Aer City Collection

It’s been a slow climb, but little by little things are getting back to normal, with old haunts tentatively opening their doors and new paths being made for old commutes. And as we adapt to these new changes, so does our carry, rearranging and re-optimizing to meet new needs. While Aer made a name for themselves in ye olde times with bags built for travel and tech, they meet this challenge head on with the new City Collection, a trinity of modern bags designed for everyday urban excursions.

City Pack

With some of Aer’s most popular bags in the range and style of daypacks, it was only natural an urban-focused bag would follow. The new 14L City Pack combines a number of signature Aer designs and tweaks them to maximize the smaller platform. The front recalls their signature Travel Pack with the horizontal slash pocket, and other travel conveniences make an appearance, such as dual grab handles, an external water bottle pocket, and a luggage pass-through on the back panel.

The two-compartment design is rightfully reminiscent of the Day Pack. The front compartment offers familiar stretch, mesh, and zip pockets for organization, and a redesigned laptop compartment comes with a roomier laptop compartment that fits up to 16“ laptops—and yes, this does include thicker 15.6” gaming ones like the one this is being written on. Combined with the contoured back panel, the City Pack’s ergonomics are the best yet from any Aer backpack.

Last but not least, in addition to the usual accoutrements like 1680D CORDURA nylon construction for the base Black model, Duraflex hardware, smaller (less noisy) YKK zippers, and a new AirTag/Tile tracker slot, the City Pack is also offered in crowd-favorite VX-42 X-Pac right out the gate, along with a 3rd 900D Ecoya Gray colorway.

City Sling 2

Since its inception as an exclusive Oshman’s Japan exclusive, the City Sling has arguably become Aer’s most popular sling, going on to inspire releases like the grail-worthy Tokai Sling and a re-release X-Pac. The City Sling 2 was all but inevitable, and like the City Pack, takes ideas across the board for its second iteration. It’s slightly larger than the original City Sling at 13“ and 2.5L, but the design tweaks are the real highlight of the release.

Pretty much all the feedback from the original has been improved on, with the biggest changes on the City Sling 2’s strap. It’s narrower at 1.5“, and now uses a premium Fidlock fastener similar to the Tokai, and also like the Tokai, aluminum tension locks replace the plastic ones on the original. The strap is also now stowable in the sling’s back panel, letting it pull double duty as an accessories/organizer pouch until needed for sling duty. And while in pouch mode, a new quick-grab top handle lets you carry or retrieve the bag with ease.

Like the City Pack, in addition to the 1680D base model Aer also offers the City Sling 2 in VX-42 X-Pac and Gray as standard release options.

Split Kit

The Split Kit joins Aer’s Cable Kit and Slim Pouch as a third organizer option—the smallest of the bunch at 0.4L—and offers a unique expanding feature that makes it useful as a catch-all pouch. It comes with a flat front compartment ideal for quick access to pens or similar tools, and a roomier main compartment without organization.

But an extra zipper on the bottom of the Split Kit reveals its namesake feature, allowing the Split Kit to open up its base and expand (and stand) to accommodate more essentials if needed, or to keep the Kit handy while on the move. And to that end, a grab handle webbing loops keeps the Split Kit within reach for everyday carry.

The Split Kit is available in 1680D CORDURA and 900D Ecoya Gray.