- The Patagonia Black Hole MLC 45 Liter,
or Maximum Legal Carry-on,
is designed to be one of the largest bags
that you can take with you on a flight.
Works a little bit better on U.S. airlines
that allow for larger bags,
not quite as well in Europe and Asia.
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This bag is in the camp of one of the
original bags that encourages one-bag carry-on travel,
so excited to how this stacks up
compared to other backpacks and bags
that we've been reviewing recently on the channel
and over on the website.
Let's jump in and check it out.
(upbeat instrumental music)
The main material of this bag
is a 100% ripstop polyester with TPU laminate
and DWR coating for added weather resistance.
We like that Patagonia has moved to
100% recycled material,
and the TPU on the bag gives it a
bit of a rubbery and tarpy feel.
At the time of this review,
The Black Hole MLC 45 Liter carry-on
is available in three different colors.
We have black, Hammonds Gold and sage khaki,
available over on patagonia.com.
We have the Hex Grey that doesn't
appear on the website anymore.
However, Patagonia is always playing
with colorways and styles.
If you look at some of the other
Black Hole products in the line,
like the packing cubes or the smaller duffel,
they have a lot of colors available,
and the colors are always changing up.
So we wouldn't be surprised if Patagonia
rolled this out in more colors as time goes on.
We've definitely seen it in other colors in the past.
From a branding perspective,
there is a pretty large Patagonia logo
going down vertically on the front of the pack here.
There's really no mistake that you
are wearing a Patagonia bag when you have this thing on,
and then there is another logo
on the wearer's left shoulder strap.
That's just the standard Patagonia colored logo.
We like where this one is placed and the size of it.
However, on the front,
we think that this is a little bit large
and kind of screams at you a little bit too much.
In our testing we didn't receive
too many positive compliments on the look.
We decided to throw it out to our Instagram audience
and get their take on the way the bag looks.
So if you wanna be involved in future polls,
be sure to head over and follow us
@packhacker on Instagram.
To wrap up the rest of the materials,
we have a durable water-repellent coating
for additional weather resistance
on the exterior of this bag.
We have Duraflex hardware used on places
like the sternum strap where the straps
attach to the bag, as well as the strap adjusters.
And then we have Japanese YKK zippers.
We especially like that a number 10
really big YKK zipper has been included
for the main closure of the bag.
Let's kick it off with the harness system,
or rather the more duffel bag-like carry
that these straps provide.
The straps themselves are comfortable,
and they have a bit of a curve as well,
to add to the ergonomics,
just to fit your body a little bit better.
Below these two nylon loops,
one where the logo is,
we have a sternum strap with a thin PALS-like webbing
where it attaches with some plastic hardware.
Typically we like to have sternum straps
that attach a little bit more permanantly
by buckle of something of that nature.
But these plastic clips have done pretty well
so far in testing.
One funky thing on this bag is that
the strap adjusters at the bottom are reversed.
So instead of pulling these straps
down and towards your back to tighten,
you sort of pull them up towards your chest
to tighten straps up.
And that's okay, that's a little bit different
than what we are used to.
The one negative that happens is that
if you use these elastic keepers
and kind of tighten it up
and try to manage some of that excess strap,
the rest of the strap can kind of
flap around near your chest and just kinda get in the way.
So definitely something to note.
A little bit different here than the
standard pull back to tighten on other bags.
This area at the bottom can kind of
weirdly stick into your back and hips as well,
especially these clips on the side,
as well as at the bottom here.
It kinda gets bunched up if you don't
have a laptop in here holding that space
a little bit more,
and if you don't have this thing fully packed up.
It can kinda stick to your lower back
a little bit weirdly as well.
The straps here are easy to unclip and stow away quickly,
if you wanna carry this bag in briefcase mode
or messenger mode with the shoulder strap.
Overall, we think this bag is
pretty blocky in messenger mode.
It's big, not necessarily comfortable to carry.
And if it's full, it's gonna be
kinda this giant rectangle on the side of you.
And if it is empty, it's gonna kind of
contour to your body and curve around,
providing a weird look and an uncomfortable carry
to go along with it.
We think that this is suboptimal
and not the best experience.
However, your mileage may vary.
We'd love to hear in the comments below
if you like carrying bigger bags like this
in messenger style.
On the harness system there's really no frame sheet
on the back to speak of here,
really nothing that gives the bag
additional structure, unless you have
a laptop inside of here.
We get why duffel bags and duffel bag/backpack hybrids
are designed this way.
However, with the Patagonia MLC 45 Liter,
it is kind of like a giant rectangle,
and we think a little bit of structure added
could go a long way for this bag.
Wrapping up the back panel,
we have a luggage pass through slash pocket
going on in the back here.
So if you unzip the bottom part here,
that's a luggage pass through.
If you keep that zipped up,
it can be used as a quick drop pocket
close to your body when you're
wearing this in messenger style mode.
And if you are gonna use this
on top of a piece of luggage,
say, you have a roller bag and
your partner has this, or vice versa,
something like that,
you just wanna make sure that that roller bag
is big enough and has enough structure at the base
to support this thing,
because it's a massive bag
and, again, pretty much no structure at all to it.
There are two handles,
one at the top and one at the wearer's right hand side.
We'll definitely take a handle any day,
and it makes traveling with these bags a lot better.
If you want an example of a company
that does side handles really well,
check out the Evergoods CTB 40.
They actually have these aluminum stays on the side
that support and structure the bag
as you're carrying them from the side handle.
And they're also really low profile when not in use.
I think Patagonia could learn a thing or two
from Evergoods on that.
Next up we have a bit of a side pocket here.
At first we thought it was for a water bottle.
However, it's just for a luggage tag
that you can quickly pull out.
You can put any information in here.
Not really sure if anybody that finds this bag
is gonna know where to look for that,
but it is there.
And originally we kinda wanted a water bottle pocket,
but since this is the MLC design
where everything is just as big as possible,
we kinda understand why they didn't
include one with this bag.
But really we don't think this luggage tag
is super useful,
and it's not very intuitive if somebody
was gonna find your bag.
Another side handle could've sufficed here as well.
And lastly we have a row of PALS-like military webbing
going on the top and the bottom front of the bag here.
Now this isn't really standard,
the way that Patagonia has sewed this on.
It's more like little tiny loops
rather than flat across,
but it's good for attaching additional accessories
or a carabiner if you wanna hang anything
on the outside of the bag.
Starting with the front we have a small
vertically zippered pocket here,
horizontal if you're wearing it in messenger mode.
We pretty much find ourselves just
dumping anything that we needed to dump in quickly
into this pocket.
Great if you're at the airport,
you wanna put your wallet, your phone,
your keys in there as you're going through security.
Directly behind that we have a compartment
that is pretty large,
give you access to a bunch of different
organization options inside.
On the flap there are three liner pockets
at the back that go down about the entirety of the bag,
and they are equally sized across the bag.
In the front of those two pockets,
there are two mesh pockets on one
so you can easily see what's going on inside,
and then on another there is a smaller liner pocket.
And on the front of that liner pocket,
we have three places for pens, pencils and styluses.
And to the side of that there is a padded pocket
that appears to be perfect for a smaller flip phone
or something of that nature.
Okay, that is a lot of organization going on
in the front flap.
Behind that in the main compartment,
obviously there is a big space for anything
you wanna put in here,
maybe just like a jacket or something
that you wanna shove in quickly.
And behind that there are two velcro liner pockets
that go down the entirety of the bag as well
when it's sideways.
We like the velcro here on these pockets.
However, with those velcro strips so small,
that can be hard to quickly match the hook side
with the loop side of the velcro
if you're in a hurry,
depending on how the liner has shifted around.
Overall we dig all the organization going on
in this pocket.
We just wish it zipped down a little bit further,
so we could get better access to the
organizational pieces inside.
Moving on to the back of the bag,
we have a pretty large opening for laptops here,
and this is going down, again, vertically
if you are in backpack mode,
horizontally if you're in messenger mode.
There is padding on the back and the front of this.
Again, no frame sheet for that additional structure.
A lot of the stiffness of the bag is gonna come
directly from your laptop.
But it is just a big, cavernous space
that can fit larger laptops as well.
Additionally, there is a false bottom here,
which means that the laptop is a little bit suspended
compared to the bottom of the bag.
So there's a little buffer,
a little padding there to help protect
from unexpected drops.
Now opening up this main compartment,
we are greeted with this big number 10 YKK zipper,
and we like that that's there for additional durability.
On the right hand side we pretty much
have a giant bucket with a mesh zipper on the top.
So you can just load this up with clothes,
Folded and rolled sweatshirts, everything,
just kind of pack it out.
But again, packing cubes are gonna help with that
additional structure here.
Any packing cubes will really do and add
some structure to this bag.
However, you could use the Patagonia Black Hole
packing cubes if you wanna keep everything
in the same visual family.
And those are a little bit stiffer,
which again will help give this bag some structure.
Check out our full review on the Black Hole Cubes
if you wanna learn more about how they work.
The top flap, although shallow,
offers some additional organization as well.
On the front there are two mesh divider pockets
that are good for socks and underwear,
things of that nature that are flatter and smaller.
And behind that, there is another large pocket
that goes across the entirety
of the top flap of that bag.
Again, good for flatter items.
Maybe you wanna throw some dress shirts in there,
things that just wanna remain separate
from the rest of the items in your bag.
At the time of this review,
Mark and I had been testing this bag
for about one month in Detroit, Michigan.
On the durability end, there are
a couple small things to point out.
We have some loose threads on the small front pocket,
and then we have some of the TPU on the outside
has started to scratch in a couple areas.
We've seen this on a lot of other bags with this material,
so definitely expect that as a pattern
in this kind of material.
It will affect weather resistance over time
if it continues to get scratched up,
so if you're hard on it, that TPU and DWR
will start to scratch off.
And now, overall, on that material as well,
we would just prefer to not have
any aesthetic blemishes on it to just begin with.
I mean, we've only been using it for a month.
Overall, we wish that was a
little bit better right off the bat,
especially with a bag of this price point.
In usage, this thing is really a beast.
You kind of need to create your own structure
with this bag, with packing cubes and items inside.
If it's not full, we found the carry
to be highly affected.
When we loaded this up with clothing
and other travel-like items,
we found the structure to be pretty good.
However, if you wanna bring this to the grocery store
and load it up with items of different
sizes, shapes and weights,
it's just gonna be a mess.
It's not comfortable to carry
and the bag just kinda goes all over the place
because it's really floppy.
Between the different carry modes
of duffel, backpack and messenger,
we didn't really find any of these modes
to provide the comfort that we would like in a bag.
Sometimes bags that are trying to do
all these different styles are a bit too much,
especially at this larger size
and this rectangular shape.
If you wanna get a larger duffel,
say, something around 50 or 60 liters
that you can just abuse and throw things into,
and check when you bring a smaller carry-on on the plane,
that definitely works as well.
But this kind of rectangular shape
sort of sits in the middle of both of those two styles.
We think this is a bit tough for urban travel,
especially on the plane.
And bags like this are usually better checked.
So to wrap this thing up with some pros and cons,
the straps are comfortable and ergonomic,
even though the rest of the harness system
doesn't really support them.
There's some nice organization options
in the front pocket.
The max volume carry-on works well
for a lot of airlines,
especially domestically here in the U.S.
On to some of the cons.
There is very little bag structure
that provides a floppy carrying experience
if it's not perfectly packed and loaded.
The TPU material scuffs and scratches easily,
affecting the weather resistance overall.
Lastly, this bag is not optimized for carry
in backpack mode, messenger mode, or briefcase mode.
We're not the biggest fans of large bags
that try to be a backpack, messenger,
and a duffel all at once,
especially if the backpack harness system is not optimal.
We get what Patagonia is going for here,
and if you're looking for a large carry-on,
it could work for you.
This is one of the original bags that kicked off
the one bag movement.
However there are better, more comfortable options
out there on the market for bags of this size.
So there you have it, our review of the
Patagonia MLC 45 Liter.
Be sure to let us know in the comments below
what you think of this bag.
We would love to hear your thoughts.
Thanks for keeping it here at Pack Hacker,
your guide to smarter travel.
We'll see you in the next video.