Fyro Citta Sling

Definitely one of the best crossbody slings. I’ll definitely be buying more once some new color options are available.

This is a beautiful sling that has quietly become my “grab it and go” setup (I have the 3.5L)

Keys, phone, wallet, a few bits - maybe a multitool and my Pocket 3 camera - job done.

It's not going to replace a backpack, but that's not the intention, but it does hold a surprising amount of gear.

The external material is solid and robust and the orange interior is gorgeous.

The overall look is stylish. It sits nicely against the body and I now use it all the time.

(For photo reference, I am 190 cm/ 90 kg)

Really happy with my purchase of this bag. All the thought behind the features that Aaron discusses in his videos really come trough in use. Great design for me.

Unfortunately, Fyro lost my trust. The problem wasn't the sling, it was that I tried to return it after realizing just how small it really is inside and that it wouldn't fit my use case. I had seen Aaron in one of his videos say something like, 'if you get it and it turns out it doesn't quite work for you, don't worry, you have 30 days to return it.' I anchored on that assurance. But I shouldn't have. The sling I tried to return was unused, had the original tag on it. Perfect condition. I was well within the 30 day return window. You have to send an email to ask to return the item. And they want you to send pictures of the product (Seriously). I did all that. What followed was a series of emails that repeatedly questioned whether I really, really wanted to return it. Along the line, they offered me a small partial rebate if I would keep it instead of return it. But this is an expensive sling, so, no; I wanted to return it and just get my money back, thank you. It went around like that - which is weird in this day and age, in my experience. When we finally got past the 'are you sure?' type of silliness, they sent the detailed conditions for the return, process which emphasized that the sling must be in its 'original packaging'. This is a soft-goods product; there is virtually no "packaging" to speak of. Well, it turns out that what they meant was not the shipping box or bag (I forget which it arrived in); what they meant was a very basic clear plastic bag that the sling is put in, probably at the factory, before that sling-in-a-bag was put into the shipping container. That simple plastic bag has a little sticker on it with Fyro's name and a bar code. Fyro doesn't care about the shipping container as far as I could make out. They REALLY care about that little clear plastic bag that the sling was inside of - and especially, it seems, the little sticker that was on that bag. Fyro said that they could not accept a return unless that bag and bar code were included. (Really? ... Why? You know exactly what the product is. You can see that it is in perfect condition..) Well, I had discarded that precious bag, of course - as I'm guessing 90% of customers would do pretty much straight away. It was a garden variety plastic bag from what I could tell. I offered to put it in a nice *fresh* plastic bag and then into a box to ship it back. This was not good enough for them. They spoke about their warehouse processes. Customers should not have to care much about their internal processes, I think. The whole thing was weird and unexpected.

[ Gentle reader, imagine buying a shirt. It's going to come, probably, in a plastic bag. Lovely. You open the bag, discard or recycle it, and realize that the shirt is unfortunately too tight. You go to return it. And they take it back, no problem. Probably no questions asked. That is reasonable, if the garment is unworn and in perfect condition. But not here. ]

If you're going to have an online business and no retail presence, you need to make the returns process simple and respectful of the customer's time, energy, and money.

During all this back and forth, it was pointed out to me a couple of times that if you dig around a bit on the Fyro web site, it says that they want the products in the original packaging. And that is true, the statement is there. But that apparently magical plastic bag barely seemed like 'packaging'. Anyway, it just seemed absurd to me and I pointed that out politely. Finally I escalated and managed to pull Aaron into the situation. I was offered more discount if I would keep it instead of return it -- he also said they could make an exception and take it back and refund my money .. but it felt to me like there was some light guilt tripping around that option. By that point I was quite disappointed and frustrated with the whole process - and I was no longer really confident that Fyro would actually refund my money if I *did* return the sling - because there had just been so much unexpected difficulty already. So I thought, screw it, play it safe. I took the partial refund and kept the bag.

It's worth pointing out that all of these communications were polite - certainly including on Fyro's part. No one was rude. But what should have been a dead-simple return was a maddening run around. It added up to a lousy customer experience. I am genuinely sorry to have to say that. I think they mean well. But I think Fyro has a lot to learn about how to treat their customers - end to end.

The bag itself? It has a number of nice features and design choices, as you can see on the videos and stuff. For my use cases, it would be great if it had an extra inch in height and width.

I mostly wish the customer experience had been much, much better.

The Citta 3L is a really well-executed small sling as long as you treat it like what it is: a clean, intentional pocket dump. The fabrics are top notch, and the burnt orange interior is a great touch — it makes everything easy to see and gives it a premium feel without being overbuilt. The wide opening and simple layout work well for daily essentials like phone, wallet, keys, AirPods, and a small battery pack.
That said, it’s a tight 3L and doesn’t give you much flexibility. It really only handles one medium bulky item well, and for me that becomes an issue with sunglasses, which are a must-carry. I wear larger framed (and not cheap) sunglasses, and I’m honestly hesitant to throw them in there without worrying about pressure or damage. Once they’re in, there’s not much room left without things getting cramped. The strap is clean but not the quickest on/off, especially with layers. If you want something minimal and structured, it works. If sunglasses are part of your daily carry, it’s a bit of a compromise.