MUJI "Less Tiring Water Repellent Backpack" Review
- Capacity
- 20ℓ
- Weight
- 460g
- Price
- $39.90 USD (August 28, 2026)
The Less Tiring Water Repellent Backpack looks like a classic school bag, but with a simpler appearance that also fits into business use. The shoulder straps have a patented design that is supposed to make them more comfortable.
It has many of the features you might want from this type of backpack, including a laptop sleeve, a zippered back pocket, two side pockets, a side zipper that lets you access part of the main pocket, and a strap for attaching it to rolling luggage.
As best I could determine, MUJI has been selling this same model for about 10 years now. I hope they don’t discontinue it.
It’s similar to familiar designs from JanSport and if you pictured “a backpack” it probably looks like that. However, I think it’s more elegant than the JanSport “SuperBreak® Plus”. It looks neater and the fabric and construction feels nicer. Despite that, it’s cheaper.
The simple appearance even excludes a logo, like all MUJI products.
My Experience with the Backpack
I bought this backpack to replace another while on 3-week walking trip in Japan. The backpack I was carrying had started to bother my shoulders. For the rest of the trip, I carried it in the bottom of the MUJI backpack! Thankfully, it was very light.
I carried this backpack for about 2 weeks, walking around 30km per day. I was impressed with how comfortable the straps were, especially since they are simply straight, not curved like those usually found on hiking backpacks. But there is a bit more to it: the patented design involves slightly thicker padding on parts of the strap to counteract the uneven angle at which it would otherwise sit on one’s shoulders.
I had no problem with the capacity, even with the other backpack inside. The zipper closure also made it very convenient to open and find things.
The side pockets are functional, and each one can fit a 1ℓ Smartwater bottle, for example. However, they are made of the same fabric as the rest of the backpack, not a stretch fabric. So their capacity is limited a bit, and I’m sometimes concerned about the contents falling out.
The fabric is fairly water resistant as advertised, but does it wet out after a little while. That’s not really a problem, because I use a pack liner or bags for organization that are more or less waterproof.
Since that trip, I have used it to take my laptop to the library, as a carry-on bag, and on various hikes.
Conclusion
When shopping for a backpack, I have usually considered hiking daypacks because those seem to best match the activity I have in mind. This backpack has features that are instead meant for student or business use, and it lacks features I would usually look for, like a sternum strap or a mesh pocket.
But it’s pretty comfortable, and I don’t really notice when I’m carrying it. It also has a bit more space than I usually need, but at the same time doesn’t seem too large. And it looks good.
Of course, it’s cheap. I read that an early MUJI ad campaign used the phrase, “it’s cheap for a reason”. That is, the products they make are inexpensive because they have carefully considered the design, the materials, and the manufacturing processes, not simply because they cut costs.
I think I can see that in this backpack. It seems like a thoughtful product, which focuses on the most important feature of a backpack: carrying things easily. Even though it isn’t what I imagined I needed, it works.