Thus I wanted to see if I'm the only person who has encountered this hang up on these otherwise great bags.

I suppose that's a lot of exposition, but the question now is: am I the only one who has found the Aer Day Pack type shoulder straps/general carry comfort lacking? And is there maybe some like break in period I'm not accounting for that might make things dramatically more comfortable? While aside from comfort I do love everything about what Aer has done with the bag - it does feel high quality, I like that it stands solidly upright on its own, and the aesthetic tickles my minimalism - $140 for a bag I don't find nearly as comfortable as something significantly cheaper (though maybe this is all just roundabout praise the strap/harness/padding situation on TNF bags?) feels hard to accept and I'm likely to return the thing now. In general, while the Borealis is far more than I need in terms of potential space, now I appreciate that maybe the extraneous length on the bag is actually part of what makes it comfortable, and beyond that while it does have a bunch of extra material extending outwards too, it has the benefit of the bungee cord type thing on the bag and side compression straps making it possible to make the profile more slim than the Aer (even if the Aer isn't remotely thick), which may be the most important dimension for downsizing (both for style and closeness of the load to one's back) anyways.

While my general carry (including the bags, both of which are heavier than average) is around 7 pounds, I also packed both out with other crap I could theoretically use (though I never would use it all at once) to get both gradually up to 12 pounds, and I noted the differences in comfort widened as weight grew. The Borealis felt better contoured to my back while the Aer was a bit closer (though not wholly) to a board. The other thing is that I think maybe with the Aer bag being so compact in comparison, with more rigid material compounding this, is that there's very little space in the Aer above and below the laptop (a 14' in my case) for it to then flex with the body, versus the Borealis which by merit of how 'unnecessarily' long it is, has both more spare material to flex with my spine and distributes weight across my whole back better.

While a lesser issue, I also think the Aer's straps are a bit more narrow and the foam less flexible, which may be better for longevity but doesn't help the relative comfort level. To make the strap padding feel nearly long enough, I have to wear the pack incredibly high which creates many other issues in the fit. With the Aer, the end of the padding feels like a pressure point on the side of my chest. When worn at a position that doesn't feel super unnatural and uncomfortable on my back (requiring me to loosen the shoulder straps), the padding terminates like right at my armpit which feels far too short compared to the Borealis which goes at least a couple inches past that point to more gradually end the padding off the body. Either way, the issue largely centers on the straps: while the padding seems nice, the padded portion of the shoulder straps just feels like it terminates too soon. I'm not especially tall at 5'11', but I am barrel chested, broad shouldered, and a bit overweight (200lbs or so) on top of that, so maybe I'm a bit more thick than the bag was designed for. I feel like the odd one out for thinking this, because I've only seen praise for its degree of comfort elsewhere. The Day Pack arrived yesterday and I was quickly disheartened to note just how much less comfortable it is than the North Face. In either case, my intent was to retire my older-generation North Face Borealis to carry on duty, since it had served me well as my sole bag for 10 days in Japan prior and was generally far more spacious than I need day-to-day. In the end, I wound up hedging my bets on the off chance I'd need to sometimes carry something a bit more bulky and went with the Aer Day Pack 2.

I'm currently a student with very little that I must carry on most days (I mean, in times where physical classes are held) besides my laptop, so initially I was interested in the new Aer Slim Bag, but there's an absolute drought of substantial reviews and I was concerned by the lack of back padding as well as the lack of indication as to whether or not it would stand on its own the way the other Aer work bags do. I figure better it be for bags than my more expensive interest (photography), so I decided to indulge it. As often happens when bored and stuck inside, my gearlust has recently been on the uptick.

Aer daypack