- The Pacsafe Venturesafe X40 Plus is a travel backpack
that boasts a ton of security features.
I'm Tom, the founder of Pack Hacker,
and we love helping people optimize their travel experience
with guides and reviews just like this one.
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Let's jump right into this bag.
I've been testing it for about a month,
on and off, from Detroit to Spain.
Definitely boasts a ton of security features.
Let's get into it.
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At the time of this review, this bag comes in two colors,
black and Hawaiian blue.
(Hawaiian ukulele music)
We opted for the black.
We love the low profile it gives you. And arguably,
the Hawaiian blue makes you stick out
a little bit more like a tourist,
which is actually kind of anti what this bag is going for.
So aesthetics can play a little bit into security as well.
The bright blue bag is a bit more of a target
than the black one.
I'm personally a fan of the look.
However, this varies from person to person.
That's why we always like to poll our Instagram audience
to see their thoughts on the look of the pack.
If you'd like to get involved in our next poll,
be sure to head over to @packhacker on Instagram,
give us a follow, and be there for future polls.
We'd certainly appreciate it.
The main fabric on here is a 210 Denier Nylon,
and on the inside, there's a highly weather-resistant
polyester liner as well.
And between those two layers,
there's Pacsafe's patented eXomesh,
which is like this metal webbing going on here.
It kind of helps make the bag a little bit more slash proof.
Now, arguably, the 210D Nylon on the outside
could be a little bit higher denier to make it more robust
but it's the trade-off you get with the weight
and that eXomesh going on.
So overall, it's got some decent durability.
Even more so on the anti-theft side of things.
It's important to note that the nylon is also
not singular ripstop, but double ripstop,
so there's a lot of protection.
If a rip happens in this pack,
it'll sort of cut off at these grid marks.
From a branding perspective, you've got one logo
on the shoulder strap, and then one sort of on the front
of the pack here, it's going to say Pacsafe there.
And then you've got this sort of larger,
the largest logo on here, this eXomesh logo here.
So I'm just thinking of a thief seeing that and being like,
"Ooh, don't wanna mess with that bag ... eXomesh."
The Venturesafe features a bunch of other materials -
from an aluminum frame, to EVA foam padding,
and Dyneema on the backpack straps
for additional strong slash protection.
And of course, lockable YKK zippers
and some ITW hardware throughout.
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The black version has a decently low profile,
but there's actually a ton going on
on the outside of this pack.
So let's start off with the harness system.
First of all, these shoulder straps might look
a little bit thin, and I can assure you
they are super comfortable.
So I would kind of compare this
to the Minaal Carry-On 2.0 straps,
or the Mission Workshop Fitzroy straps.
Two companies that really know how to create
good carries in their packs.
Although it appears thin, this foam is high density enough
to be comfortable and create a really great carry.
Also you've got some mesh here for some additional airflow
and some holes in that EVA foam as well.
The load lifters on the top help with your carry
a little bit, balance it out overall,
and then you have these elastic keepers here
that help manage those straps on the shoulder straps.
The wearer's left strap features a TurnNLock
security loop, and this is an added anti-theft feature.
Definitely not foolproof, and you can take it off
quite easily, however, it's going to prevent somebody
from quickly grabbing it and running away with it.
Say you're on like a subway,
you can attach it to a pole if you want.
Or if you're on a bus, and you want to take a nap,
you can attach it to your seat.
Just things like that, just another added layer of security.
Plus there's an additional section of Dyneema webbing
on that strap, which makes it harder to cut through.
It's quite easy to take it on and off,
just rotate the lock mechanism and then pull that down
as an ordinary hook, like you'd expect.
The hip belt here provides some really great comfort,
really adds to the carry of the pack.
However, there's one thing with it - it is not stowable.
So when you're not utilizing it, it's kind of annoying.
Your arms sort of get in the way on the side of your body.
Then if you're going to be like,
walking through a skinny airport aisle with this thing,
you're going to be like strap-whacking people in the face.
So we're never really a fan of hip belts
that cannot be removed or hidden.
We wish Pacsafe would have thought through this
a little bit more, as this is a travel pack.
The wearer's right hand side is going to offer a 3D pocket
which is good for smaller items,
and the left hand side is going to offer two rows of MOLLE,
which is good for attaching additional
MOLLE compatible accessories.
Lastly, you've got a nice hook at the top
if you want to hang up the bag anywhere.
Then you have a nicely padded mesh back panel right here.
Below the harness system, there is also
an affixed rain cover that's always there.
It's attached to the pack.
You just pull it out when you need it,
toss it over your pack,
additional weather resistance and you're good to go.
On each side, there is a super stretchy water bottle pocket
going on that's basically going to be able to hold
any size water bottle.
And this really surprised us in our testing,
It fit a S'well bottle, it'll fit a giant Nalgene bottle,
and just for kicks, we threw in a giant soylent tub as well.
So it definitely has a lot of stretch.
For folks carrying larger water bottles when they travel,
this is going to be a great thing for you.
Each side features two compression straps,
so you've got four in total.
These are good for pulling down the main volume of the pack
if you're not quite carrying as much
and it's not fully loaded out.
Additionally, you can hold things on the side
like a jacket or like a tripod.
I know Pacsafe in one of their videos,
they were putting like a monopod in here as well.
So, the point being is, there's a ton of external features
that kind of allow you to configure
your external carry outside of the pack,
including the Velcro-able straps here,
as well as the trekking loops on the bottom of the pack.
On the exterior, there are a bunch of options
to secure the zippers as well.
So the YKK zippers are lockable zippers
that you can use with TSA approved locks.
Additionally there are two places with integrated clips,
just to kind of hold the two zippers together,
which as an anti-theft deterrent,
makes it a little bit harder to access.
Lastly, on the front pocket, there is a small nylon tab
that you can thread the zipper under,
which makes it harder to open up.
[upbeat music playing]
On the front side we have this vertically smaller
zippered pocket that's going to be good for flatter items
or just smaller things you want to put in front of the pack.
Then we've got a horseshoe zipper on the front
which is a little bit easier to access
after you pull off the side compressions straps.
So just do that, pull this down,
and then you have another ample-sized pocket.
This horseshoe only comes down
to about half way down the pack here.
However, the pocket goes down the entirety
of the front of the pack.
Starting at the top, we have a 360 spinnable
key chain clip going on here, and then a pocket
that we can open right up.
Inside, there's a D ring where you can attach
additional accessories.
So like a flashlight or a multi tool, something like that.
Otherwise, Pacsafe kind of wants you to use
their wallet with this as an additional security
protection going on here.
One thing about this zippered pocket
is that it is RFID secured.
So I haven't really read many headlines
about this type of theft going on.
I think it's more uncommon,
but in the world of contactless credit cards (NFC) -
you know phones, passports - everything is becoming
a little bit more electronically scannable.
I'm wondering if these will progress.
So that's just one thing to note.
Any items that you don't want to get scanned,
you could toss them in here.
Of course, whether that's of benefit to you
is going to kind of depend on how you view this stuff.
Below that, we have a lay flat organizer.
Two pockets in the side for pen, pencil, stylus,
anything like that.
And this will hold like, field notes or your passport,
or some smaller items here as well.
On the flap side, we have a mesh zippered pocket
going on as well.
You can see through it, which is great.
Just going to add some additional organization in that pocket.
Now one thing to note about this giant horseshoe compartment
is that if you're fully utilizing the RFID pocket,
the lay flat organizer and the mesh pocket,
it's going to be harder to get to whatever items
you end up stuffing down this horseshoe compartment.
Moving onto the main liter capacity.
This can be accessed in one of two ways.
So one, through this angled zipper here.
This is actually a really nice layout,
because if you only zipper this down a little bit,
you can fold this over and get a great view
of what's going on inside of the pack.
And then secondly, you can access it from this panel
on the back here as well, which cannot be accessed
while you're wearing the pack,
so that's an added security bonus.
There's an optional divider that separates
the main liter capacity as well.
It attaches with zipper and Velcro,
and is easy enough to remove if you don't want to use it
and you can just stash it away,
either in the rain cover compartment
or another pocket within the pack.
While that divider is in place,
the main capacity here is basically split into two.
So accessing it from here, you're sort of blocked
by that divider from anything you can access here.
So then arguably, this becomes the most secure
pocket of the pack.
In the main volume of the pack, the aluminum frame
is slightly visible.
This really helps with the carry.
Especially without a very solid frame sheet and
we find that works really well. We're glad Pacsafe
has included that,
added a ton to the comfort of the carry.
For additional organization in that back flap,
you have three pockets up here,
velcroed down by this Velcro flap.
That's going to be good for SD cards
and other smaller, flatter items.
Moving down below, you have two ripstop polyester pockets
going on here, with zippers and zipper garages as well.
So kind of keeps a nice, slick low profile.
Going to be good for flatter items, nothing too bulky in there.
Pacsafe offers two additional interior components
with this pack for the greater system.
The first is going to be their camera cube.
So if you open these up and kind of keep
the lid permanently open -
they want you to put it at the bottom of the pack,
and then you can just access all your lenses,
any camera gear by just folding this thing down.
Now it's a little bit kludgy
since that packing cube just is sort of
free floating there, and it's opened up.
It doesn't really hook into the system at all.
If you want to see a pack that has a better camera system
check out stuff from Peak Design.
Especially their new travel backpack.
They kind of fully integrate it
and clip in their camera cubes.
It's a lot better solve than just having it free float here.
So that's a little bit kludgy with this system.
We think it could've been done a little bit better,
but you do have the option to keep your camera gear,
your lenses, handy with this set up.
The other accessory that can be integrated here
is Pacsafe's portable safe.
Basically, it's a secure cube.
You can use that metal mesh wire,
thread it outside of that water bladder port,
and then you are good to go.
You can kind of attach it, again, to anything that's fixed
to keep your bag secure.
And with that water bladder hose port,
there is a pocket here that you can toss
water bladders into, a Velcro-able toggle,
and then just use that port to pass the hose through.
The water bladder pocket here also doubles
as the compartment for your laptop.
We have a little bit of a problem with that
because the heavy weight of a laptop
that far away from your back is going to make your bag
feel a lot heavier than necessary.
We feel like this design consideration
is very important for the modern day traveler.
Whether you're a digital nomad traveling for work,
or you just want to keep your laptop with you
when you go for a trip.
Whether it's, you know, for a week or longer,
having your laptop with you is important to a lot of people.
So seeing that just kind of as an afterthought here -
tossed in the front -
we don't really like to see that quite as much.
[upbeat music playing]
Our Pacsafe Venturesafe X40 Plus
has seen about a month of usage
from Detroit to Barcelona, Spain.
Overall, it's held up well so far,
and provided some great security features on the road.
Other than some minor fabric fraying in couple of areas,
everything has held up well.
So to wrap this thing up with some pros and cons -
there are a ton of smart, streamlined
security features going on.
The harness system is super comfortable and adjustable.
Pacsafe offers just right organization
without going overboard.
For some of the cons - the laptop compartment
and positioning is not optimal.
The hip belt isn't hideable, it's bulky,
we don't love it when we're not using it.
And the exterior nylon could be higher denier
for added durability.
If you're looking for a secure pack,
the Pacsafe Venturesafe X40 Plus
offers some really great features
geared exactly towards that.
From the anti-slash eXomesh material
to the secured zipper features,
to the securable Dyneema strap on the outside of the pack,
there are some really great features going on
and some really great thinking
that went into the security features of this pack.
Although the laptop compartment placement is not ideal
and the hip belt is bulky and non-hideable,
this is still a pretty good choice for a travel pack.
Thanks for taking a look at our review on the
Pacsafe Venturesafe X40 Plus,
be sure to take a look at our guide
on how to choose the best travel backpack for you.
We know this is a confusing endeavor
so we like to break it down in four different videos
to try to help you identify what's right for you.
Thanks for checking us out, we'll see you in the next video.