I've been using my Camelbak BFM for almost 20yrs now. It's big, but even when full, I can still get it under the seat, although there's not much room left for my feet. The hydration pocket doubles very well as a laptop pocket. The downside is it is olive drab and has that "just got home from deployment" look. Eberlestock makes some really good bags, but they all look like you just came in from the field or the range.
I don't travel with a laptop anymore -- for better or worse my phone has replaced that -- so I've just found the large compartment ones easier. I have a strong preference toward the ones with at least one water bottle compartment as well. Other than that, it can look like the fucking magic school bus, I don't care.
Right now this Tom Bihn one is in the lead for my carry-on backpack (thanks for the rec @xrayvision) Anyone else who has done some overseas or longer trips have preferred brands or models? @Nettdata what do you carry when you do your Japan trips?
I have an old Swissgear bag I've had for probably 10 years now that I use a lot. https://www.swissgear.ca/en/backpacks/sa1900-scansmart-laptop-backpack-black-red I also have a set of Nomatic luggage and I really like their roller carry-on. https://www.nomatic.com/collections/all-luggage/products/carry-on-pro I got turned onto Nomatic due to their camera bag setup via Peter McKinnon (a photographer/videographer I follow on YT out of Toronto) and he's got his own line of gear bags with them. I got in cheap on the initial kickstarter, and ended up liking the quality so much I also got the big roller luggage and other pieces from them. https://www.nomatic.com/pages/the-mckinnon-collection https://www.nomatic.com/collections/check-in-luggage/products/check-in I lent them to my mom for a couple of her vacations and she liked them a lot too, so I got her her own set for xmas, and she loves them. Uses the roller carry-on a lot for flights and train trips to see friends.
He did say buy once cry once. If I wasn’t into bags like that, I would easily recommend something from Osprey or Gregory maybe. But those tend to look more hikerish. I do have the Osprey Porter 46 and I like it a lot. It’s basically a suitcase on my back though. Tom Bihn are made in Seattle if that’s important. It’s why the cost what they do.
My sister has a pacsafe backpack that I sometimes borrow for trips and it has strong Mary Poppins bag energy. IDGAF about all the anti-theft stuff, in no small part because I don't have shit worth stealing, but it's a great, sturdy bag that fits way more than it seems like it should. Hers has to be almost 10 years old and it isn't showing its age at all. It has accompanied me on 2 10ish day international trips as my only carry on/personal item because I am cheap and I consider it a personal challenge from airlines to not pay for a singe additional fee. The exact model she has doesn't look to be available anymore, but this 40L one looks like the souped-up, even larger version of the one I've used. 10/10 recommend.
Just another perspective here: I think "buy once cry once" isn't a great approach to something like a backpack. I've had a lot of backpacks from a lot of companies, and I have traveled a whole lot with them. Context: prior to 2016, I was on a plane for business or international vacation 6-8 times/year. Hiking and photography trips were interspersed. For the last 4 years I've been a 100% remote employee who hikes a couple times a week, explores my new local areas, and moves house 4-6 times/year so my packs get a ton of use but less plane time. Often times, price doesn't really equal longevity - some of my most-abused packs that are still holding up were relatively cheap. Sometimes you pay extra for features (especially photography bags), and sometimes you pay extra for intangibles. I think Tom Binh makes nice backpacks. You are paying a lot of money for the name, the nice look & finish, and the local manufacturing. Please don't kid yourself that the $400 somehow gets you something that's not found in backpacks half the price. There's absolutely nothing wrong with ponying up for Tom Binh, or Nomatic. They are nice, polished products, with accessory ecosystems. Just be aware that you're paying a big premium for that. In addition, my experience is one backpack will be less useful than, say, two different packs. The pack that is ultra-roomy and swallows everything is great when what you need is to be a pack mule, but it's pretty annoying when you're around town and your camera and sunglasses are rattling around and hard to get at. Likewise, the nicely-organized pack probably holds half as much. So... just some stuff to think about there. Right now I've got an Osprey Quasar that I use as my general purpose pack. It's got some organization but not so much that it loses a ton of space. Stuffed full, it fits under the airline seat. I find it's a fairly good middle-ground where it has enough organization that I don't hate it when I'm out and about, but with decent bulk space. A couple of the Binh bags I've used are amazingly well organized but they sacrifice space to do it, so they are a little more narrowly-purposed. Edit: and it's good quality and has held up well, but is not so expensive that I won't chuck it into under-bus storage or drop it on a sidewalk or worry about it getting scraped up on a hike. I highly doubt you will find a 40 liter pack that reliably fits under the seat in every airplane, so I'd be very careful there. Each plane is different and some of them will make you check your bag if it protrudes too much into the foot area.
Yeah, the Nomatic stuff is not cheap, but I love the McKinnon camera bags. I have one big bag with all my gear... every lens, both camera bodies, filters, batteries, cleaning gear, tripods, mics, etc, all nicely stored and protected and easily accessible that I can just grab and throw in the Airstream when I take off on a trip, and then a much smaller bag that has just the stuff I want with me while I'm out taking pics. Having tried a few different setups for that, I am quite happy with the current one. Definitely comes at a premium, but luckily enough that's not really an issue for me these days.
I have a swissgear I've used as my catch-all backpack for 15 years. I do enjoy that it's gotten "larger" over the years as electronics got smaller. Gaming laptop is now a slim MacBook. Books for reading are now all on an e-reader. Cables and chargers are now a single usb-c. So much more room for activities.
So I have weirdly never divulged this before, but I'm a professional organizer as my full time job. I have been inside a lot of homes, enough to see plenty of interesting patterns. Based on this, I'm betting that there are quite a few backpacks in your house, and one of them will probably work great for your trip. As both an organizer and a frequent traveler (30-60 nights/year of everything from resorts to cities to skiing), I'm really against getting travel specific shit unless you truly do travel All The Time and you have very particular travel needs. (I'm against buying shit in general, because people are basically hoarders at this point, but that's a whole other convo.) I'd say the only travel specific things I have are: hard sided suitcases in roll aboard and regular sizes, a travel laundry bag, a ski bag, and a boot bag. Everything else is multipurpose. If for some reason you are an adult human with a spouse and children who does not have backpacks of various sizes floating around - I would check out Deuter packs. For some reason they are very reasonably priced, but they are awesome. German designed so they're well made and just make a ton of sense. I also like their hydration system much more than Camelbak - Camelbak always leaks eventually, Deuter looks confusing and weird at first but never leaks.
i have a packable backpack that folds into a tiny bag that weights less than an ounce. Holds 20L iirc. I use that for excursions. Just looking for something to get from point A to point B
just got their 40L travel bag. Plus the couponbirds extension got me a 20% savings. Sweet! Thanks for the recommendation man, that's exactly what I was looking for.
New Orleans. Driving there for a few days after a concert in mid October. We’ll be staying right off Canal St by the casino. Three days. Aside from getting in some training runs, which I’m eyeing up a park by the aquarium to do those in, we’re wide open. what do we need to do?
Anyone here (moreso Canadian members maybe) have any experience with Porter Airlines? The wife and I were looking to do a long weekend in Montreal for our anniversary and tickets on Porter were significantly cheaper than other airlines. The only downside is a couple hour layover in Toronto which isn't the biggest deal in the world. I'm always a bit reluctant choosing budget airlines, so I thought I'd pick your guys' brains before snagging tickets.
A neighbour's son in law was their Chief Pilot. Solid airline. I'd fly with them with zero hesitation. It's not like RyanAir where you have to bring your own shitpaper.
SUCKER! You took my advice! Ha! All kidding aside, they're legit... and although I've never flown them myself, I hear great things. Let me know how it works out.
Getting suckered on the internet? Well, this has never happened before................... I'll definitely report back. The wife and I really enjoyed our last trip to Montreal and were toying with having it be an occasional long weekend getaway. So an inexpensive option to do that is definitely preferable.