A journey backpack simply carries all of your stuff whereas letting you navigate airports, subway stations, and metropolis streets. After touring with journey backpacks for years throughout dozens of nations, we suggest the brand new variations of Osprey’s Farpoint 55 and Fairview 55 journey packs.
These baggage match all the things we’d like for journeys starting from only a week to months of steady journey. They arrive with a large daypack and are even airline-carry-on pleasant.
They’re additionally extremely adjustable and nicely padded, that means that not solely are you able to get an ideal match, however the packs will even stay simple to hold and comfy to put on for lengthy treks, even when there are stairs, cobblestones, or slender alleys in your manner.
Our decide
Comfy, adjustable, and carry-on succesful, the Farpoint has all the things we would have liked for per week, and even months, of journey.
Comfy, adjustable, and carry-on succesful, the Fairview has all the things we would have liked for per week, and even months, of journey.
I traveled with a Farpoint 55 for years, throughout dozens of nations for months at a time. In 2023, Osprey launched new incarnations of the Farpoint 55Â and the sized-for-smaller-torsos Fairview 55.
These new variations principally saved what we preferred concerning the earlier ones and stuck what we didn’t. Better of all, they’re among the many least costly journey backpacks out there. After a number of years as runner-ups, the packs are as soon as once more our prime picks.
The entrance of the principle pack nonetheless unzips like a suitcase, so you possibly can simply match and entry per week’s price of garments and toiletries. The daypack, which attaches to the entrance of the bigger pack, has room for digicam gear, day by day necessities, and a small laptop computer (by way of a built-in sleeve). The primary pack’s straps can tuck behind a zippered flap, in order that they received’t catch on something when you test your baggage.
One of the best change: The primary packs are actually overhead-bin-sized for many airways. (You’ll have to make use of the daypack as your underseat bag.) Different notable updates embody height-adjustable shoulder straps and large exterior pockets on the daypack. Earlier variations of those baggage used ripstop nylon. The present one makes use of a heavy-duty recycled polyester, which held up nicely throughout a six-week journey throughout Europe.
Osprey presents a lifetime guarantee.
Runner-up
Thick padding and extremely adjustable straps make this pack simply as comfy and straightforward to suit as every other we tried for folks with longer torsos. Nonetheless, it’s too massive to hold on a airplane.
Thick padding and extremely adjustable straps make this pack simply as comfy and straightforward to suit as every other we tried for folks with shorter torsos. Nonetheless, it’s too massive to hold on a airplane.
In order for you one thing a little bit bigger than the Osprey packs, the REI Co-op Ruckpack 60+ Recycled Journey Pack – Males’s (for vacationers with longer torsos) and the REI Co-op Ruckpack 60+ Recycled Journey Pack – Ladies’s (for vacationers with shorter torsos) are simply as adjustable and comfy. The Ruckpacks had been our prime picks for a number of years—we now choose the brand new Ospreys as a result of they’re carry-on sized.
The Ruckpacks have a smaller daypack than the Ospreys, which isn’t nearly as good for photographers and digital nomads, however the principle packs are bigger, which may be good when you’re carrying bulkier objects like a heavy jacket. Whereas not carry-on-sized, the principle pack’s general dimensions are nonetheless manageable. The Ruckpack 60+ can be a little bit cheaper than the Osprey packs.
The Ruckpacks are comprised of a troublesome, recycled ripstop nylon that stands as much as put on. REI presents a return interval of as much as a yr when you’re a member (90 days when you’re not). Nonetheless, if the issue is a producing or supplies defect, the packs are lined by REI Co-op’s guarantee, which has no specified expiration date.
Improve decide
This enticing however costly journey backpack has customizable straps and nice, soft padding. It is available in just one dimension, nonetheless.
The Salkan The Backpacker seems to be and seems like a higher-end journey backpack. The polyester material feels extraordinarily rugged, and there’s in depth padding in each place the pack touches your physique.
Obtainable in black and lightish inexperienced, The Backpacker has 9 coloration choices for its exterior compression straps, so you possibly can combine and match primarily based in your preferences—and even change them up. This provides The Backpacker probably the most customizable palette of any of our picks.
Whereas wanting extra trendy on TikTok and Instagram isn’t usually a major consideration for us, general The Backpacker feels nicely made, and it has most of the identical considerate options as our prime and runner-up picks, together with numerous pockets, clean zippers, and height-adjustable shoulder straps.
These are offset, nonetheless, by a a lot larger worth. Additionally, the principle pack is technically too giant to be a carry-on for many airways, and the bag is available in just one dimension. (Salkan says it’s greatest for folks 5-foot-6 to 6-foot-4).
