Zeitgeist vs Sprout vs Paradigm

[Tonya]

I've been debating a Zeitgeist purchase since it debuted, and although I do love the idea and looks of it, I've never found myself wishing I had a small(er) backpack. When I'm wearing a pack, I often seem to wish I had carried larger. The upcoming restock of the Sprout has me re-wondering if I could use a small backpack, and I'm curious about why TB felt the need to release another small backpack.

Besides the liters and the small amount of interior organization on the Zeitgeist, are there any real differences or advantages to either? If you throw the Paradigm into the comparison mix, it seems that the liter difference isn't even an issue, so to those of you who own these or any of these bags - please enlighten me as to why the TB line needs another small backpack. And why you might choose one over the other, or more than one. Thanks in advance!

[dirkhaun]

First of all, the Sprout is aimed at "children 4 years to 8 years old" (quoted from the product page). Which, I understand, means that it has different / shorter straps than the regular TB backpacks.

I'm more of a shoulder / crossbody bag person but recently got a Zeitgeist. I don't like the idea of carrying a huge backpack all the time - I don't have that much stuff to carry usually. So the Zeitgeist seemed like a good compromise. Haven't used it much, though, thanks to a certain pandemic, working from home, and all that.

The way I see it: Sprout = for kids; Zeitgeist and Paradigm = for those who don't want a huge backpack, with the latter having a little more organisation. Both have a padded sleeve built in that can hold a tablet, and then it's up to you whether you need the separate compartments and a little more storage room (Paradigm) or not (Zeitgeist).

[Tonya]

First of all, the Sprout is aimed at "children 4 years to 8 years old" (quoted from the product page). Which, I understand, means that it has different / shorter straps than the regular TB backpacks .

Of course I knew that the Sprout was created for children, but I didn't realize that the straps were shorter. Strap length isn't listed on the packs like it is on the totes, but that would make complete sense. Based on this post and several others here in the forums (did a search to see if any adults were using the Sprout) apparently a lot of adults needed a small EDC pack, so the Zeitgeist and Paradigm would have satisfied that need without a hack.

Thanks for your input. Helpful! And although I like the Sprout better than the other two small packs (10 liters is nice plus the shape is lovely!), your post helped me realize that it probably wouldn't work well for me - at least not without a hack.

[bchaplin]

I can’t speak about the Sprout but the Zeitgeist has a great form factor. However, uber-small. My typical workdays I carry about 15-20 liters, so if I had to choose just one backpack for my life it would be one of the larger ones. I use the ZG occasionally (maybe once or twice a week) for short walks and certain other circumstances. My sister has the Paradigm and loves it. FWIW, she is more of a suburban person, and has a minivan full of stuff to supplement what is in her personal carry.

[sturbridge]

I had a Sprout when it first came out- I'm 5'2" and on the smallish side, and it only just barely fit (the straps I mean) if in a T shirt- it would not fit if I was wearing any outer garments. I loved that it had one roomy compartment, but some smallish pockets along the sides for a few items. One of our members hacked the straps and got it to fit better, but that wasn't something I wanted to do.

Both the ZG and Paradigm have less capacity than the Sprout iirc. Both have an open main compartment, although more 2d (flatter) than the Sprout. The Paradigm has additional pockets added on the back, which personally I found less useful for my packing style. I group things in smaller containers (cubelet, 3D cube, HLT) than I swap from bag to bag, and the Paradigm pockets didn't lend themselves as easily to that. The Paradigm is really more for things you leave individually in pockets.

I use my ZG as a purse plus. My purse (wallet, phone) is a parapack 3d organizing cube. I put that into the ZG with a water bottle, snacks, phone battery, hygiene items and emergency kit in a Cubelet. So, enough for a day out or away from the house for a few hours. Its not big enough if I need to carry any outing specific gear- I use a shop bag or Pick up truck for that. I have a S19 on order to see if that would also work.

[Tonya]

Thank you bchaplin ! Always appreciate your input. I have a Daylight that's been my go-to pack for years as an EDC pack, but it only works well if it's about half full. I can throw a sweater or jacket on top, but the lack of form and padding means that it doesn't carry well when packed out with bulkier items. I love the looks of the Zeitgeist because it looks like a mini Daylight Backpack with structure, and I could easily see myself using a Zeitgeist for town trips, but I'd rather have a crossbody bag for that use. I've been toting a Sidekick for years but need a bit more space, so I'm going to order a Daylight Briefcase during the restock this morning and give that a go.

I also have an S25 which I really don't like at all, but I use it haha! I love everything about it except it's really too long for my torso and doesn't carry well on my frame. It's also a very heavy pack when filled, making the fit and feel worse. My dream bags are a 6-8 liter crossbody bag with organization (I'd buy a bigger SK in a heartbeat!), and a 20-25 liter lightweight backpack that works for me. I'm still waiting to see if TB will come up with something like these two items, which is possible! I've tried other manufacturers but keep coming back to TB, probably for the same reason that we all do.

How does that Paragon look in person? On the website, it looks like a box lol. I get the old school styling and think it's cool, but I prefer contoured packs.

[ayazgood]

How does that Paragon look in person? On the website, it looks like a box lol. I get the old school styling and think it's cool, but I prefer contoured packs.

I've been using a GE Paragon to tote a large notebook and occasional redwell file folders back and forth to the office (by car). I cycle through other bags, including a Bellroy totepack, a Waterfield soft briefcase, Evergoods CPL (returned), and a Bellroy Workpack, but seem to have settled on the Paragon. It has a foam backsheet, so in ballistic it has enough structure (haven't tried the halcyon version). It is very simple and lightweight. It is very comfortable, due to the light weight, foam back sheet and those thick spongy, edgeless straps. If not packed out it flattens out in a nice way. Even when full it has a slim profile. Slightly snazzy in the GE version with brightly colored monkey knot zipper pulls (which are essential due to the rain flaps), but yeah basically just a boring rectangular box (but not bad in person). The other bags I tried just seem less desirable for what I need, either due to size, weight, structure or comfort. On the con side, the exterior pocket has no independent volume and is hard to get into, and the interior pocket is shallow and flat. The top handle is just a flat thin strap of webbing, so not useful for anything other than grabbing or hanging. I should probably use a less colorful Paragon for the office, but I'm old enough to not care! If they come out with it in Night Walk, I'll reconsider.

[Meglet]

<snip>

Both the ZG and Paradigm have less capacity than the Sprout iirc. <snip>

I wanted to address this capacity issue as someone who used to use the Sprout and now uses the Paradigm. While I don’t remember the exact capacity of each and I’m too lazy to look them up, I find the Paradigm holds more than my original Sprout did.

My normal packing for this is a medium sized m4/3 camera plus one lens, a water bottle, iPad Mini, wallet, iPhone, keys, and maybe a small snack like a rice krispy treat. I could never get the water bottle to fit in the Sprout and always ended up switching to my S19 if I needed to carry all that and not wear a cross-body bag. With the Paradigm it stacks a little bit differently, but it fits because of the ability to put some of the items in the front pocket instead.

Although lately the Paradigm has been more of an “emergency vet go bag” because I can toss iPad Mini, water bottle, kitty meds, pack of travel chargers, snacks, headphones, wallet, and iPhone in with room to spare for anything else I think I might need during a 2-6 hour wait in the car or ER vet lobby. (Thankfully I think we’re past that need now, fingers crossed!) The Paradigm is handy because I can put it on my back and leave my hands free for wrangling the cat carrier, no worries about a cross-body bag swinging forward and getting in the way.

Tonya if you haven’t considered the Cafe Bags yet for a cross-body bag, you might try those. The Small Cafe Bag is my every day bag for wallet, phone, keys, and re-usable grocery bags plus a bit more. I’m too short for the Medium Cafe Bag otherwise I would use that instead of a Daylight Briefcase for something slightly larger than the SCB.

Note for those of us who had to look: there is both a Paragon and a Paradigm backpack, somewhere in the middle of this conversation the discussion switched from the Paradigm (small, rounded, purse-sized) to the Paragon (larger, square, boxy.) I have the Paradigm and love it, the Paragon looks a bit too boxy and formless to me, like the Daylight Backpack which as someone noted above has to be packed Just Right or it doesn’t carry well.

[Tonya]

If you haven’t considered the Cafe Bags yet for a cross-body bag, you might try those. The Small Cafe Bag is my every day bag for wallet, phone, keys, and re-usable grocery bags plus a bit more. I’m too short for the Medium Cafe Bag otherwise I would use that instead of a Daylight Briefcase for something slightly larger than the SCB.

Note for those of us who had to look: there is both a Paragon and a Paradigm backpack, somewhere in the middle of this conversation the discussion switched from the Paradigm (small, rounded, purse-sized) to the Paragon (larger, square, boxy.) I have the Paradigm and love it, the Paragon looks a bit too boxy and formless to me, like the Daylight Backpack which as someone noted above has to be packed Just Right or it doesn’t carry well.

Thanks for your input on the Sprout vs Paradigm and how they carry. I've noticed this on so many bags, and it's valuable info because sometimes a bag's specs don't match its practical applications. I've posted in the forums about this before, but I purchased a SCB that was supposed to be my next-size-up from my beloved SK, and I couldn't fit my normal SK items into the SCB. Supposedly the SCB is 2x larger than the SK, but I couldn't figure out how, at least not with me. I've already traded the SCB bag away and good riddance lol. I also couldn't deal with the SCB buckle flap; it constantly got in my way, so this would also rule out a MCB for me.

Yes, thanks for pointing out that we've been discussing both the Paragon and Paradigm, which are two completely different bags. The Paragon really doesn't relate back to my original question, since its liters are much larger than the other aforementioned bags. Mainly I was curious why a child couldn't use the Zeitgeist and an adult use the Sprout, so it seemed that three mini packs were an odd release for TB, but sturbridge's experience in the reply above shed a lot more insight on this.

[bchaplin]

Just to throw in another thought about the Paragon, which I use regularly. I do think it's boxy. About one third or so of the commuters on my train seem to have something similar; I think flat backpacks have swung back into common use. I appreciate its light weight and flexibility. It always has a slight lumpiness, just because of the way things stack inside, but overall it looks pretty nice. On the flip side, I went back to carrying a Synik 22 just to try it out again, and in comparison, I really appreciate how it makes everything I need for my commute very accessible, such as mask changes and extracting of electronic devices for the train ride. But now it's Friday and I am back to carrying the Paragon -- I kind of like the way it packs and carries.