A good travel backpack is worth its weight in gold.
The right backpack will have space enough for clothes, electronics, documents, and all those fiddly little things you have to carry (headphones, chargers, AirPods, gum, you name it) without being too big to fit into an overhead compartment or under your seat on a plane.
I’ve spent the past two years traveling a lot (weekend trips, two-week holidays, business travel, and more). Over that time, I’ve invested a lot into trying to find the right travel backpack that’s spacious but compact, comfortable and durable.
Based on my hands-on experience, the Peak Design Travel Backpack is one of the best I’ve tested, for a lot of reasons that I’ll share with you below.
Specs: Personalized Convenience Guaranteed
Before I get into my thoughts on the backpack, let’s take a quick look at the specs:
- Size: 30L
- External Dimensions: 20.9″ x 13″ x 7.9″ in its expanded configuration (more about this below)
- Weight: 3.17lbs
- Materials: Recycled 400D nylon Versa Shell™ external fabric, DWR coating, 900D waterproof bottom liner
- Fair Trade Certified and 100% carbon neutral
Size and Capacity
I bought this backpack for its 30-liter capacity. While the Travel Backpack comes in a 45-liter size, that’s just too big to take as carry-on. I need a backpack I can lug on holidays, work trips, or weekend road trips and the 30L Travel Backpack is the perfect carry-on size.
In its original configuration, the backpack has only 27 liters of storage space. However, the external zipper allows for expansion that gives you an extra 6 liters of storage space—for a total of 33 liters.
How much does that actually let you pack? Well, let me make one thing clear: I’m a big guy (6’6”, 250 lbs.) so my clothes are definitely on the bulkier side.
I folded everything down real nice and tight and made use of every corner and pocket in this backpack, and I fit enough clothing for four days. And that includes a lightweight sweater and a very packable jacket in that list.
Images by Andy Peloquin.
My wife, however, at 5’3”, can pack a whole lot more into the same space. Without struggling or overstuffing the backpack, she managed to fit a full 6 days’ worth. And, when she took it on her adventure to the southernmost tip of the world (Ushuaia, Argentina), it fit enough bulky winter/hiking/traveling clothes for 3 days.
That puts Peak Design’s Travel Backpack head and shoulders above nearly every other backpack I’ve tested. Only the Pakt Travel Backpack outperformed it in storage capacity.
Packability and Portability
I work on the go—sitting on a bus or train, at the airport, even in the car while my wife drives—so I tend to carry a lot of small portable electronics. That means I need a backpack that makes keeping all those items organized and conveniently available.
Peak Design built its backpack with travelers like me in mind. You can see by this image from their website that it’s designed for photographers, with specially sized protective travel cubes and gear organizers for pricey cameras and photography equipment.
I don’t require anything quite so specialized. I just need pockets for my Bluetooth mouse, headphones, battery pack, charging cables, laptop, and a few other small items. Unfortunately, this backpack doesn’t really have the dedicated storage space I need, making it hard to keep all my essentials organized without using some storage cube or electronics tote.
Also, most of the zip pockets and pouches the backpack does include end up buried beneath my clothing.
On the one hand, this protects small items from pickpockets. On the other hand, there’s no impact-protection for anything stored in these pockets, and I have to unpack or move aside all my clothes and other items to access them.
That being said, the top pocket has built-in dividers that make it easy to keep documents, keys, glasses, and other small items nicely organized and instantly accessible.
I do love the two external side pockets. They’re sized just right for my travel water bottle and thermal coffee mug (an absolute must-have for my work-on-the-go setup).
There is one more slight flaw with the backpack for my specific use. I work on a 17” laptop, which is on the bulky, heavy side. The laptop compartment is sized for a 15” laptop, and with a slimmer design—for example, a MacBook. It did fit my wife’s 15” Acer nicely, though.
Anyone who works on a more compact laptop (15” or below) will find the dedicated laptop pocket perfectly designed to shield their computer from direct impacts, scuffs, and scratches.
Durability
The main reason I bought this backpack was because I’ve used other Peak Design gear in the past and have found everything the brand makes incredibly durable.
This backpack is no exception. In the last two months, I’ve taken it to the beach, on a fishing boat, commuting around my city, camping, hiking, and to comic book conventions and it still shows no sign of wear or tear.
The 400D nylon canvas shell shrugs off rain and snow like it’s nobody’s business thanks to its DWR-impregnated, double poly coating.
The 900D bottom liner is fully waterproof so I can set the backpack down anywhere—in mud, puddles, or a pile of freshly shoveled snow—and not a drop leaks through.
I’ve hauled this backpack through pouring rain and forgotten it on the deck of my buddy’s fishing boat. All that, and it kept everything inside bone-dry.
All the hardware is anodized aluminum and glass-reinforced nylon, both of which can withstand the -20 degree temperatures we get every year in Canada. The UltraZips slide smoothly even in the wet and cold, and even after all my hard use, I’ve seen no signs of the joints or stress points fraying, stretching, or ripping.
Comfort and Convenience
The Travel Backpack definitely shines when it comes to comfort and convenience.
The padded backplate and shoulder straps make it easy to haul this bad boy around fully loaded all day long (which I did while exploring the streets of Lisbon, Portugal) without feeling the strain. It’s even got a stowable sternum strap that, for a guy with lower back problems, makes a huge difference.
The luggage pass-through strap makes it easy to slide the backpack onto the handle of my carry-on suitcase or rolling duffel bag. The integrated side and top handles make it easy to lift it up into or pull it down from an overhead compartment. I especially love the stowable design of the shoulder straps—no more annoying dangling or getting snagged.
My Favorite Features
Peak Design wowed me with a few specific features:
- The comfort of the padded straps and back panel
- The stowable straps
- The well-organized top access pocket
- The incredibly durable build
- The expandable capacity combined with its carry-on-friendly dimensions
What I Didn’t Like
As you saw by my thoughts above, there were a few things that didn’t quite work for me:
- The lack of storage compartments makes organizing my portable electronics difficult (without buying additional travel cubes)
- The laptop sleeve doesn’t fit my 17” laptop (a problem I suspect won’t be all that common)
- The main compartment’s pockets are only accessible once I shift or remove my clothing
Best Uses
If you’re considering the Travel Backpack, I heartily recommend it for anyone who needs a tough, reliable, spacious carry-on backpack to take hiking, mountain climbing, urban exploring, backpacking, camping, fishing, hunting, road tripping, or on vacation.
It’s also purpose-built with photographers, videographers, and social media influencers in mind.
While its lack of organizational features may not suit all business travelers or professionals who work on the go like me, it’s definitely tough enough to withstand years of hard, frequent use.
Recap:
I did have a few minor complaints about the Peak Design Travel Backpack, but at the end of the day, I still love it. It’s tough, incredibly versatile, has impressive storage space, convenient and comfortable to travel with, and did I mention tough?
And best of all, like all Peak Design products, it comes with a “a no-hassle, no-rhetoric lifetime guarantee”. Peak Design will replace it if it becomes “non-functioning or defective”. It’s a backpack I can easily envision myself hauling around the world for years to come.
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