Beau Industries R1 Backpack
I became a dad at the end of 2021, and several of my friends and coworkers were asking me if that meant I was going to review a bunch of diaper backpacks. I laughed and told them probably not, that I’d probably just use a “normal” backpack and set it up for whatever parents might need to carry (by the way, this seems to be a common mindset for those of us who are backpack snobs — er — enthusiasts).
The founder of Beau Industries, George, seems to agree. While the brand is new, George is an experienced designer in the industry, having worked with Samsonite, Timberland, Skip Hop, and more. He provided us with the maiden product of his new brand, the R1 Backpack. To be honest, the marketing message can be a little confusing — a diaper/parenting bag that isn’t a dedicated diaper bag, but has features that parents specifically would appreciate. In other words, it’s a bag that tries to strike a balance between being overly specific for parenting (like most advertised diaper bags), and being a general everyday carry backpack. How well does the R1 strike that balance? That’s what we’ll try to answer with this review.
Disclaimer: The R1 Backpack was provided to us as a sample for review. While we’re grateful for the opportunity, we express our honest opinions highlighting our likes and dislikes based on genuine usage and testing.
Overview
- Roughly 24 L capacity
- Organized external pocketing — laptop sleeve, main compartment, admin panel, quick access zipper pockets, and dual stretch water bottle pockets.
- Internal pocketing — admin compartment with numerous slots, slips, and zippered pockets. Main compartment has three elasticated pockets.
- Exterior 900D recycled polyester (dubbed “reboyarn”), ballistic nylon on the bottom, and interior 420D lining. SBS zippers, Nifco plastic hardware. A good mix of foam padding in strategic areas.
- Included accessories feature a changing pad that doubles as a laptop case, and two zippered pouches that fit in the side pockets. These are all lined with PEVA which is water resistant and a CPSIA compliant material. More on baby-safe design elements later.
Aesthetics
“Performance Parenting” is one of the brand’s slogans which for some reason makes me think of car commercials. Perhaps it’s because the R1’s aerodynamic shape is reminiscent of a luxury black sports car. The deep black exterior with reflective hits and red accents on the zipper pulls also adds to that vibe. Undercutting the otherwise sleek shape are the numerous zipper lines and jingly metal tabs, a callback to more office and tech-oriented aesthetics found in Samsonite bags or comparable brands. Basically it’s a cool-looking bag that means business. If your style, however, is more of a classic or heritage look, you probably don’t find the R1 very attractive.
Something to note is that there are numerous branding elements throughout. In addition to the logo front and center, each custom zipper tab (there are 8 on the exterior) has their logo embossed and painted red. On the back panel there is the name “Beau” in large letters down the center, and another logo print on one of the shoulder straps. Even one of the reflective strips is branded. The interior is devoid of branding with the exception of the admin compartment.
Construction
Unlike a lot of the premium bags we review, the R1 doesn’t feature Cordura or X-Pac fabrics, nor YKK zippers. Nevertheless, those names aren’t the only standards for high quality materials. The exterior polyester fabric (the “reboyarn”) is made from recycled plastic fibers and has held up well in the few months of use. The black color is a really deep black with a very subtle sheen. I really like the interior lining material — it doesn’t feel thin and cheap and prone to tearing/stretching. It is textured but still very smooth.
The SBS zippers operate super fluidly, but don’t feel loose. Even the water-sealed zippers can be opened/closed with one hand, which is a major win for convenience on the go. YKK Aquaguard zippers are notoriously stiff, and it’s one of the reasons George chose not to go with them. There are more about the materials on the Beau website.
I gotta say, the bag feels robustly put together. The straps and top handle don’t feel like they’re being stressed, the visible binding is smooth and clean, and there is padding all-around (including the bottom) without making the bag overly rigid or heavy. It keeps its shape even when lightly loaded, so it never looks frumpy. I particularly appreciate the bottom being padded lightly, in addition to the use of ballistic nylon for increased abrasion resistance.
Would I take this rucking with heavy weights or drag it through gravel and pavement? No, I suspect that would wear most bags down pretty quickly. But for everyday endeavors, I don’t have any concerns.
One annoyance I will point out with the bottom is that its slanted rather than flat, so it often wants to fall flat on its front. Even when leaning it against a table leg, it can slide out and fall over. This is without a laptop in the back, which would probably help balance it out. But when I’m using it as a diaper bag, I’m not carrying my laptop in it and instead that compartment houses the changing pad which is much lighter — not heavy enough to offset the bag’s tendency to lean forward and slide out.
One quirk I noticed in the laptop compartment of my R1 is there seems to be an asymmetrical piece of foam on the wall shared with the main compartment. I’ve outlined its shape and location in the picture. It doesn’t seem to correspond to any patterning in the main compartment, and there is already a thinner layer of foam along the whole wall, so this does seem like a potential defect. It’s not a big deal, but when the bag is modestly packed out and I try to slide the changing pad into the compartment I can feel the edge of that piece of foam get in the way.
Also in the laptop compartment, if you really dig into the sides where the binding ends, you can see the ends are somewhat untidy. Again, not a big deal, but something I noticed when really inspecting the bag and how it was constructed.
Organization
The R1 shares a similar pocket configuration as the Alpha One Niner Evade. A rear laptop compartment, a main compartment, an admin panel, small quick access pocket near the top, and dual stretch water bottle pockets. The R1 adds another front vertical quick-access pocket that’s intended for dispensing wet wipes, and is lined with water-resistant PEVA. If it wasn’t already apparent, the R1 offers ample organization for your tech accessories and baby needs alike. This is in line with Beau Industries’ intent of creating a great everyday bag that happens to work as a diaper bag too.
I agree that the organization is top notch for everyday use and tech, for all the same reasons that the Alpha One Niner Evade is (it’s worth noting that the A19 Evade won Carryology’s Best Everyday Bag last year). For diaper bag organization, I find I’m still trying to optimize my carry. This isn’t so much a critique on the bag as it is just stating that I’m a new dad and still figuring things out as I go.
Currently, I don’t use the top quick access pocket or admin compartment for any baby stuff. The main compartment is spacious enough to stack a few pouches — one is a packing cube with extra set of clothes for the baby, one is just a full box of wipes, and one might have snacks for the adults. There is a large elastic pocket near the bottom that is sized well for two stacks of diapers side by side. There are two smaller elastic slip pockets near the top which I use to store dry tissues/paper towels and small bottles (e.g. probiotics, Vitamin D drops, Nystatin for thrush). The rest of the space can fit a blanket and some toys, pacifiers, and portable UV sanitizer (one of many impulse purchases from Target).
One note with the main compartment is that it doesn’t open clamshell, so you can’t get a fully exposed view of everything inside. It also means getting something from the bottom will require rummaging and taking everything else above out of the bag, which can be frustrating when changing the baby’s diaper after a blowout in the backseat of a sedan. The lesson here is don’t pack the extra clothes at the bottom of the bag. Like I said, still figuring stuff out :D
The changing pad works fine in a pinch, but wasn’t our go-to solution. It has a mesh stretch pocket to hold a few diapers, but feels a bit loose otherwise. It does take a few steps to unfold since there are Velcro straps that need to be undone, and you may need to hold the flaps down flat while placing the baby on it. Because it’s lined with PEVA it’s easy to wipe clean, and there’s also a safety reminder indicating which orientation to place the baby so that the loose webbing straps stay away from the baby’s head. My wife, however, prefers to use a regular folding sheet in the car because it’s bigger and requires less work to spread out.
We ended up not really using the front vertical pocket for wipes very often because it’s relatively thin and will only fit packs that have a small number of wipes. We didn’t want to change out packs of wipes so frequently, and we also just have more full size packs. Plus, because the bag tends to fall face forward, that front pocket isn’t always accessible in a pinch.
The side stretch water bottle pockets are awesome for stashing a variety of things. They’re not particularly tight against the bag, but that makes it easier to get things in and out. The two accessory pouches (also PEVA lined for easy cleaning) fit inside well and can go in pretty deep. Water bottles, especially taller and slimmer ones, might not be held in super securely. If you bend over enough they can slip out (unless you have a grippier water bottle), and there’s no compression strap to secure the exposed portion of a bottle (or tripod).
The admin compartment has 9 pockets, which is way more than I need, but I’m not complaining :). There’s a good mix of pen slots, slip pockets of varying width, and two zippered pockets. It’s a great place for keeping all of the small accessories organized and not lost in a jumble. Great for EDC, but again not so useful for parenting tasks in my experience so far.
There is even a small, tight elastic pocket on one of the straps meant for AirPods. It’s a nice secure pocket, but I never really used it for AirPods because I don’t wear the bag for long enough periods where I’d be listening to music. If you commute by public transit or walk to work, I could see it being more utilized for that purpose. In general, I have never found small pockets on shoulder straps to be very useful.
Comfort
The top handle is also pretty similar to the A19 Evade — smooth webbing wrapped around some EVA foam. Interacting with it is always simple and thoughtless, the way it should be.
The back panel is really, really cushy. There are four thick pads of foam and breathable mesh, but not the cheap air mesh on typical bags. These pads are actually thick enough to keep the back raised off your back, providing real air channels. It’s quite comfortable and supported by a slightly curved frame sheet.
The shoulder straps are lined with a thinner layer of foam + soft mesh and have the right amount of firmness and squishiness. They’re slightly contoured and join together at the top forming a curved shape around your neck. Normally I prefer straps that don’t join together like that, but I haven’t had any complaints with these even while wearing the bag relatively high.
The only nuisance I’ve experienced with the straps is when I’m slipping the second one over my shoulder, it seems to easily twist a couple times over. I find myself needing to untwist them after I put them on, much moreso than other bags I’ve used. Not sure why this is the case, but just something I observed.
Lastly, the bag is pretty tall at 19.5 inches. So if you’re shorter, it might be too long for your torso.
Summary
Overall, I would say the R1 makes an excellent EDC pack, and an OK diaper bag. It’s got great organization and construction for tech, which means it can get a ton of use after your baby grows big enough to carry their own stuff. The diaper bag-specific features I found we didn’t use all that much, even though they functioned as intended. The bag’s tendency to fall over, the extra steps to deploy the changing pad, and lack of a clamshell for the main compartment were all factors that added up to more effort in trying to make the bag work as a diaper bag in real time. However, this could also just be a matter of practice and optimizing the configuration.
At a little over $100, the R1 is a very good value compared to other premium bags we review that easily exceed $200. Some of that cost savings could be from overseas production as well as lack of name brand fabrics and zippers, so take that however you will. Even so, I have seen many more expensive bags of much lower quality.
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