- In this video, I'm super excited
to walk you through the Aer Travel Pack 2 review.
Aer took the first iteration of their travel pack,
made a bunch of really great improvements,
really thought through the details,
so we're excited to share
all those little nuanced changes with you today.
I'm Tom, the founder of Pack Hacker,
and we do bag reviews like this all the time
as well as other travel gear reviews.
So if you're new to the channel, consider subscribing.
Let's jump right into the Aer Travel Pack 2 review.
And remember, you can follow along on our website
with the written review anytime.
Let's jump in.
[upbeat music playing]
Starting with the exterior of this pack,
we have a 1680D Cordura ballistic nylon weave.
That's some super durable stuff.
And how do we know that it's durable?
Well, we've been testing the Aer Travel Pack 1
for about an accumulation of six months.
Just two weeks ago one of our testers had this thing
at the World Cup in Russia,
and he had no problems with it on his trip whatsoever.
So yeah, it's durable stuff
that just simply holds up over time.
Tying together that black-on-black aesthetic,
we've got some Duraflex buckles going on here
and different flavors of durable YKK zippers
going on around the outside of this pack
and on the interior as well.
Of course aesthetics are in the eyes of the beholder,
so we polled our Instagram audience
about the Aer Travel Pack 1 last week
and what they thought about the look of it.
Obviously we couldn't share the Aer Travel Pack 2
because the release date is today
at the time of posting this video.
So if you want to get involved in future polls,
be sure to head over to Pack Hacker's Instagram.
It's just @packhacker.
Follow us there for future stories and polls.
And to wrap it all up, there's a bunch of foams
used on this pack.
We have EVA foam, EPE foam, and sponge foam
in areas like the mesh back panel, the straps,
and a couple of the handles on the sides,
which we're going to get into in a minute.
And lastly I'll just note that there's not
a lot of dangling straps coming off of this thing,
which add to an overall professional and minimalistic look.
Alright, starting with the exterior of the pack -
we've got a super beefy handle on the top here,
and then a less beefy grab handle on the side.
So this is going to be good for any quick grabs,
just carrying this thing around,
getting it out of an overhead bin,
or in and out of a cab.
Wherever you need to just grab it for short distances.
It's a really good example of how Aer has continued
to refine and update their design.
In the Aer Travel Pack 1, the first version,
there was kind of a Velcro loop here
that you could attach to the top of a roller bag handle.
And that's decent, but it felt a little clunky on the bag
and they solved that in a better way with this version,
which we'll get into in a second.
And also I just wanted to point out
on that side handle as well
the density of the foam is about the same,
but the casing that it's in is a little bit finer
of a weave, so it's a little bit softer to the touch.
Feels a little bit better to grab than before.
So those details, a lot of little details come together
and make for a great pack.
We're happy to see a lot of the refinements
that Aer has made to this thing.
I think we could spend a really long time
really getting into every detail
of how the Aer Travel Pack 1
differs from the Aer Travel Pack 2.
So if you'd be interested in that video,
make sure to thumbs up the first comment.
And if we get enough interest,
we'll sink some time into that and create a video for it.
Moving on to the next exterior component,
we're greeted with Aer's
classic stealth water bottle pocket.
This basically just looks like the side of the pack,
maybe there's a little seam here.
And then you're like, ooh, what's that? It's a zipper!
Boom, unzips and then we've got that mesh going on here
that's going to secure longer items including water bottles,
umbrellas, anything longer that you want to fit in here.
I really like that that just stays flush against the pack
when it's not in use, and it looks really integrated.
There's not just a bunch of mesh hanging out.
When it comes time to use it,
you just unzip it and the feature is available to you.
And there's a D-ring right above that water bottle pocket,
so not entirely sure what this is for.
We'll ask Aer and see what they say.
On each side of the bag
we also have some compression straps going on,
so I think Aer has done a great job with this again
for multiple reasons.
You can fit items in there,
say like a yoga mat or a jacket
that you just want to carry on the exterior of the pack,
and then this thing really compresses down
when you tighten these.
If you have this bag with you on a longer trip,
you want to take most of your items out of it,
put it in your hostel, Airbnb, your hotel, whatever,
compress this thing down, gives it a lot lower of a profile
and makes you look a little less ridiculous
if you want to use this as a day pack
when you're hitting the city and exploring.
Alright, so moving on to the harness system,
we've got some straps here that are pretty thick.
And it's important to note
that one of the cons in our Aer Travel Pack 1 review
that we posted about a year ago
was that the foam wasn't quite dense enough
and the straps weren't quite as thick as we'd like to see,
so there was a little bit to improve upon in comfort there.
Happy to say that they've made it thicker,
they've listened to reviewers like us,
as well as comments from other people
that have been using their bags,
and definitely taken that into consideration.
So props to them, they're always trying to improve.
There's also an adjustable
and a removable sternum strap here,
so Aer kept this pretty basic, just kind of went for it,
which I really appreciate.
You can remove this thing if you'd like to.
However, it's not going to randomly fall off,
as we've seen in some other bags
that try to get a little bit fancier
with this type of system.
Aer just kept it really simple and classic here.
And of course on the other side
we've just got that singular D-ring here as well.
Now on to a couple big changes with the harness system here.
We do have the option to add this hip belt here,
which is really great.
I think that's sold separately, so just note that.
However, we've also lost the load lifters
on the top of here,
and I reached out to Aer and here's what they said.
"In terms of the load lifters, one of our goals
was to clean up the design
and reduce dangling straps and weight.
We found the load lifters weren't as effective
as they can be on a bag of this size,
so we decided to remove them."
I love that they made this a little more minimalistic
and promoted it closer to that dangle-free experience
that we're always looking for.
However, we do miss the functionality
of some of those load lifters here.
The trade-off that we get, though,
is an awesome hip belt here,
and I think this is just pretty much
a perfect hip belt for this size.
It's removable, which is great.
So if you don't want to have it on, fine.
Easily remove it, don't use it.
Not a problem.
And it's got about the right amount of padding,
and it's about the right size.
So it has enough padding to be very comfortable,
but it's not super bulky.
So Aer has really nailed it here.
The one minor complaint here is this thing
can poke you in the sides if it's flying around
and not folded right.
That's very minor, and as it breaks in for longer,
that'll be less of an issue.
And although that hip belt does a really great job
at helping distribute the weight,
without those load lifters this thing may sag a little bit
off of your back if you have a lot of heavy items in here.
Pretty minor, it's only a 33-liter bag.
Do you need load lifters for a bag of that size?
Probably not, and Aer keeps a small enough profile
to where it's not gonna hang too much,
but just a small note.
And with this harness system there is no option to hide it.
Some people really love the option to hide those straps.
Personally I just view it as a backpack,
so I don't really see the need for hiding those straps.
But your mileage may vary.
And lastly on this back panel
we've got some padded mesh back paneling going on here,
and then a grab handle here
that you can pick the bag up from.
This is also a luggage pass-through,
so if you're using a roller bag
you can just slip this on top.
Keeps it nice and secure.
If you are a Pack Hacker regular and believer,
there is a chance that you may not even need
to take roller luggage with you
when you're on a trip, though.
Maybe you can just fit it all in a backpack
and that's really great.
But if you do want some tips on how to continue
to cut down your travel loadout,
be sure to go check out our merino wool guide
and we just talk about clothing
that you can bring less of that stays fresh.
Alright, there are a bunch of great pockets
and organizational features going on in this thing,
so let's get started with the quick grab pocket on the top.
One of the updates that Aer made to this
that I really like is that it's a little bit wider now.
Before it was a bit of a challenge
to fit a larger phone in here, say like an iPhone,
but now it just easily slides in.
So with that older design, it was a bit of a micro-struggle
if you wanted to put your larger phone in there.
They've definitely updated it with this design.
Moving on to the back we have this laptop compartment
that opens up.
Pretty straightforward, no-frills compartment here.
A couple things to mention here.
On the positive end of things,
we have a YKK AquaGuard zipper.
That was another one of our cons in the first video
about a year ago,
was that these zippers on the Aer Travel Pack 1
were not AquaGuard or weather-resistant.
So we tested this thing in a downpour.
Definitely had some water seep in between there,
so we're really excited and glad
that Aer decided to include AquaGuard zips
on this version, which definitely helps
with additional weather resistance
so much better than the previous version.
However, there's one nitpick with this design
of the laptop compartment.
Although it's padded here on the bottom,
one trick that a lot of companies will do
is they'll actually have a false bottom design.
So actually the laptop compartment would cut off right here
or something like that,
and Aer did not do that with this thing.
You're basically going way to the bottom
of that laptop compartment.
So although there's some pretty good padding
on the bottom, it could've additionally mitigated
potential laptop damage if they would have designed
a false bottom a little bit higher.
And the compartment is so big
that there's definitely room
for varying degrees of laptop sizes in here.
It wouldn't have really cut into the size of that either.
Small nitpick, not a huge deal,
but just something to bring up.
Moving on to the front of the pack,
we've got a big, beefy YKK #10 zipper system here.
You know, I don't think they needed a #10 here.
It's like a little bit overkill,
but I think they do that for the aesthetic.
I am just convinced, because it looks super slick,
really ties that look together with this black strip across.
That's just very much Aer.
When I see this, I'm like, boom, that's totally Aer.
And some things that they've added to this too
is there is a separate zipper garage here,
which is, again, going to help
with that weather resistance in this pocket.
And then also you have these two tabs on the side
that you can use to hold
when you're zipping that zipper open and closed.
It actually helps quite a bit.
That thing opens right up to a larger pocket
on the bottom here that spans
towards the bottom of the pack.
And that gives you a lot of room in here to put stuff into.
But I like that they don't cut into this top area here
because it leaves you a lot of room
for the organizer system that they got going on in here,
and I think it's a really good one.
So let's just take a quick walk through that.
Starting with this organizer system,
on the bottom you have two half-pockets
that go down about six inches.
And then you've got a mesh pocket up here
with a little bit of elasticity,
and then a corresponding liner pocket behind that
and then one on the other side.
Decent stretchiness here.
You're just going to be able to organize stuff in here,
as well as two spots here
for either a stylus, pen, or pencil.
And then you've got this zipper compartment up here
with a #5 YKK racquet coil zipper.
Also they've included a keychain ring in here.
This is plastic.
We'd usually prefer metal.
As we continue to try to nitpick this bag
and find cons with it, we're going to say that's a con,
that this is plastic and not metal.
Like boohoo, not even that big of a deal.
But important to note that this zipper compartment
goes down to about here as well -
so hefty amount of space in there.
And the thing that I really enjoy
about these organizer pockets
is if you want to use them, you can and it's great.
But if you don't want to use them, it's fine too.
If you'd prefer to use packing cubes or pouches,
this thing just lays flat.
Similar to the Tortuga Setout,
which is designed in a very similar way,
it doesn't cut in and force you to use it.
You can use it if you'd like and it's always there.
And then there's a divider pocket kinda thing
going on right behind this zipper portion.
For me personally,
I kind of just like to stuff my MacBook charger down there.
It's just a cable salad pretty much anyway,
so I just like to stuff it in there
and kind of forget about it.
Kabelsalat is actually a German word
that basically describes this.
Cable salad.
And moving on to one of our favorite features,
at the bottom of this pack
there is a separate shoe compartment here.
Another difference to note
between the Aer Travel Pack 1 and 2
is that they've chosen to remove the ventilation holes here.
That was kind of another opportunity
for water to seep inside.
Although that ventilation helps with your shoes
that may smell a little bit more,
I'm personally glad they removed that,
as no additional moisture will get in
as you're setting this bag down.
Alright, and let's move on to the main event,
the main clamshell opening here.
First of all, it's important to note
that you're going to need to unbuckle these compression straps
should you want to access
and fully open up that main compartment.
Could be like a slight pain,
but just something to note, that you need to do that.
And if we open it up here, boom.
You have got basically a giant bucket going on here.
It's important to note
that any items in this shoe compartment
or in the quick access pocket at the top
will cut into the overall liter capacity
of this main compartment here.
This is great for packing cubes.
I know Aer has a couple things.
Of course we always recommend a lot of packing cubes.
Eagle Creek Specter Cubes are some of our favorites,
GORUCK Padded Field Pocket
if you want something with a little bit more protection.
Definitely a fan of packing cubes over here,
so we love the ability to be able
to kind of organize and customize the interior of this
based on our needs and what we're packing
for that specific trip.
And then we're going to move on
to the front side of the clamshell here.
You've basically got this mesh pocket at the top,
nice YKK zipper here.
This is going to be good for flatter items.
It's not a 3D pocket,
so it doesn't really stick out too much,
but you have a little bit of variance there.
Better for flatter items
or just ones that are a little bit more flexible.
And next this is arguably the most secure pocket in the bag,
this zippered compartment down here.
You have the ability to put more valuable items down there
and just kind of keep things away
from the main compartments and the exterior of the pack -
if you have items that are more expensive,
say some jewelry, a watch.
Maybe you want to throw your passport down there
while you're in transit.
Definitely have options and a lot of room there
in that secured pocket on the interior.
At the time of publishing this video,
the Aer Travel Pack 2 is released today,
and we've been testing it
for the past two and a half weeks in Detroit.
We have put the Aer Travel Pack 1
through the wringer, though,
with trips to Minneapolis, Detroit,
Nashville, California, and even Russia
as one of our contributors was just there
a couple weeks ago at the World Cup.
It's held up super well and still looks slick.
The 1680D ballistic nylon on the outside
hardly has any marks on it.
I think there's one tiny blemish on it
after six months of use.
Hardly even noticeable.
A lot of the durable materials have held up
through extensive testing on our end.
So to wrap this thing up with some pros and cons,
the Aer Travel Pack 2
features a really greatly designed system
with some amazing attention to detail.
There is some great durability here
and some very high-quality materials are used
to pull this pack together.
And there are awesome features -
from the compression straps on the side
being able to put it kind of into a day pack mode,
to the shoe compartment on the bottom,
well thought out features
that they've done a really great job at implementing.
Moving on to some of the cons -
the removal of the load lifters
cleans up the design a little bit,
but you lose a little bit of that utility.
There is no false bottom on the laptop compartment.
And lastly, a minor nitpick
is that the compression straps
can get in the way of opening that main compartment
if you need to do it quickly.
Aer took their already incredible travel pack
and honed in a ton of details
to bring us an even better Travel Pack 2.
It's awesome to see a company really take pride
in their craft and get into those nitty gritty details
to pull everything together
to make an even better experience than they had before.
The negatives are few and far between,
even with our detailed eyes.
You really can't go wrong with picking one of these up
for your next trip,
whether it's for a week or a year.
Thanks for taking a look at our review
on the Aer Travel Pack 2.
Be sure to head over to packhacker.com/newsletter,
sign up for that newsletter,
and never miss an update.
For everything else travel gear and bag-related,
keep it here on Pack Hacker.
She's Instagramming, she's Instagramming.
Hannah, come here.
There she is.
She's helping us with the B roll, she's so good at it.
Look at that.
Gonna button this strap, just get it out of the way.
Okay. Duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh
duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh
duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh duh.
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