Welcome to the next video in our series on how to choose the best one-bag travel
backpack for you. In this video we'll break down a travel backpack's form -
including the bag weight and size. We're big fans of carry-on only, and we think
it's such a better way to travel if you don't have to check your bags. We're
going to take a look at weather resistance and how to protect your gear from the
elements. We're also going to take a look at durability and quality - including what
kind of zippers to look out for, and what types of fabrics to consider when you're
searching for a pack. So let's jump right into it.
[upbeat music playing]
So for bag weight and size we
really prefer carry-on, and this is going to vary based on different airlines.
Everybody has different rules and they allow you to carry different weight and
different dimensions. A good resource for this is carryonbagsizes.com. And they
kind of break down every single airline and the weight that you're allowed on
each, and we've found it to be a pretty good resource. It's pretty well updated
and it'll give you an idea if you're able to travel with your bag or not on
specific airlines. It's easy to get caught up and hung up on all this litre
talk when it comes to backpacks. But the truth is there's really no industry
standard, and it can be inaccurate from brand to brand. So a couple things to
look out for: one being the fabric that it's made out of. So you know, if it's a
thicker fabric and you're not going to be able to fit quite as much in there. And
when it does come to top-loading backpacks as well, it's important to
consider what the company means when they say the "volume". So maybe the
marketing team at the company can say that a bag is "40 litres" but that's only
when the pack is cinched to the top. But then when it's cinched down to the
bottom maybe it becomes, you know, 34 litres because you're losing all
that extra space when it's cinched down. Another thing to consider is that if
your bag is a weird shape, if it's some kind of trapezoid, it's going to be a little
bit harder to stuff full. And although we don't necessarily recommend rectangular
packs, sometimes that can come with a bit of an
aesthetic penalty, you're going to be able to fit a lot more in there. So if you're
looking for a really high capacity, you may generally want to look for more boxy
backpacks that'll allow you to fit more. And again that efficient use of space
and that true volume can really make or break the functionality of a pack when
you're on the road. Pack profile is another consideration that a lot of
people don't consider or talk about. And when we say pack profile we're talking
about how thin a backpack fits onto your back. So if it's you know, thinner to your
back it's generally going to be a better center of gravity as it's going be more
with you. But if it hangs out quite a bit out the back, it's going to feel heavier and
it's going be harder to carry around. With pack profile it's also kind of a
consideration thing. So if you're getting onto a plane, you're getting onto a bus,
you yourself take up less space and you're not going to be hitting people in
the face with your backpack as you're kind of turning around. Another
thing we want to take a look at is top- loading vs. panel-loading backpacks
(otherwise known as clamshell). And basically what it is - as for top-loading
it's a flap that opens up and you're able to stuff a bunch of things inside.
It's basically a giant bucket. And then a clamshell bag is going to function more
like your traditional suitcase. So it's going to open up all the way. You're
going to be able to have access on everything inside of it, and you're going
to be able to easier organize your pack. Now there's some pros and cons of each
one of those styles for travel. The pro of a top loader is that there's less
that can go wrong. So you don't have a zipper going around the entirety of your
pack - that if it breaks, you're kind of screwed. But with a top loader you don't
really have that issue since it's just basically a flap that's going to fold down.
And with the top loader, since you are lacking some of that access, you're
probably going to want to get some packing cubes, or other types of
organizers for your bags, so you can kind of group up different items. Because you
don't want to be going to the bottom of your top loader pack every time you're
grabbing, you know, some toothpaste. So for a consideration we found the WANDRD
Prvke to be interesting when it comes to a clamshell or a top loader. This pack
actually does both - it is a top loader, and it also has a
bit of a larger zippered compartment where you can lay it out clamshell. So
this is a kind of interesting pack that doesn't force you to choose between one
or the other. Weather resistance is another key thing to consider when
you're taking a look at one-bag travel backpacks. On one hand you want to be
able to survive a light rain, you know, maybe even a monsoon for 20 minutes if
you're traveling around Southeast Asia with the setup that you have. But on the
other hand, usually with urban travel and this type of more city travel, you don't
really need something that's waterproof. Unless you want to go diving with your
MacBook Pro in the back of your laptop compartment, there's really no need for
all that extra waterproof "tech". Whether it's a water resistant coating on the
fabric that kind of helps keep the water out, whether it's a fancy material that
kind of additionally keeps water out, or whether it's a zipper with like an aqua
guard on it, or a water resistant zipper; all that stuff can really kind of help
pull together and create a more weather- resistant pack. But again, you probably
don't need it. So with all this talk on water resistance, if you do have a couple
of pieces that you really want to stay waterproof with - you know maybe your
phone, maybe your passport, some important documents, your money - consider getting
another type of container that you can put inside of your backpack as a
fail-safe. So for instance, if we take a look at the DAKA Magpul pouches - those
are almost waterproof. They are highly water-resistant and they do work if
they're zipped up correctly. They are submergible and no water gets inside.
However you know it's not a completely submergible solution; you can't go diving
with it. But if you do have that inside of your bag and, you know, your bag falls
off a boat - likely when it's in the water that stuff is going to stay dry or at
least stay dry enough for you to use it and for you to salvage it, even if
your clothing in your bag isn't completely dry. Whether you're traveling
for a week, a month or a year, it's important to consider the durability and
quality of your backpack. You don't want something to break, as you're basically
going to be living out of that thing for the extent that you're traveling. It's
also good to have something that can last for multiple years and you can just
get more use out of in general. You know, spend a little bit more on the first run
and then end up buying less in the long run if you have something that's of
higher quality. It's hard to tell if a bag is going to be durable right out of the
box, but we do try to test bags for as long as we can before giving them a review.
So there are a couple of key considerations with the materials and
the zippers to take a look at when you're trying to find a high-quality
pack. So starting with the zippers - which are especially important on clamshell
bags - you want to take a look for high- quality zippers. And YKK is a very
popular Japanese brand that a lot of high-quality bag manufacturers and
designers use for their bags. And they don't try to mess around in building
their own zippers - they just stick a YKK on there, and it's normally good to go
because YKK makes such high quality. So how do you look out for that? There are a
couple different ways. Sometimes you'll see YKK on the zipper pulls. Start
looking at something around you - if you do have a higher quality garment. Like
Patagonia will use them in their jackets. Some backpacks will use them on their
bags. Even some pants will use YKK zippers. And having that YKK little brand
of approval on there, it's kind of a way to let consumers know that that zipper
is of high quality and the manufacturer didn't cheap out. YKK has a bunch of
different weights. So a #10 zipper is going to be really big and fat - you know
maybe that's on the main clamshell of the bag. It's important to have that
strong, thick zipper there that's going to hold all your stuff together. And then
inside you may see zippers of lower numbers or lower weights. Maybe a YKK #4
on a pocket that is on the interior of your pack that, you know, is going to hold
less stuff - you know bear less of a load. And just generally it's
not as big of a deal if a smaller zipper inside your pack breaks versus the main
clamshell. So be on the lookout for that - any types of weights that companies do
use. There's a couple ways to take a look at this - sometimes the company will list
it on their website and their specs if they're, like, really hardcore into bags
and they know that their market really cares about this stuff. Sometimes, but not
always, you can see the YKK brand on the zippers as well as the number and the
weight that it is. But just note that you can't always tell. The GORUCK GR2 is an
example of a pack that really puts durability first. And when the bag is
empty it weighs 4.75 lbs, which is pretty heavy. But they
just have these heavy-duty YKK zippers on it. It's made of 1000D Cordura
fabric, and it's reinforced in so many different places; the durability is
totally out of control. And that's the backpack that I traveled with for a
little bit over a year, and I did really like it. But there's an example of
a company and a bag that's super strong, super durable and doesn't mess around
with cheap zippers. There are a ton of different backpack fabric and materials
out there that are used. And oftentimes you'll see them described with a number
followed by an uppercase D. And what that D stands for is Denier. "The D in 1000D
refers to the denier, probably the most talked about stat. It's a unit of
measurement for the weight of yarn but shouldn't be used as an indication of
strength. How denier is measured is a little convoluted. It is the weight
in grams of 9000 meters of yarn. So 1000D would weigh 1000 grams
for a 9000-meter length. In turn, 500D would weigh 500 grams."
So starting with ripstop nylon - it's a pretty thin and kind of swishy material, it
sort of feels like a windbreaker. So the Patagonia Alpine Houdini for instance is
made of ripstop nylon. A lot of bag companies use them as a kind of great
liner for their products. And basically what ripstop nylon means - it's pretty
close to nylon, but the "ripstop" element comes from the specific weave of the
fabric. So there is a square weave that's going to stop any additional rips from
happening. So if you rip traditional nylon it may continue to rip, but if you
rip ripstop nylon it's going to stop at those individual
square grid points. And it's currently used in ejector seats for
fighter pilots, so it's definitely a pretty bad-ass fabric. Ballistic nylon
refers to any fabric that has a ballistic weave, which is actually pretty
similar to a common basket weave. This gives it an excellent tensile and tear
strength especially when layered, but also makes it heavier than a lot of
other materials. So keep in mind that ballistic nylon is usually black. And why
is it called ballistic? It was used by Airmen in World War 2 to help protect
them from shrapnel and other things flying around. Cordura nylon is a very
thick and popular strong nylon that's used on bags today. It usually does
require some durable water-repellent coating to help keep that additional
water outside of the fabric. A lot of companies end up using Cordura for their
bags because it has some of the best abrasion resistance out there for the
weight. Sure there are more durable materials but again, those are going to
weigh a lot more and Cordura has a very good weight to protection ratio. Cordura is
often used in a lot of protective motorcycle equipment because it's very
abrasion resistant. And if somebody ends up taking
a spill on their motorcycle it's going to protect them pretty decently, you know
without making them look very stiff in the process. So it does have that great
amount of flexibility. And you'll always see a registered trademark next to
Cordura because it's an actual company that creates this blend of nylon. Kodra
nylon is basically the same as Cordura, but it comes from Korea; same kind of
concept. Sailcloth lately has become a little bit more popular for some bag
manufacturers because of its high water resistance and it's thinner overall
material. The actual material is called "ultra-high molecular-weight polyethylene"
but most known as sailcloth. It's basically the same material used for the
sail of a sailboat; pretty easy to understand. It's a relatively rare
material for backpacks, but brands like Tortuga have taken advantage of it for
their bags. This Tortuga Homebase uses it, and it's a
very thin cloth that doesn't require much liner and it still has some pretty
high water resistance. However it does have some drawbacks - it's a little bit
crinkly, it's a tad bit shiny, and also it's not super flexible. So if you're
trying to jam your bag shut, trying to stretch it out a little bit, it's not
really going work. And it does definitely get some aesthetic blemishes on it. It's
not quite as abrasion resistant as something like Cordura. Dyneema is
another fabric that works really well for backpacks. And it's going to be more
expensive than nylon but it's also going to be lighter. The makers of Dyneema
claim that it's 15 times stronger than steel, although we haven't had the
opportunity to test that specifically; it is a very strong fabric. And it's
important to note that nylon is going to be a little bit more flexible than
Dyneema. Dyneema is going to be a little bit harder to jam a bunch of stuff inside of
your pack. It's going to be a little bit less forgiving than nylon. But
traditionally it will be lighter and it will be thinner, so you will have that
extra space to start with. It's also a little bit more expensive than nylon so
just keep that in mind. If you do see a Dyneema bag and you're wondering why it
is more expensive than say a traditional nylon bag, that's why; because they opted
for stronger materials. These materials are great and all, but again it only
matters how the bag manufacturer puts them together. So again try to find a
reputable brand that has a good track record and you're going to be happy with
your backpack purchase. And also take a look for warranties - the best bag
companies have the best warranties because they make the most durable stuff
that doesn't break. They can afford to put their stamp on something and
guarantee it; if they're not receiving a lot of bags back from consumers because
they don't like them or something broke on it. So if you take a look at GORUCK
and their scars warranty, they really stand behind their packs. If something
does go wrong you just send it in and they'll fix it, usually for free. Companies
like Patagonia that have a more ethical stance on production, also
stand behind their products with their ironclad guarantees. So something breaks,
no matter how old it is, you can either send it in for replacement or repair
depending on the state that it's in. And it's either free, or they have a little
bit of costs associated with it depending on how the damage was done.
Thanks for taking a look at this video and the "how to choose the best one-bag
travel backpack for you" series. Stay tuned for the next one.
[upbeat music playing]