It’s just a hook, sewn into a bag, but I really, really like it. Peak Design, the San Francisco-based maker renowned for its camera bags and thoughtful accessories, has introduced a new City Line of everyday carry bags. And the defining feature of this line is a small, cleverly integrated hook called BagLev. The name is a wink at the idea of levitating your bag above the dirty ground—because, let’s be honest, how many of us have tossed our everyday carry onto a kitchen counter, a restaurant table, or even a park bench without a second thought? The BagLev hook changes that habit, offering a simple, satisfying solution to a problem you didn’t realize you had until it was solved.
I’ve been testing two bags from the City Line while vanlifing through France: the 12-liter City Crescent crossbody bag, priced at $119.95, and the 15-liter City Backpack, priced at $179.95. Both bags have spent weeks being thrown into the back of a van, hung from café chairs, and carried through villages and forests. The BagLev hook has been the most noticeable feature, but it’s far from the only one. These bags are thoughtfully designed, lightweight, and surprisingly durable for their price. After a few weeks of hard use, I’m not just impressed—I’m hooked.
The BagLev hook: a simple idea, brilliantly executed
Let’s start with the hook itself. The BagLev is a small, rubberized, leather-like tab that folds out from a dedicated pocket on each bag. On the City Crescent, it sits at the back of the bag, with a small length of fabric connecting it to the body. That extra fabric gives the hook a remarkable range of motion. You can hang the Crescent from the edge of a table, the armrest of a chair, a fence post, or even a tree branch. The hook is designed with a nonslip texture, so it stays put even when the bag is loaded with a laptop, a water bottle, and a week’s worth of assorted gadgets.
On the City Backpack, the hook is similar but slightly less capable. It’s tucked into a small pocket at the top of the bag, and unlike the Crescent’s, it doesn’t rotate. That means you have to be more deliberate about where you hang it. A tabletop with a short overhang can be a problem, because the hook can’t swivel into the right angle. It’s an odd oversight from a company whose name is basically a pun on “peak design.” Fortunately, the Backpack also has an integrated grab handle at the top, which can be slipped through chair backs and other loop-like structures to supplement the BagLev.
Even with that limitation, the BagLev has changed how I use bags. For years, I’d accepted that my everyday carry would spend time on the floor of a café, a subway car, or a restaurant bathroom. Now, I actively look for a spot to hang my Crescent or Backpack every time I sit down. It’s a small quality-of-life improvement that makes a big difference—especially when you’re carrying a laptop, a camera, or anything else you don’t want to get dirty.
Peak Design City Crescent (12L): the versatile crossbody
The City Crescent is the bag I grab when I’m heading out to explore a new town, visit a market, or just wander with no real destination. It weighs just 530 grams (1.16 pounds), which makes it one of the lightest crossbody bags in its category. The main compartment is surprisingly cavernous; I’ve fit a 14-inch MacBook Pro inside, though I wouldn’t do that without a protective sleeve, because the bag has no padding. It’s not designed for laptops—it’s designed for everyday carries like a wallet, a phone, a pair of glasses, a water bottle, and perhaps a compact umbrella.
That said, the Crescent is packed with thoughtful details. On the front edge, there’s a zippered pocket that easily swallows a 24-ounce (0.75-liter) water bottle or a small umbrella. The same pocket can also be accessed from inside the main compartment, so you can reach your water bottle without unzipping the entire bag. On the side facing your body, there’s a pocket with a self-closing magnetic opening—ideal for quick access to glasses, a phone, or other frequently used items. On the other side, there’s a zippered pocket that I found perfect for a phone pointing away from my body, keeping it out of view from prying eyes.
Inside the main compartment, you’ll find another zippered pocket for a wallet, plus two stretchy pouches for cables, power banks, and other small accessories. The shoulder strap is wide, adjustable, and surprisingly comfortable, even when the bag is loaded with a laptop, water bottle, and assorted gear. There’s no padding on the strap, but the bag’s light weight means it rarely digs into your shoulder. The exterior fabric is a Mono Shell 660D, a lightweight, rain-shedding material that has handled light showers and heavy humidity without issue. The “Moon” colorway I tested is nearly white, and while it did pick up some dirt, a damp cloth easily wiped it clean.
The Crescent’s BagLev hook has become my favorite part of the bag. I don’t even bother putting it back into its zippered pocket anymore; I leave it dangling behind me, ready to hook onto the next table or chair I pass. It’s become so second-nature that I find myself reaching for the hook on other bags, only to remember they don’t have one.
Peak Design City Backpack (15L): the laptop hauler
When I need to work remotely, I switch to the City Backpack. It’s only slightly heavier than the Crescent at 750 grams (1.6 pounds), but it offers significantly more protection for tech gear. The backpack features a deep internal pocket that suspends a laptop in mid-air, with padding on both the front and back. It effortlessly fits my 14-inch MacBook Pro, with the padding coming right up to the top edge. Larger laptops will still fit, but they’ll have less protection at the corners. There’s also a separate sleeve for a tablet, which is a nice addition for anyone carrying two devices.
The backpack’s comfort is impressive. The padded shoulder straps do a good job of distributing weight, even when the bag is fully loaded. Unlike some commuter backpacks, they don’t have any pockets or attachment loops, and there’s no sternum strap to stabilize things. But I wore it while cycling the streets of French villages and it didn’t sway significantly. The back panel is comfortable too, though it lacks the breathable mesh found on some other bags.
Organization is where the City Backpack really shines. There’s a zippered pocket on the top that’s perfect for a wallet, earbuds, a power bank, and other small essentials. The main compartment has a mix of zippered exterior pockets and stretchy, semi-transparent pouches for phones, cables, pens, dongles—you name it. On the padded backside, there’s even a sleeve for feeding the handle of a roller bag through when you’re navigating an airport.
Two stretchy, zippered side pockets are large enough for a 24-ounce water bottle. In my testing, they were also perfect for a bottle of wine and a fresh baguette—a requirement for any true vanlife adventure. Accessing those pockets is easy: you can slide the bag off one shoulder and swing the base forward, a technique Peak Design has perfected over the years. It’s fast, secure, and doesn’t require removing the bag completely.
The only real complaint with the City Backpack is the BagLev hook. While the hook itself works well—it kept the bag hanging from a café table for hours—its lack of rotation is limiting. I struggled to find good hanging spots on tables with short overhangs, which is a common scenario at many modern coffee shops. The integrated grab handle helps, but it’s not a perfect substitute. It’s a frustrating oversight given how good the hook is on the Crescent.
Design and materials: a new benchmark for everyday carry
Peak Design has built its reputation on camera bags, but the City Line is clearly aimed at a broader audience. The bags are designed to look at home in a trendy coffee shop, a casual business meeting, or a week-long outdoor adventure. The Mono Shell 660D fabric is lightweight, water-repellent, and has a clean, slightly matte finish that resists the “slouchy” look common to many daypacks. Both bags also feature large, easy-to-grab zipper pulls, a key tether, and a dedicated pocket for an Apple AirTag or a new Pixel Tag.
The hardware feels robust. Zippers glide smoothly, the magnetic closures are strong but easy to open, and the stitching is clean and durable. The City Line sits between Peak Design’s lightweight Outdoor lineup and its more rugged Travel and Everyday bags. It’s a sweet spot that balances weight, durability, and price. The $119.95 City Crescent and $179.95 City Backpack aren’t cheap, but they undercut many premium bags while offering comparable—or better—thoughtfulness.
Part of that thoughtfulness is the BagLev hook itself, which can actually be removed from the bag and attached to other bags with similar fabric loops. That means you can buy one of these bags and essentially upgrade your existing collection. But you might not want to. After a few weeks with the City Line, my other bags—the ones without hooks—suddenly feel less capable. They’re not worse, but they make me realize how often I’ve been setting them on dirty floors or awkwardly balancing them on chair legs.
Alternatives and final thoughts
If you’re intrigued by the bag-hook concept but not ready to invest in a full bag, there are cheaper options. I’ve come across portable tabletop hooks from Walmart, Etsy, and the Japanese stationery brand Lihit Lab, many of which cost less than $10. But none of them integrate as seamlessly as Peak Design’s BagLev. The hook is always there, always ready, and never gets lost. It’s the kind of feature that makes you wonder why more bags don’t have it.
Between the two bags, the City Crescent is the one I reach for every single day. It’s lighter, more versatile, and its BagLev hook is significantly more flexible. The City Backpack, meanwhile, is a better choice for anyone who commutes with a laptop and needs dedicated protection. Both bags have my enthusiastic recommendation for anyone in the market for a thoughtful, well-built everyday carry. Peak Design has once again shown that it understands the small details that make a big difference. And after weeks of using the BagLev hook, I can confidently say: I’m hooked.
Source: The Verge News