I have 2 brand recommendations, Vanquest and Osprey.
For Vanquest, the Trident 32 and 21 are fantastic, albeit quirky with their side/top openings. If they have a fault other than that, it's that they might have
too much organization potential (ie: so many places to put things you'll forget where you put them.
1. They do have a kinda tactical look with molle loops. However, the molle area on the face is velcro covered, so you can just decorate it with patches. The small molle area on the side can similarly be covered with a hook and loop converter. All the other straps, loops, and dangly bits make it look more like it's a camping bag. Get it in grey or black rather than camo, obviously. Your opinion might differ.
2. Both have a single water bottle holder on one side. Unlike most packs with stretchy elastic, these are zippered and gusseted, meaning they'll never wear out like elastic/spandex will.
3. 15" laptop is a bit vague, as a 15" Macbook Air will be of different dimensions than an older 15" Windows chunker. The 32 will hold it regardless (it holds my thick 15.6 "gaming" laptop with DVD drive). The 21 will hold anything narrower than 10" wide.
4. Both the 32 and 21 have a CCW partition on the back, lined with the hook part of hook & loop (velcro) so you can stick a holster and mags in it.
5. Excellent top grab handles, the 32 has a simple extra strap on one side.
6. The 32 is quite sizable. The 21 might look comically small on you.
7. Both sizes stand up on their base unless you bulge out the bottom. Hard to do though, as the design of the pack gives them a lot of stiffness that makes them keep their form.
For Osprey, there's a few that have a built-in kickstand, the Parsec 26, the Radial, and the Tropos.
1. They definitely are not "tactical".
2. Waterbottle holders on either side. Elastic with compression straps.
3. They all should hold your laptop unless its oddly chunky in one dimension.
4. No CCW area.
5. Good top grab handles.
6. The Tropos is the bigger one. 32L or 34L depending on the iteration (they've changed over the years).
7. The "kickstand" is hard to describe, but easier to see if you watch a youtube video demonstrating it. Essentially it's an internal frame part that expands itself. If there's stuff in your bag, it should "deploy" on its own, but if it doesn't, you can open it yourself. Heavier or bulkier stuff at the bottom, and it's pretty reliable without doing it manually.
The Parsec is newer, and I think only has one "iteration". The Tropos is an older bag, and has changed over the years. Older one has a vertical zipper on the stash pocket. The current one has a couple new changes that are better (organization mostly), but I think the previous version is better because of the way the compression straps are at the top (the old version they're tuckable, the new version they're not and they're attatched to the stash pocket). The Tropos, whatever version, will have stronger fabric than the Parsec. The Radial is kinda a hybrid of the two, as it's a 26L bag but has an expandable section to make it Tropos sized. It is, however, more cyclist oriented than the other two, but that doesn't mean it's a bad choice for EDC (the "shoe compartment", for example, doesn't have to hold muddy cycling shoes). All 3 have Osprey's famous "Airspeed" back.
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