far as fitting everything in, the Paxton has a sort of base inside the bottom, so it stands up a bit more easily than the Rope bag. This made packing a bit easier as the first aid kit fits perfectly right there. It also meant that I could throw in a few extras if I needed to, like my water bottle and planner, and still not have it be quite so tight as the Rope bag. Also, the Paxton has the key fob, which I have become attached to (no pun intended) from my Kipling bags. Last, that bottle pocket cannot be understated. It’s not in the best place I suppose, but it’s fine, and it fits my daughter’s Funtainer bottle perfectly. My S’Well falls right out when I’m moving around but I am so pissed at that bottle that I really don’t care if it dies. Having the bottle pocket there created the additional space that I needed inside, and the Paxton was the clear winner. TL;DR I kept the Paxton. Paxton is better for parents/2 person use, Rope is cute for personal necessities. If I were doing a theme park the Paxton would win by a long shot, but I would probably just take my Kipling Ravier or Caity for something like Disney. I hope this helped someone!