Got a trip coming up? If you’re travelling anywhere for any length of time, you’re going to want to take stuff with you – everything from the essentials to the possessions you wouldn’t want to leave home without. If you’re planning something seriously long-term or long-distance, like a gap year from work or college spent gloriously globe-hopping, your luggage and what you pack in it have to be near the top of your checklist. Your packing decisions affect how much stuff you can take with you, how safe your gear will be from thieves and the elements, and how comfortable you’re going to be lugging it along with you – and that’s just for starters! If your luggage is going to need to do more than the journey from plane to taxi to hotel room, it needs to be robust, lightweight and comfortable to carry: even if you plan on taking a large suitcase as hold luggage, your carry-on bag should be something you can take around with you once you’re off the plane.
Happily for travellers and holidaymakers, the market for travel luggage has grown significantly in recent years. Travellers looking for secure all-purpose travel bags didn’t always have a great deal of choice: besides the distinctly unsecure weekender and duffel bags, lightweight but fragile daypacks or heavy-duty hiking backpacks were the best options on the market, neither of them designed with air travel in mind. Today, a number of manufacturers offer specially-designed travel backpacks, made to stand up to the constraints of air travel and the demands of travelling. There’s an impressive range of choice and brands on offer (including SWISSGEAR, Osprey and Tortuga), so it’s worth doing your homework; but if you’re looking for something to keep your stuff safe on the plane as well as on the move, the market’s got plenty to offer.
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Name | Dimensions (inches) | Our Rating |
---|---|---|
Hynes Eagle 40L Flight Approved Carry On Backpack | 20.1 x 13.4x 9.8 | 9.4 / 10 |
Prottoni Carry On Backpack | 20 x 14.1 x 6.5 | 9.4 / 10 |
SWISSGEAR 1900 ScanSmart TSA Laptop Backpack | 8.5 x 18.5 x 13.5 | 9.4 / 10 |
eBags TLS Mother Lode Weekender Convertible | 21.5 x 5.5 x 13 | 9.4 / 10 |
Osprey Porter 46 Travel Backpack | 22 x 14 x 9 | 9.2 / 10 |
Tortuga Air Travel Backpack | 19 x 12.5 x 7 | 9.2 / 10 |
Portal Navigator Hybrid Backpack | 22 x 13 x 9 | 9.2 / 10 |
S-ZONE Wheeled Backpack | 21.7 x 13.8 x 7.8 | 9 / 10 |
Hynes Eagle are a relatively new entrant to the bags market, but they’re cultivating a reputation for well-made and attractive products which don’t break the bank. The 40L Flight Approved Carry On Backpack is part of their Flight Approved range, designed with the limitations and constraints of modern air travel in mind. Its efficient and space-saving design means its impressive 40L capacity doesn’t take it over the carry-on limits for commercial flights; and should you find yourself flying close to the maximum, its compression buckles help you further reduce the bag’s profile. With ample interior and exterior pockets and strong adjustable shoulder straps for hands-free carrying, this Hynes Eagle offering is a solid and effective backpack for air travel; which is all the more impressive given its budget price tag.
Check price on Amazon.comProttoni are a small US-based company who specialize in designing efficient and innovative travel bags. They work with small suppliers across Europe, and yet despite this and their commitment to innovation and quality their products retail at entirely reasonable prices. The Carry On Backpack is no exception, either in terms of its design or the price tag – available at a budget price, this is most certainly not a budget backpack in terms of performance. Boasting a sleek black ergonomic design and featuring a number of interior and exterior zippered pockets, the Carry On Backpack also features Prottoni’s proprietary Airmesh technology for superior comfort and breathability. With two sturdy grab handles included to give you options when it comes to carrying, and a 45L capacity which still keeps the Carry On Backpack under commercial carry-on limits, this Prottoni offering is seriously impressive; and doubly so at its current price point.
Check price on Amazon.comSWISSGEAR are perhaps most famous as the inventors and manufacturers of the Swiss army knife; and beyond that, they’re a well-known brand for innovative and efficiently-designed products in a number of fields, including travel and outdoors products and accessories. The 1900 ScanSmart TSA Laptop Backpack is a trademark SWISSGEAR product, cramming an impressive array of features into a neat, efficient package. The ScanSmart name refers to the backpack’s lay-flat design, which allows laptop-in-case scanning through any TSA X-ray machine. If you want to keep your laptop safe and secure, even while going through airport security, the TSA Laptop Backpack is one of the most effective ways you can do that on the market today. Besides the ScanSmart design, the TSA Laptop Backpack is riddled with pockets and pouches – most of them zippered and lockable – while being made almost entirely from plush and waterproof 1200D polyester. The ScanSmart TSA Laptop Backpack looks like a SWISSGEAR product; and more importantly, it performs like one. Surprisingly, given the backpack’s quality and the fame of the SWISSGEAR brand, the ScanSmart TSA Laptop Backpack is available at a midrange price point. If you’re taking your laptop travelling, this high-performer should be near the top of your list.
Check price on Amazon.comeBags are, as their name suggests, an online bag retailer: they’re committed to thoughtful design and exceptional value, which should bode well for the TLS Mother Lode Weekender Convertible, a fully-featured travel bag which is available at a midrange price point. When it comes to backpacks for air travel, there’s plenty of quality out there at the budget end of the price scale; but the Mother Lode Weekender Convertible does a good job of justifying its price tag. With a huge number of interior and exterior pockets, padded shoulder straps and carry handles, an 840D polyester exterior and a high-visibility orange interior lining to make packing and unpacking easy in low-light conditions, there’s no denying that eBags have designed the Mother Lode with the modern flyer in mind. There’s even eBags’ own Laptop Sling (patent pending), adjustable to secure laptops up to 19” wide. Designed to come under all major airlines’ carry-on limits and weighing less than 4lbs when empty, this eBags travel backpack is a natural companion for the frequent flyer. The Mother Lode Weekender Convertible is available in either brushed indigo or solid black, and has an attractive, clean aesthetic in either style.
Check price on Amazon.comOsprey are known for their backpacks: their main focus is on heavy-duty gear for travellers, hikers, adventurers and explorers, but the Porter range is a nod to the more casual traveller and holidaymaker which nonetheless reaps the benefits of Osprey’s years of experience. Available at a midrange price point, the Porter 46 is a 46L capacity travel backpack (a Porter 65 is available for the more adventurous among us, although it’s too large for adequate use as carry-on luggage). 46L is more than most backpacks for air travel, but the Porter 46 still stows comfortably within any commercial airline regulations: this is due in large part to Osprey’s StraightJacket compression system, wherein semi-rigid foam walls can be compressed inwards, working to compress the bag’s overall profile while also securing and protecting whatever’s loaded inside. With specially-padded laptop and electronics pockets in addition to the protection offered by the StraightJacket foam walls, the Porter 46 is a truly innovative take on the travel backpack, which offers an attractive combination of convenience and security. It even looks modern, with an elegant and stylish design that’s available in a choice of black, red or green – put simply, it’s hard to find a weak point on this Osprey offering, so long as you can afford the cost of entry.
Check price on Amazon.comTortuga are known for making stylish travel gear and accessories: this is an expensive travel backpack, bearing the Tortuga name as it does, but it does offer something most other travel backpacks don’t – the organizational capability of a suitcase, twinned with the convenience of a backpack. This is achieved by marrying a stiff back to a zippered front opening, so the Air Travel Backpack can be placed on its back and packed or unpacked as if it were a conventional suitcase. Compared to rooting around in the bottom of a duffel bag, this is a major victory for convenience; and the option to use the Air Travel’s expansion zipper to expand the capacity of the backpack by up to 30% is even more useful when it’s time to get packing. Made from 100% nylon, the Air Travel Backpack is waterproof and lightweight; but it has to be said that, for an expensive backpack from a luxury brand, this is not an eye-catching or attractive bag. Large plastic buckles against black nylon creates the impression that this backpack is anything but luxury: the Air Travel itself is a quality travel backpack which offers plenty in the way of convenience, but it doesn’t look like a bag which justifies its price tag.
Check price on Amazon.comPortal are perhaps best known for their work on outdoor living products, including outdoor furniture: with the Navigator Hybrid Backpack they’ve turned their experience with lightweight and waterproof designs to the travel bag market, with interesting results. The first thing to be said about the Navigator Hybrid is that it’s not pretty, with an ugly chunky black-and-gray aesthetic; but this rather utilitarian appearance is a result of Portal’s imaginative design. The Navigator Hybrid is so-called because it’s a hybrid of two bags; a wheeled carry-on backpack and a detachable daypack. The wheeled component of the Navigator Hybrid is more like a trolley case with attached shoulder straps than a true backpack, but it’s sized to serve as carry-on luggage and features (along with the daypack) a number of interior and exterior pockets and carrying handles. It should be noted that on some commercial airlines – particularly the notoriously stingy European budget airlines – you may struggle to get both parts of the Navigator Hybrid on as one person’s carry-on luggage; but if this is the case, the daypack can simply be detached, either to serve as someone else’s carry-on or to sit in the hold. There might be better trolley cases and travel backpacks on the market, but at the low price at which the Navigator retails, it’s hard to imagine finding a better hybrid of the two.
Check price on Amazon.comS-Zone make low-cost luggage, and their Wheeled Backpack is unapologetically that. Available at an impressively low price, there’s no getting around the fact that the Wheeled Backpack looks cheap: this is not an attractive piece of luggage, with chunky black plastic against a black fabric lining. However, in terms of design and build quality, the S-Zone Wheeled Backpack is a well-made piece that’s both durable and high-performing: three large internal compartments (including a laptop compartment which can secure laptops up to 17” wide) and mesh pockets work to keep your stuff secure and partitioned, even on the move; and when you are moving, you have a choice between carrying it with its shoulder straps and rolling along on its retractable wheels. The Wheeled Backpack is a fusion of rolling luggage and a travel backpack, and while its appearance justifies its price tag its performance most certainly does not. If you want hybrid luggage and don’t want to spend a lot to get it, there are worse places to start looking than the S-Zone Wheeled Backpack.
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Backpacks for air travel, or travel backpacks, are backpacks which have been designed specifically for the needs and difficulties of travel; and air travel in particular. The humble backpack was named in the early 20th century in America, but bags designed to be worn over the shoulders go back way further: by distributing the weight of the bag and whatever it’s holding, shoulder straps make carrying larger loads much easier on the arms, as well as helping the bearer maintain a comfortable and healthy posture. Modern backpacks come in a wide range of designs and styles, some of which are more suitable for air travel than others; and they can also be fashioned from a variety of materials. The most common material used for travel backpacks is polyester, favored among travellers on account of its lightweight and waterproof qualities.
Most travel backpacks use zips, often in combination with securing compression straps, to open and close the various compartments while keeping the bag’s contents safe and dry. A common feature on travel backpacks in particular is oversized zips, which are large and sturdy enough to allow the affixing of a padlock for added security: it should be noted, however, that on any kind of backpack the zip itself (whether padlocked or not) is a weak point in terms of security, as a sharp edge or even brute force can be enough to break the zip and gain access to the backpack’s contents in this way. Travel backpacks are also notable for the efficient approach taken to storage space in their design: most feature a large number of interior and exterior pockets and panels, some containing their own compression straps, making planned packing straightforward and ensuring you should always have easy access to your backpack’s contents. The shape of travel backpacks further facilitates this ease of access: backpacks designed for air travel are shaped so that they have no difficult to reach areas, while still being sized appropriately to meet major airlines’ carry-on regulations.
If treated well, travel backpacks are durable and can last for years, making them a wise investment for casual holidaymakers as well as for hardcore travellers. Other luggage solutions certainly exist – among them hiking backpacks, rucksacks, weekenders and tote bags, duffel bags, suitcases and trolley cases – but for modern travellers, the travel backpack is a hard option to beat. Designed to sit at the crossroads of capacity, comfort and convenience, backpacks for air travel should be near the top of the shopping list for anyone looking to holiday in safety and security. As with any purchase, it pays to do your research and think about your particular needs before getting down to comparing items; and with travel backpacks, that includes checking the luggage size and weight limits for your chosen airline(s). If you take the time to think it through, you’ll find the luggage market packed with competitively-priced quality products; and backpacks for air travel are no exception.
If you’re on the lookout for carry-on luggage that makes your life easier on the move, travel backpacks are one of (if not the) best option available. But why not rely on a conventional backpack? They tend to be cheaper, after all. Unfortunately, conventional backpacks have a few drawbacks compared to the variants designed with air travel in mind:
If a conventional backpack isn’t going to get the job done, what about a suitcase or trolley case? These certainly share some of the advantages of the travel backpack: they’re bigger and more secure than standard backpacks or rucksacks, but their increased capacity is also their downside. Suitcases simply aren’t designed with mobility in mind, and tend to be oversized for use as carry-on luggage – even the wheeled trolley cases, easy enough to push around airports and hotels, aren’t portable enough for anything more demanding and are usually too large to serve as personal luggage. On the other hand, backpacks for air travel have a number of reasons behind their recommendation.
If you’ve decided to invest in a backpack for air travel, there are a few things worth thinking about before laying down your hard-earned cash.
There are some basic principles to be aware of when purchasing and using a travel backpack for the purposes of air travel.