Last month, we took STM’s latest and most spacious backpack for a whirlwind tour of the United Kingdom. I’ve been through a lot of bags, and I don’t often find one that I can use beyond one trip.
STM are an Australian brand, based in the Sydney suburb of Bondi. An acronym for “Stuff That Matters”, the brand is all about protecting your gear while actually looking good. Too often, tech-focused bags are ugly, bulky and not all that practicable.
With this in mind, when I saw the Myth 28L backpack from STM I knew I had to try it out.
What does the STM Myth 28L backpack offer?
This is a spacious backpack, offering a massive 28 litres of carrying capacity while looking rather good. Available in three colours, STM designed the Myth backpack to carry your precious technology carefully. It includes Slingtech which keeps your laptop away from the edges of the bag. This means if you knock your bag or drop it, your laptop should be fine.
The bag features integrated cable management to charge your goodies while you travel. You can snake USB power cords through the holes in the interior pockets. You can also get your headphones through there, too.
STM’s Myth backpack also features the brand’s ComfortCarry system, to make carrying a heavy bag as comfortable as possible.
Other features include:
- A multitude of pockets and interior compartments for storing everything.
- Water-repellent fabric, an almost waterproof base, protected zippers and more.
- Fleece-lined sunglasses pocket, and a pocket designed for your earbuds / headphones to keep them nice and untangled.
How does STM’s Myth do the job?
While travelling around the UK, I managed to squeeze quite a bit of stuff into the backpack with ease. I found its multiple pockets very convenient for storing all kinds of things.
Here’s just how much stuff I managed to squeeze in:
- Rear compartment – laptop and other important documents. It’s fleece lined to keep everything clean and safe.
- Main compartment – sunglasses, headphones, a warm jumper, 20,000 mAh battery bank, passport wallet and a crossword book. Later in the trip, I had a couple of mobile phone boxes in there too, as well as my small bag of assorted cables, adaptors and more.
- Front compartment – wallet, keys, business cards, pens, a spare battery bank.
- Outer pocket – I mainly kept my Bose QC35s shoved in there down the bottom.
- Side pockets – on one side I had a water bottle, and didn’t use the other side.
We took the bag to Huawei’s Mate 20 Pro launch event, jet-boating along the Thames, and for a decent walk up through the countryside in Wales. The bag wasn’t light, but it never felt like I was carrying something heavy. STM’s weight distribution system did an excellent job keeping everything in place.
The thing which surprised me the most was quite unintentional. On the jet boat, a fair amount of water found its way into the boat’s footwell. This was where I’d put my bag. At the end of the trip, I found the bag literally floating in a few inches of water and immediately assumed the worst – my laptop, power bank and more would be ruined.
Amazingly, and perhaps by design, the only thing wet was the outer exterior. Every single thing inside the bag was bone dry and in perfect working order.
That alone earns this bag a permanent place in my cupboard where it’ll definitely travel with me again.
Should you buy one?
If you travel a bit like I do, or even if you commute daily, STM’s Myth is a must-have backpack. You can quite literally carry a mobile office in this bag, and it looks both innocuous and stylish.
At just $159.95 RRP, STM’s Myth 28L backpack is also a bargain. You could easily spend twice that on a bag from another Australian brand (Crumpler) and though it would offer the same features, and perhaps a bit more storage, that price premium is ridiculous.
Probably my only criticism is that it can be a bit tricky to find in shops. I tried a good few of the listed retailers on Sydney’s north shore and struggled to find it anywhere. Fortunately, you can order online and try the bag out (carefully). If you’re dissatisfied, you can return the bag within 30 days in as-new condition for a refund.
This means customers can try STM’s bags at home and make sure their stuff fits and that the bag is comfortable. In my experience, though, you won’t be disappointed – if you order, you’ll end up loving yours as I do mine.
I don’t have a single bad thing to say about this bag. Not one. A few years ago I might have critiqued it for not having a cable route from the interior pockets to the straps (so you can listen plugged in on the go), but with wireless headphones all the rage in 2018, this “omission” frankly doesn’t bother me anymore.
Top job, STM. You can buy your own Myth 28L Backpack here online.
Disclosure Statement
STM have allowed us to keep the Myth backpack for future travel.
Hey Chris, nice review! Do you know what is the largest size laptop that will fit in the backpack?
You’d easily get a 15″ laptop in here. 17″ at a pinch.
Probably at least worth mentioning that Crumpler bags have a lifetime warranty, even on zippers, etc (“normal” use), so you are spot on that they’re expensive, but you are getting at least a little extra for the cash.