Dakine DUEL 26L BACKPACK Review
The Dakine Duel 26 liter backpack is built to take on your work day and then transition to liesure activites, it transitions flawlessly from work to hiking, skateboarding, or whatever your weekend may be.
Features and Specs
Color Tested: Sellwood (Black and Grey)
- Constructed from Heavy Duty 600D Polyester
- 26 Liter (1590) cubic inches
- Fits most 15″ laptops
- Padded laptop sleeve
- Fleece lined padded iPad sleeve
- Skateboard carry straps
- Insulated cooler pocket
- Fleece lined sunglass pocket
- Organizer pocket
- Mesh side pockets
- Adjustable sternum strap
Review:
You can always trust that Dakine has put a ton of effort into designing a great backpack. The Duel 26 liter backpack continues that tradition for a street/lifestyle backpack. I still use my Heli Pro and mission backpacks for snowboarding and I wanted a pack that could transition well from hiking, skateboarding and possibly to work use as well. After researching several packs from other retailers, I found myself on the Dakine site and the Duel stood out to me.
The Duel has a fairly minimalistic design with 2 large compartments for storage. It includes a padded laptop sleeve and an iPad sleeve too, that came in handy for a work trip in which I brought both my laptop and iPad with me. The 13 ” laptop (You can go easily up to a 15″) and iPad fit snuggly and securely into their respective compartments, and I had enough room in the main storage area to put in my other items: hat, hoodie, headphones and my travel kit holding my “toiletries”… I also shoved tons of stuff into the organizer pocket, a USB power bank to charge my many devices, chargers, writing pad, wireless earbuds, pens, and keys. I even grabbed a sandwich for my flight and put it in the insulated cooler pocket (it stayed pretty cool too for the hour it was in there).
The adjustments are spot on and the backpack feels good while it’s on your back and I even took my hoodie out and strapped it into the skateboard carry straps, it’s truly great for carrying jackets and hoodies too! Overall the duel looks sleek and was great for a carry on and held all my personal and work items perfectly. I’ve also used the Duel for skateboarding day trips, it works great for strapping your board on to the skateboard carry straps, and it has storage for your pads, water bottle, and I’ve even used the insulated cooler pocket to keep some snacks in there too! If you’re looking for a great backpack to transition from skateboarding, hiking, or even work the Duel can do it all, it’s stylish and functional.
Pros
- Cushioned Laptop and iPad storage is clever and well designed
- Comfortable when worn
- Funky liner color (it’s pretty awesome!)
- Tons of storage for your essentials for the day or weekend.
Cons
- Sunglass Pocket is a bit small, could be larger to accommodate a variety of shades.
| Price: |  (4.5 / 5) |
| Performance: |  (4.8 / 5) |
| Design: | (4.8 / 5) |
| Overall: |  (4.7 / 5) |