About doughnut
A doughnut is a type of fried dough confectionery or dessert food. The doughnut is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franchised specialty outlets. They can be filled with jelly, cream, or custard, or topped with icing, powdered sugar, or sprinkles. Some doughnuts are also made without icing or toppings and are simply fried dough, often served with a side of honey or syrup. The most common doughnut shape is a ring or circle, but they can also be formed into various other shapes, such as spheres or long, twisted shapes.
Doughnut Macaroon Backpack, worth it or skip it?
Reviewing products could be tricky. When I found flaws in them, did the rest of the products from that company have similar quality issues? This was the question I had when I sat down to write down my thoughts on the Doughnut Macaroon backpack that I just bought. I like to be honest with what I see and how I feel about the bag, and at the same time, I understand this may not be everyone’s experience.
Although it is slightly cheaper to get this specific backpack on Amazon, I decided to buy it on their official site. Doughnut is a company based in Hong Kong, so that it would be international shipping for my order. Before I pressed the order button, I visited the website multiple times to check out options and pricing. The website looked nice and polished, but it was a little glitchy, and the loading time could be slow as well.
There were so many beautiful bags on the website. The reason I chose to buy the Macaroon Large was that it was made with Cordura fabric. Cordura Nylon fabric is supposedly stronger and more durable compared to some other Nylon fabrics. Besides, it has an extra zipper pocket at the back, and that’s not what Himawari’s large backpack is offering. The color I decided on was from their Navy Series. The whole bag is in this deep blue color, even the leather, the webbing, and the hardware.
After placing my order, it came in 5 days from Hong Kong! Considering this is an international order, I would say the shipping was speedy! The backpack didn’t come in a box, and it was wrapped in a plastic shipping envelope like when you bought something from eBay. Taking it out of the packaging, I was happy with the size! The size was comparable to the Fjallraven Kanken 17″ laptop backpack I recently bought. I loved the deep navy color. It was gorgeous and stylish! On the outside, it has a fancy hang tag that is showcasing the feature and the bag’s uniqueness. Apparently, Doughnut is doing a much better job than Himawari in terms of packaging.
Now, let’s talk about the material. Supposedly, Doughnut made the backpack with 1000D Cordura Nylon fabric, but compared to the bag I previously purchased from Timbuk2, which also used Cordura, this doesn’t feel as durable. The material is on the thinner side; even the Vinylon F fabric on Vjallraven also appears thicker. I did splash water on the bag to test the water-resistant feature, and the water mainly did bounce off from the surface.
The finish on the hardware is quite nice. With the matching navy color glaze, it elevates the look of the backpack. The paddings on the back are thick, and they felt comfortable when I tried the bag on. The leather details on this Doughnut backpack are very similar to what Himawari is using. However, the inside of the leather tab for the top handle is rough, as if they forgot to put on a finishing coating. Overall, the stitches on the backpack are consistent, except I found a skipped stitch on the top handle, and the stitches on the zipper tab look rough and need work.
Rough and uneven stitches on the zipper leather tab
Look inside the backpack, I would say it’s mostly ok, but the zipper pocket on the back did appear to be slightly wonky, and the same happened with the webbing. This is a backpack that looks great in general, but you don’t want to stare at the detail; the more you look, the more things are off. Inside the Himawari and Fjallraven backpacks, you would find product tags detailing the material, care instructions, and where it was made. Interestingly, that’s not the case with the Doughnut backpack, and it doesn’t include information on the material or where the bag was made. At this point, I would instead conclude, their craftsmanship needs improvement, slightly worse than I saw on my Himawari backpack.
I’m not particularly eager to finish with a negative feeling, but if I am allowed to be brutally honest, I would say it is not worth it to pay double for a Doughnut backpack. The quality is highly similar to Himawari, and Himawari is almost half the price. Are we paying extra for the fancy website and packaging? I am still interested in the organic cotton series they have, but looking at the craftsmanship of this Doughnut Macaroon Large I am holding, I would hesitate to order another.
I’m not particularly eager to finish with a negative feeling, but if I am allowed to be brutally honest, I would say it is not worth it to pay double for a Doughnut backpack. The quality is highly similar to Himawari, and Himawari is almost half the price. Are we paying extra for the fancy website and packaging? I am still interested in the organic cotton series they have, but looking at the craftsmanship of this Doughnut Macaroon Large I am holding, I would hesitate to order another.
Doughnut Macaroon Backpack Review
It’s made from Korean twill fabric–nicely sturdy with a smooth texture. I like the feel of it more than Cordura, and it has stood up well to some serious abuse. It stayed water resistant when I carried it in a light rain, with the water beading on the surface. Nothing inside got wet at all, and the water was easy to wipe away. The seams appear very durable, and the brass buckles and leather straps give it a practical and attractive ruggedness. All the fun colors make me want more than one backpack, and I’ve got my fingers crossed that JetPens will consider carrying some of their other products (don’t look at the Doughnut website unless your willpower is strong).
Both the padded shoulder straps and the front pocket bands are adjustable. The bands have functional buckles, but the pocket actually operates with two snap closures located at the top of the straps. Please don’t ask me how many times I unbuckled the pocket to open it before I discovered the snaps. But I was delighted to find them, because nobody has time for actual buckles. There is also a snap-closure loop around the top handles, so they can be joined to make a nice top-carry handle. The shoulder straps stay comfortable even when the bag is stuffed to capacity with books.
The front pouch is roomy. It fits plenty of fast-access essentials, though it is just one compartment–so I have lost some time fishing for items in there. The side pockets are designed to fit narrow items like umbrellas, cords, or a small water bottle (wider bottles will likely not fit).
The main compartment is accessed by unzipping the front panel of the backpack. The flap that covers the zipper is a little obstructive. It’s stiff and very deep, so folding it back to access the zipper is an extra step to opening, and almost requires both hands. The zipper itself is sturdy and the leather pull tabs are really nice.
Inside the main compartment a padded laptop/tablet sleeve that will fit an item up to 13″. Along the front panel of the pack smaller pockets and pouches, some with zipper closures, and one with Velcro. Because this front panel folds down when the pack fully opened, you have to a bit careful that items don’t fall out of these pockets, especially as the weight of the items will pull the top of the panel down. I started leaving one side of the panel zipped to keep this from happening. I think these pockets could have been better placed to avoid spillage. I think they’d have been particularly useful if placed in a separate zipper pocket on the front of the bag, so they could accessed quickly without diving into the main compartment. That intermediate pocket , I think, the main thing that this bag missing.
The main compartment is quite large. I’m currently using the backpack as a diaper bag/kid kit, and I can fit everything I and my toddler need for a day out–and a spare of everything. And on top of all the baby gear, I can still fit my big planner in its over-stuffed case, my Traveler’s Notebook, a pack of pens, and my knitting.
The pack is spacious enough to serve as an overnight bag or travel carry-on, and would make an excellent commuter bag. It’s great for getting items from point A to point B. I don’t think it’s ideal for an everyday bag–it needs that additional medium front pocket and better access to smaller items for that. But it’s definitely the bag I’ll grab for travel, or trips to the library, zoo, or anywhere I know I’m going to need everything (and a spare).