You want to travel somewhere. You like convenience. You don’t want the hassle of bringing loads of luggage with you. You don’t want to pay for an extra piece of luggage. That’s what the Aer Travel pack is designed to combat. It’s a single carry-on sized backpack small enough to fit the carry-on size requirements of all the budget airline.
Design
I like the look of the Aer. It’s slick, minimal and has a well designed aesthetic, not too boxy, not too round. It makes you look like you’re out to do some serious stuff. It suits an urban setting and won’t make you stick out like a sore thumb. I love how there is no crazy branding logo on the bag other than a tiny little tag on the side.
Material Wise this bag is thick and solid thanks to 1680D Ballistic Nylon construction. It maintains a nice durable feel which won’t tear or break anytime soon. The shoulder straps are sturdy and reinforced. The zippers are all YKK which is the gold standard of zippers, and the main zipper is super chunky which is excellent. The zippers also have long pulls to make opening them up easy. This bag didn’t claim to be water-resistant but did a great job in the heavy Lithuanian snow.
I love that the Travel Pack has side and top handles. These came in super handy when I was taking it out of the overhead bin and when I needed to carry it through narrow aisles.
Functionality
The bag opens like a suitcase – which is ideal for travel.
It is a 33L bag. It’s dimensions are Length: 21.5″ (55 cm), Width: 13.5″ (34 cm), Depth: 8.5″ (22 cm). It’s 2cm over the limit for the some of budget European airlines like Ryanair, but I had no problems getting on the plane with it. Besides, the backpack doesn’t have a rigid structure so it can easily squish to fit whatever size required. This bag fits a good deal of stuff — especially if you pack smartly. I traveled to Lithuania during the winter time over there and was able to fit a lot of bulky clothes, my old 15.6 Toshiba laptop, some pencils and paper, my camera and tripod.
Compartments I loved
The bag has a lot of compartments. Let’s talk about my favorite ones.
Laptop compartment
The Travel Pack can fit up to a 15″ laptop. But handled my old bulky 15.6 inches laptop easily. I love that it has a suspended laptop pocket. Safely keeping your laptop a few inches from the bottom of the bag, so it doesn’t hit the ground when you place it down. If you don’t have a laptop and you’re an artist this compartment is also great for fitting a sketchpad. My a3 sized sketchpad was able to fit in effortlessly.
The laptop pocket is also pretty easy to access making it convenient to take it out at airport security.
Shoe compartment
It is a perfect addition for people who want to bring an extra pair with them. I didn’t use it for shoes. I found it more useful to add dirty clothes in there instead.
Main compartment
The main compartment is a spacious open space — which offers plenty of room to cram all your stuff. There is a nice bit of padding that runs along the edge for extra protection.
Organised Pockets
You have a wide range of internal and external pockets for accessories like pens, paper, multi-tools, toiletries, cameras, and more. So much that at times I would forget where I placed some of my stuff.
Comfort
Now, this bag isn’t designed to hold a ton of weight so overloading this bag will result in shoulder strain/pain which I experienced at times after carrying it for a long duration,
The straps have a decent amount of padding. The back of the backpack features some mesh padding. There is a vent in the middle for airflow giving it that little extra comfort.
You’ll notice that this bag does have a sternum strap. I didn’t use it that much, but it is good to take off the weight from the shoulders and back.
Conclusion
I think it’s a great reliable backpack. Perfect for a weekend in Ireland or a photo tour in Paris.
It’s well-designed, well-constructed, minimalistic. An excellent choice for someone who’s all about the convenience of traveling with one-bag. It is a little on the heavy side without anything in it, but that’s a result of the super durable materials.
The Aer Travel pack is one of the more pricey backpacks on the market, but it’s probably not the most expensive. I think its worth the price. And would recommend it if you’re an adventurous traveler going on day or weekend trip or you’re an artist that wants to pack your equipment.
Check it out here.
