Customer reviews from Peak Design
Peak Design - Travel Backpack 30L - Black
Average customer rating
4.6
(310 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 310 reviews
5 Stars
221
4 Stars
61
3 Stars
15
2 Stars
7
1 Star
6
91%of customers recommend this product.
(
234 out of
257)
Customer Reviews for Peak Design - Travel Backpack 30L - Black
Customer Rating
4
Excellent bag! Some minor pocket tweaks needed
on June 29, 2023
Posted by: Montana Dan
from Montana
I bought this bag to act as my carry-on (sometimes personal item) that has a large enough laptop sleeve for my 15.6" laptop. The laptop compartment is spacious, and can definitely fit a larger size. The bag has plenty of space for clothes, or other gear in the main compartment.
My only issues with the bag is additional pocket placement and sizing. With the 30L travel bag, the mesh pockets in the main compartment are only usable if you take the contents of the main compartment out. This works fine with packing cubes as they are easy to take out and put back in. But if you don't have those, you are taking out your loose clothes, and repacking if you need to access those pockets. Also, the quick access pocket on the front of the bag is small. The zippers barely clear a passport in one of the side stretchy slots and the rest of the pocket is not very deep. This would likely be where I would store my power cord and mouse for my laptop, but then nothing else fits in there. This confused me a little bit because there seems to be ample space to bring the pocket lower, and you can even reach your hand up from the bottom of the bag through the lash strap magnetic flap and there is a ton of wasted space. That excess space in the lash strap flap does not seem necessary, and the magnets are not strong enough to be secure if you did put something in that space. I would have liked to see that quick access pocket come down a little further, or add a zipper just past the lash strap points to have that space be usable.
Other than that, everything is great. These issues are minor and the rest of the bag is perfect! Love the expandable storage when needed, and it is a very comfortable bag.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Peak Design
Customer Rating
4
Great for small enough to serve
on June 26, 2023
Posted by: thequister
from San Diego, CA
I tried several comparable bags, but settled on this one for one-bag travel (w/o camera gear!). I generally need the bag to serve as a work/daily carry at the destination, especially for conferences. I've now used the bag for 5 trips, including a one-bag trip for 2 weeks combining work and pleasure in UK & Netherlands (summer). The bag is excellent and serves my needs almost perfectly. It is easy to pack and see the interior. It's very durable with, just enough organization for getting at needed items without overdoing it such that you forget where you put various items or lose them in deep, dark pockets. The size hits the sweet spot: with packing cubes and careful choices I can one-bag it no problem. Unlike the 45L, the bag is small enough, good looking, and comfortable enough to make it useable as a work backpack at my destinations. Very manageable in tight spaces and on public transportation. And the bag fits under seat as a personal item on pretty much any airline, esp in un-expanded mode. In fact, I've never used the expansion zippers except when compressing down the packed backpack.
Contrary to my initial expectations, I've actually used the external carry straps for jackets on a couple occasions. The stash system is more useful than I had initially thought. The hinged for the straps allowing them to rotate is great. The zippers are a pleasure to use. The pack works great with PD packing cubes. I would not recommend the large wash pouch with this bag...too big and bulky. The small fits great, however.
My only minor gripes: I wish the top pocket was about 1-2" deeper and the backpack straps were slightly more padded. The chest strap works fine, but I am worried it will pop off and get lost. But these are very minor worries given the overall utility and quality of the bag.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Peak Design
Customer Rating
5
Excellent for Travel
on June 20, 2023
Posted by: KittB
from Arizona
The 30 L Travel backpack is just the right size, has many thoughtful features, the material and design travel well, and the sage green color is beautiful. Highly recommended.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Peak Design
Customer Rating
5
Sleek and Great for Carry-On Travel!
on June 17, 2023
Posted by: TeachTravel
from Nashville TN
I travel a lot in the summer and I try to pack everything in a carry-on. This backpack has a sleek design and easily fits several days worth of clothing and toiletries without looking bulky. I love the interior pockets which make it easy for me to organize my gear.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Peak Design
Customer Rating
5
Best companion for short travels
on June 13, 2023
Posted by: gorbadey_m
from Tbilisi, Georgia
When I was buying this backpack, I didn’t even expect that it would be soooo comfortable, all the smallest details are done in a way to make your packing and traveling experience much easier and comfortable. This backpack was the first PD product I got, Now I have 9 of them and they’re all brilliant!
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Peak Design
Customer Rating
5
excellent for one bag travel
on June 12, 2023
Posted by: Frederic
Perfectly held all my stuff during a week abroad, would recommend the hip belt for heavier loads.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Peak Design
Customer Rating
4
Minimal but good
on June 2, 2023
Posted by: Joph
I've used the PD Everyday 20 & 30 for years, and just bought the Travel Backpack 30, after having used my wife's 45 a little. As with all PD products I've used, it's an overall good design, but leaves a few things well short of 'Peak.'
This pack is mostly a storage sack with a few pockets, so it' a pretty simple design that works best if you have other stuff sacks or pods to put into it. The top front pocket is nice and I prefer it to the one on the larger Travel backpack. The side stretch pockets are basic and the same as others packs. The only other organization is on the inside, you get a couple long pockets on either side, that are stitched to divide up into smaller portions (don't love that), then a couple on the inside front, as well as the laptop sleeve.
The smartest part of the design (vs. most other popular travel packs) is that the main zipper is near the back panel, rather than the front of the pack. This allows you when traveling to set the pack down on its front to open it up and pack/unpack. Others I've used with the zip near the front force you to lay the back panel and straps down in the dirt, or a gross seat, or on the floor to open up access to the main compartment. When traveling, it's nice to not have to dirty the back panel & straps by having to do that.
This pack is mostly a storage sack with a few pockets, so it' a pretty simple design that works best if you have other stuff sacks or pods to put into it. The top front pocket is nice and I prefer it to the one on the larger Travel backpack. The side stretch pockets are basic and the same as others packs. The only other organization is on the inside, you get a couple long pockets on either side, that are stitched to divide up into smaller portions (don't love that), then a couple on the inside front, as well as the laptop sleeve.
The smartest part of the design (vs. most other popular travel packs) is that the main zipper is near the back panel, rather than the front of the pack. This allows you when traveling to set the pack down on its front to open it up and pack/unpack. Others I've used with the zip near the front force you to lay the back panel and straps down in the dirt, or a gross seat, or on the floor to open up access to the main compartment. When traveling, it's nice to not have to dirty the back panel & straps by having to do that.
As for improvements; I've always though PD's stitching/construction quality left a bit to be desired. While they use quality materials, the stitching is often lower stitch-count, and sometimes not very straight. I appreciate that this one has less external stitching than their earlier packs, but wish they'd get rid of more of it so that most all threading is on the inside of seams. Also wish they'd just use simple, straight bar tacks instead of the rounded rectangles.
The shoulder straps are thin and mostly comfortable, but could benefit from a little thicker padding for those heavier loads.
The little ID tag pocket is super-remedial and unnecessary nowadays. Would rather see an AirTag pocket or nothing there.
The handle on the bottom is kind of pointless, and the stitching for it just gets scraped up and frayed apart with use.
I'd really love to see another outside pocket run down the front of the pack, like Evergoods Travel packs have. It's a great spot for stashing larger, often-used items.
The shoulder straps are thin and mostly comfortable, but could benefit from a little thicker padding for those heavier loads.
The little ID tag pocket is super-remedial and unnecessary nowadays. Would rather see an AirTag pocket or nothing there.
The handle on the bottom is kind of pointless, and the stitching for it just gets scraped up and frayed apart with use.
I'd really love to see another outside pocket run down the front of the pack, like Evergoods Travel packs have. It's a great spot for stashing larger, often-used items.
Written by a customer while visiting Peak Design
Customer Rating
4
Great but
on May 30, 2023
Posted by: CJM
from Ct
Love the look, feel and quality of this bag. It holds its shape really well and the inside compartment works perfect with peak design packing cubes. I find it looks professional enough to use and client meetings and it's the perfect size for a weekend trip. No one complaint is that the quick access pocket up top is fairly small. Would love for that to be a bit bigger. Struggle to fit a pair of over the ear headphones in that compartment
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Peak Design