On a recent trip to SF, I picked up as an impulse purchase the City Edition of this travel backpack and I'm really glad I did. The City Edition is made of XPAC so it's a little different than the standard version, but the structure of the bag is the same. Good room for a medium and small packing cube with room still for a show pouch, toiletries bag, or even a Tech Pouch as well. The bag is sturdy but comfortable and the little extras (top exterior pocket, magnetic back panels to hide the shoulder straps) outweigh the few cons (no side access, small water bottle pockets) - I don't think the design of the bag is really suited for being an EDC but if you do the multiple pouch thing, then maybe you could make it work.
Plenty of room for a single person to carry enough for a 3 day trip pretty easily, or even 2 folks for an overnight or other short term trip if you're a light packer. The black camo color way sealed the deal for me and I'm looking forward to many more years of use out of this bag. Peak got this one right.
Owned for 6 months and amazed by the quality. Very well built, and so considered all around. The only thing that i think could be improved is to better leverage the pouch for straps. It's cool, but it could be built upon to be more than a void for straps.
I just got back from a trip to the Mediterranean that involved multiple connecting flights ending up on a cruise ship for two weeks. I was able to pack everything I needed in this bag and a roller bag. No complaints, everything had a place and all the airlines accepted it as my personal item.
I purchased this to fill multiple needs and it’s been excellent for all of them. It almost fits under an airplane seat as a personal item (if the gate agents let it slide), it’s good as a slightly bigger day pack with camera gear and to make use of camera clips and other items, and it can be expanded to fit a little more and use over a weekend. Only thing I wish was adjusted were the little pockets inside the backpack. They can be hard to access if you’ve got stuff packed in there or even if a camera cube is blocking them.
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 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.
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 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.