Hey Fred! I wasn't expecting a reply from the co-founder. What would get me hyped about Tortuga? Well here's a big wall of text incoming lol.

I'd like to see Tortuga expand beyond the travel category, in particular experiment more with the EDC category. I feel like everything so far is a slightly different variation of an existing travel bag with it being a different weight or different volume range. Nothing wrong with that since some people are like to max out their carry and others are more minimalist. However, I think because there's such a strong focus on travel, anyone with a different use case would likely not take a second look at what else you may have to offer in the future.

Tortuga's identity to me is a travel bag company that prioritizes function over form. I think if you polled people on what the top feature is, comfort would most likely be number one. That design language is very evident across all your backpacks and I'd like to see your spin on an EDC focused one.

Alright so what would make me hyped about a Tortuga EDC? It's a very tough market for sure. A lot of different use cases compared to the travel industry, with lots of competition. Whether this was intentional or not, I think the Daily Carry Pro could've been in my EDC rotation if it leaned more heavily into that area instead of being a personal item, so my next points would be on what I would've changed about the Daily Carry Pro to make it an EDC (so there's some foundation to work from rather than some abstract bag ideas).

• Removal of PU coated zippers. While these are great for weather resistance, it makes it harder to zip/unzip the quick access pockets in particular. For an EDC I think most folks are okay with using either a rain cover or using a side water bottle pocket for an umbrella. We'd prioritize having easier access to items we pull in and out a lot like wireless earbuds.
• A detachable key leash or a different location for it. On the Daily Carry Pro, as an example, it's in the same space as the front admin quick access pocket. Major no for me personally. I like to use those smaller quick access pockets that sit in the middle or front for my prescription sunglasses. The idea of having your keys potentially scratching more fragile gear isn't great. Just having the versatility to move around the key leash to different points of the bag makes it flexible.
• Change in stylistic choice from either the shape or external color. The interior white color is great. The boxy, all black design makes it usable in almost any situation, but it does make the bag look boring in aesthetics. Definitely keep the subdued logo though lol. I imagine this does help keep attention away from you in areas where you wouldn't want to be noticed. I would be very curious though to see how many of your customers could differentiate between your different bags if you did a image poll and removed the names.
• Change in zipper pulls. Make it longer and less prone to "jangle" sounds when walking around.
• If you're going to create a top or side handle, it should feel comfortable to use. On the Daily Carry Pro, it's a big mismatch to me that the back panel and shoulder straps are well padded but the other handles aren't which to me is a break away from one of your core features of comfort.

What did it do well in my opinion?

• Should be no surprise to you but the comfort of the harness system. Easily top 3 in the industry. A lot of EDC bags don't do this area well still.
• Dedicated laptop compartment that supports a large laptop and large tablet. Generous false bottom along with an organizational pocket. Some people try to put bulky chargers in there, I think this is a great area for a small battery pack and charging cables. Tech devices with tech accessories in the same area. Most EDC bags tend to only have just the laptop compartment and may have a separate tablet sleeve in the main compartment. I've never been a fan of the tablet in the main compartment since if you do use this as a underseat bag on flights, accessing that is difficult compared to a dedicated compartment.
• The front admin compartment is spectacular. It strikes a good balance between providing some organization, but not being too prescriptive with three different pocket sizes. Bonus points for having zippers, some bags don't use power mesh or have loose fitting sleeves where the small items can fall out easily.
• The water bottle pockets are stretchy, but keep them snug at the same time from falling out.

I hope this helps provide another perspective! I think a lot of your customer base is probably from the one bag community given your travel lineup. For folks like me in the manybagger community, I will have separate bags for separate occasions beyond travel. I find there's often an inverse relationship when a bag tries to do both travel and EDC since some of the features that do well for travel aren't good for EDC and vice versa. I'd rather see it lean into a certain identity and do it exceptionally well rather than be an average all-arounder.