User Impressions

To begin with, I gave the Fortress a really hard time by taking it along for long trip. I put everything I could think of into it! My laptop was the first item, and it went into the respective pocket for a laptop. I also put a power adapter along with a power bank, clothes, hygienic items, and my make-up (of which there is a lot), a dossier, king-sized bed sheet, travel cushion, and lots of other smaller things, such as keys, passports, etc., into the Fortress. My trip took about ten days, during which the Fortress was put through a lot. After going through a certain degree of abuse, I usually notice zippers and stitching on many bags and backpacks break down, but this wasn't the case with the Fortress since nothing happened to it and nothing I had put inside the Fortress was damaged. Most importantly, the Fortress was easy to carry around, and I was able to make it fit into a small overhead compartment of a not-so-large airplane. Going through security screenings was a breeze since all of my stuff was easily spotted. The medium-sized front pocket, along with the one on the rear, was very helpful since I could access their contents without taking the backpack off.


I was able to store lots of things—such as a laptop, mouse, headphones, clothes, and books—inside this backpack, and it wasn't difficult to lug around, and kept its contents safe, which definitely makes this product worth its asking price. However, since we carry around expensive equipment, the externals of a backpack should also be water-resistant as a further layer of protection. The Fortress is an affordable backpack, but is unfortunately not water resistant. Moreover, the embedded lock is much appreciated, but you should always keep in mind that a backpack can easily be stolen; the lock is not a panacea.


The Fortress has a certain profile when empty; when full, it stretches quite a bit to fit everything you throw into it. The main compartment has a thick layer of protective foam along its perimeter, which has the backpack stand vertically when filled with content. Personally, I drink a lot of water and found the side pocket for a thermos water bottle to be too small for my "water bobble"; however, I found the large rear pocket to be a nice alternative.

Cougar's backpack has lots of padding all around, which is easily spotted once you put it on. All shoulder straps have extra padding to make lugging the Fortress around more comfortable. The three padded panels on the rear are there to counteract some of the discomfort caused by heavy content. The Fortress is also equipped with chest straps which reduce the pressure on the shoulders. However, if a user has back-pain related issues, no amount of padding is going to make big enough of a difference as the weight will eventually be too much to bear. Carrying a heavy backpack or even a hand bag for too long is never a good idea no matter how comfy it initially feels. Thankfully, there is more than one way to carry the Fortress should back-pain related issues crop up.    


The Fortress is definitely a sports backpack. It has a casual profile, and its build materials match its sporty look. The fabric seems to be of good quality, and it can be used as a shoulder bag for a slightly less formal look with the rear shoulder straps in the large rear pocket, which also has a zipper. Since the Fortress mostly addresses gamers, we would like it to also have a headset hole and USB charging port.


We recently purchased a high-end Everki Titan backpack with a really smooth material composition compared to the Fortress, which makes the Everki slightly more flexible. The external material of the Fortress is hard, which further protects its contents; however, it is rigid to where even if you don't fill the backpack, it will still have some volume.