Black Ember Forge 30 Review
Our review of the very much discussed, design-focused, and premium bag. Does it it pass muster? Or should you pass?
Black Ember Forge 30 Review Introduction
Black Ember - are you ready to get into a review for a true DESIGN focused bag? Cause man does this bag focus on design. Black Ember is a designer from SF that is frankly using tons of materials from the forefront of bag material technology and isn't shy about it. These bags pack features, materials, tech, customizations, and sometimes weight if we’re honest.
The Forge 30 is one of their classics and frankly I’ve been eyeing it for a long time. Bag nerds know this bag, bag nerds love to debate this bag. It’s basically EDC-famous. OK that’s not necessarily a thing, I just made that last part up. But the rest of it is true. This bag has quite a few tricks up its sleeve however, as it aims to cover both EDC and minimal travel. Is it able to? Or are we talking another Nomatic Travel Bag/marketing hype disaster? We’ll definitely get into that in our Editorial section.
This is my Black Ember Forge 30 backpack review. I’ve put this one through its paces as a daily driver since late February as I commute in NYC (subways, offices, walking, etc.). I also took this on its first long haul trip all the way to Japan. That trip featured 4 long trains, 4 flight legs, and 3 countries if you count the US. It put the work in.
For full transparency, I purchased this bag with my own money and was not sent the bag by the company. This is not a sponsored article. That said, I do use affiliate links to help support the site if you choose to use them to make a purchase - but there is no additional cost to you. Thanks for stopping by!
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Black Ember Forge 30 Overview
Rearview.
Picture it. Tokyo. 1962. You’re Kichizoi Yoshida (yes, of Porter Yoshida fame, check for the cameo later) and you’re tired of the bag choices available to you that allow you to commute, but also pack extra clothes if you need to crash in the city while also giving you a variety of carrying options. Enter the Japanese 3-way bag. Briefcase. Backpack. Short-trip bag. OK this episode of Sophia from the Golden Girls has concluded. That’s right - I’m not above making a GG reference in an article. For the kids, look up the reference if needed - it was a great schtick of hers.
That’s the concept we’re talking about here: The Japanese 3-way bag and it’s obvious that’s where the Forge comes from just from looking at it (of course Black Ember comes out and says this, too, I’m not revealing anything wild here, ha). So we’ve got a bag that allows you to pack your work stuff and carry it like a briefcase. But, it also has backpack straps if that’s easier after you’ve stuffed some extra things in it. Yet, this bag also does the travel thing while opening up clamshell style horizontally and having two packing sections inside.
Further, the Forge 30 has an EXPANSION feature that turns it from the 20L EDC and overnight trip option into basically a full-on minimalist onebag for travel. I say minimalist not for the bag, but the style of packing you’ll need to practice for most folks.
At 20L, it’s a sweet spot size for EDC and overnight. Fully expanded, it's 30L and allows you to actually pack for travel.
The fabric on this bag isn’t messing around either. Their Velocity fabric is awesome and comes from Cordura re/cor RN66. Science experiment stuff here. Spec list is long, so I encourage you to click to their site as it would be cumbersome to put it here. Full Product Page.
SIZE
• Dimensional inches compressed: 18 x 12 x 8
• Dimensional inches expanded: 18 x 12 x 10
• Dimensional centimeters compressed: 46 x 31 x 20
• Dimensional centimeters expanded: 46 x 31 x 24
CRITICAL MATERIALS & HARDWARE
• 420 VELOCITY CORDURA® re/cor™ RN66
• 210 DENIER MATTE-SILVER RIPSTOP NYLON LINING
• DURABLE ELASTIC POWER MESH
• FIDLOCK® MAGNETIC HARDWARE
• FIDLOCK® MAGNETIC KEY RING
• YKK® AQUAGUARD ZIPPERS
• T6, AIRCRAFT-GRADE ANODIZED ALUMINUM + LASER ETCHED HARDWARE
• LASER-CUT + LASER-ETCHED HYPALON
• HYPALON THEFT DETERRENT LOCKING ZIPPER PULLS
This bag retails for a hefty $319 USD at the time of writing in April 2025 and is available only for the Ninjas - black colorway only. That said, I also purchased the Compression Straps in Orange for a little pop. I have seen them run sales at year end or Black Friday, however. But, have proper expectations because frankly expensive design and expensive materials make an expensive bag. Know that going in.
Black Ember Forge 30 Features
The Forge’s fabric and Aquaguard up close.
The features list is kind of insane on this bag, especially because there are also some add ons. But, I will try to cover off on all of them here.
For one, it can be carried three ways, like I said. Briefcase with a shoulder strap (sold separately). Briefcase with the handles. Backpack.
It can be expanded from 20L EDC/Overnight to 30L onebag steed.
Backpack straps have a magnetic sternum strap, load lifters, and can be stowed away (quite nicely) when not needed to give a cleaner look.
The handles for briefcase mode are modular - you can remove them.
The front pocket is a large admin area with its own volume that has a few slip pockets and one that closes with a velcro strap (I use this for a 2nd phone). There is also a key leash with a magnetic attachment point. Important to note that this compartment has a horizontal orientation.
There’s a very robust laptop compartment that is suspended. It’s also got three options here. Personally, I used it for my 13 Inch iPad Air while traveling, with a Magic Keyboard in the secondary slot. For EDC, my 14 inch Macbook Pro is in this compartment.
Zippers are YKK and Aquaguard - and they are all over this bag. The zipper pulls are also hypalon pulls that can be put through loops for additional anti-tampering.
Additionally, this bag has attachment points all over it. Many designed for their custom accessories like Compression Straps (sold separately). This includes on the shoulder straps, too. Clip on to your heart’s content, folks.
Inside the bag, there are more storage options with a couple of large slip pockets on the main flap (this is on the underside of the front compartment).
Top grab handle if needed, made of a nice seatbelt-feel material. Luggage pass-through strap on that back that worked great in practice.
Annnnd scene.
The Wandering Loadout
On the shinkansen platform in Japan.
So I have no need to use this as a full on travel bag at this point, that wasn’t my use case. I got this to test for EDC and small trips, as well as to be my “overflow” bag for Japan in case I bought too many Onitsuka Tigers. So I’ll show you how I pack it out for EDC, as well as a proposed packout for 30L mode. First images are in EDC mode.
EDC:
For my daily carries through New York, I tend to pack pretty light. I keep it to just essentials unless I need to drop something off somewhere or I pick something up while in the city that I need to bring home.
Macbook Pro 14 Inch in the laptop compartment (not pictured)
Tech Pouch (Currently a limited edition Porter Yoshida I grabbed in Japan…when in Rome and all that…ok Homer Simpson’ing into the bushes now).
Two Alpaka zip pouches with just some daily-needs things like allergy pills, hair product in case I need it, etc.
Work iPhone in the “phone slip pocket”
My keys on the leash
Anker Nano charger and USB-C cable that I use solely for the work MacBook
3 Night Trip Example Pack-Out:
Originally I was going to do 2 nights, but at 30L I can easily fit 3 nights in here. Now, this means no spare shoes. And no camera. But, you gotta make sacrifices as you lower your literage. I actuallycould have squeezed more clothes in here for sure, though - most likely giving me enough for 5 days, at which point I’d do laundry. Full the fully packed load-out, keep in mind that 1) I’m 5’6”, and iPhones distort perspective a little; and 2) Physics. This bag can expand out but it cannot get taller, like any expanding bag. So it does start to get “deep” once expanded.
One Peak Design Small Packing Cube
One Western Rise Large Packing cube
One Matador Medium Packing Cube
Bellroy Toiletry Kit
Easy peasy.
The Good
There is honestly a LOT to like about the Forge 30. To be completely straight up, I kind of love it. Even with its flaws. But let’s cover off on the obvious “good” first - this bag is SO well designed. It’s not OVER designed. It’s WELL designed. There’s a huge difference. I referenced a Nomatic bag that I reviewed back in my early days and while it was a great feat of engineering, it was definitely over designed and pretty gimmicky. And I can see why bag nerds can dote on the Forge a bit (I can also see why non-enthusiasts can write it off as expensive and overkill). But I find almost every feature useful, and frankly the QUALITY of the materials and build on this bag is unreal. They always make that claim but I think it holds up here. The seams and materials choices, etc. Just pristine on this bag. Even though there is a lot going on with its design and feature set, it still looks sleek to me. The handfeel - it feels its price. If that makes sense. Feels awesome and wicked premium.
In operation, that quality continues. The Fidlock buckles are all great. The Aquaguard zippers are the smoothest and easiest I’ve ever used. Normally, those get pretty stiff but with a good reason. I’m not sure what these wizards at Black Ember did in this case but they are fantastic to use and don’t stick in the slightest. The aluminum hardware feels premium. Love the addition of the hypalon loops for security if that’s your thing. All of this is good on a bag at this price point.
Normally I’m not into this kind of stuff, but on the Forge 30 I appreciated the modularity here. Their accessories, while extra (more on that in a minute) aren’t overkill and work really well. I love the compression straps. And while I won’t remove them, I like that you can remove the briefcase handles if you want. Lots of choice on this bag if you’ve got hooks and carabiners and stuff.
I really love the front pocket (Tale of Two cities Alert, stay tuned). It’s got a surprising amount of volume and is easy to fit quite a bit into. I say this as a tech pouch person, which is important for this context. This is good because this isn’t a traditional backpack with a top opening and a dump sack kind of vibe, so you’re going to need this bit. It fits my tech pouches and EDC stuff beautifully as far as space goes, and same goes for when I took it on the plane with me. Everything I needed fit in there easily. I can even still fit a yogurt in at the end of the day from my work’s kitchen (and maybe a banana if I want to get crazy, we’ll see; Shhhh don’t tell them.). I also had TWO pouches in there at one point on my trip - as I brought a Pioneer Global Pouch and purchased the Porter pouch while there.
And man, come on. The orange on those straps vs the jet black color of the bag? It’s fire. Let’s all just admit it.
Backpack strap stowage was great, the straps are comfortable if they don’t loosen up, and the load lifters were welcome on a bag with this extra weight. Stowage can often either be under designed or over designed, and I thought I was going to feel it was the latter on this one. But no, it works quite well how they designed it. Nice job, Black Ember.
The Bad
Let’s get into some areas where I had criticisms because I think this will be important for a lot of people.
One, no way around it. The price. This bag is more than most full-on travel bags - even the expensive ones. That’s just something you’re going to have to accept if you want to get into this. That also might rule it out for you, and that’s OK too. Not everyone needs the same bag, and not every bag needs to be for everyone cost-wise. Top of the line design and materials will cost you on any product. If you aren’t down with that, totally OK but you’ll have to skip this one. If we want to add to the debate though - you’re kind of buying 2 bags. Take all of this and do with it what you will.
All these materials and design elements, while still practical in my mind, do add weight. Aluminum details. Extra fabric here and there. Beefy main fabric. Expansion. Stowage system. This all adds weight and you’re going to notice that, especially once you start adding more items.
That front pocket - as much as I like the volume of it for my pouches and odds and ends, I do not like the horizontal orientation of the slip pockets. Now, I get this is necessary for a briefcase mode bag. But, I think the slip pockets in those cases needed zippers (Or magnets! Everyone loves magnets!). If you try and put smaller items in there, they’ll end up all over the place if you use it like a backpack. My solution was to put smaller items into separate Alpaka zip pouches and place those in the slip pockets. That works great, but at $319 bucks, gonna be a hard sell to make people buy extra things.
Speaking of extra things, it feels a little nickel and dimey to make people buy the compression straps. I get charging for the orange ones, I’m cool with that. But I think a pair of compression straps in black should come standard at this price - without having to buy some kind of “ultimate” package. Black Ember can revisit this, I think.
Last comment I noticed in use was that the backpack straps tend to loosen a bit in use. I find myself re-setting the tightness level maybe once a week. It’s not the end of the world, but something I don’t have to do that often on other bags. I also think the strap adjustment system, while tidy, is a bit limited in how tight it can go if you’re smaller, too. Ultimately it was fine for me at 5' 6”, but if you need it tighter, you’ll hit a limit.
Final Thoughts On My Black Ember Forge 30 Review
I know I’m a couple of years and some updated fabric behind on the Black Ember Forge 30. But, it’s also not one of those bags you just pick up on a whim because it strikes your fancy. It’s an investment, and you have to really be interested in it to eventually pull the trigger. It’s not exactly an impulse buy.
With that out front - I have to admit I loved it. I’ve been using an Evergoods CPL 20 for EDC for about a quarter, and haven’t missed it. Not because I have any issues with it. But just because I love using this bag so much.I like how it looks when it sits on your back, and I like the access for how I use gear (tech pouches and such). When I had to put a packing cube in there coming back from Japan to make space for some new sneakers in the luggage, it didn’t really make carrying the bag any worse. And, due to the compression straps I didn’t even need to use the expansion. All fit seamlessly. It’s such a nice piece of kit, man.
The materials and implementation of features on this bag are just amazing and well thought out. I also love the take on the classic Japanese 3-way salaryman (now, person) bag. It’s a classic and adding modern, techy materials to it just works so well, even considering it makes it heavier than a classic Porter would be.
So yeah - this is a “design” bag through and through but it’s a design bag who’s functionality works. How comfortable it is to carry is going to depend on you - I can’t tell you how it will fit you. But I love it for EDC, I loved it as my personal item while traveling around the world (I actually went all the way around on this trip), and I love the small touches like orange compression straps to add some pop. I will also use this for shorter trips, too based on the expansion.
I do admit it's heavy for its literage, it’s of course very expensive, and I would like to see Black Ember include two black compression straps at purchase.
Overall though, it’s just such a slick bag and of amazing quality. For the enthusiasts, I can absolutely recommend checking this bag out, but it might be a stretch for the uninitiated or the new-to-indie-bags folks. Maybe not though - only you know what you’re into.
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