These days it can be pretty darn hard to find a sleek looking mens backpack which is why we were pretty darn chuffed with ourselves when we can across the Dakine Point Backpack at Hardcloud.

Designed in black, this bag does feature some white contrast detail to the straps and front section of the bag but it’s nothing that acts to distract from the sleek look. And it’s not just a great looking bag, this is one that’s hugely practical and definitely going to appeal to all your extreme sportsmen with it’s seam sealed, expanding wetsuit compartment.

Add to the addition of a fleece lined sunglass pocket, a good size organizer pocket, mesh bottle pouches and skateboard carry straps and you’ve got a bag that does well everything…

This Dakine Point backpack is available for £39.99 at Hardcloud.

Big Dakine fan? You might want to check out these other Dakine products available online:

Mens Barts Wilbert Ribbed Beanie. Navy Dakine Bags – Dakine Kala Yoga Mat Bag – Links Floral Mens Animal Jekyl AOP Flip Flops. Grey/Pink Mens Billabong Echopeak Beanie. Vintage Green 3 Sums £9.99 Surfdome £9.99 3 Sums £10.99 3 Sums £11.99 Mens Animal Bail Crew Printed T-Shirt. White Mens Animal Barrel Crew Printed T-Shirt. Ibis Pink Mens Reef Pimptastic Slide Sandal. Black Denim Mens Quiksilver Los London Beanie. Black 3 Sums £13.99 3 Sums £13.99 3 Sums £14.99 3 Sums £15.99 Ladies Dakine Lilly Purse. Ivory Blocks Mens Reef Virtual Insanity Zip Thru Hoody. White Black Mens Reef Straight Lines Polo Top. Vine Mens Reef Wavey Polo Top. Bottle Green 3 Sums £16.99 3 Sums £19.99 3 Sums £19.99 3 Sums £19.99 Mens Animal Blipp Delux T-Shirt. Provincial Blue Mens ONeill Psycho 1.5mm DL Glove. Black Dakine Backpacks – Dakine Pivot Backpack – Black/Checks Mens Reef Empty Walls Boardshort. Green 3 Sums £19.99 3 Sums £19.99 Surfdome £24.99 3 Sums £26.99 Mens Reef Herritage Cord Pant. Camel Dakine Bags – Dakine Exchange Laptop Bag – Bomber Mens Element Sunburst Jacket. Black Mens Ripcurl Resin Tint Striped Full Zip Hoody. Mazarine Blue 3 Sums £29.99 Surfdome £39.59 3 Sums £47.99 3 Sums £59.99

Quiksilver have added a new range called Pulse to their Quiksilver backpack collection, and we think it’s going to be a hit thanks to a great price point of £19.99, a high quality make  – it uses a 600D Polyester fabric – and  a super cool design.

So let’s look at each of these one by one, and begin with the design.

Styled in a 600D Polyester fabric, this bag is designed in a Costa Azul colour scheme, which is essentially a combination of blacks, light blues and darker blues, and sees a print made up of a checkerboard design, the Quiksilver name, as well as rectangular bands and circle motifs. Finished off with black straps to the back, this design acts to give what is essentially a very basic backpack a far cooler and more street feel and definitely gets a big thumbs up from us.

But what is it like as a backpack? Well as we’ve already said, this is essentially a very basic bag, but it’s one that’s been done well with a padded and adjustable straps making sure it super comfy to wear, whilst the 16L main section and zipped pocket ensure everything stays nice and secure.

Available to buy for £19.99, this Quiksiver bag is available with a 90 days return offer from Urban Surfer.

Designed in a sling style, this black Mens Patagonia Atom Bag is the perfect blend of backpack and messenger bag, with the sling styling making it more comfortable to carry, and the large open section mirroring what you’re get in your usual messenger bag.

Styled with adjustable straps across the front of the bag to hold everything securely in place, this Patagonia mens bag also has a pocket on the wide shoulder strap to ensure you have your phone close to hand, and another small zipped pocket on the bag itself to keep everything secure.

Made using a recycled fabric this shoulder bag follows the environmentally friendly ethos of Patagonia and also benefits from having been lined with Polyurethane and coated with a durable water repellent finish to ensure everything will stay dry inside even if you end up looking like a drowned rat.

This Mens Patagonia Atom Sling Pack is available for £27.99 at 3 Sums.

Looking for a backpack that’s able to cope with being used day in, day out whilst also looking like one of the coolest bags around?

The Eastpak Turf backpack in Tatami Blue will be able to guarantee all that and a whole lot more, being one of the brightest and most functional bags about.

Let’s look first at the functionality aspect of the bag.

Designed with more pockets than you’ll find in all the trousers in your cupboard, this is a bag that makes being organised super easy, whether it’s tucking the laptop into the sleeve inside the main compartment (which can also be accessed from the back panel), popping your paper into the A4 organiser section to the front of the bag or slipping those other little essentials into the two side zippered pockets, the top accessory pocket, front zipper stash pocket or the winged zipper pockets on the waist strap.

There’s so many pockets you could probably fit your whole life in there, and the good news is you should be able to carry it comfortably too, thanks to the ergonomic S curved shoulder straps that help distribute the weight – something which is further enhanced by the use of the sternum strap a load stabilisation straps to the side of the bag.

So it’s a bag that works well but how about how it looks?

Well this is one bag that’s definitely not going to get lost in the crowd, having been designed predominantly in a bright blue colour, with additional accent colours of dark blue and orange making sure you not only recognise your bag from a distance, but also quickly and easily know the location of all the pockets and sections.

Available for £68.00 at Urban Excess.

Styled out of a 100% 600d black Polyester, this snowboard backpack from Quiksilver is designed to survive the batterings that being on the slopes will inevitably lead it to have, but that isn’t the only reason that you should want it on your back next time you clip your feet into your board.

Offering 10 litres of space, this is a bag designed to make sure you are easily able to take everything you need for a day on the slopes with you, and that includes your snowboard, thanks to the specially designed straps to hold it in place.

Benefiting from having been protected by Quicksilver’s Q-Tec coating, this bag is both lighter and more water resistant than your standard PVC bag, and will make sure your trip down the slope is far from a quiet one (unless you want it to be) having a MP3 centre and port designed in.

Add to this the padded back panel and adjustable straps, the tricot lined goggle pocket, side access tool pocket, stationary orgainser, and the option to use it with a hydration system and you’ve got yourself a sweet looking bag that’s definitely up to the job.

The Quiksilver Provocation Snowboard Backpack is available for £30.95 at Rip101.

We’ve already featured and been impressed by what the Dakine Heli bag has to offer, so when we saw there was now a Pro version available, you can imagine expectations were high, but does it really offer that much more?

In terms of space it definitely does, because instead of having 12 litres of space, this comes with a massive 20 litres, which should keep you stocked up with food and supplies for the whole day. Add to this the quick draw ice axe sleeve to help you quickly get out of trouble, and a deployable water bottle pocket to stop you getting dehydrated, and we’d definitely say it’s worth spending that extra £15 if you can spend it.

Especially when you consider it hasn’t lost any of the features of the more basic bag, which include the ability to carry your snowboard vertically, your skis diagonally, a fleece lined pocket fro your goggle and an insulated Hydro-sleeve.

Available in White Patch design, Black or Green, this Dakine Heli Pro bag can bought for £64.99 at Hardcloud.

Styled in a black 600d polyester fabric, this bag is covered in the Animal logo at a variety of different angles in a large grey / brown colour, which gives a very rugged urban feel that I know is going to appeal to a lot of you.

In terms of functionality, the main compartment is designed to easily hold papers and folders of an A4 size, and even comes with an ID holder, a weatherproof headphone port and a detachable key clip to make sure you’ve got everything you need to get around campus, and then back into your digs again.

Finished off with an embroidered Animal logo to the front pocket of the bag, and a rubber brand badge to the top, this bag is designed with adjustable and padded shoulder straps to ensure that however heavy your bag gets it won’t put too much strain on your back or shoulders.

Measuring 33cm x 17cm x 43cm with a capacity of 24 litres, this bag is available for £19.99 from Hardcloud.

If you’re looking for a bag to take with you to the slopes this Winter that’s not only going to be able to hold all the small essentials you need, but also your snowboard or skis and helmet, then you can’t go wrong with the Heli Pack from Dakine.

Designed in the same style as the original low profile winter backpack, this 600D polyester ripstop bag has been brought right up to date, with some very nifty new features including an insulated hydro-sleeve and fleece lined goggle pocket.  Add to this the fact that the bag comes with an expandable helmet pocket, 11 litres of space to fill with all those essentials, as well as holders for your snowboard (vertically) or skis (diagonally) and you’ve got a bag that’s going to make sure you’re going to have to think about nothing but what route you’re going to ski or snowboard.

And just in case you’re worrying about whether it’s going to be bad for your back carrying all that, you don’t need to because on top of the shoulder and waist straps being both ergonomically shaped and padded, this bag also comes with additional cushioning along the spinal area of the pack for a figure hugging and wonderfully supportive fit.

Designed to carry either a snowboard vertically, or skis diagonally the Heli Pack also has an expandable helmet pocket and 11 litres of space for food and any other essentials for a day on the slopes. The shoulder/ waist straps are ergonomically shaped and padded, with additional cusioning along the spinal area of the pack. It fits like its almost not there.

Available for £49.99 from Hardcloud.

Buy a Gregory backpack and you’re buying something that’s most than just a backpack - you’re buying a classic piece of design, that thanks to the design ethos of Wayne Gregory would have looked just as stylish 10 years ago as it would 10 years in the future.

And this purple backpack is a great example of that. Designed as part of the  Japanese Lifestyle Collection, this purple bag has been designed in the tear drop style that has now become a classic, and has lost none of those original features which made it so popular including:

• 10 YKK zippers on main the compartment,
• Zippered front slash pocket,
• Reinforced nylon bottom with liner,
• Figure 8 attachments for one added-capacity pocket,
• Ice axe/hiking pole holder,
• Brown leather zip pulls.

The reality is that most of us won’t be using the ice axe / hiking pole holder, but you have to admit it’s pretty neat to have one just in case, and if you’re a fan of the bag then my advice would be to order one ASAP as Oki Ni are only one of two stockists outside of Japan so it’s likely demand is going to be high.

The Gregory Purple Backpack measures 34 x 43 x 16cm and is available online via Oki Ni.

After a backpack that’s going to blend into the background as opposed to sticking out like a sore thumb on your back? I would definitely recommend that you check out the Dark Shadow version of the Animal Barcoo Backpack.

Definitely one of the most subtle pieces that I’ve seen come out of the Animal mens factory, this is Animal at it’s most basic both in terms of colouring and design, with the colouring made up of a light grey and slightly darker grey. Using the lighter grey as the main colour for the front of the bag, Animal have then used the darker grey to edge the top section of the bag, the flap for the pocket, and the base of the bag, with the sides and back adopting this same darker colour.

What you don’t get away from with this bag is branding, (although I do admit it does blend into the bag more than with most bags) with the name or logo appearing in four places – as a small Animal tag to the top of the front section of the bag, a larger embroidered name and logo to the bottom front, and the Animal logo f on the side of the bag and on the back.

In terms of functionality, you have a large main section to the top of the bag for the larger things you need to carry with you, and a smaller pocket to the front outer area for things you need close to hand. There are two ways to carry the bag – either by the small hand handle to the top, or via the two adjustable straps that can be worn one over each shoulder, or alternatively if you extend one of the straps you could wear one strap across your body.

So when would you use this bag? Well for me it’s a great bag to pack in your suitcase to take to chuck over your shoulder with all the maps and documents you need on your hols, or alternatively if you’re still lucky enough to be studying for a living, this is going to be a great bag for throwing all those folders and paper into before heading off to lectures.

The Animal Barcoo is available to buy online at 3Sums.