Luggage Review: Briggs & Riley Sympatico Crossbody

I’m still working on some posts on stretching and other things you can do to maintain good travel health.  However, Ed was able to get me some samples of a new line of luggage from Briggs & Riley that’s geared towards women.  It’s called Sympatico and I’ll be reviewing a few pieces during some upcoming travel.  For now, I’ve been using the Sympatico Crossbody as an everyday bag and I also tried packing it the way a road warrior would for a day trip.

The Crossbody only comes in one color (black) while other pieces in the Sympatico collection come in a few other colors.  The bag is compact but has a number of compartments.  Initially, I was skeptical when I looked at the bag, thinking I wouldn’t be able to fit anything into it.  But, I was pleasantly surprised.

 

There are two full-sized zipper pouches along with two smaller compartments.  I was able to fit my iPad into the back pouch without a problem.  The measurements are such that it would also fit an 11″ MacBook Air or a similar sized computer.

The bag expands nicely inside these compartments, so I was able to get 4 magazines into this compartment.  There’s also plenty of space for a power supply instead of the magazines, so you could carry around a laptop for the day no problem.

In the other full-sized zipped compartment, there are a variety of pouches and compartments to hold items.  I was able to get a couple of iPhone cables and a portable battery into two of the pouches and also managed to load this compartment up with:

• My wallet
• Two pens
• First aid kit (for the kiddos)
• Newspaper
• Notepad
• Tissues
• Makeup bag
• Cell phone
• Lacrosse ball (to work out those sore spots!)

I was really surprised at how much actually fit in this bag.  I think I could have jammed a few more things in, but it was still reasonably easy to zip up with all of these items in it.

There’s a small pouch in the back with no zipper.  It would fit an iPhone easily, and even the bigger phones like the 6 Plus.  But, I used it to squeeze in a couple of snacks.

There’s an additional zipped pouch on the front of the bag that doesn’t expand much.  It was big enough to hold my keys, though you could fit a comb and toothbrush, a notepad or maybe even a small book.  I used it for my iPhone as well, feeling a bit better about having it zipped up as opposed to the back pouch without a zipper.

The bag has an adjustable strap and I wore it riding on the side of my hip (on my hip flexors, for those who know where those are).  I weighed the bag when I had it full and it was about 8 lbs.  Carrying the bag as I did for short amounts of time, I felt the strap was fine.  But, I think I’d want more padding on it if I were going to wear this on a longer trip.

Overall, I was impressed by how much I could fit in the bag.  I’d like more padding on the strap, but other than that I’m happy with the bag.  It’s not cheap, but as my husband likes to frequently remind me, Briggs & Riley has a lifetime warranty on their bags and will repair or replace it if anything goes wrong.  If you’re in the market for this type of bag, I would recommend the Briggs & Riley Symaptico Crossbody.

If you buy the Crossbody using one of our Amazon links above, we get a small referral credit.  I appreciate it, and maybe Ed will even let me buy another pair of shoes!